نسب

Core meaning

The bond of filiation that ties one person to another by birth.

Uses

1. نَسَب → "lineage" : the bond of birth, instituted by God among humans, and wrongly attributed to God.

   • «فَجَعَلَهُۥ نَسَبًۭا وَصِهْرًۭا» — "and made of him lineage and kinship by marriage" (25:54)
   • «وَجَعَلُوا۟ بَيْنَهُۥ وَبَيْنَ ٱلْجِنَّةِ نَسَبًۭا» — "And they have set up a lineage between Him and the Occulted" (37:158)

2. أَنسَاب → "ties of lineage" : the plural: the ties that cease to count on the Day.

   • «فَلَآ أَنسَابَ بَيْنَهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍۢ» — "there will be no ties of lineage between them that day" (23:101)

Evidence from the text

In 25:54, God creates the human from water and makes of him "lineage and kinship by marriage": the bond of birth and the bond of marriage, two orders He institutes. In 23:101, when the Horn is blown, these ties no longer count, and they do not question one another.

In 37:158, the same word serves the critique: those who set up a lineage between God and the Occulted apply to Him a bond that belongs only to creatures. What follows declares God above what they describe (37:159).

Distinctions

• رحم — the womb and the bonds it creates; نسب says filiation as a named attachment.
• صهر — the bond by marriage, joined to filiation in 25:54.