Near-synonyms: to stand up, to sit, to lie down, to sleep and to wake up

To stand up

قامَ / يَقُومُ

This verb, which properly means « to stand up », also carries the idea of uprightness and stability, as in the Qur’anic words قَيُّوم, قَيِّم or مستقيم.

Note: the adjectives قيّم and مستقيم thus evoke a « vertical » and therefore « ascending » uprightness. One also says قام بـ, in the sense of « to carry out something ».

وَإِذَا قَامُوا إِلَى الصَّلَاةِ قَامُوا كُسَالَى يُرَاءُونَ النَّاسَ وَلَا يَذْكُرُونَ اللَّهَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا
And when they stand up for prayer, they stand up lazily, making a show before people, and they do not remember God except a little. (4:142)

وقَف ــِـ

This verb means « to stand » or « to stop ».

وَلَوْ تَرَى إِذْ وُقِفُوا عَلَى النَّارِ فَقَالُوا يَا لَيْتَنَا نُرَدُّ
If you could see when they are made to stand before the Fire and say: « If only we could be sent back [to the lower world]! » (6:27)

نصِب ــَـ

The root of this verb means « to set up », « to stand up » or « to tire ». Standing for a long time being exhausting, the connection seems fairly evident — somewhat as one says in French « s’éreinter ».

فَإِذَا فَرَغْتَ فَانْصَبْ وَإِلَى رَبِّكَ فَارْغَبْ
And when you are free [of your tasks], then exert yourself, and to your Lord turn with longing. (94:7-8)

To lie down

ضجَع ــَـ / اِضْطَجَعَ

These two verbs mean « to put one’s side against the ground ». The second (Form VIII, where the ت becomes ط) is more common. One also says ضجعت الشمس, in the sense of « to incline » or « to decline ». In the Qur’an, only the place-noun مَضْجَع is found, in the plural, as in the verse below.

تَتَجَافَى جُنُوبُهُمْ عَنِ الْمَضَاجِعِ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ خَوْفًا وَطَمَعًا وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنْفِقُونَ
Their sides shun their beds as they call upon their Lord in fear and hope, and they spend from what We have provided them. (32:16)

تمدّد

The root of this verb means « to stretch out ». In accordance with the derivation, Form V thus means « to stretch oneself out ». It is not found in the Qur’an, but Form I is.

وَالْأَرْضَ مَدَدْنَاهَا وَأَلْقَيْنَا فِيهَا رَوَاسِيَ وَأَنْبَتْنَا فِيهَا مِنْ كُلِّ زَوْجٍ بَهِيجٍ
And the Earth! We have spread it out, cast firm mountains upon it, and made grow upon it every delightful kind. (50:7)

To sit

جلَس ــِـ / قعَد ــُـ

The verb قعد evokes a stability that جلس does not. The Qur’an calls the foundations of the house قواعِد.

Some hold that قعد means « to sit down from a standing position », while جلس means « to sit down from a lying position ». But usage reveals nothing evident on this. Nevertheless, when one moves from standing to sitting, one gains stability, which is not the case when moving from lying to sitting.

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا قِيلَ لَكُمْ تَفَسَّحُوا فِي الْمَجَالِسِ فَافْسَحُوا يَفْسَحِ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ
O you who are loyal (and believe)! When you are told: « Make room! » in the assemblies, then make room; God will make room for you! (58:11)

فَلَا تَقْعُدْ بَعْدَ الذِّكْرَى مَعَ الْقَوْمِ الظَّالِمِينَ
Do not sit (habitually), after the reminder, with the wrongdoing people. (6:68)

Note: the prohibition of sitting with wrongdoing people evidently means « cultivating the company » of such people (which the notion of stability in the verb قعد indicates), and not never sitting with them at all.

To sleep

نامَ / يَنامُ

This root evokes sleep in general.

