j-w-s

Description

The Arabic root ج-و-س (j-w-s) carries the core meaning of traversing, wandering through, or searching thoroughly within a place, often with connotations of inspection or movement with purpose. In its Quranic usage, it appears in Surah Al-Isra (17:5) in the phrase "فَجَاسُوا خِلَالَ الدِّيَارِ" (fa-jāsū khilāla al-diyār), describing how enemies penetrated and moved throughout the dwellings of the Israelites as a divine punishment. This usage emphasizes the thoroughness and invasiveness of the incursion, conveying how completely the land was overtaken and searched through during the fulfillment of Allah's warning.