أمرIbn Fāris gives five roots: the matter or affair, command as the opposite of prohibition, … (root mr)

Al-amr (الأمر): the opposite of al-nahy (النهي - prohibition); al-amr is one of the affairs (umūr) of people. When forming the imperative from a-m-r you say: 'u'mur yā hādhā' (اؤمر يا هذا), according to the one who reads [Quran]: 'wa-mur ahlaka bi'l-ṣalāh' (وأمر أهلك بالصلاة) [Ṭāhā 20:132]. One does not say 'u'mur' (اؤمر), nor 'u'khudh minhu shayʾan' (اؤخذ منه شيئا), nor 'u'kul' (اؤكل); rather one says 'mur' (مر), 'khudh' (خذ), and 'kul' (كل) when beginning the imperative [with nothing preceding], because of the heaviness of two dammas together. But if the speech is preceded by a wāw or a fāʾ, you say 'wa-mur' (ومر), 'fa-'mur' (فأمر), as He, Mighty and Majestic, said: 'wa-mur ahlaka bi'l-ṣalāh.' But as for every [verb from] 'akala yaʾkulu' (أكل يأكل - to eat), they scarcely introduce the hamza with fāʾ and wāw; they say 'wa-kulā' (وكلا) and 'khudhā' (خذا), and 'irfaʿāhu fa-kulāhu' (ارفعاه فكلاه), and do not say 'fa-akulāhu' (فأكلاه). These are forms that have come down from the Arabs as rarities. This is because the greater part of their speech, for every verb whose first radical is hamza — such as 'abala yaʾbilu' (أبل يأبل) and 'asara yaʾsiru' (أسر يأسر) — has the imperfect (yafʿilu) with kasra; likewise 'abaqa yaʾbiqu' (أبق يأبق). So when the verb whose first radical is hamza has its imperfect with kasra and is put into the imperative, one says 'aysir yā fulān' (ايسر يا فلان), 'aybiq yā ghulām' (ايبق يا غلام), as though its origin were 'i'sir' with two hamzas, but they disliked joining two hamzas, so they changed one of them to yāʾ since what preceded it was kasra. Likewise the proper form of the imperative from 'amara yaʾmuru' should have been 'u'mur, u'khudh, u'kul' with two hamzas, but the second hamza was dropped and turned into wāw because of the damma, so that two dammas came to stand together in the word with a wāw between them — and the damma is of the same class as the wāw. The Arabs found it heavy to combine two dammas with a wāw, so they dropped the hamza of the wāw, since after dropping it only two letters remained; so they said 'mur fulānan bi-kadhā wa-kadhā' (مر فلانا بكذا وكذا), 'khudh min fulānin' (خذ من فلان), and 'kul' (كل), and they did not say 'ukul' (اكل) nor 'umur' (امر) nor 'ukhudh' (أخذ) — except that with 'amara yaʾmuru,' when the alif of its imperative is preceded by a wāw or a fāʾ or connected speech, they restore [the hamza], saying: 'ilqa fulānan wa-'muruhu' (الق فلانا وأمره - 'meet so-and-so and command him'), thus returning it to its origin. They did this only because the alif of the imperative, when connected to preceding speech, is dropped in pronunciation — but they did not do this with 'kul' and 'khudh' when the imperative is connected to preceding speech; they said 'ilqa fulānan wa-khudh minhu kadhā' (الق فلانا وخذ منه كذا), and we have not heard 'wa-akhudh' (وأخذ) as we have heard 'wa-'mur' (وأمر). God Almighty said: 'wa-kulā minhā raghadan' (وكلا منها رغدا) [al-Baqara 2:35], and did not say 'wa-akulā' (وأكلا). If it is asked: why did they restore 'mur' to its origin, but not restore 'wa-kulā' nor '[wa-khudh]'? It is said: because of the breadth of Arabic speech — sometimes they restore a thing to its origin, and sometimes they build it upon what has already been established [without restoring it], and sometimes they write the letter with hamza, and sometimes they leave it without... [entry continues]

