Classical Arabic - English Dictionary

سَفِهَ, (Ṣ, MA, Mṣb,) aor. ـَ {يَسْفَهُ}; (Mṣb;) and سَفُهَ, [aor. ـُ {يَسْفُهُ};] (Ṣ, Mṣb;) inf. n. سَفَهٌ and سَفَاهَةٌ (Ṣ, MA, Mṣb, Ḳ *) and سَفَاهٌ, (Ṣ, MA, Ḳ,*) [all mentioned in the MA as of the former verb, and so in the TA when that verb is trans., but properly] the first is of the former verb, and the second is of the latter verb, (Ṣ, Mṣb,) and so is the third; (Ṣ;) He (a man, Ṣ) was, or became, such as is termed سَفِيه; (Ṣ, TA;) [i. e.] he was, or became, unwise, witless, or destitute of wisdom or understanding, or [rather] lightwitted. (MA.)

The phrase سَفِهَ نَفْسَةُ, [of which an instance occurs in the Ḳur ii. 124, and] to which غَبِنَ رَأْيَهُ and بَطِرَ عَيْشَهُ and أَلِمَ بَطْنَهُ and وَفِقَ أَمْرَهُ and رَشِدَ أَمْرَهُ are similar, was originally سَفِهَتْ نَفْسُ زَيْدٍ [or rather سَفِهَتْ نَفْسُهُ i. e. Himself, or his mind, was, or became, lightwitted,, &c.]; but when [the dependence of] the verb became transferred [from the نفس] to the man, what followed the verb was put in the accus. case by being its objective complement, for the phrase became identical in meaning with سَفَّهَ↓ نَفْسَهُ [he made himself, or his mind, lightwitted,, &c.]: so say the Basrees and Ks; and it is allowable with them to make this accus. to precede [the verb]; like as it is allowable to say, غُلَامَهُ ضَرَب زَيْدٌ: (Ṣ, TA:) accord. to the Ḳ, the verb thus used has three forms; (TA;) you say سَفِهَ نَفْسَهُ and رَأْيَهُ, (Ḳ, TA,) and حِلْمَهُ, (TA,) and سَفُهَ, and سَفَهَ, meaning حَمَلَهُ عَلَى السَّفَهِ [which is virtually the same as سَفَّهَهُ i. e. he made himself, or his mind, lightwitted, or unwise,, &c., and in like manner his judgment, or opinion, and he made his gravity, or forbearance, or the like, to become levity, or hastiness,, &c.]: or he attributed سَفَه [i. e. lightwittedness,, &c., to himself, or his mind, and to his judgment, or opinion]: or he destroyed it; (Ḳ, TA;) agreeably with the meaning assigned to سَفِهَ نَفْسَهُ by AO: (TA:) or this means he held himself in mean, or light, estimation; (MA, and Ksh and Bḍ in ii. 124;) and rendered himself low, base, or contemptible: (Bḍ ibid.:) but Lḥ says that سَفِهَ نَفْسَهُ, with kesr [to the ف], inf. n. سَفَهٌ and سَفَاهَةٌ and سَفَاهٌ, means حَمَلَهُ عَلَى السَّفَهِ [or حَمَلَهَا], and is the approved form, and that some say سَفُهَ, which is rare: and accord. to J and others, (TA,) when they say سفه نَفْسَهُ, and رَأْيَهُ, they do not say it otherwise than with kesr [to the ف], because فَعُلَ is not trans.: (Ṣ, TA:) so that the three forms of the verb mentioned in the Ḳ require consideration: (TA:) accord. to Fr, when [the dependence of] the verb in the phrase سَفِهَ نَفْسَهُ became transferred from the نفس to the possessor thereof, what followed the verb became an explicative, to indicate that the سَفَه [or lightwittedness, &c.,] was therein; and by rule it should be سَفِهَ زَيْدٌ نَفْسًا, for the explicative should not be otherwise than indeterminate; but it was left in its state of a prefixed noun, and put in the accus. case in the manner of an indeterminate noun as being likened thereto; [the meaning, therefore, accord. to him, is he was, or became, lightwitted,, &c., as to his mind;] it is not allowable, however, in his opinion, to make this accus. to precede [the verb], because the explicative may not precede; and similar to this is the phrase ضِقْتُ بِهِ ذَرْعًا, and طِبْتُ بِهِ نَفْسًا, meaning ضَاقَ ذَرْعِىبِهِ and طَابَتْ نَفْسِى بِهِ: (Ṣ, TA:) but this saying [of Fr] is disallowed by the grammarians; for they say that explicatives are indeterminate, and that determinate nouns may not be used as indeterminate: some of the grammarians say that إِلَّامَنْ سَفِهَ نَفْسَهُ in the Ḳur [ii. 124] means الّا من سَفِهَ فِىنَفْسِهِ [but he who is lightwitted,, &c., in his mind], i. e., who becomes سَفِيه; [the prep.] فى being suppressed [and the noun therefore put in the accus. case agreeably with a general rule]: Zj holds that the approvable saying is, that it means إِلَّا مَنْ جَهِلَ نَفْسَهُ, i. e., but he who is [ignorant or silly or foolish or] unreflecting in his mind: and in like manner, سَفِهَ رَأْيَهُ means جَهِلَهُ [i. e. he was ignorant,, &c., in his judgment, or opinion]; and his judgment, or opinion, was unsound, without rectitude: and سَفِهَ نَفْسَهُ signifies also he lost himself, or his own soul. (TA.) سَفِهَ الحَقَّ is likewise expl. as meaningسَفَّهَ↓ الحَقَّ [He made the truth, or right, to be foolishness, or the like]; and Yoo held the one to be a dial. var. of the other, and the measure of the former verb to denote intensiveness; and accord. to this explanation one may say, سَفِهْتُ زَيْدًا meaningسَفَّهْتُ↓ زَيْدًا [I pronounced Zeyd lightwitted,, &c.]: or the meaning is جَهِلَ الحَقَّ [he ignored the truth, or right], and he did not see it to be the truth, or right: (TA:) or he regarded the truth, or right, as foolishness, or ignorance. (Ṣ and TA in art. غمط.) See also 2.

