مصحف

Arabic

Etymology

Borrowed from Ge'ez መጽሐፍ (mäṣḥäf), as in Ethiopian Semitic such is the usual word for “book” and the root more generally relates to the concept of “writing”. The other words in the Arabic root ص ح ف (ṣ-ḥ-f) are from this noun.

According to the fifteenth-century scholar al-Suyūṭī in his book Al-Itqān fī ʿulūm al-Qurʾān, the early Muslims debated what to call a copy of the Qur'an following Muhammad's death. One person suggested سِفْر (sifr), which refers to a book of the Bible in Christianity and Judaism. However مُصْحَف (muṣḥaf), which al-Suyūṭī explicitly says is an Ethiopian word, was chosen to better distinguish between the Bible and the Qur'an.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /musˤ.ħaf/, /masˤ.ħaf/

Noun

مُصْحَف or مَصْحَف • (muṣḥaf or maṣḥaf) m (plural مَصَاحِف (maṣāḥif))

Declension

Declension of noun مُصْحَف (muṣḥaf)‎; مَصْحَف (maṣḥaf)

Singular	basic singular triptote
Singular	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	مُصْحَف‎; مَصْحَف muṣḥaf‎; maṣḥaf	الْمُصْحَف‎; الْمَصْحَف al-muṣḥaf‎; al-maṣḥaf	مُصْحَف‎; مَصْحَف muṣḥaf‎; maṣḥaf
Nominative	مُصْحَفٌ‎; مَصْحَفٌ muṣḥafun‎; maṣḥafun	الْمُصْحَفُ‎; الْمَصْحَفُ al-muṣḥafu‎; al-maṣḥafu	مُصْحَفُ‎; مَصْحَفُ muṣḥafu‎; maṣḥafu
Accusative	مُصْحَفًا‎; مَصْحَفًا muṣḥafan‎; maṣḥafan	الْمُصْحَفَ‎; الْمَصْحَفَ al-muṣḥafa‎; al-maṣḥafa	مُصْحَفَ‎; مَصْحَفَ muṣḥafa‎; maṣḥafa
Genitive	مُصْحَفٍ‎; مَصْحَفٍ muṣḥafin‎; maṣḥafin	الْمُصْحَفِ‎; الْمَصْحَفِ al-muṣḥafi‎; al-maṣḥafi	مُصْحَفِ‎; مَصْحَفِ muṣḥafi‎; maṣḥafi
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	مُصْحَفَيْن‎; مَصْحَفَيْن muṣḥafayn‎; maṣḥafayn	الْمُصْحَفَيْن‎; الْمَصْحَفَيْن al-muṣḥafayn‎; al-maṣḥafayn	مُصْحَفَيْ‎; مَصْحَفَيْ muṣḥafay‎; maṣḥafay
Nominative	مُصْحَفَانِ‎; مَصْحَفَانِ muṣḥafāni‎; maṣḥafāni	الْمُصْحَفَانِ‎; الْمَصْحَفَانِ al-muṣḥafāni‎; al-maṣḥafāni	مُصْحَفَا‎; مَصْحَفَا muṣḥafā‎; maṣḥafā
Accusative	مُصْحَفَيْنِ‎; مَصْحَفَيْنِ muṣḥafayni‎; maṣḥafayni	الْمُصْحَفَيْنِ‎; الْمَصْحَفَيْنِ al-muṣḥafayni‎; al-maṣḥafayni	مُصْحَفَيْ‎; مَصْحَفَيْ muṣḥafay‎; maṣḥafay
Genitive	مُصْحَفَيْنِ‎; مَصْحَفَيْنِ muṣḥafayni‎; maṣḥafayni	الْمُصْحَفَيْنِ‎; الْمَصْحَفَيْنِ al-muṣḥafayni‎; al-maṣḥafayni	مُصْحَفَيْ‎; مَصْحَفَيْ muṣḥafay‎; maṣḥafay
Plural	basic broken plural diptote
Plural	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	مَصَاحِف maṣāḥif	الْمَصَاحِف al-maṣāḥif	مَصَاحِف maṣāḥif
Nominative	مَصَاحِفُ maṣāḥifu	الْمَصَاحِفُ al-maṣāḥifu	مَصَاحِفُ maṣāḥifu
Accusative	مَصَاحِفَ maṣāḥifa	الْمَصَاحِفَ al-maṣāḥifa	مَصَاحِفَ maṣāḥifa
Genitive	مَصَاحِفَ maṣāḥifa	الْمَصَاحِفِ al-maṣāḥifi	مَصَاحِفِ maṣāḥifi

Descendants

→ Hebrew: מִצְחָף (mitskháf)
→ Lishana Deni: מסחף (masḥaf, “book”)
→ Swahili: msahafu
→ Turkish: mushaf

References

Fraenkel, Siegmund (1886) Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 248
Jeffery, Arthur (1938) The Foreign Vocabulary of the Qurʾān (Gaekwad’s Oriental Series; 79), Baroda: Oriental Institute, pages 192–194
Leslau, Wolf (1991) “ጸሐፈ”, in Comparative Dictionary of Geʿez (Classical Ethiopic), 2nd edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, →ISBN, page 552
Nöldeke, Theodor (1910) Neue Beiträge zur semitischen Sprachwissenschaft‎ (in German), Straßburg: Karl J. Trübner, pages 49–50

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