Discover the meaning of the term Al-dhr (دهر) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 2 min readIt is the perpetual now, the extension of the Divine Presence; it is the inwardness of time, and in it the pre-eternal (azal) and the post-eternal (abad) are joined.
Time; plural duhur. Dahr is also called abad; 'a devouring dahr (dahir)', as one says 'a destroying abad (abid)'. The duhri, with damma: the aged man.
The dahri, with fatha: the atheist materialist.
Originally the name for the world's duration from the beginning of its existence to its end; hence 'Has there come upon man a span of the dahr?' (al-Insan, 1). It then came to denote any long duration, unlike zaman, which applies to short and long alike (al-Mufradat, p. 172).
The long time; man's dahr is the span he lives, a synonym of 'asr (age). Al-Sayyid said: 'it is the perpetual now, the extension of the Divine Presence; it is the inwardness of time, and in it azal and abad coincide.'
﴿وَقَالُوا۟ مَا هِىَ إِلَّا حَيَاتُنَا ٱلدُّنْيَا نَمُوتُ وَنَحْيَا وَمَا يُهْلِكُنَآ إِلَّا ٱلدَّهْرُ ۚ وَمَا لَهُم بِذَٰلِكَ مِنْ عِلْمٍ ۖ إِنْ هُمْ إِلَّا يَظُنُّونَ﴾
« And they say, "There is not but our worldly life; we die and live, and nothing destroys us except time." And they have of that no knowledge; they are only assuming. »
Surah الجاثية : 24
﴿هَلْ أَتَىٰ عَلَى ٱلْإِنسَـٰنِ حِينٌۭ مِّنَ ٱلدَّهْرِ لَمْ يَكُن شَيْـًۭٔا مَّذْكُورًا﴾
« Has there [not] come upon man a period of time when he was not a thing [even] mentioned? »
Surah الانسان : 1