Classical Arabic - English Dictionary

The second letter of the alphabet: called بَآءٌ and بَا; (TA in باب الالف الليّنة;) the latter of which forms is used in spelling; like as are its analogues, as تا [and ثا] and حا [and خا and را] and طا [and ظا and فا and ها] and يا; because in this case they are not generally regarded as nouns, but as mere sounds: (Sb, M:) [these are generally pronounced with imáleh, i. e. bé, té, &c., with the exception of حا, خا, طا, and ظا; and when they are regarded as nouns, their duals are بَيَانِ, تَيَانِ, &c.:] the pl. of بَآءٌ is بَآءَاتٌ; and that of بَا is أَبْوَآءٌ (TA ubi suprà.) It is one of the letters termed مَجْهُورَه [or vocal, i. e. pronounced with the voice, and not with the breath only]; and of those termed شَفَهِيَّة [or labial]; and of those termed ذُلْق [or pronounced with the extremity of the tongue or the lips]: Kh says that the letters of the second and third classes above mentioned [the latter of which comprises the former] are those composing the words رُبَّ مَنْ لَفَّ; and on account of their easiness of utterance, they abound in the composition of words, so that no perfect quinqueliteral-radical word is without one or more of them, unless it is of the class termed مُوَلَّد, not of the classical language of the Arabs. (TA at the commencement of باب البآء.)

In the dial. of Mázin, it is changed into م; (TA ubi suprà;) as in بَكَّةُ, which thus becomes مَكَّةُ [the town of Mekkeh]. (TA in باب الالف الليّنة.)

بِ is a preposition, or particle governing the gen. case; (Ṣ, Mughnee, Ḳ;) having kesr for its invariable termination because it is impossible to begin with a letter after which one makes a pause; (Ṣ;) or, correctly speaking, having a vowel for its invariable termination because it is impossible to begin with a quiescent letter; and having kesr, not fet-ḥ, to make it accord with its government [of the gen. case], and to distinguish between it and that which is both a noun and a particle. (IB.) It is used to denote adhesion (Sb, T, Ṣ, M, Mughnee, Ḳ) of the verb to its objective complement, (Ṣ,) or of a noun or verb to that to which it is itself prefixed; (TA;) and adjunction, or association: (Sb, T:) and some say that its meaning of denoting adhesion is inseparable from it; and therefore Sb restricted himself to the mention of this meaning: (Mughnee:) or Sb says that its primary meaning is that of denoting adhesion and mixture. (Ibn-Es-Sáïgh, quoted in a marginal note in a copy of the Mughnee.) It denotes adhesion [&c.] in the proper sense; (Mughnee, Ḳ;) as in أَمْسَكْتُ بِزَيْدٍ, (M, Mughnee, Ḳ,) meaning I laid hold upon, or seized, [Zeyd, or] somewhat of the body of Zeyd, or what might detain him, as an arm or a hand, or a garment, and the like; whereas أَمْسَكْتُهُ may mean I withheld him, or restrained him, from acting according to his own free will: (Mughnee:) and it denotes the same in a tropical sense; (Mughnee, Ḳ;) as in مَرَرْتُ بِزَيْدٍ [I passed by Zeyd]; (Ṣ, Mughnee, Ḳ;) as though meaning I made my passing to adhere to Zeyd; (Ṣ;) or I made my passing to adhere to a place near to Zeyd: accord. to Akh, it is for مَرَرْتُ عَلَىِ زَيْدٍ; but مَرَرْتُ بِهِ is more common than مَرَرْتُ عَلَيْهِ, and is therefore more properly regarded as the original form of expression: (Mughnee:) accord. to F, the vowel of this preposition is kesr [when it is prefixed to a noun or a pronoun]; or, as some say, it is fet-ḥ when it is with a noun properly so called; as in مَرَّ بَزَيْدٍ: so in the Ḳ; this being the reverse of what they have prescribed in the case of [the preposition] ل: but in the case of ب, no vowel but kesr is known. (MF.) It denotes the same in the saying بِهِ دَآءٌ [In him is a disease; i. e. a disease is cleaving to him]: and so [accord. to some] in أَقْسَمْتُ بٱللّٰهِ [I swore, or, emphatically, I swear, by God; and similar phrases, respecting which see a later division of this paragraph]. (L.) So, too, in أَشْرَكَ بٱللّٰهِ, because meaning He associated another with God: and in وَكَّلْتُ بِفُلَانٍ, meaning I associated a وَكِيل [or factor, &c.] with such a one. (T.) [And so in other phrases here following.] عَلَيْكَ بِزَيْدٍ Keep thou to Zeyd: or take thou Zeyd. (TA voce عَلَى.) عَلَيْكَ بِكَذَا Keep thou to such a thing: (El-Munáwee:) or take thou such a thing. (Ḥam p. 216.) فَبَهَا وَنَعْمَتْ Keep thou to it, فبها meaning فَعَلَيْكَ بِهَا, (Mgh in art. نعم,) [or let him keep to it, i. e. فَعَلَيْهِ بِهَا,] or thou hast taken to, or adopted and followed, or adhered to, the established way, or the way established by the Prophet, i. e. فَبِٱلسُّنَّةِ أَخَذَتَ, (Mgh,) or he hath taken to,, &c., i. e. فَبِٱلسُّنَّةِ أَخَذَ, (IAth, TA in art. نعم,) or by this practice, or action, is excellence attained, or he will attain excellence, i. e. فَبِهٰذِهِ الخَصْلَةِ أَوِ الفَعْلَةِ يُنَالُ الفَضْلُ, or يَنَالُ الفَضْلَ; (IAth ubi suprà;) and excellent is the practise, the established way, or the way established by the Prophet, ونعمت meaning وَنِعْمَتِ الخَصْلَةُ السُّنَّةُ, (Mgh,) or and excellent is the practice, or the action, i. e. وَنِعْمَتِ الخَصْلَةُ, (Ṣ and Ḳ in art. نعم,) or وَنِعْمَتِ الخَصْلَةُ أُوِ الفَعْلَةُ: (IAth ubi suprà:) and it also occurs in a trad., where the meaning is [He who hath done such a thing hath adhered to the ordinance of indulgence; and excellent is the practice, or action,, &c.: for here فبها is meant to imply] فَبِٱلرَّخْصَةِ أَخَذَ. (TA in the present art. See also art. نعم.)

