# Al-Yasaa



## Slain99

I am DESPERATELY looking for the meaning of the name Al-Yasa. I do know he was a prophet in the Arabic tradition and in the Biblical tradition where he was mentioned as Elijah. But I was wondering if anyone knew what Yasa actually meant. I am going to assume its a word in old or new arabic. Can someone help me find out what is the meaning of the word Yasa?

Much thanks in advance!


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## cherine

Hello and welcome to the forum
Al-Yasaa اليسع is indeed the Arabic name of the prophet Elijah.
But it's not formed of al+yasa, the (al) is not the Arabic article ال it's a part of the name (like al-zahaeimer for example)
And as I said it's the Arabic name, like Yousef for Joseph, Zakariyya for Zachary....
So if you really want to know the meaning of this name, I think you can find an answer in the Hebrew forum.


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## Slain99

Thanks! Thats half the puzzle solved!


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## MarcB

اللهis my salvation اليسع


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## MarcB

Elija is not Elisha, in fact he adopted Elisha.


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## cherine

MarcB said:
			
		

> Elija is not Elisha, in fact he adopted Elisha.


Well, this is makes it difficult to determine which of the two is اليسع the one mentioned in the Qur'an.
But thanks for the translation, I think the full sentence in Arabic would be الرب خلاصى
Thank you Marc


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## MarcB

*ELIJAH*. Arabic _Ilyas_ *ELISHA* Arabic _al-__Yasa'_


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## Josh_

Too bad the moderator of this forum is not here.  He could shed some light on the situation.  The Arabic word for Elijah is *إلياس* ilyaas or spelled in English as Elias.  As for *يسع *I do not know.  It seems very similar to *يسوع *(yasuu3), one of the Arabic names for Jesus.

ُEdit:Actually, it looks like Elisha should be *اليشع* al-yash'a.   Scroll down and check out page three of this webpage.
 Biblical names and their Arabic equivalents:


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## cherine

Interesting link Josh, thank you.

I'll just repeat here what i've said previously: alyasa3 is a whole word, the (al) is not the article الـ .

As for yasuu3 that's Jesus, as you said, and he's mentioned in the Qur'an as 3iisa عيسى and not يسوع he's also mentioned as المسيح the root of the word is م س ح for his miracle of healing people by simply touching them


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## Slain99

Actually that is my bad. Elijah is indeed Ilyas and Elisha is indeed Alyasa. I just wrote the post in a hurry.


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## elroy

The moderator of this forum is back, so he can try to shed some light on the situation.   Well, at least I can talk about "Elijah/Elias/إلياس" because that's my name. 

"Elijah" is a Hebrew name meaning "The Lord is my God" (El = God; i = my; jah [from jahwa] = Lord).  "Elias" is the Greek version of the Hebrew name.  It is also the version modern Arabic has taken, hence my name إلياس.  However, in the Bible the name used is إيليّا ("iiliyya"), which is closer to the original Hebrew.

As for "Elisha," it too is a Hebrew name, the Arabic version of which in the Bible is أليشع (aliisha3).  I am not certain as to the meaning of the Hebrew.

As for the versions in the Qur'an, I am not sure what those are.

Also, I know this is off-topic, but I believe المسيح refers to the Christian belief in Christ as the "annointed one" (الممسوح ,مسيح الرب), from the Hebrew "Messiah."  _(Further discussions about this particular word are welcome in a new thread! )_


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## Slain99

Elisha means God is Salvation. That's pretty well agreed upon by the experts though I am unsure of the exact root in relation to the words!

I would love to know how it went from being Elisha to Alyasa. Did it travel the greek route or went straight from hebrew?


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## cherine

I'm not sure, but I don't think the word had to pass through Greek, the two words (the Hebrew and the Arabic) are quite close enough to show they didn't need an "intermediate" language.
As for the Etymology or root's meaning of Elisha, we'll need to wait for a Hebrew speaker to help us. What I know for the moment is that "El" means God.


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## Ebad'ur'Rahman

Dear Questioner,
AlhamdoLillah,my Son's name is Yasaa.
Surely he can not be "Al" because "Al" in Quran means "The" meaning a "Special" address.
Like Allah calls His Book Al-Kitaab meaning The Book/Writings.
Now for Yasaa,i have named my son after the Prophet Al-Yasaa....and before we come to the meaning of the word,let me clear one point here and that is,there is no Proof (Burhaan) from Al-Kitaab/The-Book/Writings Al-Quran/The-Readings for the words such as "Elijah etc etc....All the words Allah has in His Book are Nouns and every noun has a meaning for sure,otherwise it would not be a noun.
Now for Yasaa...It AlhamdoLillah means "Capacious" a person with capacity...Wus'at.

May Allah Guide us all to the straight Path....His Path.

Good day !


