Mashrabaمشربة

Root · 56 in the Quran · 69 in 15 texts of the library

أجلIbn Fāris finds no single primitive: five distinct, non-derivable senses under … (root jl)

اعلم أن الهمزة والجيم واللام يدل على خمس كلمات متباينة لا يكاد يمكن حمل واحدة على واحدة من جهة القياس فكل واحدة أصل في …

Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-lugha · English rendering

أجل

The family of the root

Patterns computed · our data

The words of أ ج ل that our sources attest: the root's letters in green, the added letters in gold.

19 words5 verbs6 verbal nouns2 participles1 intensive or elative4 other nouns1 plural

  • أَجَلthe term, or period, of a thing
  • أَجْلbecause of him, or it, it was thus, or such a thing was
  • أَجَّلَhe defined the term, or period
  • أَجَلّgreater; more splendid
  • مُؤَجَّلdetermined, defined, or limited, as to time
The whole family6 groups, by pattern; tap a pattern to see what it does
Verbs5أَجِلَ · أَجَّلَ · آجلَ

The root as an action: the bare Form I, and the Forms made by adding letters before, inside or after the root.grammar →

Form I vowels: فَعِلَ يَفْعَلُ (i – a; the imperfect from Lane's “aor.”)

  • أَجِلَit (a thing, Msb, as, for instance, a thing purchased, and the price thereof, …LaneForm ILaneIbn Fāris
  • أَجَّلَhe defined the term, or periodLaneForm IIQurʾān ×2LaneIbn Fāris
  • آجلَForm IIILaneIbn Fāris
  • تأجّلَhe asked, or requested, that a term, or period, should be assigned, …LaneForm VLaneIbn Fāris
  • إِسْتَاْجَلَLane: see Form II, VForm XLane
Verbal nouns6أَجَل · أَجْل · أَجُل

The action itself, named as a noun (maṣdar).grammar →

Participles2مُؤَجَّل · مُتَأَجِّل

The one who does it, and the one it is done to.grammar →

  • مُؤَجَّلdetermined, defined, or limited, as to timeLanepassive, Form IIQurʾān ×1Lane
  • مُتَأَجِّلactive, Form VLane
Intensives, qualities and the elative1أَجِيل

The quality carried far, held as a trait, or compared.grammar →

  • أَجِيلhaving a delay, or postponement, granted to him, to a certain timeLanequality (faʿīl)LaneIbn Fāris
Other nouns4آجِل · أَجَلّ · أَجِلْ

Nouns on other patterns; their meaning is learned word by word.grammar →

Plurals1آجَال

Broken plurals rebuild the word on a new pattern; sound plurals add an ending.grammar →

Reference

Why this shape?What each of the 11 patterns does

What each pattern does. The pattern gives a tendency, not a rule: many words have drifted into meanings of their own.

The pattern machinePour the root into a pattern; see whether the word exists

Choose a pattern; the root's letters pour into it. Then see whether the word exists in our sources. The machine makes shapes; only usage makes words.

مَفْعَلَةأ ج لمَأْجَلَة

Not in our sources. A possible shape, not a word we can show: the Quran, the library and Lane do not have it for this root.

Place noun with -a. The place noun with the feminine -a. Sometimes it is only a variant of mafʿal; often it names the place where a thing is found in abundance (maʾsada, 'a place full of lions'). So maktab is the place of writing, and maktaba, where writings are gathered: a library, a bookshop. Our summary

But: maktaba is not in our classical dictionaries for k-t-b: Lane and al-Jawharī give maktab ('a school'), none gives maktaba. Its sense of 'library, bookshop' fits the pattern of abundance, but that is our reading of the pattern, not a classical entry. Many mafʿala words are single items of usage (maqbara 'cemetery'), which the grammarians call heard, not formed by rule.

The grammarians on this pattern (4)

  • ما يكون مفعلة لازمة لها الهاء والفتحة … وذلك إذا أردت أن تكثر الشيء بالمكان، وذلك قولك: أرض مسبعة، ومأسدة

    Chapter on what is mafʿala, with the -a and the a-vowel always: that is when you mean that a thing abounds in a place, as you say 'a land of many beasts of prey (masbaʿa), of many lions (maʾsada)'

    Sībawayh (d. c. 180/796), al-Kitāb, ed. ʿAbd al-Salām Hārūn, 3rd ed. (Cairo: al-Khānjī, 1988), 4:94 · OpenITI line 21027–21028 ↗ · on this site · OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

  • و نحو المظنة و المقبرة فتحا و ضما ليس بقياس

    and words like maẓinna and maqbara (with a or u) are not by rule

    Ibn al-Ḥājib (d. 646/1249), al-Shāfiya fī ʿilm al-taṣrīf, ed. Ḥasan Aḥmad al-ʿUthmān (Mecca: al-Maktaba al-Makkiyya, 1995), 1:30 · OpenITI line 223 ↗ · on this site · OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

  • “designate the place where the object signified by the noun from which they are formed, is found in large numbers or quantities” Wright, Grammar I, §247, p. 148 ↗ · on nouns of abundance, maf'ala · 3rd ed. (Cambridge, 1896) · public domain
  • “Nouns of time and place not unfrequently take the feminine form” Wright, Grammar I, §225, p. 128 ↗ · on maf'ala as a variant of maf'al · 3rd ed. (Cambridge, 1896) · public domain

This root has a weak or doubled letter, so real words change shape (qāla → qāʾil, not qāwil); the machine pours the letters in as they are, and matches attested words by their regular pattern.

About thisWhat “attested” means here; the sources

Attested means found in our data: the Quranic Arabic Corpus (lemmas, verb Forms, participles, verbal nouns, plurals), the library's words (automatic analysis), Lane's Lexicon (his headwords, the Forms he numbers, the verbal nouns and plurals he names) and Ibn Fāris's entry. Nothing is generated for this list. Meanings are Lane's first gloss in his entry, or else the analyser's gloss (“auto”). Vowelling follows the corpus, then Lane, then the analyser; verbs are given in the regular perfect. Lane's Lexicon thins out after qāf, and a few of his entries cover several roots at once: those roots show no Lane. The patterns, written with ف ع ل, are computed by us.

The dictionaries

English: AI translation
  • al-Khalīl · 170Al-ajal (الأجل): the terminus of time regarding death, and [also] the due date of a debt and the like.

    al-Khalīl b. Aḥmad (d. c. 170/786), Kitāb al-ʿAyn. The first Arabic dictionary, arranged by permutations of the root letters.

    Al-ajal (الأجل): the terminus of time regarding death, and [also] the due date of a debt and the like. You say: 'ajala (أجل) this thing, ya'julu (يأجل)', so it is ājil (آجل), the opposite of 'ājil (عاجل). Al-ajīl (الأجيل): that which is deferred to a [future] time. He said: 'And the terminus of the deferred is the abyss of doom.' You say: 'I did that min ajli kadhā (من أجل كذا)' and 'min jarā'i kadhā (من جراء كذا)', meaning 'because of it'; and if you wish you may drop 'min' and say 'fa'altu dhālika ajla kadhā (فعلت ذاك أجل كذا)', and it has no [derived] verb. 'Adī ibn Zayd said: "Indeed (ajal), for God has favored you above him who is bound by backbone and waist-wrap" You say: 'ajannaka (أجنك)' meaning 'ajala annaka (أجل أنك)', the lām and alif having been dropped, just as God, exalted be His name, said: 'lākinnā huwa Allāhu rabbī' [Q. 18:38] — meaning, and God knows best, 'lākin anā', the alif being dropped so the two nūns met, producing the doubling. And in the ḥadīth: 'ajannaka min aṣḥābi rasūli Allāh' [entry continues]

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    الأجل: غاية الوقت في الموت. ومحل الدين ونحوه. تقول: أجل هذا الشيء يأجل، فهو آجل، وهو نقيض عاجل. والأجيل: المؤجل إلى وقت، قال: وغاية الأجيل مهواة الردى «1» وتقول: فعلت ذاك من أجل كذا، ومن جراء كذا، أي: من أجله، وإن شئت طرحت من فقلت: فعلت ذاك أجل كذا، ولا فعل له. قال عدي بن زيد: أجل أن الله قد فضلكم ... فوق من أحكى بصلب وإزار «2» وتقول: أجنك بمعنى: أجل أنك فحذفت اللام والألف، كما قال الله عز اسمه: لكنا هو الله ربي «3» ، معناه، والله أعلم: لكن أنا، فحذفت الألف فالتقت النونان. فجاء التشديد. وفي الحديث: أجنك من أصحاب رسول الله

    al-Khalīl · 170 · OpenITIvowelled page on al-Maktaba al-Shāmila (print 6, p. 178) ↗
  • al-Jawharī · 393Al-ajal (الأجل): the term/duration of a thing.

    al-Jawharī (d. c. 393/1003), al-Ṣiḥāḥ. Admits only usage he judged sound.

