Classical Arabic - English Dictionary

The first letter of the alphabet[according to the order in which the letters are now commonly disposed; and also according to the original order, which see in art. ابجد]: called أَلِفٌ. [This name, like most of the other names of Arabic letters, is traceable to the Phœnician language, in which it signifies “an ox;” the ancient Phœnician form of the letter thus called being a rude representation of an ox's head.] It is, of all the letters, that which is most frequent in speech: and some say that, in آلٓمٓ, in the Ḳur [ch. ii., &c.], it is a name of God. (TA.) Its name is properly fem., as is also that of every other letter; [and hence its pl. is أَلِفَاتٌ;] but it may be made masc.: so says Ks: Sb says that all the letters of the alphabet are masc. and fem., like as اللِّسَانُ is masc. and fem. (M.) As a letter of the alphabet, it is abbreviated, [or short, and is written ا, as it also is generally when occurring in a word, except at the end, when, in certain cases, it is written ى,] and is pronounced with a pause after it: and it is also prolonged: (Ṣ, Ḳ,* TA:) [in the latter case, it is written آءٌ; and] this is the case when it is made a subst.: and when it is not called a letter, [i. e. when one does not prefix to it the word حَرْف,] it is [properly] fem. (Ṣ.) Its dim. is أُيَيَّةٌ, meaning an اء written small, or obscure, (Ṣ, IB,) according to those who make it fem. and who say, زَيَّيْتُ زَايًا and ذَيَّلْتُ ذَالًا; but أُوَيَّةٌ according to those who say, زَوَّيْتُ زَايًا. (IB.)

أَلِفٌ [properly so called] is one of the letters of prolongation and of softness and of augmentation; the letters of augmentation being ten, which are comprised in the saying, ألْيَوْمَ تَنْسَاهُ [“to-day thou wilt forget it”]. (Ṣ.) There are two species of الف; namely, لَيِّنَةٌ [or soft], and مُتَحَرِّكَةٌ [or movent]; the former of which is [properly] called أَلِفٌ; and the latter, هَمْزَةٌ; (Ṣ, TA;) which is a faucial letter, pronounced in the furthest part of the fauces [by a sudden emission of the voice after a total suppression, so that it resembles in sound a feebly-uttered ع whence the form of the character (ء) whereby it is represented]: but this latter is sometimes tropically called الف; and both [as shown above] are of the letters of augmentation. (Ṣ in art. او, and TA.) There are also two other species of الف; namely, أَلِفُ وَصْلٍ [the alif of conjunction or connexion, or the conjunctive or connexive alif]; and أَلِفُ قَطْعٍ [the alif of disjunction, or the disjunctive alif]; every one that is permanent in the connexion of words being of the latter species; and that which is not permanent, [i. e. which is not pronounced, unless it is an alif of prolongation,] of the former species; and this is without exception augmentative; [but it is sometimes a substitute for a suppressed radical letter, as in ٱبْنٌ, originally بَنَىٌ or بَنَوٌ;] whereas the alif of disjunction is sometimes augmentative, as in the case of the interrogative alif [to be mentioned below, and in other cases]; and sometimes radical, as in أَخَذَ and أَمَرَ: (Ṣ, TA:) or, according to Aḥmad Ibn-Yaḥyà and Moḥammad Ibn-Yezeed, (T, TA,) the primary أَلِفَات are three; the rest being subordinate to these: namely, أَلِفٌ أَصْلِيَّةٌ [radical alif], (T, Ḳ, TA,) as in إِلْفٌ and أَكَلَ (T) and أَخَذَ; (Ḳ;) and أَلِفٌ قَطْعِيَّةٌ [disjunctive alif], as in أَحْمَدُ (T, Ḳ) and أَحْمَرُ (T) and أَحْسَنَ; (T, Ḳ;) and أَلِفٌ وَصْلِيَّةٌ [conjunctive or connexive alif], (T, Ḳ,) as in ٱسْتِخْرَاجٌ (T) and ٱسْتَخْرَجَ. (T, Ḳ.)

