d-h-k

Description

The Arabic root ضحك (d-ḥ-k) carries the core meaning of laughter and expressing joy or amusement, appearing in the Quran in contexts ranging from human responses to divine messages to descriptions of the blessed in Paradise. In Quranic usage, it often contrasts with weeping (بكاء) to emphasize the duality of human emotional states and spiritual conditions, such as when believers are warned not to laugh much in this worldly life but will laugh abundantly in the Hereafter as a reward. The root also appears in the story of Sarah laughing upon receiving news of Isaac's birth, illustrating spontaneous human reactions to God's unexpected decree.