    Al-ajal (الأجل): the term/duration of a thing. One says: 'I did that min ajlika (من أجلك)' and 'min ijlika (من إجلك)', with fatḥa or kasra of the hamza, and 'min ajlāka (من أجلاك)', meaning 'because of you.' Al-ijl (الإجل), also with kasra: a herd of wild cattle, plural al-ājāl (الآجال). 'The wild beasts ta'ajjalat (تأجلت)' means they became herds. Labīd said: "And the wild cows, still beside their calves, newly-delivered, gather in herds (ta'julu) in the open plain." Al-ijl also: a pain in the neck. 'The man ajila (أجل)', with kasra, means he slept on his neck and it began to ache. Al-ta'jīl (التأجيل): treatment for it. One says: 'bī ijl fa-ajjilūnī minhu (بي إجل فأجلوني منه)', meaning 'treat me for it', just as one says 'ṭannaytuhu (طنّيته)' when treating one for ṭanan-sickness and doctoring him. 'I asked him for a delay (istaʾjaltuhu) and he granted me one (ajjalanī) for a period.' Al-ijl: a dialectal form of al-ayyil (الإيل), the male of the mountain-goats, said to be called in Persian kūzan. Abū 'Amr ibn al-'Alā' said: some Bedouin turn a doubled yā' into a jīm even when not final [in the word]. Ibn al-A'rābī cited: "As if in the tails of the dry-uddered she-camels, from the crusted filth of summer, were the horns of the ijl" — he means al-ayyil. Al-ājil and al-ājila: the opposite of al-'ājil and al-'ājila. 'Ajala 'alayhim sharran (أجل عليهم شرا), ya'julu and ya'jilu, verbal noun ajl': meaning he brought evil upon them and stirred it up. Khuwāt ibn Jubayr said: "And the people of a tent whose mutual relations were good have become hostile over an immediate matter which I brought about (ājiluhu)" i.e., I am the one who caused it. Abū 'Amr said: al-ma'jal (المأجل), with fatḥa on the jīm: a reservoir/pool of water, plural al-ma'ājil (المآجل). 'The water ta'ajjala (تأجل)' so it is muta'ajjil (متأجل); and 'mā' ajīl (ماء أجيل)' means gathered water. Ajlā (أجلى), on the pattern of fa'lā: a place-name, a well-known pasture, from which comes the poet's saying: "Sulaymā alighted at the side of al-Jurayb, at Ajlā, the dwelling-place of the stranger." Their saying 'ajal (أجل)' is merely a reply like 'na'am' (yes). Al-Akhfash said: except that it is better than 'na'am' in confirmation of a statement, while 'na'am' is better in response to a question. So if someone says 'You will go,' you say 'ajal,' better than 'na'am'; and if he asks 'Will you go?' you say 'na'am,' better than 'ajal.'

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    الاجل: مدة الشئ. ويقال: فعلت ذاك من أجلك، ومن إجلك بفتح الهمزة وكسرها، ومن أجلاك (1) ، أي من جراك. والإجل أيضا بالكسر: القطيع من بقر الوحش، والجمع الآجال. وتأجلت البهام، أي صارت آجالا. قال لبيد: والعين ساكنة على أطلائها عوذا تأجل بالفضاء بهامها والإجل أيضا: وجع في العنق. وقد أجل الرجل بالكسر، أي نام على عنقه فاشتكاها والتأجيل: المداواة منه. يقال: بي إجل فأجلوني منه، أي داوونى منه. كما يقال: طنيته، إذا عالجته من الطنى ومرضته. واستأجلته فأجلني جلنى إلى مدة. والإجل: لغة في الإيل، وهوالذ كر من الاوعال، ويقال هو الذي يسمى بالفارسية " كوزن ". قال أبو عمرو بن العلاء: بعض الاعراب يجعل اليإ المشددة جيما وإن كانت أيضا غير طرف. وأنشد ابن الاعرابي (2) كأن في أذنابهن الشول من عبس الصيف قرون الاجل قال: يريد الايل. والآجل والآجلة: ضد العاجل والعاجلة. وأجل عليهم شرا يأجل ويأجل أجلا، أي جناه وهيجه. قال خوات بن جبير (1) : وأهل خباء صالح ذات بينهم قد احترابوا في عاجل أنا آجله (2) أي أنا جانيه. قال أبو عمرو: المأجل، بفتح الجيم: مستنقع الماء، والجمع المآجل. وقد تأجل الماء فهو متأجل، وماء أجيل، أي مجتمع. وأجلى، على فعلى: اسم موضع، وهو مرعى لهم معروف، ومنه قول الشاعر: حلت سليمى جانب الجريب (3) بأجلى محلة الغريب (4) وقولهم: أجل، إنما هو جواب مثل نعم. قال الأخفش: إلا أنه أحسن من نعم في التصديق، ونعم أحسن منه في الاستفهام. فإذا قال أنت سوف تذهب قلت أجل وكان أحسن من نعم، وإذا قال أتذهب؟ قلت نعم وكان أحسن من أجل.

    al-Jawharī · 393 · OpenITIvowelled page on al-Maktaba al-Shāmila (print 4, p. 1621) ↗
  • Ibn Fāris · 395Know that hamza, jīm, and lām indicate five distinct meanings which can scarcely be attributed to one another by analogy — each is an independent root, and your Lord does what He wills.

    Ibn Fāris (d. 395/1004), Maqāyīs al-Lugha. Seeks each root's original sense (aṣl).

    Know that hamza, jīm, and lām indicate five distinct meanings which can scarcely be attributed to one another by analogy — each is an independent root, and your Lord does what He wills. Al-ajal (الأجل) is the terminus of a period of time, whether regarding a debt or otherwise. Al-Khalīl conjugated it, saying: 'ajala (أجل) this thing, ya'julu (يأجل)'; and the noun al-ājil (الآجل) is the opposite of al-'ājil (العاجل, the immediate). Al-ajīl (الأجيل) is al-murja' (المرجأ), i.e., that which is deferred/postponed to a [future] time. He [the poet] said: 'And the terminus of the deferred (al-ajīl) is the abyss of doom.' Their saying 'ajal (أجل)' in reply belongs to this category, as though one means: it has ended and reached its terminus. Al-ijl (الإجل) is a herd of wild cattle (oryx), plural ājāl (آجال). 'The herd (al-ṣiwār) ta'ajjala (تأجل)' means it formed into a herd. Al-ajl (الأجل) is the verbal noun of 'ajala 'alayhim sharran (أجل عليهم شرا)', meaning he brought about and stirred up [evil] against them. Khuwāt ibn Jubayr said: "And the people of a tent whose mutual relations were good have warred with each other over an immediate matter — I am the one who brought it about (ājiluhu)" i.e., its instigator. Al-ijl (الإجل) is also a pain in the neck. It is related from Abū al-Jarrāḥ: 'bī ijl fa-ajjilūnī (بي إجل فأجلوني)', meaning 'cure me of it.' Al-ma'jal (المأجل) is something like a wide basin in which the water of a well or channel is retained (yu'jal) for some days, then released into the crops; plural ma'ājil (مآجل). They say: 'ajjil (أجل) for your palm tree', meaning: make for it something like a basin. These, then, are the [five] roots; two more words remain. One belongs to the category of letter-substitution, namely their saying 'ajalū māluhum, ya'julūnahu, ajlan (أجلوا مالهم يأجلونه أجلا)', meaning they withheld it — the original form having zāy: azalūhu (أزلوه). It is possible that the derivation of this and of ma'jal al-mā' (مأجل الماء) is one and the same, since water is withheld in it. The other is their saying 'min ajli dhālika fa'altu kadhā (من أجل ذلك فعلت كذا)', which is based on 'ajaltu al-shay' (أجلت الشيء)', meaning 'I brought it about', so its meaning is: because such-and-such was brought about, I did [such-and-such]. As for Ajlā (أجلى) on the pattern of fa'lā, it is a place-name, and most place-names are arbitrarily assigned, not subject to analogy [poetry]: "Sulaymā alighted at the side of al-Jurayb, at Ajlā, the dwelling-place of the stranger."