سَفِهَ عَلَيْهِ signifies جَهِلَ [i. e., when thus trans. by means of عَلَى, He feigned ignorance to him]; as also سَفُهَ, (Ḳ, TA,) andتسافه↓. (Ḳ.)

And سَفِهْتُ نَصِيبِى [and it is implied in the Ḳ that one says سَفَهْتُ نصيبى also, but only the former is authorized by the TA,] I forgot my share, or portion. (Th, Ḳ, TA.)

And سَفَهَ صَاحِبَهُ, aor. ـُ {يَسْفُهُ}, He overcame his companion in what is termed مُسَافَهَة [inf. n. of 3, q. v.]. (Ḳ.) You say,سَافَهَهُ↓ فَسَفَهَهُ. (TA.)

سَفِهَتِ الطَّعْنَةُ, (JK, Ḳ, TA,) inf. n. سَفَهٌ, (TA,) ‡ The spear-wound, or the like, emitted blood which came from it quickly (JK, Ḳ, TA) and dried up (وَجَفَّ [in the TḲ وِخف]): (Ḳ, TA:) so in the A. (TA.)

سَفِهَ الشَّرَابَ, (Ṣ, Ḳ,) inf. n. سَفَهٌ, (TA,) He drank much of the beverage, or wine, without having his thirst satisfied thereby. (Ṣ, Ḳ, TA.) See also 3. And سَفِهَ المَآءَ ‡ He drank the water immoderately. (TA.)

