Classical Arabic - English Dictionary

شَبَّهَهُ إِيَّاهُ and بِهِ, (MA, Ḳ,) inf. n. تَشْبِيهٌ, (Ṣ, Ḳ, KL,) He made it to be like it, or to resemble it; he assimilated it to it; (MA, KL;) i. q. مَثَّلَهُ [meaning thus: and also meaning he likened it to it, or compared it with it; agreeably with the explanation here next following]: (Ṣ,* Ḳ:) شَبَّهَتُ الشَّىْءَ بِالشَّىْءِ I put the thing in the place, or predicament, of the [other] thing, by reason of an attribute connecting them [or common to them]; which attribute may be real and ideal; real as when one says, “this dirhem is like this dirhem,” and “this blackness is like this blackness;” and ideal as when one says, “Zeyd is like the lion” or “like the ass” i. e. in his strength or his stupidity, and “Zeyd is like ʼAmr” i. e. in his power and his generosity and similar qualities; and sometimes it is tropical, as when one says, “the absent is like the non-existent,” and “the garment is like the dirhem” i. e. the value of the garment is equivalent to the dirhem. (Mṣb.) شَبَّهُ, [app. for شبّه شَيْئًا بِشَىْءٍ,] accord. to IAạr, means He made a thing equal to a thing, or like a thing. (TA.)

[Hence,] شبّههُ عَلَيْهِ, inf. n. as above, He rendered it confused to him [by making it to appear like some other thing]; (JK,* TA;) he rendered it ambiguous, dubious, or obscure, to him. (MA.) See also 8, [with which it is, in its pass. form, and in its act. form likewise, nearly or exactly syn. in one of the senses,] in two places.

[And شَبَّهَتْهُ إِلَيْهِ النَّفْسُ, or الحَالُ, The mind, or the case, imaged it to him; like خَيَّلَتْهُ: see art. خيل.] See also 5, [with which, in its pass. form, this verb is nearly or exactly syn. in one sense.]

[تَشْبِيهٌ used as a simple subst. means A comparison, simile, similitude, or parable: and has for its pl. تَشْبِيهَاتٌ. Hence, عَلَى التَّشْبِيهِ By way of comparison.]

اشبههُ, [inf. n. إِشْبَاهٌ;] andشابههُ↓, [inf. n. مُشَابَهَةٌ;] (Ṣ, Ḳ;) He was, or became, like him; he resembled him; syn. مَاثَلَهُ. (Ḳ.) One says أَشْبَهَ الوَلَدُ أَبَاهُ, andشابههُ↓, The child [resembled his father, or] shared with his father in some one of his qualities, or attributes. (Mṣb.) And مَنْ أَشْبَهَ أَبَاهُ فَمَا ظَلَمَ, (Meyd, TA,) orمَنْ يُشَابِهُ↓ أبَهُ فَمَا ظَلَمَ, as some relate it, (TA,) [Whoso resembles his father, he has not done that which is wrong:] a prov., meaning, he has not put the likeness in the wrong place; for there is not any one more fit, or proper, for him to resemble than he: or it may mean that the father has not done that which is wrong. (Meyd. [See also Ḥar pp. 667-8.]) And اشبه الرَّجُلُ أُمَّهُ, (IAạr, Ḳ,) andشَابَهَهَا↓, (Ḳ,) [The man resembled his mother,] meaning † the man became impotent, and weak. (IAạr, Ḳ.) And it is said in a trad. of ʼOmar, إِنَّ اللَّبَنَ يُشْبَهُ عَلَيْهِ [Verily one becomes like by feeding upon milk]: i. e. the infant that is suckled often becomes like the woman who suckles it, because of the milk: (JK:) or اللبن يشبه [app. for اللَّبَنُ يُشْبَهُ عَلَيْهِ]: i. e. one acquires a likeness to the natural dispositions of the woman who suckles [him]: or, as it is also related, يتشبّه↓ [app. for يُتَشَبَّهُ عَلَيْهِ]. (TA.)

[اشبه is also a verb of wonder: hence the saying,

* مَا أَشْبَهَ اللَّيْلَةَ بِالبَارِحَهْ *

How like is this night to yesternight! expl. in art. برح.]

تشبّه بِهِ [He became assimilated to him, or it: and he assumed, or affected, a likeness, or resemblance, to him, or it; he imitated him, or it;] he made himself to be like, or to resemble, him, or it; (MA, KL;*) i. q. تمثّل: (Ṣ,* TA: [in the former, this meaning is indicated, but not expressed:]) said of a man. (Ṣ.) See also 4, last sentence but one.

[Hence,] تشبّه لَهُ أَنَّهُ كَذَا It became imaged to him [in the mind, i. e. it seemed to him,] that it was so; syn. تَخَيَّلَ, (Ṣ and Ḳ * in art. خيل,) and تَخَايَلَ: (Ṣ in that art.:) andشُبِّهَ↓ إِلَيْهِ أَنَّهُ كَذَا [signifies the same; or] it was imaged to him [in the mind] that it was so; syn. خُيِّلَ. (PṢ in that art.)