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    اعلم أن الهمزة والجيم واللام يدل على خمس كلمات متباينة لا يكاد يمكن حمل واحدة على واحدة من جهة القياس فكل واحدة أصل في نفسها وربك يفعل ما يشاء فالأجل غاية الوقت في محل الدين وغيره وقد صرفه الخليل فقال أجل هذا الشيء وهو يأجل والاسم الآجل نقيض العاجل والأجيل المرجأ أي المؤخر إلى وقت قال — وغاية الأجيل مهواة الردى … وقولهم أجل في الجواب هو من هذا الباب كأنه يريد انتهى وبلغ الغاية والإجل القطيع من بقر الوحش والجمع آجال وقد تأجل الصوار صار قطيعا والأجل مصدر أجل عليهم شرا أي جناه وبحثه قال خوات بن جبير — وأهل خباء صالح ذات بينهم … قد احتربوا في عاجل أنا آجله … أي جانيه والإجل وجع في العنق وحكى عن أبي الجراح بي إجل فأجلوني أي داووني منه والمأجل شبه حوض واسع يؤجل فيه ماء البئر أو القناة أياما ثم يفجر في الزرع والجمع مآجل ويقولون أجل لنخلتك أي اجعل لها مثل الحوض فهذه هي الأصول وبقيت كلمتان إحداهما من باب الإبدال وهو قولهم أجلوا ما لهم يأجلونه أجلا أي حبسوه والأصل في ذلك الزاء أزلوه ويمكن أن يكون اشتقاق هذا ومأجل الماء واحدا لأن الماء يحبس فيه والأخرى قولهم من أجل ذلك فعلت كذا وهو محمول على أجلت الشيء أي جنيته فمعناه من أن أجل كذا فعلت أي من أن جني فأما أجلي على فعلى فمكان والأماكن أكثرها موضوعة الأسماء غير مقيسة قال : — حلت سليمى جانب الجريب … بأجلي محلة الغريب —

    Ibn Fāris · 395 · OpenITI
  • al-Rāghib · 502Al-ajal (الأجل): the fixed term appointed for a thing.

    al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī (d. c. 502/1108), al-Mufradāt. Quranic vocabulary, from core sense to Quranic usage.

    Al-ajal (الأجل): the fixed term appointed for a thing. God, exalted, said: 'that you may reach a specified term' [Ghāfir 40:67]; 'whichever of the two terms I complete' [al-Qaṣaṣ 28:28]. One says: 'his debt is mu'ajjal (deferred to a term)'; 'ajjaltuhu' means I set a term for it. The fixed span of a person's life is called ajal, so one says 'danā ajaluhu' (his term drew near), an expression for the nearness of death. Its basic meaning is the completion of the term, i.e. the duration of life. His saying, exalted: 'we have reached our term which You appointed for us' [al-An'ām 6:128] means the limit of death — or, it is said, the limit of old age, though in reality the two are one. His saying, exalted: 'then He decreed a term, and a specified term is with Him' [al-An'ām 6:2] — the first is remaining in this world, the second remaining in the hereafter; or it is said the first is remaining in this world and the second the period between death and resurrection, according to al-Ḥasan; or it is said the first refers to sleep and the second to death, alluding to His saying, exalted: 'God takes the souls at the time of their death, and those who have not died, in their sleep' [al-Zumar 39:42], according to Ibn 'Abbās. It is also said both terms refer to death: some die by an accident such as the sword, burning, drowning, or any unsuitable cause among the causes that cut off life; others are protected and preserved until death comes to them by natural means — these two being what is referred to in the saying: 'Whoever the arrow of calamity misses, the arrow of death will not miss him.' It is also said people have two terms: some die suddenly/prematurely, and some reach a limit which God has not made it in the nature of this world for [life] to remain [beyond]... [entry continues]

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    الأجل: المدة المضروبة للشيء، قال تعالى: لتبلغوا أجلا مسمى [غافر/ 67] ، أيما الأجلين قضيت [القصص/ 28] . ويقال: دينه مؤجل، وقد أجلته: جعلت له أجلا، ويقال للمدة المضروبة لحياة الإنسان أجل فيقال: دنا أجله، عبارة عن دنو الموت. وأصله: استيفاء الأجل أي: مدة الحياة، وقوله تعالى: بلغنا أجلنا الذي أجلت لنا [الأنعام/ 128] ، أي: حد الموت، وقيل: حد الهرم، وهما واحد في التحقيق. وقوله تعالى: ثم قضى أجلا وأجل مسمى عنده [الأنعام/ 2] ، فالأول: هو البقاء في الدنيا، والثاني: البقاء في الآخرة، وقيل: الأول: هو البقاء في الدنيا، والثاني: مدة ما بين الموت إلى النشور، عن الحسن، وقيل: الأول للنوم، والثاني للموت، إشارة إلى قوله تعالى: الله يتوفى الأنفس حين موتها والتي لم تمت في منامها [الزمر/ 42] ، عن ابن عباس «2» . وقيل: الأجلان جميعا للموت، فمنهم من أجله بعارض كالسيف والحرق والغرق وكل شيء غير موافق، وغير ذلك من الأسباب المؤدية إلى قطع الحياة، ومنهم من يوقى ويعافى حتى يأتيه الموت حتف أنفه، وهذان هما المشار إليهما بقوله: (من أخطأه سهم الرزية لم يخطئه سهم المنية) . وقيل: للناس أجلان، منهم من يموت عبطة «3» ، ومنهم من يبلغ حدا لم يجعله الله في طبيعة الدنيا أن يبقى

    al-Rāghib · 502 · OpenITIvowelled page on al-Maktaba al-Shāmila (print 1, p. 65) ↗
  • Lisān · 711Al-ajal (الأجل): the terminus of time regarding death, the falling-due of a debt, and the like.

    Ibn Manẓūr (d. 711/1311), Lisān al-ʿArab. The great compendium of the earlier dictionaries (entry shortened).

    Al-ajal (الأجل): the terminus of time regarding death, the falling-due of a debt, and the like. Al-ajal: the duration of a thing. In the noble revelation: 'and do not resolve on the marriage tie until the decreed [waiting period] reaches its term (ajalahu)' — meaning until she completes her 'idda. His saying, exalted: 'and had it not been for a word that had preceded from your Lord, and a specified term, it would have been inevitable' — meaning the killing that befell them would have been binding on them forever and the punishment perpetual; by 'the specified term' is meant the Day of Resurrection, since God promised them punishment for that Day, as in His saying: 'Rather, the Hour is their appointed time.' Al-ta'jīl (التأجيل): the fixing of a term. In the revelation: 'a decree determined (mu'ajjalan).' 'The thing ajala, ya'julu', so it is ājil and ajīl: it became deferred, opposite of al-'ājil. Al-ajīl: that deferred to a time; and he cited: 'And the terminus of the deferred is the abyss of doom.' Al-ājila: the hereafter; al-'ājila: this world; al-ājil and al-ājila: opposite of al-'ājil and al-'ājila. In the ḥadīth about reciting the Qur'ān: 'they hasten it and do not defer it.' In another ḥadīth: 'he hastens it and does not defer it' — al-ta'ajjul being a tafa''ul-form from al-ajal, the fixed future time, meaning they hasten to act upon the Qur'ān rather than delaying it. In the ḥadīth of Makḥūl: 'We were stationed on guard at the coast, and one of us ta'ajjala (تأجل)', meaning he asked leave to return to his family and requested a term be set for that. 'I asked him for a term (istaʾjaltuhu) and he granted me one (ajjalanī) for a period.' Al-ijl, with kasra: the herd of wild cattle, plural ājāl. In the ḥadīth of Ziyād: 'on a rainy day in which the herds (al-ājāl) suffer heat' — it is the plural of ijl, with kasra on the hamza and sukūn on the jīm, meaning a herd of wild cattle and gazelles. 'The beasts ta'ajjalat' means became herds; Labīd said: "And the wild cows, still beside their calves, newly-delivered, gather in herds in the open plain." 'The herd (al-ṣiwār) ta'ajjala': became a herd (ijl). Al-ijl: a dialectal form of al-ayyil, the male of the mountain-goats, said to be called in Persian kūzan — the jīm being a substitute for yā', as in their saying 'burnuj' for 'burnī' [a date variety]. Abū 'Amr ibn al-'Alā' said: some Bedouin turn a doubled yā' into a jīm even when not final; and Ibn al-A'rābī cited from Abū al-Najm: "As if in the tails of the dry-uddered she-camels, from the crusted filth of summer, were the horns of al-ijl" — he means al-ayyil; it is also transmitted as 'qurūn al-ayyil,' which is the original. 'They ta'ajjalū on the thing': they gathered together. Al-ijl: a pain in the neck; one says 'ajalahu minhu, ya'juluhu' (per al-Fārisī), and 'ajjalahu' and 'ājalahu' (per others), all meaning he treated and cured him of it — like 'ḥama'a al-bi'r' (removing its mud) or 'ajalahu' [in the sense] like 'qadhā al-'ayn' (removing its speck); and 'ājalahu' is like 'ʿājalahu.' 'Ajila al-rajulu,' with kasra, means he slept on his neck and it began to a[che]... [entry continues]