Al-amr (الأمر): the singular of al-umūr (الأمور). One says: 'amru fulānin mustaqīmun' (أمر فلان مستقيم - 'so-and-so's affair is upright'), and 'umūruhu mustaqīmatun' (أموره مستقيمة - 'his affairs are in order'). Their saying 'laka ʿalayya amratun muṭāʿatun' (لك علي أمرة مطاعة) means 'you have over me a single command in which I obey you' — it being the one instance (al-marra al-wāḥida) of al-amr. Do not say 'imratun' (إمرة) with kasra [in this sense]; rather al-imra [with kasra] pertains to governorship (al-wilāya). 'Amartuhu bi-kadhā amran' (أمرته بكذا أمرا); the plural is al-awāmir (الأوامر). Abū ʿUbayda said: 'āmartuhu' (آمرته) with madd, and 'amartuhu' (أمرته) [without it], are two dialectal variants meaning 'I made it (his wealth) increase.' From this comes the hadith: 'khayru l-māli muhratun maʾmūratun, aw sikkatun maʾbūratun' (خير المال مهرة مأمورة أو سكة مأبورة) — i.e., abundant in offspring and progeny. 'Amira huwa' (أمر هو) means 'it became numerous/abundant,' formed on the model of their saying 'ʿalima fulānun dhālika' (علم فلان ذلك) and 'aʿlamtuhu anā dhālika' (أعلمته أنا ذلك). Yaʿqūb said: no one but he [i.e. this authority] said it. Abū al-Ḥasan said: 'amira māluhu' (أمر ماله), with kasra, means it increased; and 'amira l-qawmu' (أمر القوم) means the people became numerous. The poet al-Aʿshā said: '...numerous (amirūn), who do not inherit the share of the nearest kinsman (al-qaʿdad)...' and 'āmara Llāhu mālahu' (آمر الله ماله) with madd [is likewise said]. He said: 'muhratun maʾmūratun' (مهرة مأمورة) was said for the sake of rhythmic pairing (al-izdiwāj), its origin being 'muʾmara' (مؤمرة) on the pattern of mufʿala, just as the Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, said to the women: 'irjiʿna maʾzūrātin ghayra maʾjūrātin' (ارجعن مأزورات غير مأجورات - 'return burdened with sin, not rewarded'), whereas it is properly 'mawzūrāt' (موزورات) from al-wizr (sin), but it was made 'maʾzūrāt' to match the form of 'maʾjūrāt,' so the two would rhyme together. And His saying Most High: '(amarnā mutrafīhā)' (أمرنا مترفيها) means 'We commanded them to obey, but they disobeyed'; it may also derive from al-imāra (الإمارة - authority). Al-Akhfash said: it is also said 'amara amrahu yaʾmuru amran' (أمر أمره يأمر أمرا), meaning 'it became intense/severe,' the noun being al-imr (الإمر) with kasra of the hamza. The rajaz poet said: 'The adversaries have met from me something detestable, a calamity, harsh, severe (imran).' From this comes His saying Most High: '(laqad jiʾta shayʾan imran)' (لقد جئت شيئا إمرا), and it is said to mean 'a wondrous thing' (ʿajaban). Al-amīr (الأمير): the possessor of command (dhū al-amr). One says 'amira fulānun' (أمر فلان) and also 'umira' (أمر) with damma, meaning 'he became amīr.' The feminine is with tāʾ marbūṭa. And he [a poet] said: 'la-bāyaʿnā amīrata muʾminīnā' (لبايعنا أميرة مؤمنينا - 'we would indeed pledge allegiance to the commander [fem.] of our believers'). The maṣdar is al-imra (الإمرة), with kasra. Al-imāra (الإمارة) is governorship (al-wilāya). One says 'fulānun umira wa-ummira ʿalayhi' (فلان أمر وأمر عليه) when he became a ruler after having been a commoner (sūqa), meaning he is now experienced. It is also said: 'fī wajhi l-māli tuʿrafu amratuhu' (في وجه المال تعرف أمرته), meaning its growth, abundance, and yield. Al-taʾmīr (التأمير) is the appointing of someone to authority (tawliyat al-imāra); one says 'huwa amīrun muʾammarun' (هو أمير مؤمر). 'Taʾammara ʿalayhim' (تأمر عليهم) means he exercised authority/dominance over them. 'Āmartuhu fī amrī muʾāmaratan' (آمرته في أمري مؤامرة) means I consulted him about my affair; and the common people say 'wāmartuhu' (وامرته). 'I'tamara l-amra' (ائتمر الأمر) means he complied with/carried out the command. Imru' al-Qays said: 'O Ḥārith ibn ʿAmr, as though I were undone [by wine], and there befalls a man what he resolves upon (yaʾtamir)...' meaning what... [entry continues]

Hamza, mīm, and rāʾ (اَلْهَمْزَةُ وَالْمِيمُ وَالرَّاءُ) have five root meanings: al-amr (الأمر) in the sense of 'a matter,' from al-umūr (الأمور - affairs); al-amr (الأمر) as the opposite of al-nahy (النهي - prohibition); al-amr (الأمر) meaning growth and blessing (with fatḥa on the mīm); al-maʿlam (المعلم - sign/marker, appointed time); and al-ʿajab (العجب - wonder, astonishment). As for the first — the singular of al-umūr — it is as in their saying 'hādhā amrun raḍītuhu' (هذا أمر رضيته - 'this is a matter I am pleased with') and 'amrun lā arḍāh' (أمر لا أرضاه - 'a matter I am not pleased with'). And in the proverb: 'amrun mā atā bik' (أمر ما أتى بك - 'it is [for some] reason that brought you'). And from this also in the proverb: 'li-amrin mā yasūdu man yasūd' (لأمر