صعق

Core meaning

To be struck by a sudden blow that fells: the thunderbolt, and the state of the one it strikes.

Uses

1. ٱلصَّٰعِقَة, ٱلصَّوَٰعِق → "the thunderbolt" : the blow from the sky that seizes in a single stroke.

   • «فَأَخَذَتْكُمُ ٱلصَّٰعِقَةُ وَأَنتُمْ تَنظُرُونَ» — "the thunderbolt seized you then, while you looked on" (2:55)
   • «وَيُرْسِلُ ٱلصَّوَٰعِقَ» — "and He sends the thunderbolt" (13:13)

2. صَعِقًا, صَعِقَ, يُصْعَقُونَ → "thunderstruck", "to be thunderstruck" : the effect without the flash: to be felled at a stroke.

   • «وَخَرَّ مُوسَىٰ صَعِقًۭا» — "and Moussa fell thunderstruck" (7:143)
   • «يَوْمَهُمُ ٱلَّذِى فِيهِ يُصْعَقُونَ» — "their day in which they will be thunderstruck" (52:45)

Evidence from the text

The thunderbolt strikes at a stroke, and often before the eyes of those it strikes: "while you looked on" (2:55), "while they were looking on" (51:44). It answers the demand to see God openly (2:55, 4:153) and the refusal of guidance (41:17), and the text makes it a measure for warning: "a thunderbolt like the thunderbolt of the Aad and the Thamud" (41:13).

The participle and the verb state the effect alone. Moussa falls thunderstruck when his Guardian unveils Himself to the mountain (7:143), and then "came to" (7:143); at the blowing of the Horn, whoever is in the heavens and on the earth will be thunderstruck (39:68); it is the day that those who must be left will meet (52:45).

Distinctions

• برق — lightning: the light that blinds, whereas the thunderbolt is the blow that strikes
• رعد — thunder: the noise that goes with the storm