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    الأجل: غاية الوقت في الموت وحلول الدين ونحوه. والأجل: مدة الشيء. وفي التنزيل العزيز: ولا تعزموا عقدة النكاح حتى يبلغ الكتاب أجله ؛ أي حتى تقضي عدتها. وقوله تعالى: ولولا كلمة سبقت من ربك لكان لزاما وأجل مسمى ؛ أي لكان القتل الذي نالهم لازما لهم أبدا وكان العذاب دائما بهم، ويعنى بالأجل المسمى القيامة لأن الله تعالى وعدهم بالعذاب ليوم القيامة، وذلك قوله تعالى: بل الساعة موعدهم، والجمع آجال. والتأجيل: تحديد الأجل. وفي التنزيل: كتابا مؤجلا . وأجل الشيء يأجل، فهو آجل وأجيل: تأخر، وهو نقيض العاجل. والأجيل: المؤجل إلى وقت؛ وأنشد: وغاية الأجيل مهواة الردى والآجلة: الآخرة، والعاجلة: الدنيا، والآجل والآجلة: ضد العاجل والعاجلة. وفي حديث قراءة القرآن؛ يتعجلونه ولا يتأجلونه. وفي حديث آخر: يتعجله ولا يتأجله ؛ التأجل تفعل من الأجل، وهو الوقت المضروب المحدود في المستقبل أي أنهم يتعجلون العمل بالقرآن ولا يؤخرونه. وفي حديث مكحول: كنا بالساحل مرابطين فتأجل متأجل منا أي استأذن في الرجوع إلى أهله وطلب أن يضرب له في ذلك أجل، واستأجلته فأجلني إلى مدة. والإجل، بالكسر: القطيع من بقر الوحش، والجمع آجال. وفي حديث زياد: في يوم مطير ترمض فيه الآجال ؛ هي جمع إجل، بكسر الهمزة وسكون الجيم، وهو القطيع من بقر الوحش والظباء، وتأجلت البهائم أي صارت آجالا؛ قال لبيد: والعين ساكنة، على أطلائها، ... عوذا، تأجل بالفضاء بهامها وتأجل الصوار [الصوار]: صار إجلا. والإجل: لغة في الإيل وهو الذكر من الأوعال، ويقال: هو الذي يسمى بالفارسية كوزن، والجيم بدل من الياء كقولهم في برني برنج؛ قال أبو عمرو ابن العلاء: بعض الأعراب يجعل الياء المشددة جيما وإن كانت أيضا غير طرف؛ وأنشد ابن الأعرابي لأبي النجم: كأن في أذنابهن الشول، ... من عبس الصيف، قرون الإجل قال: يريد الإيل، ويروى قرون الإيل، وهو الأصل. وتأجلوا على الشيء: تجمعوا. والإجل: وجع في العنق، وقد أجله منه يأجله؛ عن الفارسي، وأجله وآجله عن غيره، كل ذلك: داواه فأجله، كحمأ البئر نزع حمأتها، وأجله كقذى العين نزع قذاها، وآجله كعاجله، وقد أجل الرجل، بالكسر، أي نام على عنقه فاشتكاها. والتأجيل: المداواة، منه. وحكي عن ابن الجراح: بي إجل فأجلوني أي داووني منه كما يقال طنيته من الطنى ومرضته. ابن الأعرابي: هو الإجل والإدل وهو وجع العنق من تعادي الوساد؛ الأصمعي: هو البدل أيضا. وفي حديث المناجاة: أجل أن يحزنه أي من أجله ولأجله، والكل لغات وتفتح همزتها وتكسر؛ ومنه الحديث: أن تقتل ولدك أجل أن يأكل معك. والأجل: الضيق. وأجلوا مالهم: حبسوه عن المرعى. وأجل، بفتحتين: بمعنى نعم، وقولهم أجل إنما هو جواب مثل نعم؛ قال الأخفش: إلا أنه أحسن من نعم في التصديق، ونعم أحسن منه في الاستفهام، فإذا قال أنت سوف تذهب قلت أجل، وكان أحسن من نعم، وإذا قال أتذهب قلت نعم، وكان أحسن من أجل. وأجل: تصديق لخبر يخبرك به صاحبك فيقول فعل ذلك فتصدقه بقولك له أجل، وأما نعم فهو جواب المستفهم بكلام لا جحد فيه، تقول له: هل صليت؟ فيقول: نعم، فهو جواب المستفهم. والمأجل، بفتح الجيم: مستنقع الماء، والجمع المآجل. ابن سيده: والمأجل شبه حوض واسع يؤجل أي يجمع فيه الماء إذا كان قليلا ثم يفجر إلى المشارات والمزرعة والآبار، وهو بالفارسية طرحه. وأجله فيه: جمعه، وتأجل فيه: تجمع. والأجيل: الشربة وهو الطين يجمع حول النخلة؛ أزدية، وقيل: المآجل الجبأة التي تجتمع فيها مياه الأمطار من الدور؛ قال أبو منصور: وبعضهم لا يهمز المأجل ويكسر الجيم فيقول الماجل ويجعله من المجل، وهو الماء يجتمع من النفطة تمتلئ ماء من عمل أو حرق. وقد تأجل الماء، فهو متأجل: يعني استنقع في موضع. وماء أجيل أي مجتمع. وفعلت ذلك من أجلك وإجلك، بفتح الهمزة وكسرها، وفي التنزيل العزيز: من أجل ذلك كتبنا على بني إسرائيل ، الألف مقطوعة، أي من جرا ذلك؛ قال: وربما حذفت العرب من فقالت فعلت ذلك أجل [إجل] كذا، قال اللحياني: وقد قرئ من إجل ذلك ، وقراءة العامة من أجل ذلك، وكذلك فعلته من أجلاك وإجلاك أي من جراك، ويعدى بغير من؛ قال عدي بن زيد: أجل أن الله قد فضلكم، ... فوق من أحكأ صلبا بإزار وقد روي هذا البيت: إجل أن الله قد فضلكم. قال الأزهري: والأصل في قولهم فعلته من أجلك أجل عليهم أجلا أي جنى عليهم وجر. والتأجل: الإقبال والإدبار، قال: عهدي به قد كسي ثمت لم يزل، ... بدار يزيد، طاعما يتأجل «2» والأجل: مصدر. وأجل عليهم شرا يأجله ويأجله أجلا: جناه وهيجه؛ قال خوات بن جبير: وأهل خباء صالح كنت بينهم، ... قد احتربوا في عاجل أنا آجله «3» أي أنا جانيه. قال ابن بري: قال أبو عبيدة هو للخنوت؛ قال: وقد وجدته أنا في شعر زهير في القصيد التي أولها: صحا القلب عن ليلى وأقصر باطله قال: وليس في رواية الأصمعي؛ وقوله وأهل مخفوض بواو رب؛ عن ابن السيرافي؛ قال: وكذلك وج …

    Lisān · 711 · OpenITIvowelled page on al-Maktaba al-Shāmila (print 11, p. 11) ↗
  • Lane · 1876English, synthesising the classical dictionaries.