It is also used to render a verb transitive; (Mughnee, Ḳ;) having the same effect as hemzeh [prefixed], in causing [what would otherwise be] the agent to become an objective complement; as in ذَهَبْتُ بِزَيْدٍ syn. with أَذْهَبْتُهُ [I made Zeyd to go away; or I took him away]; (Mughnee;) and hence, [in the Ḳur ii. 16,] ذَهَبَ ٱللّٰهُ بِنُورِهِمْ [God taketh away their light]; (Mughnee, Ḳ;) which refutes the assertion of Mbr and Suh, that ذَهَبْتُ بِزَيْدٍ means [I went away with Zeyd; i. e.] I accompanied Zeyd in going away. (Mughnee.) J says that any verb that is not trans. you may render so by means of بِ and ا [prefixed] and reduplication [of the medial radical letter]: you say, طَارَ بِهِ and أَطَارَهُ and طَيَّرَهُ [as meaning He made him to fly, or to fly away]: but IB says that this is not correct as of common application; for some verbs are rendered trans. by means of hemzeh, but not by reduplication; and some by reduplication, but not by hemzeh; and some by ب, but not by hemzeh nor by reduplication: you say, دَفَعْتُ زَيْدًا بِعَمْرٍو [as meaning I made ʼAmr to repel Zeyd, lit. I repelled Zeyd by ʼAmr], but not أَدْفَعْتُهُ nor دَفَّعْتُهُ. (TA.)

It also denotes the employing a thing as an aid or instrument; (Ṣ, M,* Mughnee, Ḳ;*) as in كَتَبْتُ بِالقَلَمِ [I wrote with the reed-pen]; (Ṣ, Mughnee, Ḳ;) and نَجَرْتُ بِالقَدُومِ [I worked as a carpenter with the adz]; (Mughnee, Ḳ;) and ضَرَبْتُ بالسَّيْفِ [I struck with the sword]. (M.) And hence the بِ in بِسْمِ ٱللّٰهِ, (Mughnee, Ḳ,) accord. to some, because the action [before which it is pronounced] is not practicable in the most perfect manner but by means of it: (Mughnee:) but others disallow this, because the name of God should not be regarded as an instrument: (MF, TA:) and some say that the ب here is to denote beginning, as though one said, أَبْتَدَأُ بِسْمِ ٱللّٰهِ [I begin with the name of God]. (TA.)

It also denotes a cause; as in إِنَّكُمْ ظَلَمْتُمْ أَنْفُسَكُمْ بِٱتِّخَاذِكُمُ ٱلْعِجْلَ [Verily ye have wronged yourselves by, i. e. because of, your taking to yourselves the calf as a god (Ḳur ii. 51)]; and in فَكُلًّا أَخَذْنَا بِذَنْبِهِ [And every one of these we have punished for, i. e. because of, his sin (Ḳur xxix. 39)]; (Mughnee, Ḳ) and in لَنْ يَدْخُلَ أَحَدَكُمُ الجَنَّةَ بِعَمَلِهِ [Not any of you shall enter Paradise by, or for, or because of, his works]. (TA from a trad.) And so in لَقَيتُ بِزَيْدٍ الأَسَدَ I met, or found, by reason of my meeting, or finding, Zeyd, the lion: (Mughnee:) or the ب in this instance denotes comparison; [i. e. I met, or found, in Zeyd the like of the lion;] as also in رَأَيْتُ بِفُلَانٍ القَمَرَ [I saw in such a one the like of the moon]. (TA.) Another ex. of the same usage is the saying [of a poet],

