Classical Arabic - English Dictionary

سَفَّ, (AʼObeyd, Az, Ṣ, M, Ḳ,) aor. ـُ {يَسْفُفُ}, inf. n. سَفُّ; (Ṣ, TA;) andاسفّ↓, (AʼObeyd, Ṣ, M, Ḳ,) inf. n. إِسْفَافٌ; (TA;) He wove (AʼObeyd, Az, Ṣ, M, Z, Ḳ) with his fingers (Z, TA) [or plaited] a mat, (AʼObeyd, TA,) or palm-leaves, (Az, Ṣ, M, Ḳ,) and any other thing that may be woven with the fingers; (TA;) like رَمَلَ and أَرْمَلَ. (AʼObeyd, TA.)

سَفَّ (Lth, O, Ḳ) عَلَى وَجْهِ الأرْضِ, (Lth, O,)) [aor. ـُ {يَسْفُفُ} accord. to the TḲ, but more probably ـِ, agreeably with a general rule relating to intrans. verbs of this class,] inf. n. سَفِيفٌ, He (a bird) went along upon the surface of the earth. (Lth, O, Ḳ.) [See also 4.]

سَفِفْتُ, (Ṣ, M, Mgh,* Mṣb, Ḳ,) third pers. سَفَّ, (Mgh,) aor. أَسَفُّ, (Mṣb, TA,) inf. n. سَفٌّ; (M, Mṣb, Ḳ;) andاِسْتَفَفْتُ↓; (Ṣ, M, Mṣb, Ḳ; [in one of my copies of the Ṣ, erroneously, أَسْفَفْتُ;]) I took [into my mouth], (Ṣ, Ḳ,) or ate, (Mgh, Mṣb,) medicine, (Ṣ, M, Mgh, Mṣb, Ḳ,) and meal of parched barley or wheat, (Ṣ, M, Mgh,) and the like of either of these, (M,) or anything dry, (Mgh, Mṣb,) not moistened, (Ṣ, Mṣb, Ḳ,) and not kneaded [with water, &c.]; (Ṣ;) or i. q. قَمِحْتُ, (M, Ḳ, TA,) which signifies as above, (TA,) or I took it in the palm of my hand, (A and L in art. قمح,) and conveyed it to my mouth, (A in that art.,) or licked it up: (L in that art.:) andسَفَّةٌ↓ signifies the doing thus once. (TA.) And [hence,] سَفٌّ signifies also Camels' eating dry herbage. (Ḳ.) Hence the saying of ʼAmr Ibn-Kulthoom,

* تَسَفُّ الجِلَّةُ الخُورُ الدَّرِينَا *

The she-camels advanced in age, abounding with milk, eating the [dry and] old and wasted herbage. (Mgh. [See EM p. 208: and the same, p. 224.]) Hence also the phrase, لَأَنْ أَسَفَّ التُّرَابَ Assuredly that I should eat the dust. (Mgh.)

And سَفِفْتُ المَآءَ, (M, Ḳ,) aor. أَسَفُّ, inf. n. سَفٌّ, (TA,) I drank much of the water without satisfying my thirst: (M, Ḳ:) and so سَفِتُّهُ, aor. أَسْفَتُهُ, inf. n. سَفْتٌ. (TA.)

سُفَّ الرَّمَادُ فِى وَجْهِهِ: see 4.

اسفّ: see 1, first sentence.

[Hence,] أَسْفَفْتُ الشَّىْءَ, inf. n. إِسْفَافٌ, I stuck one part of the thing to another. (Yz, TA.)

[And from the same signification, as is indicated in the O and TA,] اسّف النَّظَرَ ‡ He looked sharply, (Ṣ, M, A, O, Ḳ,) and hardly, (Ṣ, O,) and minutely, (A,) towards, or at, (إِلَى,) a person, (Ṣ, A, O,) and an affair, (A,) and AAF adds, and inclined towards the ground. (M.)

Also He fed a camel with dry herbage. (Ḳ.)

[Hence,] اسفّ الفَرَسَ اللِجَامَ † He put the bit into the mouth of the horse. (Moḥeeṭ, L, Ḳ.)

And اسفّ الدَّوَآءَ † He stuffed the wound with the medicament: (M:) or اسفّ الجُرْحَ دَوَآءً ‡ he put a medicament into the wound; (Ḳ, TA;) as though he put سَفُوف to it. (TA.)

And اسفّ الوَشْمَ نَؤُورًا † He filled in the tattoo with نؤور [i. e. smoke-black of fat]. (M.)

And أُسِفَّ وَجْهُهُ النَّؤُورَ † His face was sprinkled with نؤور. (Ṣ.) It is said in a trad., فَكَأَنَّمَا أُسِفَّ وَجْهُهُ, meaning † His face was altered, (Ṣ, Ḳ,*) as though something that altered it had been sprinkled upon it. (Ṣ.) You say also, كَأَنَّ وَجْهَهُ أُسِفَّ رَمَادًا, meaning † His face became of a blackish, or an ashy, hue, altered, as though ashes had been sprinkled upon it: andسُفَّ↓ الرَّمَادُ فِى وَجْهِهِ † [Ashes were sprinkled upon his face], meaning his face became altered. (Ḥar p. 626.)