ما يسود من يسود - 'for some reason does he who becomes chief become chief'). As for al-amr which is the opposite of al-nahy, it is your saying 'ifʿal kadhā' (افعل كذا - 'do such-and-such'). Al-Aṣmaʿī said: it is said 'lī ʿalayka amratun muṭāʿatun' (لي عليك أمرة مطاعة - 'I have over you one command that is obeyed'), meaning 'I have the right to command you once, and you obey me.' Al-Kisāʾī said: 'fulānun yuʾāmiru nafsayhi' (فلان يؤامر نفسيه - 'so-and-so consults his two souls'), meaning one soul commands him to do one thing and another soul commands him to do another. And he said: 'innahu la-amūrun bi'l-maʿrūfi wa-nahiyyun ʿani l-munkari' (إنه لأمور بالمعروف ونهي عن المنكر - 'he indeed commands good and forbids evil'), from a people [described as] umur (أمر). From this chapter also come al-imra (الإمرة) and al-imāra (الإمارة - governorship), and the holder of it is amīr (أمير) or muʾammar (مؤمر). Ibn al-Aʿrābī said: 'amartu fulānan' (أمرت فلانا) means 'I made him amīr,' and 'ammartuhu' (أمرته) and 'āmartuhu' (آمرته) all bear the same meaning. Ibn al-Aʿrābī said: 'amara fulānun ʿalā qawmihi' (أمر فلان على قومه) means he became amīr [over his people]. From this chapter also comes al-imr (الإمر), [said of] one who continually seeks the counsel/command of people and defers to their judgment. Al-Aṣmaʿī said: al-imr is the man of weak judgment, foolish, who hears the words of this one and that one and does not know which to follow. He said: 'And I am not one afflicted with tremor, an imr (إمر), when he is led, forced, in the morning.' And the Arabs say: when al-Shiʿrā rises at dawn and you see no rain accompanying it, then do not entrust to it either an imra (إمرة) or an imr (إمر) — meaning: do not send out among your camels a man devoid of sense. As for growth, al-Khalīl said: al-amr (الأمر) means growth and blessing. 'Imraʾatun amiratun' (امرأة أمرة) means 'a woman blessed for her husband.' 'Amira l-shayʾu' (أمر الشيء) means 'the thing multiplied/increased.' The Arabs say: 'man qalla dhalla wa-man amira falla' (من قل ذل ومن أمر فل - 'whoever becomes few is abased, and whoever multiplies prevails'). And they say 'amira banū fulānin amratan' (أمر بنو فلان أمرة), meaning 'the sons of so-and-so multiplied,' and their livestock bred abundantly. Labīd said: 'If they are envied, they decline; and if they multiply one day, they come round again to ruin and depletion.' Al-Aṣmaʿī said: the Arabs say 'khayru l-māli sikkatun maʾbūratun aw muhratun maʾmūratun' (خير المال سكة مأبورة أو مهرة مأمورة - 'the best wealth is a planted furrow or a filly abundant in offspring'), meaning she of abundant, blessed progeny. It is said 'amara Llāhu mālahu' (أمر الله ماله) and 'āmarahu' (آمره) [both: God increased/blessed his wealth], whence 'muhratun maʾmūratun' (مهرة مأمورة). And from the first [sense of increase] comes [the Quranic verse]: '(amarnā mutrafīhā)' (أمرنا مترفيها) [al-Isrāʾ 17:16]. Whoever reads it '(ammarnā)' (أمّرنا), its meaning is 'We gave [them] authority/dominion.' As for al-maʿlam and al-mawʿid, al-Khalīl said: al-amāra (الأمارة) is al-mawʿid (الموعد - the appointed time/place). Al-ʿAjjāj said: 'Until [reaching] a sign (amār), and a sign is my appointed time...' Al-Aṣmaʿī said: al-amāra (الأمارة) is the mark/sign (al-ʿalāma); you say 'ijʿal baynī wa-baynaka amāratan' (اجعل بيني وبينك أمارة) and 'amāran' (أمارا) [set a sign between us]. He said: 'When the sun spreads over the lands, then it is a sign (amāra) of my greeting to you, so return the greeting.' And al-amār (الأمار) [also means] amār al-ṭarīq (أمار الطريق - the road's landmarks), the singular being amāra (أمارة). Ḥumayd ibn Thawr said: 'By a level, wide expanse, whose landmark (amāra), when it appears, is like a prancing stud-camel.' Al-amr (الأمر) and al-yaʾmūr (اليأمور) also mean 'the sign' (al-ʿilm). One says: 'jaʿaltu baynī wa-baynahu amāran wa-waqtan wa-mawʿidan wa-ajalan' (جعلت بيني وبينه أمارا ووقتا وموعدا وأجلا) — all of these [terms] are called amār. As for al-ʿajab (wonder), it is the saying of God Most High: '(laqad jiʾta shayʾan imran)' (لقد جئت شيئا إمرا) [al-Kahf 18:71].