The أَلِف which is one of the letters of prolongation and of softness is called الأَلِفُ الهَادِئَةُ [the quiescent alif, and الأَلِفُ السَّاكِنَةُ, which signifies the same]: (MF, TA:) it is an aerial letter, (Mughnee, MF, TA,) merely a sound of prolongation after a fet-ḥah; (T, TA;) and cannot have a vowel, (IB, Mughnee, MF,) wherefore it cannot commence a word: (Mughnee:) when they desire to make it movent, if it is converted from و or ى, they restore it to its original, as in عَصَوَانِ and رَحَيَانِ; and if it is not converted from و or ى, they substitute for it hemzeh, as in رَسَائِلُ, in which the hemzeh is a substitute for the ا in [the sing.] رِسَالَةٌ. (IB.) IJ holds that the name of this letter is لَا, [pronounced lá or lé, without, or with, imáleh, like the similar names of other letters, as بَا and تَا and ثَا, &c.,] and that it is the letter which is mentioned [next] before ى in reckoning the letters; the ل being prefixed to it because it cannot be pronounced at the beginning of its name, as other letters can, as, for instance, ص and ج; and he adds that the teachers [in schools] err in pronouncing its name لَامَ ٱلِفْ. (Mughnee.)

The grammarians have other particular appellations for alifs, which will be here mentioned. (T, TA.)

الأَلِفُ المَجْهُولَةُ [The unknown alif] is such as that in فَاعِلٌ [or فَاعَلَ] and فَاعُولٌ; i. e., every ا, (T, Ḳ,) of those having no original [from which they are converted, not being originally أ nor و nor ى, but being merely a formative letter, and hence, app., termed “unknown”], (T,) inserted for the purpose of giving fulness of sound to the fet-ḥah in a verb and in a noun; (T, Ḳ;) and this, when it becomes movent, becomes و, as in the case of خَاتَمٌ and خَوَاتِمُ, becoming و in this case because it is movent, and followed by a quiescent ا, which ا is the ا of the pl., and is also مجهولة. (T.)

أَلِفَاتُ المَدَّاتِ [The alifs of prolongations] are such as those [which are inserted for the same purpose of giving fulness of sound to the fet-ḥah] in كَلْكَالٌ, for كَلْكَلٌ, and خَاتَامٌ, for خَاتَمٌ, and دَانَاقٌ, for دَانَقٌ. (T, Ḳ.) In like manner, و is inserted after a ḍammeh, as in أَنْظُورُ; and ى after a kesreh, as in شِيمَالٌ. (TA.) An alif of this species is also called أَلِفُ الإِشْبَاعِ [The alif added to give fulness of sound to a fet-ḥah preceding it]: and so is the alif in مَنَا used in imitation [of a noun in the accus. case; as when one says, رَأَيْتُ رَجُلًا (pronounced رَجُلَا) “I saw a man,” and the person to whom these words are addressed says, مَنَا Whom?]. (Mughnee.)

أَلِفُ الصِّلَةِ [The alif of annexation, or the annexed alif,] is that which is an annex to the fet-ḥah of a rhyme, (T, Ḳ,) and to that of the fem. pronoun هَا: in the former case as in

* بَانَتْ سُعَادُ وَأَمْسَى حَبْلُهَا ٱنْقَطَعَا *

in which ا is made an annex to the fet-ḥah of the ع [of the rhyme]; and in the saying in the Ḳur [xxxiii. 10], وَتَظُنُّونَ بِٱللّٰهِ الظُّنُونَا, in which the ا after the last ن is an annex to the fet-ḥah of that ن; and in other instances in the final words of verses of the Ḳur-án, as قَوَارِيرَا and سَلْسَبِيلَا [in lxxvi. 15 and 18]: in the other case as in ضَرَبْتُهَا and مَرَرْتُ بِهَا. (T.) The difference between it and أَلِفُ الوَصْلِ is, that the latter is in the beginnings of nouns and verbs, and the former is in the endings of nouns [and verbs]. (T, Ḳ.) It is also called أَلِفُ الإِطْلَاقِ [The alif of unbinding, because the vowel ending a rhyme prevents its being مُقَيَّد, i. e. “bound” by the preceding consonant]: (Mughnee;) and أَلِفُ الفَاصِلَةِ [the alif of the final word of a verse of poetry or of a verse of the Ḳur-án or of a clause of rhyming prose]. (TA.) [This last appellation must not be confounded with that which here next follows.]