    E. W. Lane (d. 1876), An Arabic-English Lexicon. English, synthesising the classical dictionaries.

    أَجِلَ

    1. أَجِلَ, aor. اَجَلَ , (Msb, K,) inf. n. أَجَلٌ, (Msb,) It (a thing, Msb, [as, for instance, a thing purchased, and the price thereof, and a thing promised or threatened or foretold, and also payment for a thing purchased, and the fulfilment of a promise or threat or prediction, and any event,]) was, or became, delayed, postponed, kept back; [and therefore, future;] syn. تَأَخَّرَ; (K;) and أَجَلَ, aor. اَجُلَ , inf. n. أُجُولٌ, signifies the same. (Msb.) [See آجِلٌ and أَجَلٌ. The primary signification seems to be, It had a term, or period, appointed for it, at which it should fall due, or come to pass.] أَجَلَهُ, aor. اَجِلَ , (K,) inf. n. أَجُلٌ; (TA;) and أجّلهُ, (K,) inf. n. تَأْجِيلٌ; (TA;) and آجلهُ, (K,) inf. n. مُؤَاجَلَةٌ; (TK;) He confined, restricted, restrained, withheld, debarred, hindered, or prevented, him. (K, TA.) Hence the phrase, أَجَلُوا مَالَهُمْ They confined, restricted, &c., their cattle from the pasturage. (TA.) أَجَلَ عَلَيْهِمْ شَرًّا, (S, Msb,) or الشَّرَّ, (K,) aor. اَجُلَ (S, Msb, K) and اَجِلَ , (S, K,) inf. n. أَجْلٌ, (S, Msb,) He committed against them evil, (S, Msb, K,) and drew it, or procured it, to them: (Msb:) and (S, in the K “ or ”) he excited it, stirred it up, or provoked it, against them: (S, K:) or, accord. to AZ, أَجَلْتُ عَلَيْهِمٌ, inf. n. as above, signifies I committed a crime against them: and AA says that جَلَبْتُ عَلَيْهِمْ and جَرَرْتُ and أَجَلْتُ have one and the same signification. (TA.) And أَجَلَ لِأَهْلِهِ, (Lh, K,) inf. n. as above, (TA,) He gained, acquired, or earned, and collected, and brought, or purveyed, and exercised skill in the management of affairs, for his family. (Lh, K.)

    أَجَّلَ الأَجَلَ

    2. أَجَّلَ الأَجَلَ, (TA,) inf. n. تَأْجِيلٌ, (K, TA,) He defined the term, or period; (K, * TA;) assigned, appointed, or specified, it. (TA.) It is said in the Kur [vi. 128], وَ بَلَغْنَا أَجَلَنَا ٱلَّذِي أَجَّلْتَ لَنَا [And we have reached our term which Thou hast assigned, or appointed, for us;] meaning, the day of resurrection; (Bd, * Jel;) or the term of death; or, as some say, the term of extreme old age. (TA.) And أَجَّلْتُهُ, inf. n. as above, signifies I assigned, or appointed, for him, or it, a term, or period. (Msb.) أَجَّلَنِى He granted me a delay, or postponement. (TA.) You say, فَأَجَّلَنِى أِلَي مُدَّةٍ اِسْتَأْجَلْتُهُ (S, K, TA) I desired, asked, demanded, or requested, of him a term, or period, [of delay, or postponement,] and he granted me a delay, or postponement, to a certain term, or period. (TA.) See also 1.

    آجلهُ

    3. آجلهُ, inf. n. مُؤَاجَلَةٌ: see 1.

    تأجّل

    5. تأجّل i. q. استأجل; (K, TA;) i. e. He asked, or requested, that a term, or period, should be assigned, appointed, or specified, for him. (TA.) It is said in a trad. of Mek-hool, كُنَّا مَرَابِطِينَ بِا لسَّاحِلِ فَتَأَجَّلَ مُتَأَجِّلٌ [We were keeping post on the frontier of the enemy, in the tract on the sea-coast, and] a person asked, or requested, that a term, or period, should be assigned, or appointed, or specified, for him, and that permission should be granted him to return to his family. (TA.)

    إِسْتَاْجَلَ

    10: see 2 and 5.

    أَجْلٌ

    أَجْلٌ is originally the inf. n. of أَجَلَ شَرًّا “ he committed evil; ” and is used to indicate the causation of crimes; and afterwards, by extension of its application, to indicate any causation: (Bd in v. 35:) one says, فَعَلْتُهُ مِنْ أَجْلِكَ, and من إِجْلِكَ, (S, K,) and فَعَلْتُهُ أَجْلَكَ, and إِجْلَكَ, (so in some copies of the K,) and من أَجْلَالِكَ, and من إِجْلَالِكَ, (K, [belonging to art. جلو, in which also they are mentioned,]) and من أَجْلالِكَ, and من إِجْلَالِكَ, (so in some copies of the K and in the TA, [belonging to art. جل,]) i. e. [I did it] مِنْ جَرَّاكَ, (S,) which means [originally] in consequence of thy committing it: (Bd ubi suprà:) [and then, by extension of its application, as shown above, because of thee, or of thine act &c.; on thine account; for thy sake; as also لِأَجْلِكَ, which is more common in the present day:] or منْ جَلَلِكَ: (K:) and مِنْ أَجْلِهِ كَانَ كَذَا, i. e. بِسَبَبِهِ [Because of him, or it, it was thus, or such a thing was]. (Msb.) An instance of its occurrence without مِنْ [or لِ] is presented by the saying of 'Adee Ibn-Zeyd, [Because that God hath made you to have excel-lence, or hath preferred you]. (TA.)

    إِجْلٌ

    إِجْلٌ, whence فَعَلْتُهُ مِنْ إِجْلِكَ, and فَعَلْتُهُ إِجْلَكَ: see أَجْلٌ, in two places.

    أَجَلٌ

    أَجَلٌ, (S, Mughnee, K,) with the ل quiescent, (Mughnee,) is written with kesr and with fet-h [to the medial letter, i. e. أَجِلْ as well as أَجَلْ] like نعم [which is written نَعِمٌ as well as نَعَمْ]: (TA:) it is a particle (Mughnee) denoting a reply; like نَعَمْ; (S, Mughnee, K;) importing acknowledgment of the truth of the speaker, to him who gives information; and the making a thing known, to him who asks information; and a promise, to him who seeks, or demands; (Mughnee;) i. e. It is as thou sayest [in the first case; and yes, or yea, in the same, and in the other cases]; (K voce بَسَلٌ;) therefore it occurs after such sayings as “ Zeyd stood ” and “ did Zeyd stand? ” and “ beat thou Zeyd: ” but ElMálakee restricts the information to that which is affirmative, and the saying expressive of seeking or demanding to that which is without prohibition: and it is said by some that it does not occur after an interrogation: (Mughnee:) Er-Radee says, in the Expos. of the Káfiyeh, after Z and others, that it is to denote acknowledgment of the truth of information, and does not occur after a saying in which is the meaning of seeking, or demanding: (TA:) or, accord. to Z and Ibn-Málik and others, it relates particularly to information: and accord. to Ibn-Kharoof, it occurs mostly after information: (Mughnee:) in the Expos. of the Tes-heel, it is said to be for denoting acknowledgment of the truth of information, past or other, affirmative or negative, and not to occur after an interrogation: (TA:) Akh says that it is better than نَعَمْ (S, Mughnee, K *) after information, (Mughnee,) in acknowledging the truth of what is said; (S, Mughnee, K;) and نعم is better than it after an interrogation: (S, Mughnee, K:) so that when one says, سَوْفَ تَذْهَبُ [Thou wilt, or shalt, go away], thou sayest أَجَلْ [Yes]; and it is better than نعم: but when one says, أَتَذْهَبُ [Wilt thou go away?], thou sayest نعم; and it is better than اجل. (S.)

    أَجَلٌ

    أَجَلٌ The term, or period, of a thing: (S, K:) its assigned, appointed, or specified, term or period: this is the primary signification: (TA:) or the term, or period, and time of falling due, of a thing: (Msb:) pl. آجَالٌ. (Msb, K.) Hence, The period of women's waiting, before they may marry again, after divorce: as in the Kur ii. 231 and 232. (TA.) The period, or extremity of time, in which falls due a debt (K, TA) and the like. (TA.) You say, بَاعَهُ إِيَّاهُ إِلَي أَجَلٍ [He sold it to him for payment at an appointed period]: and سَلَّمَ الدَّارَاهِمَ فِى طَعَامٍ إِلَي أَجَلٍ [He delivered the money for wheat, or the like, to be given at an appointed period]. (Msb in art. كلأ.) The term, or period, of death; (K;) the time in which God has eternally decreed the end of life by slaughter or otherwise: or, as some say, the whole duration of life: and its end: a man's life being thus termed: and his death, by which it terminates: (Kull p. 17:) the assigned, or appointed, duration of the life of a man. (TA.) One says, دَنَا أَجَلُهُ, meaning His death drew near; originally, ٱسْتِيفَآءُ الأَجَلِ the completion of the duration of life. (TA.) In the Kur vi. 128, (see 2, above,) the meaning is, The term of death: or, as some say, the term of extreme old age: (TA:) or the day of resurrection. (Bd, * Jel.) The words of the Kur [vi. 2] ثُمَّ قَضَى أَجَلًا وَ أَجَلٌ مَسَمَّى عِنْدَهُ mean [Then He decreed a term,] the term of death, and [there is a term named with Him,] the term of the resurrection: or the period between the creation and death, and the period between death and the resurrection; for اجل is applied to the end of a space of time and to the whole thereof: (Bd:) or the meaning is, the period of sleep, and the period of death: (Bd, TA:) or the period of those who have passed away, and the period of those who remain and those who are to come: (Bd:) or the period of remaining in this world, and the period of remaining in the world to come: or in both instances death is meant; [accidental, and natural;] for the اجل of some is by accidental means, as the sword, and drowning, and burning, and eating what disagrees, and other means of destruction; while some have their full periods granted to them and are preserved in health until they die a natural death: or the اجل of some is that of him who dies in a state of happiness and enjoyment; and of others, that of him who reaches a limit beyond which God has no? appointed, in the natural course of this world, any one to remain therein; and to both of these, reference is made in the Kur [xvi. 72 and] xxii. 5. (TA.) Sometimes, also, it means Destruction: and thus it has been explained as occurring in the Kur [vii. 184], where it is said, وَأَنْ عَسَى أَنْ يَكُونَ قَدِ ٱ قْتَرَبَ أَجَلُهُمْ [And that, may be, their destruction shall have drawn near]. (TA.)