* قَدْ سُقِيَتْ آبَالُهُمْ بِالنَّارِ *

* وَالنَّارُ قَدْ تَشْفِى مِنَ الأُوَارِ *

[Their camels had been watered because of the brand that they bore: for fire, or the brand, sometimes cures of the heat of thirst]; i. e., because of their being branded with the names [or marks] of their owners, they had free access left them to the water. (Mughnee. See also another reading of this verse voce نَارٌ.) [In like manner] it is used in the sense of مِنْ أَجْلِ [which means بِسَبَبِ (Mṣb in art. اجل)] in the saying of Lebeed,

* غُلْبٌ تَشَذَّرَ بِالذُّحُولِ كَأَنَّهَا *

* جِنُّ البَدِىِّ رَوَاسِياً أَقْدَامُهَا *

(Ṣ) Thick-necked men, like lions, who threatened one another because of rancorous feelings, as though they were the Jinn of the valley El-Bedee, [or of the desert, (TA in art. بدو,)] their feet standing firm in contention and obstinate altercation. (EM pp. 174 and 175.) It is also used to denote a cause when prefixed to أَنَّ and to مَا as in ذٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَانُوا يَكْفُرُونَ بِآيَاتِ ٱللّٰهِ [That was because they used to disbelieve in the signs of God]; and in ذٰلِكَ بِمَا عَصَوْا [That was because they disobeyed]: both instances in the Ḳur ii. 58. (Bḍ.)

It is also used to denote concomitance, as syn. with مَعَ; (Mughnee, Ḳ;) as in اِشْتَرَيْتُ الفَرَسَ بِلِجَامِهِ وَسَرْجِهِ [I bought the horse with his bit and bridle and his saddle]; (TA;) and in لَمَّا رَآنِى بِالسَّلَاحِ هَرَبَ, i. e. When he saw me advancing with the weapon, [he fled;] or when he saw me possessor of a weapon; (Sh, T;) and in اِهْبِطْ بِسَلَامٍ [Descend thou with security, or with greeting (Ḳur xi. 50)]; and in وَقَدْ دَخَلُوا بِٱلْكُفْرِ [They having entered with unbelief (Ḳur v. 66)]; (Mughnee, Ḳ;) بالكفر being a denotative of state. (Bḍ.) Authors differ respecting the ب in the saying, فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ, in the Ḳur [xv. 98 and ex. 3]; some saying that it denotes concomitance, and that حمد is prefixed to the objective complement, so that the meaning is, سَبِّحْهٌ حَامِدًا لَهُ [Declare thou his (thy Lord's) freedom from everything derogatory from his glory, praising Him], i. e. declare thou his freedom from that which is not suitable to Him, and ascribe to Him that which is suitable to Him; but others say that it denotes the employing a thing as an aid or instrument, and that حمد is prefixed to the agent, so that the meaning is, سَبِّحْهُ بِمَا حَمِدَ بِهِ نَفْسَهُ [declare thou his (thy Lord's) freedom from everything derogatory from his glory by means of ascribing to Him that wherewith He hath praised himself]: and so, too, respecting the saying, سُبْحَانَكَ ٱللّٰهُمَّ وَبِحَمْدِكَ; some asserting that it is one proposition, the, being redundant; but others saying, it is two propositions, the و being a conjunction, and the verb upon which the ب is dependent being suppressed, so that the meaning is, [I declare thy freedom from everything derogatory from thy glory, 0 God,] وَبِحَمْدِكَ سَبَّحْتُكَ [and with the praising of Thee, or by means of the praise that belongeth to Thee, I declare thy freedom, &c.]. (Mughnee. [Other explanations of these two phrases have been proposed; but those given above are the most approved.]) You also say, عَلَىَّ بِهِ, meaning Bring thou him, [i. e.] come with him, to me. (Ḥar p. 109.) ضَاقَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلْأَرْضُ بِمَا رَحُبَتْ, in the Ḳur ix. 119, means بِرُحْبِهَا [i. e. The earth became strait to them, with, meaning notwithstanding, its amplitude, or spaciousness]. (Bḍ.) Sometimes the negative لا intervenes between بِ [denoting concomitance] and the noun governed by it in the gen. case; [so that بِلَا signifies Without;] as in جِئْتُ بِلَا زَادٍ [I came without travelling-provision]. (Mughnee and Ḳ in art. لا.)

