Classical Arabic - English Dictionary

سَرُعَ, aor. ـُ {يَسْرُعُ}, inf. n. سِرَعٌ (Ṣ, Mṣb, Ḳ) and سَرَعٌ (TA [and mentioned in the Ḳ, but app. as a simple subst.,]) and سِرْعٌ and سَرْعٌ and سَرَاعَةٌ (TA) and سُرْعَةٌ, (Ḳ,) or this last is a simple subst. from أَسْرَعَ, (Mṣb,) [but it is also generally used as syn. with the inf. ns. before mentioned when they are employed as simple substs., and is more common than any of them,] He, or it, was quick, expeditious, hasty, speedy, rapid, swift, or fleet: [in course, tendency, action, speech, &c.:] (Ṣ, Ḳ:) or, said of a man, i. q. أَسْرَعَ [which may mean as above, or he hastened, made haste, or sped,] in his speech and in his actions: (IAạr, TA:) but Sb makes a difference between سَرُعَ and أَسْرَعَ: see the latter below: (TA:) one says also سَرِعَ, aor. ـَ {يَسْرَعُ}; a dial. var. of سَرُعَ: andتسرّع↓, said of an affair, or event, signifies the same as سَرُعَ. (TA.) One says, السِّرَعَ السِّرَعَ like الوَحَآءَ الوَحَآءَ, (Ṣ, Ḳ,) i. e. [Make thou] haste; or haste to be first, or before, or beforehand: haste; or haste to be first,, &c. (Ṣ and TA in art. وحى.) And سَرُعَ مَا فَعَلْتَ ذَاكَ, (Ṣ,* TA,) and سَرْعَ, which is a contraction of the former; for the Arabs contract by the suppression of ḍammeh and kesreh because they are difficult of pronunciation, saying فَخْذٌ for فَخِذٌ and عَضْدٌ for عَضْدٌ, but one should not say حَجْرٌ for حَجَرٌ, (Ṣ, TA,) or the like, accord. to the Basrees, though the Koofees allow the contraction in the case of fet-ḥah also, as in سَلْفَ for سَلَفَ; (M in art. سلف;) and one says also سُرْعَ, as a contraction of سَرُعَ; all meaning سَرْعَانَ [i. e. Quick was thy doing that: or how quick was thy doing that! or, which is nearly the same, excellently quick was thy doing that; for سَرُعَ is similar to قَضُوَ and رَمُوَ, denoting excellence]. (TA.)

مُسَارَعَةٌ signifies The hastening with another; or vying, or striving, with another, in hastening; or hastening to be, or get, before another or others; (Ṣ, Ḳ;) إِلَى شَىْءٍ to a thing; (Ṣ;) as alsoتَسَارُعٌ↓; syn. مُبَادَرَةٌ; (Ṣ, Ḳ;) with which, also, [not, however, as it is expl. above, but in the sense of بُدُورٌ, i. e. simply the hastening to a thing,] إِسْرَاعٌ↓ is syn. (TA.) One says, سَارَعُوا إِلَى كَذَا andتسارعوا↓ إِلَيْهِ, [They hastened, one with another,, &c., to such a thing,] both signifying the same. (Ṣ.) And [of a single person,] سارع إِلَى الشَّىْءِ He hastened to the thing; syn. بادر. (Mṣb.) And it is said in the Ḳur [iii. 127], وَسَارِعُوا إِلَى مَغْفِرَةٍ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ [And vie ye, one with another, in hastening to obtain forgiveness from your Lord]. (TA.) And again, [iii. 170,] ٱلَّذِينَ يُسَارِعُونَ فِى الكُفْرِ Who fall into unbelief hastily, or quickly, (Bḍ, Jel,) and eagerly. (Bḍ.)

