The Spirit · a Light

Spirit, wind and relief are one word family in Arabic

The root r w h gives ruh, spirit; rih, wind; rawh, relief or mercy; rayhan, a fragrant herb; istiraha, rest; and rawah, the going home in the evening. Everything in the family involves air moving or a pressure lifting. When the Prophet ﷺ was asked about the ruh, the answer given in Surah al-Isra is short and closes the subject: the ruh is of the affair of my Lord, and you have been given only a little knowledge. Yaqub, waiting for news of Yusuf, tells his sons not to despair of the rawh of Allah, using the same root, so that relief and breath and spirit arrive in one word.

Root r w h, breath, wind, relief

Source · Qur'an 17:85, 12:87