Classical Arabic - English Dictionary

فَلَى رأْسَهُ, (M, Mgh, Ḳ,) and ثِيَابَهُ, (Mgh,) [aor. ـِ {يَفْلِىُ},] inf. n. فَلْىٌ; (M, Mgh;) andفلّى↓ رَأْسَهُ also; (Ḳ; [but not in my copy of the TA;]) He searched his head, (M, Mgh, Ḳ,) and his clothes, (Mgh,) for lice: (M, Mgh, Ḳ:) [and it appears from an explanation below (see 8) that افتلى رَأْسَهُ perhaps signifies the same:] or one says, فَلَيْتُ رَأْسَهُ مِنَ القَمْلِ [I searched his head for lice]: (Ṣ:) or فَلَيْتُ رَأْسِى, aor. as above, and so the inf. n., signifies I cleared my head of lice. (Mṣb.) [See also الفِلَآءُ, below.] In the saying of ʼAmr Ibn-Maadee-kerib,

* تَرَاهُ كَالثَّغَامِ يُغَلُّّ مِسْكًا *

* يَسُوْءُ الفَالِيَاتِ إِذَا فَلَيْنِى *

[Thou seest it (meaning the white hair intermixing with black) like the thagham (the plant so called) inserted in musk, grieving the lousing women when they louse me], فَلَيْنِى is for فَلَيْنَنِى, (T, Ṣ,) the two ن being deemed difficult of utterance; (T;) as Akh says, he has rejected the latter ن because it is merely a preservative to the verb [lest its affix should be supposed to form an essential part of it], whereas the former ن may not be rejected, because it is the pronoun of the verb. (Ṣ.)

[Hence,] فَلَى الشِّعْرَ, (ISk, T, Ṣ, Ḳ,) aor. and inf. n. as above, (TA,) ‡ He considered, and endeavoured to understand, the poetry, and elicited its meanings, (ISk, T, Ṣ, Ḳ, TA,) and what was strange of it: (ISk, Ṣ, TA:) or, accord. to the A, he investigated the meanings of the poetry: one says, اِفْلِ هٰذَا البَيْتَ فَإِنَّهُ صَعْبٌ ‡ [Investigate thou the meaning of this verse, for it is difficult]. (TA.) [Freytag has mentioned فَلَا, in art. فلو, as signifying “Disquisivit,” and as followed by عن; from the Deewán of the Hudhalees.] And فَلَى الأَمْرَ † He considered, or examined, the various modes of the affair, or case, endeavouring to obtain a clear knowledge of them, and looked to its result. (T, TA.) And فَلَيْتُ القُومَ بِعَيْنِى † [I examined the people, or party, with my eye, in order to know them]: and فَلَيْتُ خَبَرَهُمْ † [I examined their state, or case, in order to know it]. (TA.) And فَلَاهُ فِى عَقْلِهِ, (T, M, Ḳ, TA,) aor. as above, (T, TA,) and so the inf. n., (M, TA,) ‡ He looked, or examined, to see what was his intelligence: (T, TA:) or he tried, or tested, him, in respect of his intelligence. (M, Ḳ, TA.)

فَلَيْتُ القَوْمَ I entered amid the breaks, or interspaces, of the people; (T, TA;*) as also فَلَوْتُهُمْ; (T;) and soأَفْلَيْتُهُمْ↓. (TA.) And فَلَى المَفَازَةَ He passed through the مفازة [i. e. desert, or waterless desert]. (TA.)

فَلَاهُ بَالسَّيْفِ, aor. يَفْلِيهِ, (Ḳ, TA,) inf. n. فَلْىٌ, (TA,) signifies the same as فَلَاهُ, aor. يَفْلُوهُ, (Ḳ, TA,) inf. n. فَلْوٌ. (TA.) See the latter verb {1} in art. فلو.

فَلِىَ i. q. اِنْقَطَعَ [It, or he, was cut, or cut off,, &c.]. (IAạr, T, Ḳ.)

تفلّى He applied himself, as to a task, to the act of searching his head for lice. (T,* M, TA.)

تفالت الحُمُرُ The asses scratched, scraped, or rubbed, one another; as though they were lousing one another. (M, TA.)

