Ayah 51:29 — Verse and language insights

Surah 51:29

فَأَقْبَلَتِ امْرَأَتُهُ فِي صَرَّةٍ فَصَكَّتْ وَجْهَهَا وَقَالَتْ عَجُوزٌ عَقِيمٌ

“Then his wife came forward with a loud voice; she slapped her face and said: “A barren old woman!””.

Language points and insights

Verb nuance: أَقْبَل

فَأَقْبَلَتِ امْرَأَتُهُ فِي صَرَّةٍ

أَقْبَل (to come forward/approach/turn towards) here allows two readings:

  • “Then his wife came forward with a cry (of alarm/shock).”
  • “Then his wife began to cry out.” (أَقْبَل used as “beginning to do an act”)
Sound and shock: صَرَّةٍ

صَرَّةٍ

A sound like a cry or screeching, reflecting the sound made when shocked.

Strike action: صَكَّتْ

صَكَّتْ

From صَكَّ (to strike). With the face it means “to slap” (akin to لَطَمَ).

State and form: عَقِيم

عَقِيم

Refers to something “ineffectual/ineffective”. With a person it means “barren/sterile”. رِيح عَقِيم is a wind that brings nothing beneficial.

Pattern: فَعِيل (Fa’eel) indicates a permanent/inherent state, not merely circumstantial (e.g., not just post‑menopause).

This highlights that Ibrahim’s (as) wife was never able to have children, explaining her exaggerated shocked reaction.

Added context: she was elderly, well past childbearing; she was never able to conceive over decades of marriage whilst Ibrahim (as) had Isma’eel with Hajar. This impossible miraculous news naturally had a massive emotional impact on her.

Age and capacity: عَجُوزٌ

عَجُوزٌ

From عَجْز (inability/incapacity), connected to weakness and lack of power or capacity. Used for an elderly person due to associated weakness.

  • Can refer to weakness in resolve and imply loss of hope and despair.
  • Implies she had lost resolve and hope regarding having children.
  • Can also imply falling short in accomplishing something—seen here as feeling short in fulfilling her role as a wife.
Astonishment and self-identification

وَقَالَتْ عَجُوزٌ عَقِيمٌ

“Old woman. Barren!” is an expression of astonishment.

  • Not “I am old and barren”, but a stark self-identification: “Old. Barren.”
  • As if her essence is defined by these two conditions—capturing the shock.
  • Understood as: “How, whilst I am an old and barren woman?!”
Shock, cry, and gesture

Shock expressed as sound and gesture

She “came forward in a cry/began to cry out” (صَرَّةٍ), and “slapped her face” (صَكَّتْ وَجْهَهَا)—a combined vocal and physical response to the impossible news, matching the depth of her lifelong barrenness and elderly state.

صَرَّةٍ: cry/screech of shock صَكَّتْ: to strike; with face = slap عَقِيم (Fa’eel): permanent/inherent barrenness عَجُوزٌ: age/weakness; loss of hope; feeling of falling short
Ayah 29