الأَلِفُ الفَاصِلَةُ [The separating alif] is the ا which is written after the و of the pl. to make a separation between that و and what follows it, as in شَكَرُوا (T, Ḳ) and كَفَرُوا, and in the like of يَغْزُوا and يَدْعُوا [and يَرْضَوْا]; but when a pronoun is affixed to the verb, this ا, being needless, does not remain: (T:) also the ا which makes a separation between the ن which is a sign of the fem. gender and the heavy [or doubled] ن [in the corroborated form of the aor. and imperative], (T, Ḳ,) because a triple combination of ن is disliked, (T,) as in [يَفْعَلْنَانِّ and تَفْعَلْنَانِّ and] اِفْعَلْنَانِّ (T, Ḳ) and لَا تَفْعَلْنَانِّ. (T.)

أَلِفُ النُّونِ الخَفِيفَةِ [The alif of the light, or single, noon in the contracted corroborated form of the aor. and imperative], as in the phrase in the Ḳur [xcvi. 15], لَنَسْفَعًا بِالنَّاصِيَةِ [explained in art. سفع], (T, Ḳ,) and the phrase [in xii. 32], وَلَيَكُونًا مِنَ الصَّاغِرِينَ [And he shall assuredly be of those in a state of vileness, or ignominy], in both of which instances the pause is made with ا [only, without tenween, so that one says لَنَسْفَعَا and لَيَكُونَا, and this seems to be indicated in Expositions of the Ḳur-án as the proper pronunciation of these two words in the phrases here cited, the former of which, and the first word of the latter, I find thus written in an excellent copy of the Mughnee, with a fet-ḥah only instead of tenween, though I find them written in copies of the Ḳur-án and of the Ḳ with tenween, and for this reason only I have written them therewith in the first places above], this ا being a substitute for the light ن, which is originally the heavy ن: and among examples of the same is the saying of El-Aạshà,

* وَلَاتَحْمَدِ المُثْرِينَ وَٱللّٰهَ فَٱحْمَدَا *

[And praise not thou the opulent, but God do thou praise], the poet meaning فَٱحْمَدَنْ, but pausing with an ا: (T:) and accord. to ʼIkrimeh Ed-Ḍabbee, in the saying of Imra-el-Ḳeys,

* قِفَا نَبْكِ مِنْ ذِكْرَى حَبِيبٍ وَمَنْزِلِ *

[what is meant is, Do thou pause that we may weep by reason of the remembrance of an object of love, and of a place of abode, for] the poet means قِفَنْ, but substitutes ا for the light ن; (TA;) or, accord. to some, قفا is in this case [a dual] addressed to the poet's two companions. (EM p. 4.)

أَلِفُ العِوَضِ [The alif of exchange] is that which is substituted for the tenween (T, Ḳ) of the accus. case when one pauses upon it, (T,) as in رَأَيْتُ زَيْدَا (T, Ḳ [and so in the copy of the Mughnee mentioned above, but in the copies of the T I find زَيْدًا,]) and فَعَلْتُ خَيْرَا and the like. (T.)

أَلِفُ التَّعَايِى [The alif of inability to express what one desires to say], (T,) or أَلِفُ التَّغَابِى [the alif of feigning negligence or heedlessness], (Ḳ,) [but the former is evidently, in my opinion, the right appellation,] is that which is added when one says إِنَّ عُمَرَ, and then, being unable to finish his saying, pauses, saying إِنَّ عُمَرَا, [in the CK عُمَرَآ,] prolonging it, desiring to be helped to the speech that should reveal itself to him, (T, Ḳ,) and at length saying مُنْطَلِقٌ, meaning to say, if he were not unable to express it, إِنَّ عُمَرَ مُنْطَلِقٌ [Verily ʼOmar is going away]. (T.) The ا in a case of this kind is [also] said to be لِلتَّذَكُّرِ [for the purpose of endeavouring to remember]; and in like manner, و, when one desires to say, يَقُومُ زَيْدٌ, and, forgetting زيد, prolongs the sound in endeavouring to remember, and says يَقُومُو. (Mughnee in the sections on ا and و.) It is also added to a curtailed proper name of a person called to, or hailed, as in يَا عُمَا for يَا عُمَرُ [which is an ex. contrary to rule, as عُمَرُ is masc. and consists of only three letters]. (T.)