See also 10.

يَفْتَلُونَ الفَلَاةَ, (T,) or المَكَانَ, (Ḳ,*) ‡ They depasture the herbage (T, Ḳ *) of the فلاة [or desert, or waterless desert,, &c.], (T,) or of the place, (Ḳ,) and seek for the portions of herbage that are beginning to dry up therein; like as [is done when] the head is searched for lice (كَمَا يُفْتَلَى الرَّأْسُ or كما يُفْلَى الرأس accord. to two transcripts from the T). (T in arts. فلو and فلى of the TT.) [This meaning of the verb is expl. (imperfectly) in art. فلو, to which it does not belong.]

استفلى رَأْسَهُ, andتفالى↓, (Ṣ, Ḳ,) i. e. تفالى هُوَ [not تفالى رأسه], (Ṣ,) He desired that his head might be searched for lice. (Ṣ, Ḳ.)

And استفلاهُ He exposed himself to have his head struck and cut with the sword: (M, TA:) a poet says,

* أَمَاتَرَانِى رَابِطَ الجَنَانِ *

* أَفْلِيهِ بِالسَّيْفِ إِذَا ٱسْتَفْلَانِى *

[Dost thou not see me to be strong of heart? I will strike and cut his head with the sword when he exposes himself to be so struck, &c.]

[فِلْيَةٌ, mentioned in this art. by Freytag, with فَلَالِىٌّ as its pl., is taken by him from a mistranscription in the CK in art. فل: see فِلِّيَّةٌ in that art.]

الفلَآءُ, like كِسَآء [in measure], means فلآء الشعر, [evidently, I think, فِلَآءُ الشَّعَرَ, or the first word may be a mistranscription for فَلْىُ,] i. e. اخذك ما فيه [lit. Thy taking what is in it, in which “it” refers to the شعر: app. a euphemism for the taking of lice from the hair: if so, it may be an inf. n., like فَلْىٌ; (see 1, first sentence;) or it may be a simple subst., like what here follows]: mentioned by IAmb, from his companions. (TA.)

فِلَايَةٌ [The act of searching the head for lice;] the subst. from فَلَى رَأْسَهُ signifying “he searched his head for lice.” (Lth,* T,* Ḳ.) [See also the next preceding paragraph.]

[فَالٍ act. part. n. of 1: fem. فَالِيَةٌ.] فَالِيَاتٌ and فَوَالٍ [are pls. of فَالِيَةٌ and] signify Women who search the head for lice. (T, TA.) See an ex. of the former pl. in the verse cited in the first paragraph.

فَالِيَةُ الأَفَاعِى (in which the former word is a pl. [in meaning], M, TA) signifies [lit. The lousers of the vipers; meaning,] accord. to the A, certain species of the kind [of beetles] called خَنَافِس [pl. of خُنْفَسَآء], speckled, found at the holes of the serpents, which they louse: (TA:) or a certain خنفسآء, speckled (M, Ḳ) with [the colour termed] صُحْمَة, which is found at the holes [of serpents, &c.], and is the mistress of خَنَافِس; (M;) which is familiar with scorpions and serpents; so that when it comes forth from a hole [thereof], it makes known their existence [therein]: (Ḳ:) or certain small things like خنَافس, speckled; which are familiar with scorpions and serpents; so that when they are seen in the hole [thereof] it is known that behind them are scorpions and serpents: (T:) or certain insects (دَوَابُّ) that are found at the holes of the [lizards called] ضِبَاب [pl. of ضَبُّ]; so that when they come forth, it is known that the ضَبّ is coming forth inevitably. (M.) Hence one says, اتتكم فَالِيَةُ الأَفَاعِى, (IAạr, T, M, Ḳ,*) meaning † The beginning of evil to be looked for [has come to you], (IAạr, T,) or the beginnings of evil [hare come to you]; (Ḳ;) which is a prov. (IAạr, T.)

And [hence] اِبْنُ الفَوَالِى means The جَانّ; i. e. the serpent [so called]. (T in art. بنى.)

فَالِيَةٌ [fem. of فَالٍ, q. v.]

[And also] A knife. (T.)