It is also syn. with فِى before a noun signifying a place or a time; (Mughnee,* Ḳ,* TA;) as in جَلَسْتُ بِالمَسْجِدِ [I sat in the mosque]; (TA;) and وَلَقَدْ نَصَرَكُمُ ٱللّٰهُ بِبَدْرٍ [And verily God aided you against your enemies at Bedr (Ḳur iii. 119)]; and نَجَّيْنَاهُمْ بِسَحَرٍ [We saved them a little before daybreak (Ḳur liv. 34)]: (Mughnee, Ḳ, TA:) and so in بِأَيِّكُمُ ٱلْمَفْتُونُ (T, Ḳ,) in the Ḳur [lxviii. 6], (TA,) accord. to some, (T, Mughnee,) i. e. In which of you is madness; or in which of the two parties of you is the mad: (Bḍ:) or the ب is here redundant; (Sb, Bḍ, Mughnee;) the meaning being which of you is he who is afflicted with madness. (Bḍ. [See also a later division of this paragraph.])

It also denotes substitution; [meaning Instead of, or in place of;] as in the saying [of the Hamásee (Mughnee)],

* فَلَيْتَ لِى بِهِمُ قَوْمًا إِذَا رَكِبُوا *

* شَنَّوا الإِغَارَةَ فُرْسَانًا وَرُكْبَانَا *

[Then would that I had, instead of them, a people who, when they mounted their beasts, poured the sudden attack, they being horsemen and camel-riders]; (Ḥam p. 8, Mughnee, Ḳ;) i. e., بَدَلًا بِهِمْ (TA:) but some read شَدُّوا الإِغَارَةَ, [and so it is in some, app., the most correct, of the copies of the Mughnee,] for شَدُّوا لِلْإِغَارِةِ [hastened for the making a sudden attack]. (Ḥam, Mughnee.) So, too, in the saying, اِعْتَضْتُ بِهٰذِا الثَّوْبِ خَيْرًا مِنْهُ [I received, in the place of this garment, or piece of cloth, one better than it]; and لَقِيتُ بِزَيْدٍ بَحْرًا [I found, in the place of Zeyd, a man of abundant generosity or beneficence]; and هٰذَا بِذَاكِ [This is instead, or in the place, of that; but see another explanation of this last phrase in what follows]. (The Lubáb, TA.)

It also denotes requital; or the giving, or doing, in return; (Mughnee, Ḳ;) and in this case is prefixed to the word signifying the substitute, or thing given or done in exchange [or return; or to the word signifying that for which a substitute is given, or for which a thing is given or done in exchange or return]; (Mughnee;) as in the saying, اِشْتَرَيْتُهُ بِأَلْفِ دِرْهَمٍ [I purchased it for a thousand dirhems]; (Mughnee, Ḳ;*) [and in the saying in the Ḳur ix. 112, إِنَّ ٱللّٰهَ ٱشْتَرى مِنَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَنْفُسَهُمْ وَأَمْوَالَهُمْ بِأَنَّ لَهُمُ ٱلْجَنَّةَ Verily God hath purchased of the believers their souls and their possessions for the price of their having Paradise;] and كَافَأْتُ إِحْسَانَهُ بِضِعْفٍ [I requited his beneficence with a like beneficence, or with double, or more], (Mughnee,) or كَافأْتُهُ بِضِعْفِ إِحْسَانِهِ [I requited him with the like, or with double the amount, or with more than double the amount, of his beneficence], (Ḳ,) but the former is preferable; (TA;) [and خَدَمَ بِطَعَامِ بِطْنِهِ (Ṣ and A, &c. in art. وغد) He served for, meaning in return for, the food of his belly;] and

* هٰذَا بِذَاكَ وَلَا عَتْبٌ عَلَى الزَّمَنِ *

[This is in return for that, (an explanation somewhat differing from one in the next preceding division of this paragraph,) and no blame is imputable to fortune]: and hence, اُدْخُلُوا ٱلجَنَّةَ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ [Enter ye Paradise in return for that which ye wrought (Ḳur xvi. 34)]; for the ب here is not that which denotes a cause, as the Moatezileh assert it to be, and as all [of the Sunnees] hold it to be in the saying of the Prophet, لَنْ يَدْخُلَ أَحَدُكُمُ الجَنَّةَ بِعَمَلِهِ [before cited and explained]; because what is given instead of something is sometimes given gratuitously; and it is evident that there is no mutual opposition between the trad. and the verse of the Ḳur-án. (Mughnee.)