    أَجِلْ

    أَجِلْ: see أَجَلٌ.

    أَجِلٌ

    أَجِلٌ: see آجِلٌ.

    أَجِيلٌ

    أَجِيلٌ Having a delay, or postponement, granted to him, to a certain time; i. q. إِلَى وَقْتٍ مُؤَجَّلٌ. (Lth.) See also آجِلٌ.

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The same letters, turned

The same three letters in all six orders. Choose one.

أ ج ل

اعلم أن الهمزة والجيم واللام يدل على خمس كلمات متباينة لا يكاد يمكن حمل واحدة على واحدة من جهة القياس فكل واحدة أصل في نفسها وربك يفعل ما يشاء فالأجل غاية الوقت في محل الدين وغيره وقد صرفه الخليل فقال أجل هذا الشيء وهو ي …

Know that ʾ-j-l indicates five disparate words, which can hardly be referred one to another by way of analogy; each one is a root in itself, and your Lord does what He wills. Al-ajal is the furthest extent of time in the matter of a debt and otherwise. Al-Khalil declined it, saying, "ajjala this thing," and it is y…

Ibn Fāris ↗Lisān ↗Lane ↗Quran ×56

an entry in Ibn Fārislater sources onlyin none of them

Do these six share one core meaning?

Reference

About thisal-Khalīl, Ibn Jinnī, Ibn Fāris; the counts across the dictionary

al-Khalīl (d. c. 170/786), Kitāb al-ʿAyn, as transmitted by al-Layth: a two-letter word “turns in two ways”, a three-letter word “in six ways” (masdūsa), four letters in 24, five in 120; “its used forms are written down and its unused ones dropped” (line 975 ↗). The dictionary is built on this: each chapter takes a set of letters and names which orders are used (mustaʿmal) and which unused (muhmal). The ring shows that verdict, from the chapter heading as edited (documented in the text; how much of the book is al-Khalīl's own is disputed).

A reported total. al-Suyūṭī transmits, from Ḥamza al-Iṣfahānī, that al-Khalīl put the possible forms, used and unused, of two to five letters at 12,305,412 (al-Muzhir, line 1347 ↗). It is reported, not found in the ʿAyn. It equals exactly the arrangements of 2 to 5 different letters out of 28 (756 + 19,656 + 491,400 + 11,793,600); the breakdown printed beside it is corrupt, and al-Zubaydī's count, given next, differs (6,659,400).

Ibn Jinnī (d. 392/1002), al-Khaṣāʾiṣ, names the greater derivation (al-ishtiqāq al-akbar): bind a three-letter root and its six orders to one meaning, and bring stray members back “by the subtlety of the craft and interpretation” (line 7536 ↗). He says himself that it does not hold for every root (line 167 ↗; line 7603 ↗).

Ibn Fāris (d. 395/1004) gives each root its own aṣl and treats a rearranged word as maqlūb, “turned round”, and so not a root of its own: “j-b-dh is not a root, because it is a single word, turned round” (Maqāyīs, line 6147 ↗). The ring sets his aṣl for each order side by side; whether they meet is the question.

Neighbours on the ring differ by one swap of two letters.

The critique. A source quoted by al-Suyūṭī calls the greater derivation Ibn Jinnī's innovation, “not relied on in the language” (al-Muzhir, line 6159 ↗).

The other axis. The root's letters also go into patterns that keep their order and change the frame: the patterns (awzān) and the verb Forms I–X.

Across Ibn Fāris's dictionary. Of the 2,300 possible sets of three different sound letters (no hamza, w or y), 1,021 have at least one order as an entry. How many of their six orders are entries:

Ibn Fāris, entries found (1,021 letter-sets)
  1. 1 of 6319
  2. 2 of 6218
  3. 3 of 6164
  4. 4 of 6155
  5. 5 of 6107
  6. 6 of 658
al-Khalīl, orders his headings call used (746 letter-sets)
  1. 1 of 6148
  2. 2 of 6108
  3. 3 of 6157
  4. 4 of 6179
  5. 5 of 6111
  6. 6 of 643

Of the orders al-Khalīl calls used, 2,097 are entries in Ibn Fāris and 267 are not; 17 that he calls unused are entries in Ibn Fāris.

Our computation from the OpenITI texts; heading detection can miss entries

Attested here means found in our digital texts (Ibn Fāris, Lisān al-ʿArab, Lane, the Quranic Arabic Corpus), with w and y kept apart and hamza spellings merged; it is our data, not a classical verdict. English beside the Arabic is AI translation. Sources and grades: docs/research/root-permutations.md.

Letters & sound

How each letter is made, in brief, from Sībawayh's and Ibn Jinnī's own sentences (linked); their words are under Reference.

Sharing two of its three letters (computed; kinship of form, not of meaning)

16 more

Reference

How it is madeSībawayh and Ibn Jinnī · phonetics

English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic

أ

فأقصاها مخرجا: الهمزة والهاء والألف

The furthest of them [the three in the throat] in place: the hamza, the hāʾ and the alif. Sībawayh, line 26548 ↗

فأولها من أسفله وأقصاه، مخرج الهمزة والألف والهاء، هكذا يقول سيبويه

The first of them [in the throat], from its lowest and furthest part, is the place of the hamza, the alif and the hāʾ: so Sībawayh says. Ibn Jinnī, line 965 ↗

ج

ومن وسط اللسان بينه وبين وسط الحنك الأعلى مخرج الجيم والشين والياء

From the middle of the tongue, between it and the middle of the upper palate, is the place of the jīm, the shīn and the yāʾ. Sībawayh, line 26553 ↗

ومن وسط اللسان بينه وبين وسط الحنك الأعلى، مخرج الجيم والشين والياء

From the middle of the tongue, between it and the middle of the upper palate, is the place of the jīm, the shīn and the yāʾ. Ibn Jinnī, line 974 ↗

ل

ومن حافة اللسان من أدناها إلى منتهى طرف اللسان، من بينها وبين ما يليها من الحنك الأعلى، مما فويق الضاحك والناب والرباعية والثنية، مخرج اللام

From the edge of the tongue, from its nearest part to the end of its tip, between it and the upper palate next to it, just above the premolar, the canine, the lateral and the central incisor, is the place of the lām. Ibn Jinnī, lines 977–978 ↗

Sībawayh, al-Kitāb (ed. Hārūn) and Ibn Jinnī, Sirr ṣināʿat al-iʿrāb; OpenITI digital texts (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). Full credits on each letter's page.

In the Breath of the All-MercifulIbn ʿArabī · metaphysics

English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic

أ

Nature (ch. 2)

وإلا الهاء والهمزة فإنهما باردتان رطبتان

And except hāʾ and hamza, for these two are cold and moist.

Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, line 2583

ج

Level of existence: الفلك الأطلس فلك البروج · the Atlas (starless) sphere, the sphere of the zodiacal signs

Divine Name: الغني · al-Ghanī, the Independent

Lunar mansion: الطرف · al-Ṭarf

Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 62085

Spheres of its simples (ch. 2): 10 line 2573 ↗

Nature (ch. 2)

المرتبة العشرية فحروفها حارة يابسة

The tenfold rank: its letters are hot and dry.

Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, line 2582

ل

Level of existence: السماء الثالثة · the third heaven

Divine Name: القاهر · the Subduer (al-Qāhir)

Lunar mansion: العوا · al-ʿAwwā

Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 64654

Spheres of its simples (ch. 2): 7 line 2576 ↗

Nature (ch. 2)

منها دون الألف فطبعها الحرارة واليبوسة

[Zāy and lām] of it, excluding alif: their nature is heat and dryness.

Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, line 2577
Meaning by vowelal-Dabbāgh · a visionary claim about a primordial “Syriac”, not historical Syriac

English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic

أ

With fatḥa ـَ

فهي إشارة إلى جميع الأشياء قلت أو كثرت، وتكون الإشارة في بعض الأحيان من المتكلم إلى ذاته ونفسه، وهذه الإشارة سالمة من القبض.

It is an indication of all things, whether few or many. At times the indication is from the speaker to his own essence and self, and this indication is free of contraction (qabḍ).

With ḍamma ـُ

فهي إشارة إلى الشيء القريب القليل.

It is an indication of the near, small thing.

With kasra ـِ

فهي إشارة إلى الشيء القريب المناسب.

It is an indication of the near, fitting (congruent) thing.

al-Dabbāgh (d. 1132/1719), al-Ibrīz, ch. 2 §15, compiled by al-Lamaṭī

ج

With fatḥa ـَ

فهي نبوة أو ولاية إذا كان قبلها أو بعدها ما يدل على ذلك، وإلا فهي للخير الذي لا يزول أبدا.

It is prophethood or sainthood (walāya) if something before or after it indicates that. Otherwise it is for the good that never ceases.

With ḍamma ـُ

فهي الخير الذي يؤكل أو ينتفع الناس منه.

It is the good that is eaten, or from which people derive benefit.

With kasra ـِ

فهي الخير القليل الذي في الذات من نور الإيمان.

It is the small good within the self from the light of faith.

al-Dabbāgh (d. 1132/1719), al-Ibrīz, ch. 2 §15, compiled by al-Lamaṭī

ل

With fatḥa ـَ

فهي حصول المتكلم على شيء عظيم، وتكون إشارة إلى شيء عظيم.

It is the speaker's attaining of something great, and it serves as an indication of something great.

With ḍamma ـُ

فهي إشارة إلى الشيء الذي لا نهاية له.

It is an indication of the thing that has no end.

With kasra ـِ

فهي إشارة من المتكلم إلى وجود ذاته أو إلى ذاته.

It is an indication by the speaker of the existence of his self, or of his self.

al-Dabbāgh (d. 1132/1719), al-Ibrīz, ch. 2 §15, compiled by al-Lamaṭī
Two-letter nucleus32 roots in Ibn Fāris’s chapterء ج

Ibn Fāris groups his roots under two-letter chapters (“the X and the Y and what makes them three”). These are the roots of this root's chapter with the core sense he gives each. Setting them side by side is our juxtaposition; he does not himself draw a shared meaning. His chapter heading, line 730 ↗

  • أجحالهمزة والجيم والحاء فرع ليس بأصل وذلك أن الهمزة فيه مبدلة من واو فالإجاج الستر وأصله وجاح وقد ذكر في الواوL731
  • أجدالهمزة والجيم والدال أصل واحد وهو الشيء المعقود وذلك أن الإجاد الطاق الذي يعقد في البناء ولذلك قيل ناقة أجدL732
  • أجرالهمزة والجيم والراء أصلان يمكن الجمع بينهما بالمعنىQ 108 · L739
  • أجصالهمزة والجيم والصاد ليست أصلا لأنه لم يجىء عليها إلا الإجاص ويقال إنه ليس عربيا وذلك أن الجيم تقل مع الصادL755
  • أجنالهمزة والجيم والنون كلمة واحدة وأجن الماء يأجن ويأجن إذا تغير وهي الفصيحة وربماL782
  • أجأجبل لطي وقد قلنا إن الأماكن لا تكاد تنقاس أسماؤها وقال شاعر في أجأ : — ومن أجأ حولي رعان كأنها … قنابل خيل من كميت ومن ورد …L786
  • أحدالهمزة والحاء والدال فرع والأصل الواو وحد وقد ذكر في الواو وقال الدريدي ما استأحدت بهذا الأمر أي ما انفردت بهQ 85 · L791
  • أحنالهمزة والحاء والنون كلمة واحدةL792
  • أخذالهمزة والخاء والذال أصل واحد تتفرع منه فروع متقاربة في المعنى أما أخذ فالأصل حوز الشيء وجبيه وجمعه تقول أخذت الشيء آخذه أخذاQ 273 · L802
  • أخوالهمزة والخاء والواو ليس بأصل لأن الهمزة عندنا مبدلة من واو وقد ذكرت في كتاب الواو بشرحها وكذلك الآخيةQ 96 · L838
  • أدرالهمزة والدال والراء كلمة واحدة فهي الأدرة والأدرةL842
  • أدمالهمزة والدال والميم أصل واحد وهو الموافقة والملاءمة وذلك قول النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم للمغيرة بن شعبة وخطب المرأة ( لو نظرت إليها فإنه أحرى أن يؤدم بL850
  • أدوالهمزة والدال والواو كلمة واحدة الأدو كالختل والمراوغةL868
  • أديالهمزة والدال والياء أصل واحد وهو إيصال الشيء إلى الشيء أو وصوله إليه من تلقاء نفسهQ 6 · L877
  • أذنالهمزة والذال والنون أصلان متقاربان في المعنى متباعدان في اللفظ أحدهما أذن كل ذي أذن والآخر العلم وعنهما يتفرع الباب كله فأما التقارب فبالأذن يقع علم Q 102 · L897
  • أذيالهمزة والذال والياء أصل واحد وهو الشيء تتكرهه ولا تقر عليه تقول آذيت فلانا أوذيه ويقال بعير أذ وناقة أذية إذا كان لا يقر في مكان من غير وجع وكأنه يأذQ 24 · L927
  • أرزالهمزة والراء والزاء أصل واحد لا يخلف قياسه بتة وهو التجمع والتضامL931
  • أرسالهمزة والراء والسين ليست عربية ويقال إن الأراريس الزراعون وهي شاميةL941
  • أرشالهمزة والراء والشين يمكن أن يكون أصلا وقد جعلها بعض أهل العلم فرعا وزعم أن الأصل الهرش وأن الهمزة عوض من الهاء وهذا عندي متقارب لأن هذين الحرفين أعنيL942
  • أرضالهمزة والراء والضاد ثلاثة أصول أصل يتفرع وتكثر مسائله وأصلان لا ينقاسان بل كل واحد موضوع حيث وضعته العرب فأما هذان الأصلان فالأرض الزكمة رجل مأروض أيQ 461 · L948
  • أرفالهمزة والراء والفاء أصل واحد لا يقاس عليه ولا يتفرع منهL977
  • أرقالهمزة والراء والقاف أصلان أحدهما نفار النوم ليلا والآخر لون من الألوانL979
  • أركالهمزة والراء والكاف أصلان عنهما يتفرع المسائل أحدهما شجر والآخر الإقامةQ 5 · L991
  • أرمالهمزة والراء والميم أصل واحد وهو نضد الشيء إلى الشيء في ارتفاع ثم يكون القياس في أعلاه وأسفله واحدا ويتفرع منه فرع واحد هو أخذ الشيء كله أكلا وغيره وL1012
  • أرىأما الهمزة والراء والياء فأصل يدل على التثبت والملازمةL1041
  • أرجالهمزة والراء والجيم كلمة واحدة وهي الأرج وهو والأريج رائحة الطيبL1120
  • أزفالهمزة والزاء والفاء يدل على الدنو والمقاربةQ 3 · L1127
  • أزقالهمزة والزاء والقاف قياس واحد وأصل واحد وهو الضيقL1139
  • أزلوأما الهمزة والزاء واللام فأصلان الضيق والكذبL1143
  • أزموأما الهمزة والزاء والميم فأصل واحد وهو الضيق وتداني الشيء من الشيء بشدة والتفافL1160
  • أزبالهمزة والزاء والباء أصلان القصر والدقة ونحوهما والأصل الآخر النشاط والصخب في بغيL1198
  • أزدقبيلة والأصل السين وقد ذكر في بابهL1211
In the sister scriptsHebrew א ג לSyriac ܐ ܓ ܠ
Arabicأ ج ل
Hebrewא ג ל
Syriacܐ ܓ ܠ
Ancient South Arabian (musnad)𐩱 𐩴 𐩡
Phoenician𐤀 𐤂 𐤋

Letter for letter, by the regular sound correspondences of the Semitic languages (Arabic keeps several sounds the others merged). This shows how the root would be spelled; whether a related word exists is a separate question, answered in the Semitic lens. Where an Arabic sibilant (s, sh) continues two older sounds, both spellings are shown.