Al-amr (الأمر): al-shaʾn (الشأن - the affair, matter); its plural is umūr (أمور), and the maṣdar of 'amartuhu' (أمرته) is [used] when you oblige someone to do something. It is a general term covering all deeds and sayings; accordingly is His saying Most High: '(ilayhi yurjaʿu l-amru kulluhu)' (إليه يرجع الأمر كله - 'to Him all matters return') [Hūd 11:123]; and He said: '(qul inna l-amra kullahu li-Llāhi yukhfūna fī anfusihim mā lā yubdūna laka yaqūlūna law kāna lanā mina l-amri shayʾun)' (قل إن الأمر كله لله يخفون في أنفسهم ما لا يبدون لك يقولون لو كان لنا من الأمر شيء - 'Say: the matter belongs wholly to God. They conceal within themselves what they do not disclose to you, saying: had we any part in the matter...') [Āl ʿImrān 3:154]; '(amruhu ilā Llāhi)' (أمره إلى الله - 'his matter is [left] to God') [al-Baqara 2:275]. And al-amr is used for [divine] origination (al-ibdāʿ), as in: '(alā lahu l-khalqu wa'l-amru)' (ألا له الخلق والأمر - 'indeed His is the creation and the command') [al-Aʿrāf 7:54]; this is specific to God Most High, not to created beings, and upon this His saying: '(wa-awḥā fī kulli samāʾin amrahā)' (وأوحى في كل سماء أمرها - 'and He revealed in every heaven its affair') [Fuṣṣilat 41:12] is interpreted. And accordingly the sages/philosophers (al-ḥukamāʾ) interpret His saying: '(qul al-rūḥu min amri rabbī)' (قل الروح من أمر ربي - 'Say: the Spirit is of the affair/command of my Lord') [al-Isrāʾ 17:85] to mean 'of His origination'; and His saying: '(innamā qawlunā li-shayʾin idhā aradnāhu an naqūla lahu kun fa-yakūnu)' (إنما قولنا لشيء إذا أردناه أن نقول له كن فيكون - 'Our word to a thing, when We intend it, is only that We say to it: Be, and it is') [al-Naḥl 16:40] is an indication of His origination, expressed in the shortest and most eloquent utterance with which such a thing might otherwise be preceded by mere doing among us. Accordingly is His saying: '(wa-mā amrunā illā wāḥidatun)' (وما أمرنا إلا واحدة - 'and Our command is but one [word]') [al-Qamar 54:50], expressing the swiftness of His bringing things into being by the swiftest thing our minds can conceive. And al-amr [also means] the enjoining of a thing (al-taqaddum bi'l-shayʾ), whether by their saying 'ifʿal' (افعل) and 'li-yafʿal' (ليفعل), or by an utterance in the form of a statement of fact (khabar), as in: '(wa'l-muṭallaqātu yatarabbaṣna bi-anfusihinna)' (والمطلقات يتربصن بأنفسهن - 'and divorced women shall wait concerning themselves...') [al-Baqara 2:228], or by [some] indication or otherwise. Do you not see that He named what Ibrāhīm saw in his dream — the sacrifice of his son — 'amr,' in His saying: '(innī arā fī l-manāmi annī adhbaḥuka fa-nẓur mādhā tarā, qāla yā abati fʿal mā tuʾmaru)' (إني أرى في المنام أني أذبحك فانظر ماذا ترى قال يا أبت افعل ما تؤمر - '[Ibrāhīm said:] I see in a dream that I am sacrificing you, so consider what you think. He said: O my father, do what you are commanded') [al-Ṣāffāt 37:102]? Thus He named what he saw in the dream, [namely] undertaking the sacrifice, 'amr.' And His saying Most High: '(wa-mā amru firʿawna bi-rashīdin)' (وما أمر فرعون برشيد - 'and Pharaoh's affair was not [one of] right guidance') [Hūd 11:97] is general, covering both his