ثرى

Core meaning

The moist earth beneath the surface: the lowest of what is, where the list of what belongs to God comes to an end.

Uses

1. ٱلثَّرَىٰ → "the moist soil" : the layer of damp earth, below the ground one treads.

   • «وَمَا تَحْتَ ٱلثَّرَىٰ» — "and whatever is beneath the moist soil" (20:6)

Evidence from the text

The word appears only once, at the end of a list that embraces everything: "To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens, whatever is on the earth, whatever is between them, and whatever is beneath the moist soil" (20:6). The first three terms run from top to bottom; the fourth goes lower still, beneath the surface. The moist soil marks the lower limit: even what is hidden beneath it belongs to God.

Distinctions

• ترب — earth, the matter from which the human is drawn; ثرى is the damp earth below
• ارض — the earth as the inhabited surface

See also

تحت (beneath)