Root ض-ل-ل (Ḍalla) — Straying and Not Returning
ضَلَّ is the verb of going astray. Its core sense is not merely to wander off but to move away from the correct path and not come back to it — not to be guided back. It is the direct opposite of هُدَى.
Constructions and Maṣdars
| Arabic | Note |
|---|---|
| ضَلَّ عَنِ الطَّرِيقِ | With the preposition عَنْ — he strayed from the way |
| ضَلَّ الطَّرِيقَ | Directly transitive — both constructions are valid |
| ضَلَال | Maṣdar |
| ضَلَالَة | Also a maṣdar |
| الضَّالّ / الضَّالِّين | Ism fāʿil, and its sound masculine plural |
ضَلَّ is a مُضَاعَف (doubled/geminate) verb — see [[mudaaf-doubled-verbs]].
Examples from the Quran
سُورَة الفَاتِحَة
وَلَا الضَّالِّينَ
الضَّالِّينَ is the plural of الضَّالّ, formed as a جَمْع مُذَكَّر سَالِم.
How Do We Know It Is Majrūr?
Not from the فَتْحَة visible on the nūn — that is not the case marker at all. In a sound masculine plural the sign is a letter:
| Case | Sign |
|---|---|
| Marfūʿ | وَاو |
| Manṣūb | يَاء |
| Majrūr | يَاء |
الضَّالِّينَ is مَجرُور as a مَعطُوف following المَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ, and its sign of jarr is the يَاء. See [[jama-muzakar-salim]].
سُورَة يُوسُف — إِنَّ أَبَانَا لَفِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ
إِذْ قَالُوا لَيُوسُفُ وَأَخُوهُ أَحَبُّ إِلَىٰ أَبِينَا مِنَّا وَنَحْنُ عُصْبَةٌ إِنَّ أَبَانَا لَفِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ (12:8)
What the Brothers Meant — and Did Not Mean
Not Religious Misguidance
A crucial point of tafsīr. ضَلَال in the brothers' speech is not deviation in matters of دِين. Yaʿqūb عليه السلام was a prophet; had they meant that he had gone astray in religion, their words would have amounted to kufr.
What they meant was that he was straying from the sensible course — moving away from what logic, as they saw it, dictated: favouring two young children over ten grown, strong sons who were materially far more valuable to him. In their assessment, "he is not thinking correctly."
مُبِين completes the accusation: clearly so, in their eyes. See [[mubeen]] and [[usba]].
Attribution
Dr. V. Abdur Raheem is here paraphrasing this understanding from an earlier tafsīr rather than originating it.
Session References
- Surah Yusuf Session 9: ضَلَّ with and without عَنْ; ضَلَال / ضَلَالَة both maṣdars; the iʿrāb of الضَّالِّينَ in al-Fātiḥah; and why ضَلَال in Āyah 8 cannot mean religious misguidance.