Discover the meaning of the term Al-rbʿ (ربع) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 5 min readWith damma (in Persian: chaharom hisse, the fourth part). With fatha: dwelling and residence. With kasra: the fever that comes after two days, as will be explained under ghub.
Riba'at ad-dar: its middle; one says: 'I saw him in the riba'a of the road', that is, I saw him in the middle, at a spot where there is no building. Ar-rabba': the two seasons of spring; its singular is rab'. Ar-rabba': plural of ar-rab', the young of the she-camel when she gives birth in spring. Al-Asma'i said: I heard 'Isa ibn 'Umar say: I heard the Arabs recite: 'and 'Ulba, from which his rabba'i was snatched away... and 'Ulba at the shepherd's afternoon rest, and a spring pasture', that is, a place of spring growth. One says: 'the man a'raba arba'an' when a child is born to him in his youth, and his offspring is ruba'iyyun; and idafan when a child is born to him after he has grown old, and his offspring is sayfiyyun. Another said: the origin of this lies in the breeding of camels: the first offspring comes only in spring; the she-camel that produces at that time is called al-murba', and her young ar-rab'. What is born at the end of the breeding season is called al-hab'; one says: he has neither rab' nor hab'. Al-mutarabb' is the place to which people go out in the days of spring and where they encamp at pasture; one says: the people irtabba' and tarabbaw in such a place.
Ar-rabi', with rabu'an: he entered. Camels: he let them loose to pasture; she ate as she wished and drank. With rab'an (of a place): he settled and remained. So-and-so: he stopped and waited. A thing: he made it four-cornered; he made it into four parts. At-tarbi': making a thing four-cornered. In the adhan: that the muezzin say 'Allah akbar' four times at the start of the call. Ar-rab': the house (plurals raba', rubu', arba', arba'). What surrounds the house. The dwelling. The quarter. One of middle stature. The bier. Ar-rabba': he who recites his ruba'iyya (quatrain). Sheep reach breeding age in the fourth year, cows and horses in the fifth, camels in the seventh. Ar-raba'iyya: the tooth between the thaniyya (second incisor) and the canine; they are four: two raba'iyyat in the upper jaw, two in the lower jaw. Ar-rub': the young of the she-camel when she gives birth to it (plural raba' and arba'; the female is rab'a, plural raba'). Ar-rub': one part of four. Ar-rub': the quarter. Ar-rab'a: the moderate one; one says: a rab'a man, a rab'a woman. Ar-rabi': the small stream, that is, the little river (plurals arba' and arba'a). The known season, spring. Al-mirba': the fourth of the booty that the chief of the people used to take for himself in the Jahiliyya (plural marabi'). The livestock that gives birth in spring. The place whose plants sprout at the beginning of spring. Al-yarbu': a small creature like the mouse, but its tail and its two ears are longer than it, its two hind legs longer than its two forelegs, the opposite of the giraffe.
The one that occurs one day, then two days not, then returns on the fourth.
With fatha: the house itself wherever it was, and likewise the dwelling and what surrounds the house; its plural is raba' and rubu'. Ar-rab' al-hashimi is the sa' (measure of capacity). With damma: one part of four.
﴿وَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلَّا تُقْسِطُوا۟ فِى ٱلْيَتَـٰمَىٰ فَٱنكِحُوا۟ مَا طَابَ لَكُم مِّنَ ٱلنِّسَآءِ مَثْنَىٰ وَثُلَـٰثَ وَرُبَـٰعَ ۖ فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلَّا تَعْدِلُوا۟ فَوَٰحِدَةً أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَـٰنُكُمْ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ أَدْنَىٰٓ أَلَّا تَعُولُوا۟﴾
« And if you fear that you will not deal justly with the orphan girls, then marry those that please you of [other] women, two or three or four. But if you fear that you will not be just, then [marry only] one or those your right hand possesses. That is more suitable that you may not incline [to injustice]. »
Surah النساء : 3
﴿۞ وَلَكُمْ نِصْفُ مَا تَرَكَ أَزْوَٰجُكُمْ إِن لَّمْ يَكُن لَّهُنَّ وَلَدٌۭ ۚ فَإِن كَانَ لَهُنَّ وَلَدٌۭ فَلَكُمُ ٱلرُّبُعُ مِمَّا تَرَكْنَ ۚ مِنۢ بَعْدِ وَصِيَّةٍۢ يُوصِينَ بِهَآ أَوْ دَيْنٍۢ ۚ وَلَهُنَّ ٱلرُّبُعُ مِمَّا تَرَكْتُمْ إِن لَّمْ يَكُن لَّكُمْ وَلَدٌۭ ۚ فَإِن كَانَ لَكُمْ وَلَدٌۭ فَلَهُنَّ ٱلثُّمُنُ مِمَّا تَرَكْتُم ۚ مِّنۢ بَعْدِ وَصِيَّةٍۢ تُوصُونَ بِهَآ أَوْ دَيْنٍۢ ۗ وَإِن كَانَ رَجُلٌۭ يُورَثُ كَلَـٰلَةً أَوِ ٱمْرَأَةٌۭ وَلَهُۥٓ أَخٌ أَوْ أُخْتٌۭ فَلِكُلِّ وَٰحِدٍۢ مِّنْهُمَا ٱلسُّدُسُ ۚ فَإِن كَانُوٓا۟ أَكْثَرَ مِن ذَٰلِكَ فَهُمْ شُرَكَآءُ فِى ٱلثُّلُثِ ۚ مِنۢ بَعْدِ وَصِيَّةٍۢ يُوصَىٰ بِهَآ أَوْ دَيْنٍ غَيْرَ مُضَآرٍّۢ ۚ وَصِيَّةًۭ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَلِيمٌۭ﴾
« And for you is half of what your wives leave if they have no child. But if they have a child, for you is one fourth of what they leave, after any bequest they [may have] made or debt. And for the wives is one fourth if you leave no child. But if you leave a child, then for them is an eighth of what you leave, after any bequest you [may have] made or debt. And if a man or woman leaves neither ascendants nor descendants but has a brother or a sister, then for each one of them is a sixth. But if they are more than two, they share a third, after any bequest which was made or debt, as long as there is no detriment [caused]. [This is] an ordinance from Allah, and Allah is Knowing and Forbearing. »
Surah النساء : 12
﴿ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ فَاطِرِ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ جَاعِلِ ٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةِ رُسُلًا أُو۟لِىٓ أَجْنِحَةٍۢ مَّثْنَىٰ وَثُلَـٰثَ وَرُبَـٰعَ ۚ يَزِيدُ فِى ٱلْخَلْقِ مَا يَشَآءُ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍۢ قَدِيرٌۭ﴾
« [All] praise is [due] to Allah, Creator of the heavens and the earth, [who] made the angels messengers having wings, two or three or four. He increases in creation what He wills. Indeed, Allah is over all things competent. »
Surah فاطر : 1