تَشَابُهٌ signifies The being equal, or uniform; syn. اِسْتِوَآءٌ: (TA:) [or rather the being consimilar.] You say, تَشَابَهَا They were like, or they resembled, each other. (MA.) And الخُطُوطُ تَتَشَابَهُ The lines are like one another; the lines resemble one another. (Mgh.)

See also the next paragraph {8}, in two places.

اِشْتَبَهَا andتَشَابَهَا↓ They resembled each other so that they became confounded, or confused, or dubious. (Ḳ.) And اشتبه (Ṣ, MA) andتشابه↓ (MA) It (a thing, Ṣ, MA, or an affair, MA) was, or became, ambiguous, dubious, or obscure, (MA,) عَلَىَّ [to me], (Ṣ,) or عَلَيْهِ [to him]: (MA:) andشُبِّهَ↓ عَلَيْهِ الأَمْرُ the thing, or affair, was rendered confused, or dubious, to him: (Ḳ,* TA:) andشَبَهٌ↓ الشَّىْءُ, also, [see مُشْتَبِهٌ,] the thing was, or became, confused, or dubious. (IAạr, TA.)

شِبْهٌ andشَبَهٌ↓ are syn., (Ṣ, Mṣb, Ḳ,) like مِثْلٌ and مَثَلٌ, and بِدْلٌ and بَدَلٌ, and نِكْلٌ and نَكَلٌ, the only other instances of the kind, i. e. of words of both these measures, that have been heard, having the same meaning, (Ṣ and TA in art. بدل,) i. q.شَبِيهٌ↓, (Ṣ, Mṣb, Ḳ,) syn. مِثْلٌ, (Ḳ,) [i. e.] A like; a similar person or thing; (MA; Mṣb;) [an analogue; a match;] a fellow: (MA:) pl. (of all, TA) أَشْبَاهٌ. (Ḳ, TA.) One says, هٰذَا شِبْهُهُ [andشَبَهُهُ↓], i. e.شَبِيهُهُ↓ [meaning This is the like,, &c., of him, or it]. (Ṣ.) And فُلَانٌ شِبْهُكَ andشَبَهُكَ↓ andشَبِيهُكَ↓ [Such a one is the like,, &c., of thee]. (JK.) [Andبِهِ↓ This is like him, or it. And hence, in lexicology, الأَشْبَاهُ وَالنَّظَائِرُ The words that are alike in form: generally applied to rare instances.]

See also the next paragraph, in two places.

شَبَهٌ: see the next preceding paragraph, in three places.

[Hence,] syn. with شَكْلٌ [signifying A likeness, resemblance, or semblance, as meaning something resembling]; (AA, Ḳ and TA in art. شكل;) andشُبْهَةٌ↓ is syn. with مِثْلٌ [in the same sense]: (Ḳ in the present art.: [see exs. of the latter voce عُقْرٌ:]) pl. of the former [in this sense, as is indicated in the Ṣ,] مَشَابِهُ↓, contr. to rule, like مَحَاسِنُ and مَذَاكِيرُ; (Ṣ, TA;) or this is a pl. having no proper sing. (TA.) One says, بَيْنَهُمَا شَبَهٌ [Between them two is a likeness,, &c.]. (Ṣ,) And نَزَعَ إِلَى أَبِيهِ فِى الشَّبَهِ [He inclined to his father in likeness]. (Ṣ, in art. نزع.) And a poet cited by IAạr says,

* أَصْبَحَ فِيهِ شَبَهٌ مِنْ أُمِّهِ *

* مِنْ عِظَمِ الرَّأْسِ وَمِنْ خُرْطُمِّهِ *

[He became so that there was in him a resemblance of his mother, in respect of bigness of the head, and of his nose]. (TA.) And one says also,بِهِ شُبْهَةٌ↓ لَهُ i. e. مِثْلٌ [In him is a likeness, or something having a likeness, to him, or it]. (TḲ.)

Also, (JK, Ṣ, Mṣb, Ḳ, &c.,) andشِبْهٌ↓, (JK, Ṣ, Ḳ,) andشَبَهَانٌ↓, (Ḳ, TA, but not in the CK,) [A sort of fine brass;] a metal resembling gold in its colour, the highest in quality of صُفْر [or brass]; (Mṣb;) yellow نُحَاس; (Ḳ;) a sort of نُحَاس (JK, T, Ṣ, M *) rendered yellow by the addition of an alloy (lit. a medicament): (T, M,* TA:) so called because resembling gold in its colour: (M, TA:) pl. أَشْبَاهُ. (Ḳ.) One says كُوزُ شَبَهٍ andشِبْهٍ↓ [A mug of شبه]. (Ṣ.)

See also شَبَهَانٌ.

شُبْهَةٌ: see شَبَهٌ, in two places.

