The Meaning of Wahy

The word awha, from which 'wahy' (revelation) is derived, occurs in a number of shades of meaning in the Qur'an, each of them indicating the main underlying idea of inspiration directing or guiding someone. In each example below, the italicised words in the translation are forms of the root word wahy in the original text of the Qur'an:

• Guidance in natural intuition:
  'so we sent this inspiration to the mother of Moses . . .' (28: 7).
• Guidance in natural instinct:
  'and thy Lord taught the bee to build its cells in hills, on trees and in (man's) habitations' (16: 68).
• Guidance by signs:
  'So Zakaria came out to his people from his chamber: he told them by signs to celebrate God's praises in the morning and in the evening' (19: 11).
• Guidance from evil:
  'Likewise did we make for every messenger an enemy evil ones among men and jinns, inspiring each other with flowery discourses by way of deception ...' (6: 112).
• Guidance from God:
  'Remember thy Lord inspired the angels (with the message) ...' (8: 12).