أَلِفُ النُّدْبَةِ [The alif of lamentation], as in وَا زَيْدَاهْ [Alas, Zeyd!], (T, Ḳ,) i. e. the ا after the د; (T;) and one may say وَا زَيْدَا, without the ه of pausation. (Alfeeyeh of Ibn-Málik, and I’Aḳ p. 272.)

أَلِفُ الٱِسْتِنْكَارِ [The alif of disapproval], (T,) or الأَلِفُ لِلْإِنْكَارِ [which means the same], (Mughnee,) is similar to that next preceding, as in أَأَبُو عُمَرَاهْ [What! Aboo-ʼOmar?] in reply to one who says, “Aboo-ʼOmar came;” the ه being added in this case after the letter of prolongation like as it is in وَا فُلَانَاهْ said in lamentation. (T.) [The ex. given in the Mughnee is آ عَمْرَاهْ, as said in reply to one who says, “I met ʼAmr;” and thus I find it written, with آ; but this is a mistranscription of the interrogative أَ, which see below.] In this case it is only added to give fulness of sound to the vowel; for you say, أَلرَّجُلُوهْ [What! the man? for أَٱلرَّجُلُوهْ,] after one has said “The man stood;” and أَلرَّجُلَاهْ in the accus. case; and أَلرَّجُلِيهْ in the gen. case. (Mughnee in the section on و. [But in my copy of that work, in these instances, the incipient ا, which is an ا of interrogation, is written آ.])

الأَلِفُ المُنْقَلِبَةُ عَنْ يَآءِ الإِضَافَةِ [The alif that is converted from the affixed pronoun ى], as in يَا غُلَامَا أَقْبِلْ [O my boy, advance thou,] for يَا غُلَامِى; (TA in art. حرز;) [and يَاعَجَبَا لِزَيْدٍ (I’Aḳ p. 271) O my wonder at Zeyd! for يا عَجَبِى لزيد;] and in يَا أَبَتَا for يَا أَبَتِى, and يَا وَيْلَتَا for يَا وَيْلَتِى, and يَابِأَبَا and يَا بِأَبَاهْ for يَا بِأَبِى (T and TA in art. بأ.) [This is sometimes written ى, but preceded by a fet-ḥah.]

الأَلِفُ المُحَوَّلَةُ [The transmuted alif, in some copies of the Ḳ أَلِفُ المُحَوَّلَةِ, which, as MF observes, is put for the former,] is every ا that is originally و or ى (T, Ḳ) movent, (T,) as in قَالَ [originally قَوَلَ], and بَاعَ [originally بَيَعَ], (T, Ḳ,) and غَزَا [originally غَزَوَ], and قَضَى [originally قَضَىَ], and the like of these. (T.)

أَلِفُ التَّثْنِيَةِ [The alif of the dual, or rather, of dualization], (T, Ḳ,) in verbs, (TA,) as in يَجْلِسَانِ and يَذْهَبَانِ, (T, Ḳ,) and in nouns, (T,) as in الزَّيْدَانِ (T, Ḳ) and العَمْرَانِ; (T;) [i. e.] the ا which in verbs is a dual pronoun, as in فَعَلَا and يَفْعَلَانِ, and in nouns a sign of the dual and an indication of the nom. case, as in رَجُلَانِ. (Ṣ.)

It is also indicative of the accus. case, as in رَأَيْتُ فَاهُ [I saw his mouth]. (Ṣ.)

أَلِفُ الجَمْعِ [The alif of the plural, or of pluralization], as in مَسَاجِدُ and جِبَالٌ (T, Ḳ) and فُرْسَانٌ and فَوَاعِلُ. (T.)

أَلِفُ التَّأْنِيثِ [The alif denoting the fem. gender], as in حُبْلَى (Mughnee, Ḳ) and سَكْرَى [in which it is termed مَقْصُورَة shortened], and the meddeh in حَمْرَآءُ (Ḳ) and بَيْضَآءُ and نُفَسَآءُ [in which it is termed مَمْدُودَة lengthened]. (TA.)