[Hence,] Confusedness, or dubiousness: (Ṣ, Ḳ:) pl. شُبَهٌ (TA) [and شُبْهَاتٌ and شُبَهَاتٌ and شُبُهَاتٌ: whence the phrase أَصْحَابُ الشُّبُهَاتِ Those persons who are of dubious characters; those who are objects of suspicion]. One says, لَيْسَ فِيهِ شُبْهَةٌ [There is not any confusedness, or dubiousness, in respect of it]: referring to property. (Mṣb voce شَائِبَةٌ, in art. شوب.)

شَبَهَانٌ andشَبَهٌ↓, (Ḳ accord. to the TA,) the latter on the authority of IB, (TA, [and mentioned also in the M voce سَيَالٌ on the authority of AA,]) A certain thorny plant, (Ḳ accord. to the TA,) resembling the سَمُر [or gum-acacia-tree], (TA,) having an elegant red blossom, and grains like the شَهْدَانَج [or hemp-seed], an antidote for the bite, or sting, of venomous reptiles, beneficial for the cough, lithotriptic, and binding to the bowels. (Ḳ accord. to the TA: but see what here follows.) Andشُبُهَانٌ↓, (Ḳ accord. to the TA,) or شَبَهَانٌ, (so in a copy of the Ṣ,) or both, (so in copies of the Ḳ,) orشَبُهَانٌ↓, orشُبَهَانٌ↓, (so in different copies of the Ṣ, [the latter of these two I find in one copy only,]) A kind of trees, of the [kind called] عِضاَه: (Ṣ, Ḳ:) or the ثُمَام [i. e. panic grass]: (Ḳ, TA, but not in the CK:) or the نَمَّام [now commonly applied to wild thyme, thymus serpyllum], (Ṣ, Ḳ), one of the sweetsmelling plants, (Ṣ,) having an elegant red flower,, &c., as in the next preceding sentence. (So in copies of the Ḳ. [See شَهَبَانٌ.])

See also شَبَهٌ.

شَبَاهٌ (Lth, JK, Ḳ) and شُبَاهٌ (CK [but not in my MṢ. copy of the Ḳ nor in the TA]) A certain grain, like that called حُرْف (Lth, JK, Ḳ) in colour, [see حُرْفٌ and رَشَادٌ,] which is taken, i. e. swallowed, as a medicine. (Lth, JK.)

أَشْبَهُ [More, and most, like]. أَشْبَهُ مِنَ التَّمْرَةِ بِالتَّمْرَةِ [More like than the date to the date] is a prov.: and so أَشْبَهُ مِنَ المَآءِ بِالمَآءِ [More like than water to water]. (Meyd.)

[And More, or most, suitable. One says, هٰذَا أَشْبَهُ بِكَ This is more suitable to thee. And هٰذَا الأَشْبَهُ This is the most suitable.]

مُشَبَّهٌ: [see its verb:]

[and] see مُشْتَبِهٌ.

Also, applied to the plant called نَصِىّ, Becoming yellow. (TA.)

مُشَبِّهٌ: [see its verb:]

[and] see مَشْتَبِهٌ.

مُشْتَبِهٌ [part. n. of 8, q. v.]. مُشْتَبِهَاتٌ, (Ṣ,) andمُشَبِّهَاتٌ↓, [thus agreeably with an explanation of its verb by IAạr, (see 8, last sentence,)] (JK,) or أُمُورٌ مُشْتَبِهَةٌ, andمُشَبَّهَةٌ↓ like مُعَظَّمَةٌ, (Ḳ,) Things, or affairs, that are confused or dubious [by reason of their resembling one another or from any other cause]: (JK, Ṣ, Ḳ:) [and uncertain: (see an ex. of مُشَبَّه in this sense in a verse cited voce سَنَفَ:)] مُشْتَبِهًا وَغَيْرَ مُتَشَابِهٍ↓, in the Ḳur [vi. 99], means resembling one another so that they become confounded, or confused, or dubious, and not resembling one another, &c. (TA.)

مُتَشَابِهٌ Consimilar, or conformable, in its several parts: thus مُتَشَابِهًا means in the Ḳur xxxix. 24. (Jel.) And مُتَشَابِهَاتٌ Things like, or resembling, one another. (JK, Ṣ.)

See also مُشْتَبِهٌ.

مُتَشَابِهَاتٌ in the Ḳur iii. 5 means Verses that are equivocal, or ambiguous; i. e. susceptible of different interpretations: (Ksh:) or verses unintelligible; such as the commencements [of many] of the chapters: (Jel:) or the مُتَشَابِه in the Ḳur is that of which the meaning is not to be learned from its words; and this is of two sorts; one is that of which the meaning is known by referring it to what is termed مُحْكَم [q. v.]; and the other is that of which the knowledge of its real meaning is not attainable in any way: (TA:) or it means what is not understood without repeated con- sideration: (TA in art. فسر:) Eḍ-Ḍaḥḥák is related to have explained المُحْكَمَاتُ as meaning “what have not been abrogated;” and المُتَشَابِهَاتُ as meaning what have been abrogated. (TA in the present art.)