sh-j-r

Description

The Arabic root شجر (sh-j-r) carries the core meaning of trees, vegetation, and things that grow upward from the earth with branches. In the Quran, this root appears in various forms to describe literal trees like the olive and fig, the blessed tree of light in Ayat al-Nur, the forbidden tree in Paradise, and the cursed tree of Zaqqum in Hell. The root serves significant theological purposes by illustrating divine provision through beneficial trees, testing human obedience through forbidden trees, and symbolizing spiritual concepts like good and evil through the metaphor of blessed versus accursed trees.