Classical Arabic - English Dictionary

عَسَى is [said by some to be] one of the verbs of appropinquation, implying eager desire, or hope, and fear, and not perfectly inflected, for it is applied in the form of the preterite to that which occurs in the present: one says عَسَى زَيْدٌ أَنْ يَخْرُجَ [meaning, accord. to what has been said above, Zeyd is near to going forth, though generally otherwise expl., as will be shown in what follows], and عَسَتْ فُلَانَةُ أَنْ تَخْرُجَ [Such a woman is near to going forth]; زَيْدٌ being the agent of عَسَى, and أَنْ يَخْرُجَ being its objective complement and meaning الخُرُوجَ: and one says also, عَسَيْتُ أَنْ أَفْعَلَ ذَاكَ [as meaning, accord. to what here precedes, I am near to doing that], and عَسِيتُ, with kesr, agreeably with readings [in the Ḳur xlvii. 24], فَهَلْ عَسِيتُمْ and عَسَيْتُمْ, with kesr and fet-ḥ; and one says to a woman, عَسَيْتِ أَنْ تَفْعَلِى ذَاكَ; and [to women,] عَسَيْتُنَّ; but one does not use the form يَفْعَلُ thereof, nor the form فَاعِلٌ; (Ṣ;) both of which [however] are memtioned [as used] by the author of the “Insáf:” (I’Aḳ p. 88:) [or, accord. to Fei,] عَسَى is a preterite verb, [used in the sense of the present,] aplastic, not perfectly inflected, of the verbs of appropinquation, implying hope, and eager desire, and sometimes opinion, and certainty; and it is incomplete [i. e. non-attributive], and complete [i. e. attributive]: the incomplete has for its predicate an aor. mansoob by means of أَنْ, as in the saying, عَسَى زَيْدٌ أَنْ يَقُومَ, meaning قَارَبَ زَيْدٌ القِيَامَ [Zeyd is near to standing], the predicate being an objective complement or having the meaning of an objective complement: or, as some say, the meaning is لَعَلَّ زَيْدًا أَنْ يَقُومَ, i. e. [virtually, but not literally,] I eagerly desire, or I hope, that Zeyd may be performing the act of standing: [but see عَلَّ and لَعَلَّ in art. عل, as well as what follows in this paragraph after the explanation of the next ex.:] the complete is such as occurs in the saying, عَسَى أَنْ يَقُومَ زَيْدٌ [meaning, accord. to what is said above, Zeyd's standing is near to being a fact]; the agent being literally a phrase composed of a subject and an attribute because أَنْ is here what is termed مَصْدَرِيَّة [so that أَنْ يَقُومَ زَيْدٌ is equivalent to قِيَامُ زَيْدٍ]: (Mṣb:)

[in the MA and PṢ and TḲ, &c., عَسَى is expl. as meaning It may be that; and this, or simply may-be, or may-hap, or perhaps, I regard as the preferable rendering; as being virtually the meaning in all cases: for عَسَى زَيْدٌ أَنْ يَقُومَ, in which it is used as an incomplete verb, however it may be rendered, virtually means It may be that Zeyd is, or will be, standing; or may-be Zeyd, &c.: and عَسَى أَنْ يَقُومَ زَيْدٌ, in which it is used as a complete verb, virtually means the same, though more properly rendered Zeyd's standing may be a fact: its usages are various, and have occasioned much dispute respecting its grammatical character and its meaning or meanings; as will be shown by what here follows:]

it is [said to be] a verb unrestrictedly, or a particle unrestrictedly: (Ḳ:) [but this statement seems to have originated from a mistranscription: IHsh says,] it is a verb unrestrictedly: not a particle unrestrictedly, contrary to the opinion of Ibn-Ks-Sarráj and Th; nor when it has an affixed pronoun, as in عَسَاكَ, contrary to an opinion of Sb, ascribed to him by Seer: (Mughnee:) it denotes hope in the case of that which is liked, and fear in the case of that which is disliked; as in the saying in the Ḳur [ii. 213], وَعَسَى أَنْ تَكْرَهُوا شَيْئًا وَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ وَعَسَى أَنْ تُحِبُّوا شَيْئًا وَهُوَ شَرٌّ لَكُمْ [But it may be that ye dislike a thing when it is good for you, and it may be that ye like a thing when it is evil for you]: (Mughnee, Ḳ:*)

