Zayira

A Quranic Name for Girls

Zayira is variant of Zaira and has the exact same meaning and pronunciation (see below for full meaning). You can use either Zayira or Zaira, both are correct and acceptable. If you like this variant more and you'd like to pronounce it the way it is spelled (different than the original name), this is perfectly acceptable. For more details please see the main entry at: Zaira.

Full Meaning of Zayira

Zayira is an indirect Quranic name for girls that means “visitor“, “guest“. It is derived from the Z-W-R (ز و ر) root which has two apparently completely distinct meaning, although classical linguists suggest there is a connection. The simplest form of Z-W-R is zāra, meaning “he visited” as its first meaning, and it is used with this meaning once in the Quran:

أَلْهَاكُمُ التَّكَاثُرُ (1) حَتَّى زُرْتُمُ الْمَقَابِرَ (2) كَلَّا سَوْفَ تَعْلَمُونَ (3) ثُمَّ كَلَّا سَوْفَ تَعْلَمُونَ (4) كَلَّا لَوْ تَعْلَمُونَ عِلْمَ الْيَقِينِ (5) لَتَرَوُنَّ الْجَحِيمَ (6) ثُمَّ لَتَرَوُنَّهَا عَيْنَ الْيَقِينِ (7) ثُمَّ لَتُسْأَلُنَّ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَنِ النَّعِيمِ (8)

Competition in [worldly] increase diverts you until you visit the graveyards. No! You are going to know. Then no! You are going to know. No! If you only knew with knowledge of certainty… You will surely see the Hellfire. Then you will surely see it with the eye of certainty. Then you will surely be asked that Day about pleasure. (Quran 102:1-8)

The second meaning of the Z-W-R is zūr, which means “falsehood”, “forgery”. This meaning is commonly used in the Quran.

ذَلِكَ وَمَنْ يُعَظِّمْ حُرُمَاتِ اللَّهِ فَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَهُ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِ وَأُحِلَّتْ لَكُمُ الْأَنْعَامُ إِلَّا مَا يُتْلَى عَلَيْكُمْ فَاجْتَنِبُوا الرِّجْسَ مِنَ الْأَوْثَانِ وَاجْتَنِبُوا قَوْلَ الزُّورِ (30) حُنَفَاءَ لِلَّهِ غَيْرَ مُشْرِكِينَ بِهِ وَمَنْ يُشْرِكْ بِاللَّهِ فَكَأَنَّمَا خَرَّ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ فَتَخْطَفُهُ الطَّيْرُ أَوْ تَهْوِي بِهِ الرِّيحُ فِي مَكَانٍ سَحِيقٍ (31)

That is so, and whoever honors the sacred ordinances of Allah, it is better for him with his Lord. And the livestock has been made lawful for you except what is recited to you, so avoid the impurity of idols and avoid false speech. Be upright for Allah, not associating partners with Him, and whoever associates partners with Allah, it is as though he has fallen from the sky and the birds snatch him away, or the wind carries him off to a remote place. (Quran 22:30-31)

Linguists trace a connection between the original root sense of Z-W-R as “to incline, bend, swerve,” which gives rise to:

• Visit: one “turns” toward something.
• Falsehood: truth being “bent” or “distorted.”

So the two meanings share a common original meaning.