And سَفِهْتُ and سَفَهْتُ signify شُغِلْتُ, (so in the CK,) in [some of] the copies of the Ḳ شَغَلْتُ, but the right reading is شُغِلْتُ [i. e. I was occupied, or busied, or diverted from a thing]: or, accord. to the copies of the Ḳ, تَشَغَّلْتُ; but correctly, or شَغَلْتُ [i. e. I occupied, or busied, or diverted from a thing]. (TA.)

see 5.

[Hence,] سِفِهِهُ, inf. n. تَسْفِيهٌ, (Ṣ, Mṣb, Ḳ,) signifies جَعَلَهُ سَفِيهًا [i. e. He, or it, made him to be, or he pronounced him to be, lightwitted,, &c.]; as alsoسَفِهَهُ↓; (Ḳ, TA;) on the authority of Akh and Yoo: (TA:) or he attributed to him what is termed سَفَه [i. e. lightwittedness,, &c.]: (Ṣ, Mṣb:) or he said to him that he was such as is termed سَفِيه. (Mṣb.) And سفّه الجَهْلُ حِلْمَهُ Ignorance made him light, inconstant, unsteady, irresolute, or fickle; syn. أَطَاشَهُ and أَخَفَّهُ. (TA.) See also 1, in three places.

سافههُ, (Ṣ, MA, Ḳ,) inf. n. مُسَافَهَةٌ, (Ṣ, KL,) He acted [in a lightwitted manner,] foolishly, or ignorantly, with him; (MA, KL;) showed lightness, levity, weakness of mind, and lack of حِلْم [or gravity,, &c.], with him. (KL.) You say, سَافَهَهُ فَسَفَهَهُ: see 1, near the end of the paragraph. [سافهه in this instance may mean as above, or may have the meaning here next following.]

He reviled him; or he reviled him, being reviled by him; syn. شَاتَمَهُ: whence the prov.,سَفِيهٌ لَمْ يَجِدْ مُسَافِهًا↓ [A lightwitted person found not a reviler, or mutual reviler]; (Ḳ, TA;) mentioned in the Ṣ. (TA.) [See also 5.]

سافه الدَّنَّ, (Ṣ, Ḳ,) or الوَطْبَ, (Ṣ,) † He sat with (قَاعَدَ) the دنّ [or wine-jar], (Ṣ, Ḳ,) or the وطب [or milk-skin], (Ṣ,) and drank from it while after while. (Ṣ, Ḳ.) And سافه الشَّرَابَ ‡ He exceeded the due bounds in respect of the beverage, or wine, drinking it without measure; (Ḳ, TA;) as alsoسَفِهَهُ↓. (Ḳ.) And سَافَهْتُ المَآءَ ‡ I drank the water immoderately, (Lḥ, TA,) or without measure. (A, TA.) [See also 1, near the end of the paragraph.]

And سَافَهَتِ النَّاقَةُ الطَّرِيقَ ‡ The she-camel kept to the road, or way, (A, Ḳ, TA,) or took to it, (A, TA,) with a vehement pace: (A, Ḳ, TA:) or was light, or agile, in her pace, or going. (TA.)

أَسْفَهْتُهُ I found him to be سَفِيه [i. e. lightwitted,, &c.]. (TA. [There said to be tropical; but I see not why.])

أَسْفَهَكَ ٱللّٰه الشَّرَابَ † May God make thee to drink of the beverage, or wine, without having thy thirst satisfied thereby: or أَسْفَهَهُ ٱللّٰهُ God made him, or may God make him, to drink without having his thirst satisfied: (Ṣ, accord. to different copies:) or اسفه ٱللّٰهُ فُلَانَّا المَآءَ God made, or may God make, such a one to drink much water. (TA.)

تسفّهت الرِّيَاحُ The winds became in a state of commotion. (TA.)

