فتق

Core meaning

To open what was welded: to part in two a mass of one piece.

Uses

1. فَتَقَ → "to split apart" : to separate what formed a single block; the verb answers رَتْق, the joined mass.

   • «كَانَتَا رَتْقًۭا فَفَتَقْنَٰهُمَا» — "were a joined mass, and We split them apart" (21:30)

Evidence from the text

The word appears only once, set against its opposite in the same sentence: the heavens and the earth formed a single mass, رَتْقًا, then God split them apart (21:30). The verse presents it as a fact one can see, and puts it as a question to those who disowned: "have they not seen"? To split apart is to make two of what was one.

Distinctions

• رتق — the prior state: the mass joined in one piece, which فتق undoes
• فطر — to cleave so as to bring forth: the opening from which a creation comes, whereas فتق separates two parts of one block

See also

شقق (to split in two)