فوج

Core meaning

The crowd that advances with one motion: a set of people carried together toward one place.

Uses

1. فَوْج → "a crowd" : a group gathered, pushed or cast with a single motion.

   • «كُلَّمَآ أُلْقِىَ فِيهَا فَوْجٌۭ» — "Every time a crowd is thrown into it" (67:8)

2. أَفْوَاج → "in crowds" : the movement of many groups one after another.

   • «يَدْخُلُونَ فِى دِينِ ٱللَّهِ أَفْوَاجًۭا» — "entering the Law of God in crowds" (110:2)
   • «فَتَأْتُونَ أَفْوَاجًۭا» — "and you come in crowds" (78:18)

Evidence from the text

Four uses show crowds of the Day: gathered from every community (27:83), rushing with others into the Fire (38:59), thrown in and questioned by the custodians (67:8), come at the blowing of the Horn (78:18). The last use reverses the scene: the crowd enters "the Law of God" (110:2), when the help comes. The word does not judge: it states the collective movement, and the sentence states where it leads.

Distinctions

• زمر — the troop, the set that advances in rank toward its destination; فوج states the crowd itself

See also

حشر (to gather)