What does « Vegetables / Herbs » mean in the Quran?
Discover the meaning of the word Vegetables / Herbs (بقل) 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.
بقل
Vegetables / Herbs
Root: ب - ق - ل
Quranic language 1 verse
Updated on 29 May 2026 at 7:00 AM
📖 1 min read
Definition of Vegetables / Herbs
Allah says: 'Its herbs (baqlihâ), its cucumbers' (Al-Baqara: 61).
Al-baql refers to plants whose leaves are eaten, like garden herbs.
The Children of Israel asked for these earthly vegetables, having grown tired of the heavenly food.
Al-bâqila: the fava bean, because it grows quickly.
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.