it is used in various ways; one of which is the saying, عَسَى زَيْدٌ أَنْ يَقُومَ [mentioned above], respecting the analysis of which there are different opinions: that of the generality is, that it is like كَانَ زَيْدٌ يَقُومُ [inasmuch as عسى is here an incomplete verb]; but this is deemed dubious, because the predicate [أَنْ يَقُومَ] is rendered by an inf. n., and the subject [زَيْدٌ] is a substance; to which several replies have been made; one being that a prefixed noun is meant to be understood, either before the subject, so that the meaning is, عَسَى أَمْرُ زَيْدٍ القِيَامُ [It may be that the case of Zeyd is, or will be, the performing of the act of standing], or before the predicate, so that the meaning is عَسَى زَيْدٌ صَاحِبُ القِيَامِ [It may be that Zeyd is, or will be, the performer of the act of standing]; and another reply is, that it is of the class of زَيْدٌ عَدْلٌ and صَوْمٌ [meaning عَادِلٌ and صَائِمٌ, for أَنْ يَقُومَ is equivalent to an inf. n., and an inf. n. may be used in the sense of an act. part. n.]; and another is, that أَنْ is here redundant, which reply is [said to be] nought, because ان has rendered the aormansoob, and because it seldom falls out [from the phrase, though it should be remarked that لَعَلَّ, which is said in the Mughnee to be like عَسَى in meaning, is generally followed by a simple aor. and sometimes by أَنْ and an aor.]: another opinion respecting the analysis of the phrase is, that عَسَى is a trans. verb, like قَارَبَ in meaning and in government, [agreeably with the explanations mentioned above from the Ṣ and Mṣb,] or intrans. like قَرُبَ مِنْ with the preposition suppressed; and this is the opinion of Sb and Mbr: the opinion of the generality is, that it is an incomplete verb [like كَانَ in the phrase كَانَ زَيْدٌ يَقُومُ, mentioned above], and that أَنْ and the verb following it compose a substitute of implication supplying what is wanting in the two preceding portions of the sentence:

the second way of using it is, the making it to have أَنْ and the verb following this for its object, [as in عَسَى أَنْ يَقُومَ زَيْدٌ, mentioned above], so that it is a complete verb:

the third and fourth and fifth are when it is followed by a simple aor. [being in this case likened to كَادَ, (Ṣ, Ḳ,* TA.)] or an aor. with س prefixed, or a single noun; as in عَسَى زَيْدٌ يَقُومُ [It may be that Zeyd stands, or will stand] and عَسَى زَيْدٌ سَيَقُومُ [It may be that Zeyd will stand] and عَسَى زَيْدٌ قَائِمٌ [It may be that Zeyd is standing]; the first whereof is one of which there are few exs., such as the saying,

* عَسَى الكَرْبُ الَّذِى أَمْسَيْتَ فِيهِ *

* يَكُونُ وَرَآءَهُ فَرَجٌ قَرِيبُ *

[It may be that the state of anxiety in which thou hast become (or, as some relate it, أَمْسَيْتُ i. e. I hare become,) is such that after it will be a near removal thereof]; and the third is one of which there are fewer exs., [and which is said in the Ṣ to be not allowable,] such as the saying,

* أَكْثَرْتَ فِى العَذْلِ مُلِحًّا دَائِمَا *

* لَا تُكْثِرَنْ إِنِّى عَسِيتُ صَائِمَا *

[or, as some relate it, عَسَيْتُ, which is more common, i. e. Thou hast been profuse in censuring, persisting constantly: be not thou profuse: verily it may be that I am, or shall be, abstaining]; and as to the prov., عَسَى الغُوَيْرُ أَبْؤُسًا [expl. in art. بأس, and of which it is said in the Ḳ that the verb therein is used in the manner of كَانَ, and in the Ṣ that the phrase is extr., that ابؤسا is there put in the place of the predicate, and that there sometimes occurs in provs. what does not occur elsewhere], the right opinion is that يَكُونُ is suppressed before ابؤسا; and [in the latter of the two verses cited above] أَكُونُ is suppressed before صائما; because thus the primary usage is preserved, and because what is hoped is the person's being an abstainer, not the abstainer himself; and as to the second of the three modes of using عَسَى last mentioned above, with س prefixed to the aor., it is very extr.:

the sixth way of using it is the saying عَسَانِى and عَسَاكَ and عَسَاهُ, which is rare: in this case, accord. to Sb, it is used in the manner of لَعَلَّ, as governing the subject in the accus. case, and the predicate in the nom.; the predicate being sometimes expressed, in the nom. case, as in the saying,