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## clevermizo

Elisha is a contraction of _eli אלי _ and _ysha3 ישע _. The first means "my God" and the second is a sort of مصدر , meaning "salvation".So together, the name is a phrase "My God is salvation (إلهي (الله) هو خلاص)." Thus the Arabic name اليسع has probably incorporated "ال" phonetically from the Hebrew (similar to إلياس), and has Arabized the root y-sh-3 in Hebrew into y-s-3 in Arabic (which is a normal conversion between the two languages).


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## WadiH

Indeed, إليسع is Elisha, while إلياس is Elijah.


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## Ebad'ur'Rahman

"Probably" seems to be a word that is "Not Sure" type.
Where as Al-Quran 46:4, Allah says;

46:4. Say: "Do ye see what it is ye invoke besides Allah. Show me what it is they have created on earth, or have they a share in the Skies? bring me a book before this, or any trace of knowledge (ye may have), if ye are telling the truth!


What authentication does any other book or books have after this Aayat?


Peace To All !


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## Josh_

Hello Ebad'ur'Rahman and welcome to the forums.



Ebad'ur'Rahman said:


> Now for Yasaa...It AlhamdoLillah means "Capacious" a person with capacity...Wus'at.


I have some thoughts on this, but first I am curious what leads you to believe that the name means 'capacious'?


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## Ebad'ur'Rahman

Dear Josh,
My apologies if i sounded either offensive or any personal.
However, this word is not mentioned anywhere as Al-Yasaa except for The Holy Quran....Correct me if i am wrong dear.

Now for the meaning,it has a "Root" word "Wus'aa" meaning "Wus'at" which in english means "Capacity".
Hope that suffice as an answer?

Peace To All !


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## Josh_

Ebad'ur'Rahman said:
			
		

> Dear Josh,
> My apologies if i sounded either offensive or any personal.


 
No, I don't think anyone found your posts offensive. I was just asking about how you came to your conclusion, which I thought was interesting as there is some logic to it.



> However, this word is not mentioned anywhere as Al-Yasaa except for The Holy Quran....Correct me if i am wrong dear.


Is this word listed with a definition in the Quran?

At any rate, I suspect you came to your conclusion because of the similarity between the Arabic root و-س-ع and يسع of the name إليسع. Correct me if I am wrong. 

Interestingly, the Arabic root و-س-ع (w-s-3) is actually the cognate of the Hebrew root י-ש-ע (y-sh-3)*. The Hebrew root generally has the meaning of '_deliverance_' or '_salvation_', however, it also has a meaning of 'prospertity', or 'living in _abundance_' -- which is also one of the meanings of the root و-س-ع . While the ideas of deliverance and (living in) abundance/prosperity are not the same there is actually a connection to be extrapolated between them (at least in my mind). 

All that is interesting, but there is something else I want to mention. While sometimes the و in a root is changed to a ي in order to facilitate pronunciation (a process which is known as إعلال), I don't see that there is any logical reason to do so in this case. This is because إعلال general follows certain patterns. إليسع does not seem to follow any of these patterns.

So, while it may be up for debate, in this case I agree with Clevermizo, and those who said it comes from Hebrew, that the Hebrew word _אל__ישע_ was just Arabized as إليسع. Each Hebrew letter of the name corresponds to each letter in the Arabic version. 


*Hebrew roots do not generally start with the Hebrew equivalent of the و (waaw), the ו (vav), and so this letter is cognate with either the و or the ي in Arabic.


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## Ebad'ur'Rahman

Thank you for your "Peaceful" comment Josh.

I am really very much pleased to come across someone who is interested in a two way communication here.

Right now i am at work....Will inshaAllah get back to you later on today.

Till than......Peace To All !


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## Ebad'ur'Rahman

SalaamunAlaikum to all here !

I am AlhamdoLillah leaving this Forum ,as there seems to be a inclination towards languages instead of honoring The Word of Allah by the way of understanding and pondering over it.
As Allah Says; AA AAjamion wa Arabi-Qul hua lillazeena aamanu,hudauun wa shifa.

Salaama !


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## Josh_

Well, it is too bad you feel the need to leave. It is true this is a language oriented forum, but sometimes discussions with a religious nature come up as they pertain to language. This is one of those.

Ay any rate, it is my understanding that in Islamic theology the Torah and the Bible are considered to be previous revelations of God. And thus I do not see how "understanding and pondering over" God's word needs to be mutually exclusive with understanding and pondering over the Hebrew origins of the name اليسع.


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## maxq

الياس is Elijah or אליהו
اليسع is Elisha or אלישע

These words a TRANSLITERATED, and NOT translated. The only name purely translated (for whatever reason) in the Quran is Idrees "teacher/guide", which is believed to have been used for Enoch or חנוך meaning the same thing.


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