It is also syn. with عَنْ; and is said to be peculiar to interrogation; as in فَٱسْأَلْ بِهِ خَبِيرًا [And ask thou respecting Him, or it, one possessing knowledge (Ḳur xxv. 60)]; (Mughnee, Ḳ;) and accord. to IAạr in the Ḳur lxx. 1; (T;) and in the saying of 'Alkameh,

* فَإِنْ تَسْأَلُونِى بِالنِّسَآءِ فَإِنَّنِى *

* بَصِيرٌ بِأَدْوَآءِ النِّسَآءِ خَبِيرُ *

[And if ye ask me respecting the diseases of women, verily I am knowing in the diseases of women, skilful]: (A' Obeyd, TA:) or it is not peculiar to interrogation; as in وَيَوْمَ تَشَقَّقُ ٱلسَّمَآءُ بِٱلْغَمَامِ [And the day when the heavens shall be rent asunder from the clouds (Ḳur xxv. 27)]; (Mughnee, Ḳ) and مَا غَرَّكَ بِرَبِّكَ (Ḳ) i. e. What hath beguiled thee from thy Lord, and from believing in him? in the Ḳur lxxxii. 6; and so in the same, lvii. 13: (TA: [but see art. غر:]) or, accord. to Z, the ب in بالغمام means by, as by an instrument; (Mughnee;) or it means because of, or by means of, the rising of the clouds therefrom: (Bḍ:) and in like manner the Basrees explain it as occurring in فَٱسْأَلْ بِهِ خَبِيرًا, as denoting the cause; and they assert that it is never syn. with عَنْ; but their explanation is improbable. (Mughnee.)

It is also syn. with عَلَىِ; as in إِنْ تِأْمَنْهُ بِقِنْطَارٍ (Mughnee, Ḳ *) or بِدِينَارٍ (Ṣ) [If thou give him charge over a hundredweight or over a deenár (Ḳur iii. 68)]; like as عَلَى is sometimes put in the place of بِ as after the verb رَضِىَ: (Ṣ, TA:) and so in لَوْ تُسَوَّى بِهِمُ ٱلْأَرْضُ [That the ground were made even over them], in the Ḳur [iv. 45], (TA,) i. e. that they were buried; (Bḍ) and in مَرَرْتُ بِزَيْدٍ [I passed by Zeyd], accord. to Akh, as before mentioned; (Mughnee, in the first division of the art. on this preposition;) and in زَيْدٌ بِالسَّطْحِ [Zeyd is on the roof]; (TA;) and in a verse cited in this Lex. voce ثَعْلَبٌ. (Mughnee.)

It also denotes part of a whole; (Mṣb in art. بعض Mughnee, Ḳ;) so accord. to Aṣ and AAF and others; (Mṣb, Mughnee;) as syn. with مِنْ (Mṣb, TA:) IḲt says; the Arabs say, شَرِبْتُ بِمَآءِ كَذَا, meaning مِنْهُ [I drank of such a water]; and AZ mentions, as a saying of the Arabs, سَقَاكَ ٱللّٰهُ مِنْ مَآءِ كَذَا, meaning بِهِ [May God give thee to drink of such a water], thus making the two prepositions syn.: (Mṣb: [in which five similar instances are cited from poets; and two of these are cited also in the Mughnee:]) and thus it signifies in عَيْنًا يَشْرَبُ بِهَا عِبَادُ ٱللّٰهِ [A fountain from which the servants of God shall drink, in the Ḳur lxxvi. 6; and the like occurs in lxxxiii. 28]; (Mṣb, Mughnee, Ḳ;) accord. to the authorities mentioned above; (Mughnee;) or the meaning is, with which the servants of God shall satisfy their thirst (يَرْوَى بِهَا); (T, Mughnee;) or, accord. to Z, with which the servants of God shall drink wine: (Mughnee:) if the ب were redundant, [as some assert it to be, (Bḍ,)] the meaning would be, that they shall drink the whole of it; which is not right: (Mṣb:) thus, also, it is used in وَٱمْسَحُوا بِرُؤُٓسِكُمْ [in the Ḳur v. 8], (Mṣb, Mughnee, Ḳ,) accord. to some; (Mughnee;) i. e. [And wipe ye] a part of your heads; and this explanation has been given as on the authority of EshSháfi'ee; but he is said to have disapproved it, and to have held that the ب here denotes adhesion: (TA:) this latter is its apparent meaning in this and the other instances: or, as some say, in this last instance it is used to denote the employing a thing as an aid or instrument, and there is an ellipsis in the phrase, and an inversion; the meaning being, اِمْسَحُوا رُؤُٓسَكُمْ بِالمَآءِ [wipe ye your heads with water]. (Mughnee.)

