إبليس

See also: ابلیس

Arabic

Etymology

Theorised to come from Ancient Greek διάβολος (diábolos, devil, accuser, slanderer). Alternatively, it has been maintained to originate from the trilateral root ب ل س (b l s) with the meaning of "despairing [of God's mercy] or confounded [and unable to see the right course]" from the verb أَبْلَسَ (ʔablasa). This would, however, require the trilateral root to take the form if'īl which, excepting إحليل, is usually associated with words of non-Arabic origin (see: إدريس, إكليل, إنجيل, إبريز, and إبريق).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʔib.liːs/

Proper noun

إِبْلِيس • (ʔiblīsm

  1. (religion) Iblis, Satan; the Devil.
    • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 2:34:
      وَإِذْ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ ٱسْجُدُوا لِآدَمَ فَسَجَدُوا إِلَّا إِبْلِيسَ أَبَى وَٱسْتَكْبَرَ وَكَانَ مِنَ الْكَافِرِينَ
      waʔiḏ qulnā lilmalāʔikati sjudū liʔādama fasajadū ʔillā ʔiblīsa ʔabā wastakbara wakāna mina l-kāfirīna
      And [mention] when We said to the angels, "Prostrate before Adam"; so they prostrated, except for Iblees. He refused and was arrogant and became of the disbelievers.

Declension

Declension of noun إِبْلِيس (ʔiblīs)
singular basic singular diptote
indefinite definite construct
informal إِبْلِيس
ʔiblīs
nominative إِبْلِيسُ
ʔiblīsu
accusative إِبْلِيسَ
ʔiblīsa
genitive إِبْلِيسَ
ʔiblīsa

Descendants

  • Maltese: blis
  • Azerbaijani: iblis
  • Bashkir: иблис (iblis)
  • English: Iblis, Iblees, Eblis
  • Indonesian: iblis
  • Kazakh: ібіліс (ıbılıs)
  • Kyrgyz: ибилис (ibilis)
  • Northern Kurdish: îblîs
  • Ottoman Turkish: ابلیس (iblis)
    > Turkish: iblis (inherited)
  • Portuguese: beliz
  • Swahili: Ibilisi
  • Tatar: иблис (iblis)
  • Toba Batak: ᯘᯪᯅᯬᯞᯪᯘ᯲ (sibolis)
  • Uyghur: ئىبلىس (iblis)
  • Uzbek: iblis
  • Yoruba: bìlísì

References