أَلِفُ الإِلْحَاقِ [The alif of adjunction, or quasi-coordination; that which renders a word an adjunct to a particular class, i. e. quasi-coordinate to another word, of which the radical letters are more in number than those of the former word, (see the sentence next following,)], (Mughnee, TA,) as in أَرْطًا (Mughnee) [or أَرْطًى; and the meddeh in عِلْبَآءٌ, &c.].

أَلِفُ التَّكْثِيرِ [The alif of multiplication, i. e. that merely augments the number of the letters of a word without making it either fem. or quasi-coordinate to another, unaugmented, word], as in قَبَعْثَرَى (Mughnee, TA) [correctly قَبَعْثَرًى], in which the ا [here written ى] is not to denote the fem. gender, (Ṣ and Ḳ in art. قبعثر,) because its fem. is قَبَعْثَرَاةٌ, as Mbr. says; (Ṣ and TA in that art.;) nor to render it quasi-coordinate to another word, (Ḳ and TA in that art.,) as is said in the Lubáb, because there is no noun of six radical letters to which it can be made to be so; but accord. to Ibn-Málik, a word is sometimes made quasi-coordinate to one comprising augmentative letters, as اِقْعَنْسَسَ is to اِحْرَنْجَمَ. (TA in that art.)

أَلِفَاتُ الوَصْلِ [The alifs of conjunction or connexion, or the conjunctive or connexive alifs], (T, Ḳ,) which are in the beginnings of nouns, (T,) [as well as in certain well-known cases in verbs,] occur in ٱبْنٌ (T, Ḳ) and ٱبْنُمٌ (Ḳ) and ٱبْنَةٌ and ٱثْنَانِ and ٱثْنَتَانِ and ٱمْرُؤٌ and ٱمْرَأَةٌ and ٱسْمٌ and ٱسْتٌ, (T, Ḳ,) which have a kesreh to the ا when they commence a sentence, [or occur alone, i. e., when immediately preceded by a quiescence,] but it is elided when they are connected with a preceding word, (T,) [by which term “word” is included a particle consisting of a single letter with its vowel,] and ٱيْمُنٌ and ٱيْمُ [and variations thereof, which have either a fet-ḥah or a kesreh to the ا when they commence a sentence, or occur alone], (Ḳ,) and in the article ٱلْ, the ا of which has a fet-ḥah when it commences a sentence. (T.)

أَلِفُ القَطْعِ [The alif of disjunction, or the disjunctive alif,] is in the beginnings of sing. nouns and of pl. nouns: it may be known by its permanence in the dim., and by its not being a radical letter: thus it occurs in أَحْسَنُ, of which the dim. is أُحَيْسِنُ: (IAmb, T:) in pls. it occurs in أَلْوَانٌ and أَزْوَاجٌ (IAmb, T, Ḳ) and أَلْسِنَةٌ [&c.]: (IAmb, T:) [it also occurs in verbs of the measure أَفْعَلَ, as أَكْرَمَ; in which cases it is sometimes لِلسَّلْبِ, i. e. privative, (like the Greek alpha,) as in أَقْسَطَ “he did away with injustice,” which is termed قُسُوطٌ and قَسْطٌ, inf. ns. of قَسَطَ:] it is distinguished from the radical ا, as shown above: (IAmb, T:) or it is sometimes augmentative, as the interrogative أَ [to be mentioned below]; and sometimes radical, as in أَخَذَ and أَمَرَ; and is thus distinguished from the conjunctive ا, which is never other than augmentative. (Ṣ.)

أَلِفُ التَّفْضِيلِ وَالتَّقْصِيرِ [The alif denoting excess and deficiency, i. e., denoting the comparative and superlative degrees], as in فُلَانٌ أَكْرَمُ مِنْكَ [Such a one is more generous, or noble, than thou], (T, Ḳ,*) and أَلْأَمُ مِنْكَ [more ungenerous, or ignoble, than thou], (T,) and أَجْهَلُ النَّاسِ [the most ignorant of men]. (T, Ḳ.*)

أَلِفُ العِبَارَةِ [The alif of signification], (T, Ḳ,) as though, (T,) or because, (TA,) significant of the speaker, (T, TA,) also called العَامِلَةُ [the operative], as in أَنَا أَسْتَغْفِرُ ٱللّٰهَ [I beg forgiveness of God], (T, Ḳ,) and أَنَا أَفْعَلُ كَذَا [I do thus]. (T.)

