'-s-w

Description

The Arabic root ع-ص-و ('-ṣ-w) carries the core meaning of a staff, rod, or stick used for support, authority, or as an instrument of power. In the Quran, this root appears prominently in the narratives of Moses, where his staff serves as a miraculous sign of divine power, transforming into a serpent and parting the sea, and in the story of the magicians whose staffs competed against Moses' staff. The root thus signifies both the physical object and its symbolic representation of divine authority, prophetic signs, and the distinction between true miracles and illusion.