* فَقُلْتُ عَسَاهَا نَارُ كَأْسٍ وَعَلَّهَا *

* تَشَكَّى فَآتِى نَحْوَهَا فَأَعُودُهَا *

[And I said, May-be it is the fire of Ka-s, (for I suppose that كأس is here a proper name, that of a woman, daughter of El-Kelhabeh El-'Oranee,) and perhaps she has a complaint, (تَشَكَّى being for تَبَشَكَّى,) so I will come towards her, and visit her]:

the seventh way is the saying, عَسَى زَيْدٌ قَائِمٌ, mentioned by Th; which is to be explained on the ground that عسى is here an incomplete verb, and that its subject is the ضَمِيرُ الشَّأْنِ [i. e. إِنَّهُ is suppressed, the meaning being, It may be that the case is this, Zeyd is standing], the nominal proposition being the predicate. (Mughnee. [Several other statements in that work, respecting عَسَى, I have omitted, as being refuted therein, or as being of little or no importance.])

It also denotes opinion, (Mṣb,) or doubt, (Ḳ, TA,) and certainty: (Mṣb, Ḳ, TA:) the last is meant in the saying of Ibn-Mukbil,

* ظَنِّى بِهِمْ كَعَسَى وَهُمْ بِتَنُوفَةٍ *

* يَتَنَازَعُونَ جَوَائِزَ الأَمْثَالِ *

[My opinion of them is like an expression of certainty while they, in a desert, or in a desert destitute of water or of herbage and water,, &c., are contending in reciting current proverbs instead of attending to the wants of themselves and their camels]. (Ṣ, TA.)

As uttered by God, it is expressive of an event of necessary occurrence, (Ṣ, Ḳ,) in the whole of the Ḳur-án, except the saying, [in lxvi. 5,] عَسَى رَبُّهُ إِنْ طّلَّقَكُنَّ أَنْ يُبْدِلَهُ أَزْوَاجًا خَيْرًا مِنْكُنَّ [It may be that his Lord, if he divorce you, will give him in exchange wives better than you]. (Ṣ.)

هَلْ عَسَيْتُمْ with what follows it, in the Ḳur [ii. 247], means [virtually] Are ye near to fleeing? (Ḳ:) some read thus; and some, عَسِيتُمْ. (TA.)

عَسِىَ النَّبَاتُ [erroneously written in the CK عَسَى]: see the first sentence {1} in art. عسو.

أَعْسِ بِهِ means How well adapted or disposed, or how apt, meet, suited, suitable, fitted, fit, competent, or proper, or how worthy, is he! (Lḥ, Ḳ, TA.)

بِالعَسَى أَنْ تَفْعَلَ means بِالحَرَى [i. e. It is suitable, fit, or proper, that thou shouldst do such a thing]. (Ḳ. [In the CK, and likewise in the TḲ, erroneously, بالعَسِىِّ and بالحَرِىِّ.])

عَسًا: see art. عسو.

هُوَ عَسِىٌّ بِهِ He is adapted or disposed by nature, apt, meet, suited, suitable, fitted, fit, competent, proper, or worthy, for it or of it; as alsoعَسٍ↓ بِهِ: (Ḳ, TA:) but one should not say عَسًى. (TA.) [See also مَعْسَاةٌ.]

مِعْسَآءٌ A girl thought to have attained puberty: (Lḥ, TA:) or a girl near to attaining puberty. (Ḳ.)

مَعْسَاةٌ is from عَسَى, like مَئِنَّةٌ from إِنَّ: you say, هُوَ مَعْسَاةٌ لِلْخَيْرِ, meaning He is a person (مَحَلٌّ) [fit, or proper,] for one's saying of him, عَسَى أَنْ يَفْعَلَ خَيْرًا [It may be that he will do good]: (A and TA in art. ان:) and إِنَّهُ لَمَعْسَاةٌ بِكَذَا, meaning مَخْلَقَةٌ [i. e. Verily he is adapted or disposed by nature, apt, meet, suited,, &c., for such a thing]: (Ḳ, TA:) and in like manner, without variation, it is used in speaking of a female, and of two persons, and of a pl. number. (TA.)

مُعْسِيَةٌ A she-camel of which one doubts whether there be in her milk or not: (IAạr, Ḳ, TA:) or whose milk has stopped and it is hoped that it will return. (Er-Rághib, TA.)