أَلِفُ الٱِسْتِفْهَامِ [The alif of interrogation, or the interrogative alif], (T, Ṣ, Mṣb in art. همز, Mughnee,) as in أَزَيْدٌ قَائِمٌ [Is Zeyd standing?], (Mughnee,) and أَزَيْدٌ عِنْدَكَ أَمْ عَمْرٌو [Is Zeyd with thee, or at thine abode, or ʼAmr?], (Ṣ,) and أَقَامَ زَيْدٌ [Did Zeyd stand?], said when the asker is in ignorance, and to which the answer is لَا or نَعَمْ; (Mṣb;) and in a negative phrase, as أَلَمْ نَشْرَحْ [Did we not dilate, or enlarge? in the Ḳur xciv. 1]. (Mughnee.) When this is followed by another hemzeh, an ا is interposed between the two hemzehs, [so that you say أَاأَنْتَ, also written آأَنْتَ,] as in the saying of Dhu-r-Rummeh,

* أَيَا ظَبْيَةَ الوَعْسَآءَ بَيْنَ جَلَاجِلٍ *

* وَبَيْنَ النَّقَا أَاأَنْتِ أَمْ أُمُّ سَالِمِ *

[O thou doe-gazelle of El-Waạsà between Jelájil and the oblong gibbous hill of sand, is it thou, or Umm-Sálim?]; (T, Ṣ;) but some do not this. (T.) [It is often conjoined with إِنَّ, as in the Ḳur xii. 90, أَئِنَّكَ لَأَنْتَ يُوسُفُ Art thou indeed Joseph?] It is sometimes used to make a person acknowledge, or confess, a thing, (T, Mṣb in art. همز, Mughnee,) and to establish it, (Mṣb,) as in the phrase in the Ḳur [v. 116], أَأَنْتَ قُلْتَ لِلنَّاسِ or آأَنْتَ [Didst thou say to men?], (T,) and أَلَمْ نَشْرَحْ [explained above], (Mṣb in art. همز,) and in أَضَرَبْتَ زَيْدًا or أَأَنْتَ ضَرَبْتَ [Didst thou beat Zeyd?], and أَزَيْدًا ضَرَبْتَ [Zeyd didst thou beat?]. (Mughnee.) And for reproving, (T, Mughnee,) as in the phrase in the Ḳur [xxxvii. 153], أصْطَفَى ٱلْبَنَاتِ عَلَى ٱلْبَنِينَ [Hath He chosen daughters in preference to sons?], (T,) [but see the next sentence,] and [in the same ch., verse 93,] أَتَعْبُدُونَ مَا تَنْحِتُونَ [Do ye worship what ye hew out?]. (Mughnee.) And to express a nullifying denial, as in [the words of the Ḳur xvii. 42,] أَفَأَصْفَاكُمْ رَبُّكُمْ بِٱلْبَنِينَ وَٱتَّخَذَ مِنَ ٱلْمَلَائِكَةِ إِنَاثًا [Hath then your Lord preferred to give unto you sons, and gotten for himself, of the angels, daughters?]. (Mughnee.) And to denote irony, as in [the Ḳur xi. 89,] أَصَلَوَاتُكَ تَأْمُرُكَ أَنْ نَتْرُكَ مَا يَعْبُدُ آبَاؤُنَا [Do thy prayers enjoin thee that we should leave what our fathers worshipped?]. (Mughnee.) And to denote wonder, as in [the Ḳur xxv. 47,] أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى رَبِّكَ كَيْفَ مَدَّ ٱلظِّلَّ [Hast thou not considered the work of thy Lord, how He hath extended the shade?]. (Mughnee.) And to denote the deeming a thing slow, or tardy, as in [the Ḳur lvii., 15,] أَلَمْ يَأْنِ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا [Hath not the time yet come for those who have believed?]. (Mughnee.) And to denote a command, as in [the Ḳur iii. 19,] أَأَسْلَمْتُمْ, meaning أَسْلِمُوا [Enter ye into the religion of El-Islám]. (Mughnee, and so Jel.) And to denote equality, occurring after سَوَآءٌ and مَا أُبَالِى and مَا أَدْرِى and لَيْتَ شِعْرِى, and the like, as in [the Ḳur lxiii. 6,] سَوَآءٌ عَلَيْهِمْ أَسْتَغْفَرْتَ لَهُمْ أَمْ لَمْ تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ [It will be equal to them whether thou beg forgiveness for them or do not beg forgiveness for them], and in مَا أُبَالِى أَقُمْتَ أَمْ قَعَدْتَ [I care not whether thou stand or sit]: and the general rule is this, that it is the hemzeh advening to a phrase, or proposition, of which the place may be supplied by the inf. n. of its verb; for one may say, سَوَآءٌ عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلْأِسْتِغْفَارُ وَعَدَمُهُ [Equal to them will be the begging of forgiveness and the not doing so], and مَا أُبَالِى بِقِيَامِكَ وَعَدَمِهِ [I care not for thy standing and thy not doing so]: (Mughnee.)