اسرع is originally trans.; (Ṣ, Ḳ;) [signifying He quickened, or hastened, himself, or his going, &c.;] and hence the saying, in a trad., إِذَا مَرَّ أَحَدُكُمْ بِطِرْبَالٍ مَائِلٍ فَلْيُسْرِعِ المَشْىَ [When any one of you passes by a high wall, or the like, that is inclining, let him quicken, or hasten, the pace, or going]. (Ḳ,* TA.) But [it is used also elliptically, as meaning He hastened, in an intrans. sense; he made haste; he sped; he went quickly; and hence] you say, اسرع فِى السَّيْرِ, (Ṣ, Ḳ,) like سَرُعَ [He was quick, expeditious, hasty, speedy, rapid, swift, or fleet, in going, journeying, or pace]: (Ḳ:) or [rather he hastened, made haste, or sped, therein; for] اسرع signifies he endeavoured, or sought, and affected, to be quick,, &c., as though he hastened the pace, or going; butسَرُعَ↓ denotes what is as it were an innate quality: (Sb:) the verb being originally trans., when you say of one اسرع فى السير it is as though [meaning] he urged himself forward with haste; or he quickened, or hastened, the pace, or going; and it is only because the meaning is understood by the persons addressing one another, that the objective complement is not expressed: (Lth, Ḳ:) or the verb may be trans. by means of a particle and without a particle: or when made immediately trans., the phrase may be meant to be understood as elliptical. (TA.) [Accord. to Fei,] اسرع فِى مَشْيِهِ, &c., inf. n. إِسْرَاعٌ, is originally اسرع مَشْيَهُ [He quickened, or hastened, his pace, or going]; فى being redundant; or اسرع الحَرَكَةَ فِى مَشْيِهِ [he quickened, or hastened, the motion in his going]: and اسرع إِلَيْهِ means اسرع المُضِىَّ إِلَيْهِ [he quickened, or hastened, the going to him]. (Mṣb.) سرّع↓ is syn. with اسرع. (TA.) And you say,تسرّع↓ إِلَى الشَّرِّ, (Ṣ, Ḳ,) meaning He hastened, or made haste, to [do] evil, or mischief; (Ḳ;) as also تزرّع. (Ṣgh and Ḳ in art. زرع.) Andتسرّع بِالأَمْرِ↓ He hastened to do the thing, or affair; syn. بَادَرَ بِهِ. (TA.) See also 3.

اسرع إِلَيْهِ occurs in a trad. as meaning He was quick, or hasty, in being angry with him, or in blaming him, or in reviling him. (Mgh.)

اسرع بِهِ: see [its contr.] بَطَّأَ بِهِ.

أَسْرَعُوا signifies also, Their beasts on which they rode were, or became, quick, swift, or fleet. (AZ, Ṣ, Ḳ.)

مَا أَسْرَعَ مَا صَنَعْتَ كَذَا [How quick was thy doing that!]. (Ṣ, Ḳ.)

سَرْعٌ [originally an inf. n. of سَرُعَ, like سِرْعٌ and سَرَعٌ accord. to the TA]: see سَرِيعٌ, in two places.

سُرْعَةٌ Quickness, expedition, haste, speed, rapidity, swiftness, or fleetness; [of course, tendency, action, speech, &c.;] (Ṣ, Ḳ;) as alsoسَرَعٌ↓; (Ḳ;) [the former said in the Ḳ, and the latter in the TA, to be an inf. n. of سَرُعَ:] and a hastening, making haste, or speeding; i. q. إِسْرَاعٌ [inf. n. of 4]; (TA;) or a subst. therefrom. (Mṣb.) You say, عَجِبْتُ مِنْ سُرْعَةِ ذَاكَ [I wondered at the quickness,, &c., of that]. (Ṣ.)

سَرْعَانَ and سُرْعَانَ and سِرْعَانَ (Ṣ, Ḳ) andسَرُعَانَ↓, the last with damm to the ر (IAạr,) occurring in the phrase سرعانَ ذَا خُرُوجًا, (IAạr, Ṣ, Ḳ,) meaning سَرُعَ ذَا خُرُوجًا [Quick is this in coming forth: or how quick is this in coming forth! or, which is nearly the same, excellently quick, &c.], (Ṣ, Ḳ,) are dial. vars., changed from the original form, which is سَرُعَ, and, for this reason, (Ṣ,) made indecl., with the final vowel of سَرُعَ for their termination. (Ṣ, Ḳ.) The word سرعان is used as a simple enunciative [placed before its inchoative], and also as an enunciative denoting wonder: [see بُطْآنَ:] and hence the saying, (Ḳ,) لَسَرْعَانَ مَا صَنَعْتَ كَذَا How quick was thy doing that! (Ṣ, Ḳ.) The saying سَرَعَانَ ذَا إِهَالَةٌ originated from the fact that a man had a lean ewe, her snivel running from her nostrils by reason of her leanness, and it being said to him “What is this?” he answered, “Her grease:” whereupon the asker said as above: the last word is in the accus. case as a denotative of state; and the meaning is, Quick, or how quick, is this snivel [coming forth] in the state of melted grease! or the last word is a specificative, under the supposition that the action is transferred [from its proper agent, which thus becomes a specificative], as in the phrase تَصَبَّبَ زَيْدٌ عَرَقًا; and the meaning to be understood is, Quick, or how quick, is the melted grease of this! the saying is applied to him who tells of a thing's coming to pass before its time: (O, Ḳ:) it is a prov. (TA.)