Also It approached the earth, or ground; (Ṣ, M, Ḳ;) said of a bird in its flight; (Ṣ, Ḳ;) or of a bird, &c.: (M:) or it (a bird) flew over the ground so near that its feet almost reached it. (A.) And اسفّت السَّحَابَةُ The cloud approached the earth. (Ṣ, Ḳ.)

Said of a stallion, He stooped his head to bite. (M, Ḳ.) And one says of man, اسفّ مِنَ الأَرْضِ [and إِلَى الارض He stooped towards the ground]. (O in art. شب.)

And, said of a man, (Ṣ,) † He pursued small, or little, things: (Ṣ, Ḳ:) and † he followed after low, or mean, things: (Ḳ:) [† he stooped to such things:] or اسفّ إِلَى مَدَاقِ الأُمُورِ وَأَلَائِمِهَا † He approached [or pursued] small, or little, things, and the meanest, or most ignoble, thereof; or became mean, or ignoble: (M,* TA:) and اسفّ لِلْأَمْرِ الدَّنِىّ, [or correctly الدَّنِىْءِ,] and إِلَيْهِ, † He approached [the thing that was near, or that was low, or mean]; from اسفّ said of a bird in its flight, meaning It approached the ground so that its feet almost touched it. (Ḥar p. 206.) [Hence the saying,] تَحَفَّظْ مِنْ الغَمَلِ السَّفْسَافِ وَلَاتُسِفَّ لَهُ بَعْضَ لإِسْفَافِ ‡ [Guard thyself from the bad action, and approach it not with any degree of approaching]. (TA.)

You say also, مَاأَسَفَّ مِنْهُ بِتَافِهٍ He obtained not [from him, or of it, a paltry acquisition], (Ḳ, TA,) [or] anything. (TA.)

And اسفّ He fled from his companion, (Ḳ, TA,) running most vehemently. (TA.)

سَفْسَفَ, (Ḳ,) inf. n. سَفْسَفَةٌ, (Ṣ, M,) He cleared, or sifted, (اِنْتَخَلَ,) flour, (Ṣ, M, Ḳ,) and the like, (Ṣ, Ḳ,) with the مُنْخُل [or sieve], and the like. (L, TA.) One says, سَمِعْتُ سَفْسَفَةَ المُنْخُلِ [I heard the sifting of the sieve]. (TA.)

And سَفْسَفَ عَمَلَهُ ‡ He did his deed imperfectly, or not soundly. (IDrd, M, Ḳ, TA.)

And سَفْسَفَتِ الرِيحُ The wind raised the fine dust, blowing a little above the surface of the earth. (TA.)

لَا تَزَالُ تَتَسَفْسَفُ فِى هٰذَا الأَمْرِ a phrase mentioned by Ibn-ʼAbbád as meaning Thou wilt not cease to destroy, or bring to nought, this thing, or affair. (O, TA.)

سَفْ, with the ف quiescent, i. q. سَوْفَ; as in the phrase سَفْ تَفْعَلُ [Thou wilt do such a thing]: mentioned by Th. (M. [See art. سوف; and see also the letter س.])

سَفٌّ, accord. to the Ḳ, orسِفٌّ↓, with kesr, accord. to Ṣgh, [in the O,] (TA,) A spadix, or a spathe, (طَلْعَة) of a male palm-tree. (AA, O, Ḳ)

See also سِفُّ.

سِفٌّ andسُفٌّ↓, (O, Ḳ,) or the former andسَفٌّ↓, (so in a copy of the M,) The serpent called أَرْقَم: (AA, O, Ḳ:) or the serpent that flies (M, O, Ḳ) in the air: (M, O:) and sometimes peculiarly applied to the أَرْقَم: (M:) or the male serpent. (O.) And the Hudhalee poet Ed-Dákhil Ibn-Harám uses the first of these words as meaning † A man like a سِفّ. (M.)

See also سَفٌّ.

سُفَّةٌ A plait of palm-leaves, (M, Ḳ, TA,) i. e. a سَفِيفَة↓, (TA,) made according to the measure of the زَبِيل or the جُلَّة [of which it is to form a part]. (Ḳ, TA.)

And A thing of the kind termed قَرَامِلُ [pl. of قِرْمِلٌ], (Ḳ, TA,) [i. e. a plait] of [goat's] hair, or of wool, (TA,) which a woman attaches to her [plaits of] hair: it was not disapproved by Ibráheem En-Nakha'ee; (Ḳ, TA;) though he disapproved of other things attached to the hair: IAth explains it as a thing that a woman puts upon her head, and attaches to her hair in order that it may be lengthened [thereby]. (TA.)

A small portion, (حَبَّةٌ,) and (Ṣ) a handful, (Ṣ, Ḳ,) of meal of parched barley or wheat, (Ṣ,) or of wheat, and the like. (Ḳ.)

See also what next follows.

