زلق

Core meaning

To make lose footing: a surface where nothing holds, or looks that would make one fall.

Uses

1. زَلَقًا → "slippery" : the outcrop become such that nothing holds on it any more.

   • «فَتُصْبِحَ صَعِيدًۭا زَلَقًا» — "so that it becomes a slippery outcrop" (18:40)

2. لَيُزْلِقُونَكَ → "to trip up" : to make someone lose his footing, here by the force of looks.

   • «لَيُزْلِقُونَكَ بِأَبْصَٰرِهِمْ» — "with their sights" (68:51)

Evidence from the text

In 18:40, the garden loses what bore it: a punishment from the sky makes it "a slippery outcrop", or its water sinks out of reach. In 68:51, it is the looks of those who disown, when they hear the Reminder, that would make the messenger lose his footing; and they add: "He is surely deranged." (68:51). In both cases, the footing gives way under a force that comes from elsewhere.

Distinctions

• زلل — to slip: the foot that gives way, whereas زلق says the surface or the force that makes one lose footing

See also

بصر (sight)