Lenses

  • Classical lexiconAl-Khalīl (al-ʿAyn) defines al-ajal as ghāyat al-waqt fī l-mawt (the terminus of time in death), extended to a debt's due-date, conjugating ajala/yaʾjul with ājil against ʿājil (immediate) and ajīl as 'deferred';well attested

    The lexicographers in chronological order, from al-Khalīl to Lane.

    Al-Khalīl (al-ʿAyn) defines al-ajal as ghāyat al-waqt fī l-mawt (the terminus of time in death), extended to a debt's due-date, conjugating ajala/yaʾjul with ājil against ʿājil (immediate) and ajīl as 'deferred'; he also records the causal particle min ajl = min jarrāʾ (because of). Al-Jawharī (al-Ṣiḥāḥ) glosses al-ajal as muddat al-shayʾ (duration) and confirms min ajlika with vocalization variants, while separately noting the homographic ijl (a herd of wild cattle) and a neck-ailment ijl treated by taʾjīl, unconnected to the temporal sense. Ibn Fāris (Maqāyīs) states explicitly that hamza-jīm-lām does not reduce to one root by qiyās, listing five unrelated senses: the temporal terminus, the affirmative particle ajal (~balagha l-ghāya), the herd of wild oxen, a verb meaning to bring about evil against someone, and the neck-pain sense. Al-Rāghib (al-Mufradāt) deepens the temporal branch alone — al-ajal is al-mudda al-maḍrūba li-l-shayʾ, citing Q40:67 and Q28:28, glossing 'dana ajaluhu' as death's nearing, and noting the dispute over Q6:2's two ajals. Ibn Manẓūr (Lisān al-ʿArab) echoes al-Khalīl nearly verbatim and adds Q2:235's ajal as the ʿidda.

    Draws on: cayn · sihah · Ibn Fāris · mufradat · lisan

    • Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-Lugha, s.v. ʾ-j-l
    • al-Rāghib, al-Mufradāt, s.v. ʾ-j-l
  • Letters & soundIbn ʿArabī's letter-table assigns jīm to al-falak al-aṭlas, the starless outermost sphere carrying the zodiacal signs and governing the great cycles of time — a resonance with ajal as a fixed temporal terminus.speculative

    What the theorists of sound symbolism would say of these letters. Speculative by nature.

    Ibn ʿArabī's letter-table assigns jīm to al-falak al-aṭlas, the starless outermost sphere carrying the zodiacal signs and governing the great cycles of time — a resonance with ajal as a fixed temporal terminus. Al-Dabbāgh's gloss of jīm as prophethood or sainthood, or otherwise 'the good that never ceases,' sits in tension rather than harmony with ajal as a cutting-off point, worth noting rather than smoothing over. Lām is the third heaven and, for al-Dabbāgh, 'the speaker's attaining of something great' — apt for ajal's sense of balagha ajalahu, reaching one's appointed limit; no letter-data is supplied here for hamza. These correspondences are speculative, outside mainstream historical linguistics.

    Draws on: akbari198 · dabbagh_fatha

    • Ibn ʿArabī, Futūḥāt, letter-table (p.198)
    • al-Dabbāgh, letter meanings at the fatḥa
  • Root structureAmong the hamza-jīm neighbors, Ibn Fāris treats ajj (veiling, hamza substituted for wāw), ajd (a single tied or vaulted knot), ajr (reward, whose two senses he says can be reconciled), and ajn (water gone stale) — none converging cleanly with ajal's temporal sense, consistent with his refusal to unify hamza-jīm-lām under one aṣl.plausible

    The two-letter nucleus (Ibn Fāris's own chapters) and the permutations of the letters (Ibn Jinnī).

    Among the hamza-jīm neighbors, Ibn Fāris treats ajj (veiling, hamza substituted for wāw), ajd (a single tied or vaulted knot), ajr (reward, whose two senses he says can be reconciled), and ajn (water gone stale) — none converging cleanly with ajal's temporal sense, consistent with his refusal to unify hamza-jīm-lām under one aṣl. Among the permutations, only ajal itself and lajaʾ (refuge, 'the place one takes refuge in,' which Ibn Fāris calls a single unified kalima) are attested with content; jaʾl and jalaʾ are marked as real forms without recorded gloss. Where lajaʾ tightens to one sense — a bounded place of retreat — ajal in the same letters, reordered, resists unification, though both share the idea of a fixed point one is brought up against; this is offered as juxtaposition, not derivation.

    Draws on: maqayis nucleus · maqayis permutations

    • Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-Lugha, nucleus ʾ-j and permutations
    • Wiktionary Arabic root appendix (link not verified)
  • Semitic kin & loanwordsNo confident cognate for hamza-jīm-lām is available from the materials at hand in Hebrew, Aramaic/Syriac, Akkadian, Geʿez, or South Arabian.uncertain

    Cognates in the sister languages, and whether the word was borrowed.

    No confident cognate for hamza-jīm-lām is available from the materials at hand in Hebrew, Aramaic/Syriac, Akkadian, Geʿez, or South Arabian. Ibn Fāris's own inability to unify the root's five senses under one aṣl is itself evidence against treating ajal as a transparent inheritance with a single stable meaning. There is no basis here for calling ajala a loanword.

    Draws on: absence of comparative data · maqayis five senses

  • Quranic exegesisQ6:2's 'thumma qaḍā ajalan wa-ajalun musammā ʿindahu' generates real disagreement: al-Ṭabarī records the first ajal as the span from creation to death and the second as the interval from death to resurrection known only to God, alongside an alternative reading of the first as sleep;well attested

    How the classical exegetes read the word in the Quran.

    Q6:2's 'thumma qaḍā ajalan wa-ajalun musammā ʿindahu' generates real disagreement: al-Ṭabarī records the first ajal as the span from creation to death and the second as the interval from death to resurrection known only to God, alongside an alternative reading of the first as sleep; al-Zamakhsharī and al-Rāzī weigh these options, al-Rāzī extending the discussion into whether ajal can be cut short by being killed. Q6:128's 'balaghnā ajalanā lladhī ajjalta lanā' is read as a confession of having reached the appointed term of one's worldly course; al-Rāghib notes the dispute over whether ajal there means death or old age, judging the two ultimately one. In the legal verses (Q2:231–232, 235) ajal is consistently glossed as the ʿidda, the waiting period after which remarriage becomes licit. Q77:12's 'li-ayyi yawmin ujjilat' is read by al-Ṭabarī as the Day of Judgment assigned or deferred to its fixed term.

    Draws on: mufradat · lisan · quran

  • Philosophy & kalāmAjal is not a first-order term of falsafa like wujūd or ḥaqq, but it carries real weight in kalām debates on qadar: theologians dispute whether each person's ajal is a single, fixed terminus unaffected by secondary causes such as being killed, or whether it can be 'cut short' (al-qatl yaqṭaʿu l-ʿumr), a controversy al-Rāzī rehearses at length on Q6:2.plausible

    The word as a technical term in falsafa and theology.

    Ajal is not a first-order term of falsafa like wujūd or ḥaqq, but it carries real weight in kalām debates on qadar: theologians dispute whether each person's ajal is a single, fixed terminus unaffected by secondary causes such as being killed, or whether it can be 'cut short' (al-qatl yaqṭaʿu l-ʿumr), a controversy al-Rāzī rehearses at length on Q6:2. The stakes are the compatibility of a fixed divine decree of death with human responsibility for killing. This remains a secondary, exegetically-driven technical usage rather than an independent term in the falsafa vocabulary of essence and existence.

    Draws on: kalam qadar debate

    • al-Rāzī, al-Tafsīr al-Kabīr, ad Q6:2
  • Akbarian readingThe Faṣṣ Ādam occurrence given uses the causal preposition min ajli rather than the temporal noun: Adam is named khalīfa 'min ajli hādhā' (on account of this), because — like the seal with which a king marks his treasury — God preserves His creation through him as a seal preserves what it marks.plausible

    The word in Ibn ʿArabī's text and terminology.

    The Faṣṣ Ādam occurrence given uses the causal preposition min ajli rather than the temporal noun: Adam is named khalīfa 'min ajli hādhā' (on account of this), because — like the seal with which a king marks his treasury — God preserves His creation through him as a seal preserves what it marks. This is the grammatical, causal use of the root (min ajl = because of, already registered by al-Khalīl and al-Jawharī) rather than Ibn ʿArabī deploying ajal as a technical term for appointed time or cosmic terminus, so the akbarian import here is limited to this explanatory function in the naming of Adam as khalīfa.

    Draws on: fassAdam

    • Ibn ʿArabī, Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam, Faṣṣ Ādam

Reference

Neighbouring rootsThe roots that share letters with this one, as a map you can open out