سَفُوفٌ Medicine, (Ṣ, M, Mṣb, Ḳ,) and meal of parched barley or wheat, (Ṣ, M,) and the like of either of these, (M,) or anything dry, (Mṣb,) taken [into the mouth], (Ṣ, M,* Ḳ,) or eaten, (Mṣb,) not moistened, (Ṣ, M,* Mṣb, Ḳ,) or not kneaded [with water, &c.]; (Ṣ;) andسُفَّةٌ↓ signifies the same; (M, Ḳ;) each a subst. from سَفِفْتُ السَّوِيقَ and الدَّوَآءَ, &c. (M.)

Also Blackness of the gum. (M, TA.)

سَفِيفٌ Woven [with the fingers, or plaited,] of palm-leaves. (KL.)

[And hence,] The girth of the رَحْل [or camel's saddle], (Ṣ, M, Ḳ,) and of the [women's vehicle called] هَوْدَج: (M:) the fore-girth of the رَحْل; because made broad, like the سَفِيف of palm-leaves. (T, TA.) [See also the next paragraph.]

A certain plant. (IDrd, Ḳ.)

The sharpness of the ears of the wolf. (M, TA.)

And السَّفِيفُ is A name of Iblees: (O, Ḳ:) so says AA: (O:) in one or more of the copies of the “Nawádir,” السَّفْسَفُ↓. (TA.)

سَفِيفَةٌ A thing woven [with the fingers, or plaited,] of palm-leaves: (Ṣ, O:) a piece of woven [or plaited] work of palm-leaves (Ḳ voce عَرَقٌ), &c.: (TA ibid.:) pl. سَفَائِفُ. (TA.) See سُفَّةٌ, first sentence.

A wide belly-girth with which a رَحْل [or camel's saddle] is bound, or fastened. (M.) [See also سَفِيفٌ.]

The appertenance [or suspensory] of a water-skin (قِرْبَة), which the carrier of the قربة puts over his chest [when carrying the قربة on his back]. (Ḳ voce عَرَقٌ.)

See also جُمَانٌ.

A [receptacle for dates, such as is called] دَوْخَلَّة, [made of palmleaves,] before it is woven. (M, TA.)

And [the pl.] سَفَائِفُ signifies Wide ribs: or, as some say, all the ribs. (M.)

سَفْسَفٌ A certain plant; (M, TA;) said by IDrd to be of the dial. of El-Yemen; that which the people of Nejd call the عَنْقَز, which is the مَرْزَنْجُوش [or marjoram]. (TA.)

See also سَفِيفٌ.

سَفْسَافٌ The dust of flour, that rises, (Ḳ,) or flies and rises, (TA,) at the sifting. (Ḳ, TA.)

The fine particles or dust: (Ṣ, Mgh, Ḳ:) or such as rises, or spreads, of dust. (M.)

Hence, (Mgh,) سَفْسَافُ الشِعْرِ (Mgh, Ḳ) † What is bad of poetry, (Ḳ, TA,) imperfectly, or unsoundly, done. (TA. [In the CK, الشَّعَرِ is erroneously put for الشِعْرِ; and Freytag appears to have read الشَّعِيرِ.]) سَفْسَافٌ signifies † Bad poetry: and † anything imperfectly, or unsoundly, done. (M.) Anything bad. (Ṣ, Ḳ. [Compare the Hebr. אֲסַפְסֻף occurring with the article, and with the quiescent, in Numbers xi. 4.]) † Such as is bad of natural dispositions. (M.) And † A contemptible, or despicable, thing or affair. (Ṣ, Ḳ.) It is said in a trad., إِنَّ ٱللّٰهَ يُحِبُّ مَعَالِىَ الأَمُورِ وَيُبْغِضُ سَفْسَافَهَا, (Ṣ, M, Mgh, TA,) or يَكْرَهُ سَفْسَافَهَا, (Ṣ, TA,) i. e. † [Verily God loves lofty things, or things whereby one acquires eminence or nobility, and] hates paltry, and mean, things. (Mgh, Ṣgh, TA.) سَفْسَافٌ signifies [also] † An action, and a saying, in which is no good. (Ḥam p. 232; where the foregoing trad. is cited as an ex.) And † Any bad wind: (TA:) [or] سَفْسَافَةٌ signifies a wind running a little above the ground; and soمُسَفْسِفَةٌ↓: (M:) or the latter, a wind that raises the fine dust, and runs a little above the ground. (Ṣ, Ḳ.)

حَلِفٌ سَفْسَافٌ ‡ A false, or lying, swearing, in which is no ratification. (TA.)

سُفَاسِفٌ Vehement hunger. (Ibn-ʼAbbád, Ḳ.)

مُسِفٌّ [act. part. n. of 4, q. v.].

Anything cleaving, or sticking, to another thing. (AʼObeyd, TA.)

مَرَّ مُسِفًّا He passed by fleeing from his companion, running most vehemently. (Ibn-ʼAbbád, TA.)

مُسَفْسِفَةٌ: see سَفْسَافٌ, last sentence but one.

Also, without the ة, ‡ Ungenerous, or mean, in giving. (Ṣ, M.)