Discover the meaning of the word Onion (بصل) in the Quran, with 1 verse in which it appears, and a detailed explanation from Al-Raghib al-Asfahani's Mufradat fi gharib al-Qur'an.
بصل
Onion
Root: ب - ص - ل
Quranic language 1 verse
Updated on 29 May 2026 at 7:00 AM
📖 1 min read
Definition of Onion
Al-basal (onion): known in Allah's words: 'And its lentils and its onions (basalihâ)' (Al-Baqara: 61).
The Children of Israel asked for these earthly vegetables in exchange for the heavenly manna and quails.
The iron helmet is called 'baydat al-hadîd' because it resembles an onion in its layered shape.
And [recall] when you said, "O Moses, we can never endure one [kind of] food. So call upon your Lord to bring forth for us from the earth its green herbs and its cucumbers and its garlic and its lentils and its onions." [Moses] said, "Would you exchange what is better for what is less? Go into [any] settlement and indeed, you will have what you have asked." And they were covered with humiliation and poverty and returned with anger from Allah [upon them]. That was because they [repeatedly] disbelieved in the signs of Allah and killed the prophets without right. That was because they disobeyed and were [habitually] transgressing.