ا ف قʾ-f-q
— The lexicographers say that the basic sense is that of reaching and arriving at a limit. This root occurs three times in the Quran, every time as a noun.
أُفُقufuq: edge, the limit where sight ends; the rim where sky and earth meet.
الْأُفُق الْمُبِيْنal-ʾufuq al-mubīn: the clear edge of the sky. ﴿وَلَقَدْ رَاٰهُ بِالْاُفُقِ الْمُبِيْنِ﴾ (At-Takwīr 81:23)āfāq (plural): in the Quran it is used for the outward phenomena of the universe, set against أَنْفُسanfus (the inner self). ﴿سَنُرِيْهِمْ آيَاتِنَا فِي الْآفَاقِ وَفِيْ أَنْفُسِهِمْ﴾ (Fuṣṣilat 41:53)