سَرْعَانُ; and its fem., سَرْعَى: see سَرِيعٌ, in two places: see also the paragraph here next following, in two places,

سَرَعَانُ النَّاسِ, (Ṣ, Mgh, Mṣb, Ḳ,) andسَرْعَانُ↓ الناس, (IAạr, Ḳ,) The first, or foremost, of the men, or people, (IAạr, Ṣ, Mgh, Mṣb, Ḳ,) striving, one with another, to be the first to do a thing; (Ḳ;) so says Aṣ, with reference to soldiers hastening: (TA:) the former word in this phrase is [distinguished from سَرْعَانَ in being] declinable in every case: (Ṣ:) in two trads. in which the phrase occurs, we find it differently related, سَرَعَان and سُرْعَان; the latter being pl. of سَرِيعٌ. (TA.) سَرَعَانُ الخَيْلِ, also, signifies The first or foremost, of the horsemen, and sometimes they saidسَرْعَانُ↓ الخيل. (Ḳ.) Abu-l-ʼAbbás says that when سرعان is an epithet applied to men, it has both of the above-mentioned forms; but when applied to others, the former is the more chaste, though the latter is allowable. (TA.)

سَرِيعٌ Quick, expeditious, hasty, speedy, rapid, swift, or fleet; [in course, tendency, action, speech, &c.;] (Ṣ, Mṣb,* TA;) as alsoسَرِعٌ↓ [andسَرْعٌ↓] andسُرَاعٌ↓, of which the fem. is with ة {سُرَاعَةٌ}, andسَرْعَانُ↓, of which the fem. is سَرْعَى; (TA;) i. q.مُسْرِعٌ↓, (Ḳ,) which signifies as above; (TA;) [and which also signifies hastening, making haste, or speeding;] andمِسْرَعٌ↓, also, signifies quick,, &c., (سَرِيع,) to [do] good or evil: (Ḳ:) the pl. of سريع is سُرْعَانٌ, (Ḳ,) and سِرَاعٌ is [also a pl. of the same,] syn. with مُسْرِعُونَ. (Mṣb.) You say, فَرَسٌ سَرِيعٌ andسُرَاعٌ↓ [A quick, swift, or fleet, horse]: (IB:) andحِجْرٌ سُرَاعَةٌ↓ meaning سَرِيعَةٌ [a quick, swift, or fleet, mare]. (Ḳ.) Andاِسْعَ عَلَى رِجْلِكَ السَّرْعَى↓ [Go thou quickly; lit. go thou, or walk thou, or run thou, upon thy quick, or swift, leg]. (Fr.) Andجَآءَ سَرْعًا↓ meaning سَرِيعًا [He, or it, came quickly, hastily, speedily,, &c.]. (TA.) And God is said [in the Ḳur ii. 198, &c.] to be سَرِيعُ الحِسَابِ [Quick in reckoning], meaning that his reckoning will inevitably come to pass; or that one reckoning will not divert Him from another reckoning, nor one thing from another thing; or that his actions are quick, none of them being later than He desireth, because it is done without manual operation and without effort, so that He will reckon with mankind, after raising them from death and congregating them, in the twinkling of an eye, without numbering, or calculating: (Ḳ:) and [in like manner He is said in the same, chap. vi., last verse, to be] سَرِيعُ العِقَابِ [quick in punishing]. (El-Mufradát, B.)

Also A certain kind of going, or pace; coupled with سُنْبُكٌ, which signifies another kind thereof. (Ibn-Ḥabeeb, TA.)

[السَّرِيعُ The ninth metre (بَحْر) in prosody, in which each hemistich originally consisted of مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ مَفْعُولَاتُ.]

And أَبُو سَرِيعٍ The [shrub called] عَرْفَج: or the fire that is therein. (Ḳ. [See زَحْفَةٌ.])

Also A shoot, or twig, that falls from the بَشَام [or tree of the balsam of Mekkeh]: pl. سِرْعَانٌ and سُرْعَانٌ. (Ḳ.)

أَسْرَعُ [More, and most, quick, expeditious, hasty, speedy, rapid, swift, or fleet, of course, tendency, action, speech, &c.]. [It is said, of God, in the Ḳur vi. 62,] وَهُوَ أَسْرَعُ الحَاسِبِينَ [And He is the quickest of the reckoners]. (Ḳ.) [The fem.] سُرْعَى is applied to a she-camel by Honeyf El-Hanátim [as meaning Surpassingly quick or fleet]. (IAạr, TA in art. بهى.)

مِسْرَاعٌ Very quick, or hasty, (Ḳ, TA,) to [do] good or evil, (Ḳ,) or in affairs. (TA.)