Getting Some Shuteye

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Getting Some Shuteye

Imam Marc Manley

Sep 7

 

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Exploring Arabic Vocabulary: Nawm and Ruqūd

In English we have many words for sleeping: slumber, doze, nap, snooze, and of course sleep. And although we have many synonyms for sleep it’s not readily apparent what the difference is between these words. Similarly in Arabic there are several words for sleep of which we’ll examine two: nawm (نوم) and ruqūd ( قود).

As you are already aware, most words in Arabic are derived from verbal roots, in this case nūn+wāw+mīm (ن+و+م) and rā’+qāf+dāl (ر+ق+د) of which we have nāma/yanāmu (نَامَ يَنَامُ) and raqada/yarqudu (رَقَدَ يَرْقُدُ). So how do these two forms of sleep differ in Arabic?

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Nawm is what we commonly refer to as sleep but with an emphasis on it being a form of rest or relaxation. It differs from ruqūd in that the person sleeping is aware to a lesser or greater degree the passage of time as well as sensations such as pain or sound, both of which can rouse a person from their sleep.

أَمَّا النَّوْمُ فَهُوَ حَالَةُ سُبَاتٍ لِلْجِسْمِ وَلِلْعَقْلِ مَعًا ، أَيْ قِلَّةُ نَشَاطٍ لَا غَيْرَ ((اِسْتِرْخَاء)). يَبْقَى السَّمْعُ وَالإِحْسَاسُ فِي حَالَةِ فَعَالِيَّةٍ; فَلَوْ أَصَابَتِ الإِنْسَانَ نَوْبَةٌ مِنَ الأَلَمِ وَهُوَ نَائِمٌ فَهُوَ يَسْتَيْقِظُ لِيَشْعُرَ وَيُعَانِي مِنْ ذَلِكَ الأَلَمِ

“As for sleep, it is a state of dormancy for both the body and the mind, meaning a reduction in activity, nothing more (relaxation/istifkhā’). Hearing and sensation remain active, so if a person experiences a bout of pain while sleeping, they wake up to feel and suffer from that pain.”

Ruqūd on the other hand is a much deeper form of sleep. As stated here, 

الرقود هي حالةٌ عكْسَ حالةِ اليَقَظَةِ التي يَشْعُرُ فيها الإِنسانُ بما حَوْلَهُ ، ففي حالةِ الرقود لا يشعر الإنسان بأيّ إحْساسٍ ، فيكون العقل مُغَيَّبًا ، و بالتالي لا يشعر بأيّ شعورٍ في جِسْمِهِ ولا يشعر بِمُرورِ الوقت كما حَصَلَ مع أهلِ الكهفِ ، فعندما بَعَثَهُم الله تعالى: قَالُوا۟ لَبِثْنَا يَوْمًا أَوْ بَعْضَ يَوْمٍۢ ۚ

“Sleep is a state opposite to wakefulness, in which a person is aware of their surroundings. In the state of sleep, a person feels nothing, and the mind is absent, therefore they feel nothing in their body and are unaware of the passage of time. This is similar to what happened with the People of the Cave; when Allah resurrected them, they said, ‘We remained asleep for a day or perhaps part of a day’.”

So next time you take a nap, think about the various kinds of sleep in Arabic.

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