وَهُوَ الَّذِي جَعَلَ لَكُمُ اللَّيْلَ لِبَاسًا وَالنَّوْمَ سُبَاتًا وَجَعَلَ النَّهَارَ نُشُورًا
It is He who has made the night a garment for you and sleep a repose, and has made the day a resurrection. (25:47)

وسِن / يَوْسَنُ

This root is mentioned only in the form سِنة. It is the maṣdar corresponding to the verb above. It means the drowsiness that precedes sleep. According to the classical dictionaries, this term can also evoke languor.

اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ لَا تَأْخُذُهُ سِنَةٌ وَلَا نَوْمٌ
God! There is no deity but He, the Living, the Self-Subsisting. Neither drowsiness nor sleep takes hold of Him. (2:255)

نعَس ــَـ

According to the classical dictionaries, this term can be understood like the previous one (a light sleep or languor) or as a deep sleep. In the Qur’an, the word نُعاس (maṣdar of this verb) appears twice and, in that context, it evokes a sleep following great fatigue.

ثُمَّ أَنْزَلَ عَلَيْكُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ الْغَمِّ أَمَنَةً نُعَاسًا يَغْشَى طَائِفَةً مِنْكُمْ
After the distress, He sent down upon you security, a drowsiness that enveloped a group of you. (3:154)

هجَع ــَـ

According to some linguists and commentators, this term evokes night-time sleep exclusively. It would thus be the opposite of قال / يقيل (see below). According to others, it refers to interrupted, or light, sleep.

كَانُواْ قَلِيلاً مِّن ٱللَّيْلِ مَا يَهْجَعُونَ
They used to sleep little of the night. (51:17)

رقَد ــُـ

According to the classical dictionaries, this term can mean sleep by day or by night. According to some linguists, it refers to long sleep. This root appears in the Qur’an in two contexts evoking a long sleep (that of death for the second). But most commentators see in it a synonym of نَوْم, that is, sleep in general. The word رُقُود is the maṣdar of this verb, and the word مَرْقَد the place-noun.

وَتَحْسَبُهُمْ أَيْقَاظاً وَهُمْ رُقُودٌ
You would have thought them awake, while they were asleep. (18:18)

قَالُوا يَا وَيْلَنَا مَنْ بَعَثَنَا مِنْ مَرْقَدِنَا هَذَا
They will say: « Woe to us! Who has raised us from our resting-place? » (36:52)

قال / يَقِيل

This root evokes the midday nap, and thus daytime sleep exclusively. It must not be confused with that of the verb قال يقول (« to say »), especially since in the Qur’an it appears only once, in the form of an active participle that has the same form as for the latter verb.

وَكَمْ مِنْ قَرْيَةٍ أَهْلَكْنَاهَا فَجَاءَهَا بَأْسُنَا بَيَاتًا أَوْ هُمْ قَائِلُونَ
How many a town have We destroyed! Our might came upon them by night or while they were taking their midday rest. (7:4)

To wake up

اِسْتَيْقَظَ

This Form X verb is the most common for « to wake up ». Forms I and V are also in use. In the Qur’an, this root is found only once, in the form of an adjectival plural, in the passage below.

وَتَحْسَبُهُمْ أَيْقَاظًا وَهُمْ رُقُودٌ
You would have thought them awake, while they were asleep. (18:18)

أَفاق / يُفِيقُ

This verb means « to recover one’s senses », or « to recover from something »: drunkenness, a faint, a malaise, an illness, etc. Its root is the same as فَوْق (above), quite similar to the French expression « reprendre le dessus ».

Caution: in modern Arabic one often hears the verb فاق يفيق for « to wake up ». This is originally a dialectal usage that tends to prevail, for in classical Arabic it means « to be above something; to surpass ».

وَخَرَّ مُوسَى صَعِقًا فَلَمَّا أَفَاقَ قَالَ سُبْحَانَكَ تُبْتُ إِلَيْكَ وَأَنَا أَوَّلُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
And Moses fell down unconscious. When he came to, he cried: « Glory to You! I turn to You [in repentance], and I am the first of the loyal (or believers)! » (7:143)