It is also used to denote swearing; (Mughnee, Ḳ;) and is the primary one of the particles used for this purpose; therefore it is peculiarly distinguished by its being allowable to mention the verb with it, (Mughnee,) as أُقْسِمُ بِٱللّٰهِ لَأَفْعَلَنَّ [I swear by God I will assuredly do such a thing]; (Mughnee, Ḳ) and by its being prefixed to a pronoun, as in بِكَ لَأَفْعَلَنَّ [By thee I will assuredly do such a thing]; and by its being used in adjuring, or conjuring, for the purpose of inducing one to incline to that which is desired of him, as in بٱللّٰهِ هَلْ قَامَ زَيْدٌ, meaning I adjure thee, or conjure thee, by God, to tell me, did Zeyd stand? (Mughnee.) [See also the first explanation of this particle, where it is said, on the authority of the L, that, when thus used, it denotes adhesion.]

It is also syn. with إِلَى as denoting the end of an extent or interval; as in أَحْسَنَ بِى, meaning He did good, or acted well, to me: (Mughnee, Ḳ:) but some say that the verb here imports the meaning of لَطَفَ [which is trans. by means of ب, i. e. he acted graciously, or courteously, with me]. (Mughnee.)

It is also redundant, (Ṣ, Mughnee, Ḳ,) to denote corroboration: (Mughnee, Ḳ:) and is prefixed to the agent: (Mughnee:) first, necessarily; as in أَحْسِنْ بِزَيْدٍ; (Mughnee, Ḳ;) accord. to general opinion (Mughnee) originally أَحْسَنَ زَيْدٌ, i. e. صَارَ ذَا حُسْنٍ [Zeyd became possessed of goodness, or goodliness, or beauty]; (Mughnee, Ḳ;*) or the correct meaning is حَسُنَ زَيْدٌ [Good, or goodly, or beautiful, or very good, &c., is Zeyd! or how good, or goodly, or beautiful, is Zeyd!], as in the B: (TA:) secondly, in most instances; and this is in the case of the agent of كَفَى; as in كَفَى بِٱللّٰهِ شَهِيدًا [God sufficeth, being witness, or as a witness (Ḳur xiii., last verse;, &c.)]; (Mughnee, Ḳ [and a similar ex. is given in the Ṣ, from the Ḳur xxv. 33;]) the ب here denoting emphatic praise; but you may drop it, saying, كَفَى ٱللّٰهُ شَهِيدًا: (Fr, TA:) thirdly, in a case of necessity, by poetic licence; as in the saying,

* أَلَمْ يَأْتِيكَ وَالأَنْبَآءُ تَنْمِى *

* بِمَا لَاقَتْ لَبُونُ بَنِى زِيَادِ *

[Did not what the milch camel of the sons of Ziyád experienced come to thee (يَأْتِيكَ being in like manner put for يَأْتِكَ) when the tidings were increasing?]. (Mughnee, Ḳ.) It is also redundantly prefixed to the objective complement of a verb; as in وَلَا تُلْقُوا بِأَيْديكُمْ إِلَى ٱلتَّهْلُكَةِ [And cast ye not yourselves (بأيديكم meaning بِأَنْفُسِكُمْ) to perdition (Ḳur ii. 191)]; and in وَهُزِّى إِلَيْكِ بِجِذْعِ النَّخْلَةِ [And shake thou towards thee the trunk of the palm-tree (Ḳur xix. 25)]: but some say that the former means and cast ye not yourselves (أَنْفُسَكُمْ being understood) with your hands to perdition; or that the meaning is, by means, or because, of your hands: (Mughnee:) and ISd says that هُزِّى, in the latter, is made trans. by means of ب because it is used in the sense of جُزِّى: (TA in art هز:) so, too, in the saying,

