sujud · noun — prostration. It carries an Arena rating of 1556, earned across 15 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, sujud ranks #2,567 of 17,137 for Most Elegant Words, #3,150 of 17,138 for Most Sublime Words, #3,304 of 17,136 for Most Beautiful Words, #3,737 of 17,150 for Most Vivid Words.
Why “sujud” is a great word
Sujud is the physical act of prostration, a ritual gesture of total submission to God performed during Islamic prayer. Borrowed from Arabic سُجُود (sujūd, 'prostration, bowing down'), from the root س-ج-د (s-j-d) relating to bowing down or prostrating. Unlike *rukūʿ*, which denotes the bow from the waist with hands upon knees, or the abstract attitude of reverence, *sujud* is the complete, topographic surrender of the body to the earth: the forehead and nose, the palms, the knees, and the toes all pressed against the ground in a geometry of devotion. It is the coolness of a prayer mat at dawn, the exact silhouette of limbs upon a rug, and the whispered breath against the floor—the body’s ultimate vocabulary for what words cannot express.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
Borrowed from Arabic سُجُود (sujūd).
noun
- prostratione.g.“Then, the person should stand up and repeat the same process (e.g. recite the first chapter of the Quran; recite another chapter of the Quran, bow, and do the two sujuds).” — 2014, Sayyid Moustafa Al-Qazwini, Discovering Islam:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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