تسفّهت الرِّيحُ الشَّجَرَ, (Ṣ,) or الغُصُونَ, (Ḳ, TA,) andسَفَّهَتِ↓ الرِّيحُ الغُصُونَ, (Ḥam p. 359,) The wind made the trees, (Ṣ,) or the branches, (Ḳ,) to bend, or incline: (Ṣ, Ḳ:) and put the branches in motion: (Ḳ, and Ḥam ubi suprà:) or ruffled, and put in motion, the branches. (TA. [There said to be tropical: but see what is said of the primary signification of سَفَهٌ, below.])

[Hence,] it is said in a prov., فُرَارَةٌ تَسَفَّهَتْ قَرَارَةً A lamb, or kid, made a sheep, or goat, to incline [to silly behaviour]: applied to the old whom the young incites to lightwittedness (السَّفَه) and levity. (Meyd. [See also a similar prov. in Freytag's Arab. Prov., ii. 253.])

تسفّههُ عَنْ مَالِهِ He deluded him, or beguiled him, of his property. (Ṣ, Ḳ.)

تسفّه عَلَيْهِ He acted with سَفَاهَة [i. e. lightwittedness,, &c.], or foolishly, towards him. (MA.)

And تَسَفَّهْتُ عَلَيْهِ signifies أَسْمَعْتُهُ [as meaning I reviled him]. (Ṣ.) [See also 3.]

تسافه عَلَيْهِ: see 1, in the last quarter of the paragraph.

[And تسافهوا They behaved in a lightwitted, foolish, or ignorant, manner, one with another. See also 3, which has a similar meaning.]

[And They reviled one another: as seems to be indicated in the TA. See also Ḥar p. 522: and see, again, 3.]

تَسَافَهُ أَشْدَاقُهَا, in a verse of Khalaf Ibn-Is-ḥáḳ El-Bahránee, [describing swift camels,] means Their sides of the mouth casting forth their foam, one at another: like the saying of El-Jarmee,

* تَسَافَهُ أَشْدَاقُهَا بِاللُّغَامِ *

[Their sides of the mouth casting forth the foam, one at another]. (TA. [تسافه, there written without any syll. signs, is app. thus, (for تَتَسَافَهُ,) not تُسَافِهُ.])

سَفَهٌ, (Ṣ, TA,) as alsoسَفَاهَةٌ↓ andسَفَاهٌ↓, (TA,) [all mentioned as inf. ns. in the first paragraph of this art.,] primarily signifies خِفَّةٌ [in its proper sense of Lightness], and motion, commotion, or agitation. (Ṣ, TA.)

And hence (Ṣ, TA) the first, (Ṣ, Ḳ, TA,) like each of the others, (Ḳ, TA,) signifies [generally Lightwittedness, or the like;] the contr. of حِلْمٌ; (Ṣ, Ḳ, TA;) [i. e.] خِفَّةٌ [as meaning lightness or levity, inconstancy, unsteadiness, irresoluteness; or lightness or levity,, &c., and hastiness; for, as is said in the TA in art. رجح, the contr. of حِلْمٌ is described by the terms خِفَّةٌ and عَجَلٌ, like as حِلْمٌ is described by the term ثِقَلٌ]; and slenderness, shallowness, or weakness, of judgment; qualities which deficiency of intellect, or understanding, necessarily involves: (Bḍ in ii. 12, in explanation of سَفَهٌ:) or خِفَّةُ حِلْمٍ [i. e. slightness of gravity or staidness or sedateness or calmness, &c.]: or جَهْلٌ [i. e. ignorance, or silliness or foolishness]: (Ḳ, TA:) all of which explanations are nearly alike: (TA:) or سَفَهٌ is a deficiency in intellect or understanding: (Mṣb:) or a lightness, or levity, accidental to a man, arising from joy or anger, inducing him to act unreasonably and unlawfully. (KT.)