أَلِفُ النِّدَآءِ [The alif of calling, or vocative alif], (T, Ṣ,* Mughnee,* Ḳ,) as in أَزَيْدُ, meaning يَا زَيْدُ [O Zeyd], (T, Ḳ,) and in أَزَيْدُ أَقْبِلْ [O Zeyd, advance], (Ṣ,) used in calling him who is near, (Ṣ, Mughnee,) to the exclusion of him who is distant, because it is abbreviated. (Ṣ.) آ, with medd, is a particle used in calling to him who is distant, (Mughnee, Ḳ,) as in آَزَيْدُ أَقْبِلْ [Ho there, or soho, or holla, Zeyd, advance]. (TA.) Az says, You say to a man, in calling him, آفُلَانُ and أَفُلَانُ and آيَا فُلَانُ (TA) or أَيَا. (Ṣ and Ḳ in art. ايا.)

إِٱللّٰهِ, for إِىْ وَٱللّٰهِ: see إِى.

In a dial. of some of the Arabs, hemzeh is used in a case of pausing at the end of a verb, as in their saying to a woman, قُولِئْ [Say thou], and to two men, قُولَأْ [Say ye two], and to a pl. number, قُولُؤْ [Say ye]; but not when the verb is connected with a word following it: and they say also لَأْ, with a hemzeh, [for لَا,] in a case of pausation. (T.) But Aḥmad Ibn-Yaḥyà says, All men say that when a hemzeh occurs at the end of a word, [i. e. in a case of pausation,] and has a quiescent letter before it, it is elided in the nom. and gen. case, though retained in the accus. case [because followed by a quiescent ا], except Ks alone, who retains it in all cases: when it occurs in the middle of a word, all agree that it should not be dropped. (T.) AZ [however] says that the people of El-Ḥijáz, and Hudheyl, and the people of Mekkeh and El-Medeeneh, do not pronounce hemzeh [at all]: and ʼEesà Ibn-’Omar says, Temeem pronounce hemzeh, and the people of El-Ḥijáz, in cases of necessity, [in poetry,] do so. (T.)

Ks cites, [as exhibiting two instances of a rare usage of أَا, or آ, in a case of pausing, in the place of a suppressed word,]

* دَعَا فُلَانٌ رَبَّهُ فَأَسْمَعَا *

* الخَيْرُ خَيْرَانِ وَإِنْ شَرٌّ فَأَا *

* وَلَا أُرِيدُ الشَّرَّ إِلَّا أَنْ تَأَا *

[written without the syll. signs in the MṢ. from which I transcribe this citation, but the reading seems to be plain, and the meaning, Such a one supplicated his Lord, and made his words to be heard, saying, Good is double good; and if evil be my lot, then evil; but I desire not evil unless Thou will that it should befall me]: and he says, he means, إِلَّا أَنْ تَشَآءَ; this being of the dial. of Benoo-Saạd, except that it is [with them] تَا, with a soft ا [only]: also, in replying to a person who says, “Wilt thou not come?” one says, فَأْ, meaning فَٱذْهَبْ [Then go thou with us]: and in like manner, by فأا, in the saying above, is meant فَشَرٌّ. (TA.)

Hemzeh also sometimes occurs as a verb; إِه, i. e. إِ with the ه of pausation added, being the imperative of وَأَى as syn. with وَعَدَ. (Mughnee.)

[As a numeral, ا denotes One.]