* نَضْرِبُ بِالسَّيْفِ وَنَرجُو بِالفَرَجْ *

[We smite with the sword, and we hope for the removal of grief]: (Ṣ, Mughnee:) and in the trad., كَفَى بِالمَرْءِ كَذِبًا أَنْ يُحَدِّثَ بِكُلِّ مَا سَمِعَ [It suffices the man in respect of lying that he relate all that he has heard]. (Mughnee.) It is also redundantly prefixed to the inchoative; as in بِحَسْبِكَ [when you say, بِحَسْبِكَ دِرْهَمٌ, meaning A thing sufficing thee is a dirhem; a phrase which may be used in two ways; as predicating of what is sufficient, that it is a dirhem; and as predicating of a dirhem, that it is sufficient; in which latter case, بحسبك is an enunciative put before its inchoative, so that the meaning is, a dirhem is a thing sufficing thee, i. e. a dirhem is sufficient for thee; as is shown in a marginal note in my copy of the Mughnee: in the latter way is used the saying, mentioned in the Ṣ, بِحَسْبِكَ قَوْلُ السَّوْءِ A thing sufficing thee is the saying what is evil: and so, app., each of the following sayings, mentioned in the TA on the authority of Fr; حَسْبُكَ بِصَدِيقِنَا A person sufficing thee is our friend; and نَاهِيكَ بِأَخِينَا A person sufficing thee is our brother: the ب is added, as Fr says, to denote emphatic praise]: so too in خَرَجْتُ فَإِذِا بِزَيْدٍ [I went forth, and lo, there, or then, was Zeyd]; and in كَيْفَ بِكَ إِذَا كَانَ كَذَا [How art thou, or how wilt thou be, when it is thus, or when such a thing is the case?]; and so, accord. to Sb, in بِأيِّكُمُ ٱلْمَفْتُونُ [mentioned before, in explanation of بِ as syn. with فِى]; but Abu-l-Ḥasan says that بأيّكم is dependent upon اِسْتِقْرَار suppressed, denoting the predicate of اَلمفتون; and some say that this is an inf. n. in the sense of فِنْنَةٌ; [so that the meaning may be, بأَيِّكُمُ المَفْتُونُ مُسْتَقِرٌّ In which of you is madness residing?]; or, as some say, بِ is here syn. with فِى [as I have before mentioned], (Mughnee.) A strange case is that of its being added before that which is originally an inchoative, namely, the noun, or subject, of لَيْسَ, on the condition of its being transferred to the later place which is properly that of the enunciative; as in the reading of some, [وُجُوهَكُمْ لَيْسَ ٱلبِرَّ بِأَنْ تُوَلُّوا قَبَلَ ٱلْمَشْرِقِ وَٱلْمَغْرِبِ] [Your turning your faces towards the east and the west is not obedience (Ḳur ii. 172)]; with البرّ in the accus. case. (Mughnee.) It is also redundantly prefixed to the enunciative; and this is in two kinds of cases: first, when the phrase is not affirmative; and cases of this kind may be followed as exs.; as لَيْسَ زَيْدٌ بِقَائِمٍ [Zeyd is not standing]; and وَمَا ٱللّٰهُ بِغَافِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ [And God is not heedless of that which ye do (Ḳur ii. 69, &c.)]: secondly, when the phrase is affirmative; and in cases of this kind, one limits himself to what has been heard [from the Arabs]: so say Akh and his followers; and they hold to be an instance of this kind the phrase, جَزَآءُ سَيِّئَةٍ بِمِثْلِهَا [The recompense of an evil action is the like thereof (Ḳur x. 28)]; and the saying of the Hamásee,

* وَمَنْعُكَهَا بِشَىْءٍ يُسْتَطَاعُ *

[And the preventing thee from having her (referring to a mare) is a thing that is possible]: but it is more proper to make بمثلها dependent upon اِسْتِقْرَار suppressed, as the enunciative; [the meaning being, جَزَآءُ سَيَّئَةٍ مُسْتَقِرٌّ بِمِثْلِهَا, or يَسْتَقِرُّ بِمِثْلِهَا, i. e. the recompense of an evil action is a thing consisting in the like thereof]; and to make بشىء dependent upon منعكها; the meaning being, وَمَنْعُكَهَا بِشَىْءٍ مَّا يُسْتَطَاعُ [i. e. and the preventing thee from having her, by something, is possible: see Ḥam p. 102]: Ibn-Málik also [holds, like Akh and his followers, that بِ may be redundant when prefixed to the enunciative in an affirmative proposition; for he] says, respecting بِحَسْبِكَ زَيْدٌ, that زيد is an inchoative placed after its enunciative, [so that the meaning is, Zeyd is a person sufficing thee,] because زَيْدٌ is determinate and حَسْبُكَ is indeterminate. (Mughnee. [See also what has been said above respecting the phrase بِحَسْبِكَ دِرْهَمٌ, in treating of بِ as added before the inchoative.]) It is also redundantly prefixed to the denotative of state of which the governing word is made negative; as in

* فَمَا رَجَعَتْ بِخَائِبَةٍ رِكَابٌ *

* حَكِيمُ بْنُ المُسَيَّبِ مُنْتَهَاهَا *

[And travelling-camels (meaning their riders) returned not disappointed, whose goal, or ultimate object, was Hakeem the son of El-Museiyab]; and in

