بَصِير
Boy Arabic origin Baṣīr
In the Quran“Clear-sighted, who sees and understands”
The word as it is recited in the Quran: Mahmoud Khalil Al-Hussary, Ash-Shuraa 42:11.
The word occurs about fifty times in the Quran, almost always for Allah: “There is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing (al-basir)” (42:11). The Companion Abu Basir, who took refuge on the coast after the truce of al-Hudaybiya, remains famous in the Sira.
Basir comes from the root b-s-r of sight and perception (basar, “sight”; basira, “insight”): one who sees and discerns. Al-Basir, “the All-Seeing”, is one of the names of Allah, hence ʿAbd al-Basir. Out of courtesy, Arabs also call a blind person basir. Not to be confused with Bashir, “the bearer of good news”.
Yes: the word Basir appears in the Quran 51 times, in 29 surahs.
فَاطِرُ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ جَعَلَ لَكُم مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ أَزْوَٰجًا وَمِنَ ٱلْأَنْعَٰمِ أَزْوَٰجًا يَذْرَؤُكُمْ فِيهِ لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِۦ شَىْءٌ وَهُوَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْبَصِيرُ ١١
[He is] Creator of the heavens and the earth. He has made for you from yourselves, mates, and among the cattle, mates; He multiplies you thereby. There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing.
سُبْحَٰنَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَسْرَىٰ بِعَبْدِهِۦ لَيْلًا مِّنَ ٱلْمَسْجِدِ ٱلْحَرَامِ إِلَى ٱلْمَسْجِدِ ٱلْأَقْصَا ٱلَّذِى بَٰرَكْنَا حَوْلَهُۥ لِنُرِيَهُۥ مِنْ ءَايَٰتِنَآ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْبَصِيرُ ١
Exalted is He who took His Servant [i.e., Prophet Muḥammad (ﷺ)] by night from al-Masjid al-Ḥarām to al-Masjid al-Aqṣā, whose surroundings We have blessed, to show him of Our signs. Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Seeing.
وَمَا يَسْتَوِى ٱلْأَعْمَىٰ وَٱلْبَصِيرُ ١٩
Not equal are the blind and the seeing,
وَلَتَجِدَنَّهُمْ أَحْرَصَ ٱلنَّاسِ عَلَىٰ حَيَوٰةٍ وَمِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُوا۟ يَوَدُّ أَحَدُهُمْ لَوْ يُعَمَّرُ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ وَمَا هُوَ بِمُزَحْزِحِهِۦ مِنَ ٱلْعَذَابِ أَن يُعَمَّرَ وَٱللَّهُ بَصِيرٌۢ بِمَا يَعْمَلُونَ ٩٦
And you will surely find them the most greedy of people for life - [even] more than those who associate others with Allāh. One of them wishes that he could be granted life a thousand years, but it would not remove him in the least from the [coming] punishment that he should be granted life. And Allāh is Seeing of what they do.
All the words of the root ب ص ر in the Quran (148 occurrences)
No text or scholarly opinion concerns the name Basir in particular: the general rules of Islam apply.
Read the rules for choosing a name
This page is an aid to reflection, not a fatwa. For a personal case, ask a person of knowledge.
