Show Notes
ב-ל-ה (bet–lamed–he) / ب–ل–و (bāʾ–lām–wāw)
Terror; trouble; troubled them in building
In the Hebrew Bible: ballahah, terror · balah, trouble
In the Qurʾan: balaw, And surely We will test you · ibtalā, tried · balāʾ, a trial · mubtalī, will test you
Sound-law correspondence and an explicit cognate link. nāqiṣ, at the lām: weak final as he.
Passages
- Job 18:11: Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall chase him at his heels.
- Ezekiel 27:36: The merchants among the peoples hiss at you; you are become a terror, and you shall nevermore have any being.
- Ezra 4:4: Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,
- Romans 9:2: that I have great sorrow and unceasing pain in my heart.
- Sūrat al-Ṣāffāt سورة الصافات “Those who set the Ranks” 37:106: Lo! that verily was a clear test.
- Sūrat al-ʾAḥzāb سورة الأحزاب “The Combined Forces” 33:11: There were the believers sorely tried, and shaken with a mighty shock.
- Sūrat al-Muʾminūn سورة المؤمنون “The Believers” 23:30: Lo! herein verily are portents, for lo! We are ever putting (mankind) to the test.
Opening music: Touchia Ḥijāz, Thami Ben Abdelkrim, violin, with percussion (Morocco, 1920s), public domain. Source: gallica.bnf.fr / BnF, Archives de la Parole.
The digital voice Fāṭima (فَاطِمَة) is named in honor of the learned women of al-Andalus, particularly Fāṭima bint Yaḥyā al-Maghāmī, Fāṭima al-Sharrāṭ, and Fāṭima bint al-Muthannā, whose legacies embody the Andalusian traditions of scriptural scholarship, jurisprudence, education, and wisdom.
What is Triliteral Root of the Day?
Every day, one Semitic triliteral root heard in three scriptures: the root in Hebrew and Arabic, how it functions, and a passage from the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Qurʾan, read in the original languages with the English. Two or three minutes a day, from OCABS on the Ephesus School Network.