سَفيِهٌ [Having the quality termed سَفَهٌ; i. e., accord. to the explanation of the primary signification of the latter, above, Light; and in a state of motion, commotion, or agitation:] applied to a camel's nose-rein, (Ṣ, Ḳ,) light: (Ṣ:) or quivering; (Ḳ, TA;) because of the she-camel's shaking it, and contending in pulling it. (TA: but there said to be, when thus applied, tropical.) Dhu-rRummeh says,

* عَلَى ظَهْرِ مِقْلَاتٍ سَفِيهٍ جَدِيلُهَا *

i. e. [Upon the back of a she-camel that had brought forth but once and not conceived after,] whose nose-rein was light. (Ṣ. In the TA, زِمَامُهَا is here put in the place of جَدِيلُهَا.) And one says also نَاقَةٌ سَفِيهَةُ الزِمَامِ, (Ḳ, TA,) meaning [A she-camel whose nose-rein is light, or quivering: or] light, or agile, in pace or going. (TA: in which this, also, is said to be tropical.)

Also Lightwitted; light of intellect or understanding; (TA;) deficient in intellect or understanding; (Mṣb;) ignorant; (Mujáhid, Ḳ, TA;) weak; foolish, stupid, unsound in intellect or understanding, dull therein, or having little, or no, intellect, or understanding; (Mujáhid, TA;) andسَافِهٌ↓, also, [which is syn. with سَفِيهٌ in all the senses mentioned above,] is expl. by IAạr as having this last meaning of foolish, stupid,, &c.: (TA:) the fem. is سَفِيهَةٌ: (Mṣb, Ḳ:) and the pl. of the masc., (Ḳ,) or of the masc. and fem., (Mṣb, TA,) is سُفَهَآءُ, (Mṣb, Ḳ, TA,) and of both, سِفَاهٌ, and of the fem., سَفِيهَاتٌ also and سَفَائِهُ and سُفَّهٌ. (Ḳ, TA.) In the Ḳur ii. 282, سَفِيهًا means, accord. to Ibn-ʼArafeh, Ignorant of the ordinances, or statutes; one who does not dictate well, and knows not what dictation is; for he who is ignorant in all his circumstances may not deal with another upon credit: accord. to ISd, ignorant or صَغِير [meaning under the age of puberty]; not ignorant of dictating, as Lḥ asserts it to mean, because it is added, “or not able to dictate, himself:” this, says Er-Rághib, denotes سَفَه in respect of worldly matters: in the Ḳur lxxii. 4, سَفِيهُنَا denotes سَفَه in religion. (TA.) In the Ḳur iv. 4, the pl. السُّفَهَآء is said to mean Women, and young children; because they are ignorant of the proper object of expense: and I’Ab is related to have said that women are termed السُّفَّهُ and السُّفَهَآءُ: (Lḥ, TA:) Az, also, says that a woman is termed سَفِيهَةٌ because of the weakness of her intellect, and because she does not manage well her property; and in like manner are termed children as long as they are not known to be characterized by maturity of intellect, and rectitude of actions, and good management of affairs. (TA.)

ثَوْبٌ سَفِيهٌ ‡ A garment, or piece of cloth, badly woven; thin, flimsy, unsubstantial, or scanty in the yarn. (Ḳ,* TA.)

سَافِهٌ: see سَفيهٌ.

Also, applied to a man, † Vehemently thirsty: and so سَاهِفٌ. (Az, TA.)

وَادٍ مُسْفَهٌ ‡ A valley filled [with water]: (Ḳ, TA:) as though it exceeded the due bounds, and became such as is termed سَفِيه: imagined to be from أسْفَهْتُهُ signifying “I found him to be سَفِيه.” (TA.)

طَعَامٌ مَسْفَهَةٌ, (Ḳ, TA, in the CK [erroneously] مُسْفِهٌ,) as also مَسْهَفَةٌ, (TA,) † Food that incites [in the CK يُتْعِبُ is erroneously put for يَبْعَتُ] to the drinking of much water. (IAạr,* Ḳ, TA.)