* فَمَا ٱنْبَعَثْتَ بِمَزْؤُدٍ وَلَا وَكَلِ *

[And thou didst not, being sent, or roused, go away frightened, nor impotent, committing thine affair to another]: so says Ibn-Málik: but AḤei disagrees with him, explaining these two exs. as elliptical; the meaning implied in the former being, بِحَاجَةٍ خَائِبَةٍ [with an object of want disappointed, or frustrated]; and in the second, بِشَخْصٍ مَزْؤُودٍ, i. e. مَذْعُورٍ [with a person frightened]; the poet meaning, by the مزؤود, himself, after the manner of the saying, رَأَيْتُ مِنْهُ أَسَدًا; and this is plain with respect to the former ex., but not with respect to the second; for the negation of attributes of dispraise denoted as intensive in degree does not involve the negation of what is simply essential in those attributes; and one does not say, لَقِيتُ مِنْهُ أَسَدًا, or بَحْرًا, [or رَأَيْتُ مِنْهُ أَسَدًا, as above, or بَحْرًا,] but when meaning to express an intensive degree of boldness, or of generosity. (Mughnee.) It is also redundantly prefixed to the corroborative نَفْسٌ and عَيْنٌ: and some hold it to be so in يَتَرَبَّنَ بِأَنْفُسِهِنَّ [as meaning Shall themselves wait (Ḳur ii. 228 and 234)]: but this presents matter for consideration; because the affixed pronoun in the nom. case, [whether expressed, as in this instance, in which it is the final syllable نَ, or implied in the verb,] when corroborated by نَفْس, should properly be corroborated first by the separate [pronoun], as in قُمْتُمْ أَنْتُمْ أَنْفُسُكُمْ [Ye stood, ye, yourselves]; and because the corroboration in this instance is lost, since it cannot be imagined that any others are here meant than those who are commanded to wait: [the preferable rendering is, shall wait to see what may take place with themselves:] بأنفسهنّ is added only for rousing them the more to wait, by making known that their minds should not be directed towards the men. (Mughnee.) Accord. to some, it is also redundantly prefixed to a noun governed in the gen. case [by another preposition]; as in

* فأَصْبَحْنَ لَا يَسْأَلْنَهُ عَنْ بِأَبِهِ *

[And they became in a condition in which they asked him not respecting his father; which may perhaps be regarded by some as similar to the saying,

* يَضْحَكْنَ عَنْ كَالبَرَدِ المُنْهَمِّ *

but in this instance, كَ is generally held to be a noun, syn. with مِثْل]. (The Lubáb, TA.)

Sometimes it is understood; as in ٱللّٰه لافعلنّ [i. e. ٱللّٰهِ لَأَفْعَلَنَّ and ٱللّٰهَ لَأَفْعَلَنَّ By God, I will assuredly do such a thing; in the latter as well as the former, for a noun is often put in the accus. case because of a preposition understood; or, accord. to Bḍ, in ii. 1, a verb significant of swearing is understood]: and in خَيْرٍ [for بِخَيْرٍ In a good state], addressed to him who says, كَيْفَ أَصْبَحْتَ [How hast thou entered upon the time of morning? or How hast thou become?]. (TA.)

[It occurs also in several elliptical phrases; one of which (فَبِهَا وَنِعْمَتْ) has been mentioned among the exs. of its primary meaning: some are mentioned in other arts.; as بِأَبِى and بِنَفْسِى, in arts. ابو and نفس: and there are many others, of which exs. here follow.] Moḥammad is related, in a trad., to have said, after hitting a butt with an arrow, أَنَا بهَا أَنَا بهَا, meaning أَنَا صَاحِبُهَا [I am the doer of it! I am the doer of it!]. (Sh, T.) And in another trad., Moḥammad is related to have said to one who told him of a man's having committed an unlawful action, لَعَلَّكَ بِذٰلِكِ, meaning لَعَلَّكَ صَاحِبُ الأَمْرِ [May-be thou art the doer of that thing]. (T.) And in another, he is related to have said to a woman brought to him for having committed adultery or fornication, مَنْ بِكِ, meaning مَنْ صَاحِبُكِ [Who was thine accomplice?]: (T:) or مَنِ الفَاعِلُ بِكِ [Who was the agent with thee?]. (TA.) أَنَا بِكَ وَلَكَ, occurring in a form of prayer, means I seek, or take, refuge in Thee; or by thy right disposal and facilitation I worship; and to Thee, not to any other, I humble myself. (Mgh in art. بوا.) One says also, مَنْ لِى بِكَذَا, meaning Who will be responsible, answerable, amenable, or surety, to me for such a thing? (Ḥar p. 126: and the like is said in p. 191.) And similar to this is the saying, كَأَنِّى بِكَ, meaning كَأَنِّى أَبْصُرُ بِكَ [It is as though I saw thee]; i. e. I know from what I witness of thy condition to-day how thy condition will be to-morrow; so that it is as though I saw thee in that condition. (Idem p. 126.) [You also say, كَأَنَّكَ بِهِ, meaning Thou art so near to him that it is as though thou sawest him: or it is as though thou wert with him: i. e. thou art almost in his presence.]

The Basrees hold that prepositions do not supply the places of other prepositions regularly; but are imagined to do so when they admit of being differently rendered; or it is because a word is sometimes used in the sense of another word, as in شَرِبْنَ بِمَآءِ البَحْرِ meaning رَوِينَ, and in أَحْسَنَ بِى meaning لَطَفَ; or else because they do so anomalously. (Mughnee.)

[As a numeral, ب denotes Two.]