sayings and his deeds; and His saying: '(atā amru Llāhi)' (أتى أمر الله - 'the command of God has come') [al-Naḥl 16:1] refers to the Resurrection, expressed by the most general term. And His saying: '(bal sawwalat lakum anfusukum amran)' (بل سولت لكم أنفسكم أمرا - 'rather your souls have enticed you to something') [Yūsuf 12:18] means: what the soul commanding to evil (al-nafs al-ammāra bi'l-sūʾ) enjoins. And it is said [also] that 'amara l-qawmu' (أمر القوم) means the people became numerous — because when people become numerous they come to have an amīr, inasmuch as they must have a governor to rule them (sāʾis yasūsuhum). And accordingly the poet said: [entry continues]

Al-amr (الأمر): well known, the opposite of al-nahy (النهي). 'Amarahu bihi' (أمره به) and 'ammarahu' (أمره) — the latter on the authority of Kurāʿ — and 'amarahu iyyāhu' (أمره إياه), by omission of the preposition; 'yaʾmuruhu amran wa-imāran' (يأمره أمرا وإمارا); 'fa-'tamara' (فأتمر) means he accepted/complied with his command. And his saying [the poet]: 'And a herd of gazelles, sunken-bellied... commanding (yaʾmurna) their own pursuit' — he means only that they incite whoever sees them to hunt and pursue them; otherwise they have no [real] command. And His saying, Mighty and Majestic: '(wa-umirnā li-nuslima li-rabbi l-ʿālamīna)' (وأمرنا لنسلم لرب العالمين - 'and we are commanded that we submit to the Lord of the worlds') [al-Anʿām 6:71]. The Arabs say 'amartuka an tafʿala' (أمرتك أن تفعل), 'li-tafʿala' (لتفعل), and 'bi-an tafʿala' (بأن تفعل); whoever says 'amartuka bi-an tafʿala,' the bāʾ is for attachment (al-ilṣāq), the meaning being that the command occurred with regard to this action; whoever says 'amartuka an tafʿala' has omitted the bāʾ; and whoever says 'amartuka li-tafʿala' has informed us of the reason for which the command occurred — meaning [in the verse] 'we were commanded for [the sake of] submission.' And His saying, Mighty and Majestic: '(atā amru Llāhi fa-lā tastaʿjilūhu)' (أتى أمر الله فلا تستعجلوه - 'the command of God has come, so do not seek to hasten it') [al-Naḥl 16:1]. Al-Zajjāj said: 'amr Allāh' is what He promised them by way of requital for their disbelief, of the varieties of punishment, and the evidence for this is His saying: '(ḥattā idhā jāʾa amrunā wa-fāra l-tannūru)' (حتى إذا جاء أمرنا وفار التنور - 'until, when Our command came and the oven gushed forth') [Hūd 11:40], meaning: what We had promised them came. Likewise His saying Most High: '(atāhā amrunā laylan aw nahāran fa-jaʿalnāhā ḥaṣīdan)' (أتاها أمرنا ليلا أو نهارا فجعلناها حصيدا - 'Our command came to it by night or by day, and We made it as a reaped harvest') [Yūnus 10:24]; this is because they sought to hasten the punishment and considered the matter of the Hour distant, so God informed [them] that its nearness stands in the position of something already come, just as He, Mighty and Majestic, said: '(iqtarabati l-sāʿatu wa-nshaqqa l-qamaru)' (اقتربت الساعة وانشق القمر - 'the Hour has drawn near, and the moon has split') [al-Qamar 54:1]; and as He Most High said: '(wa-mā amru l-sāʿati illā ka-lamḥi l-baṣari)' (وما أمر الساعة إلا كلمح البصر - 'and the matter of the Hour is but as a glance of the eye') [al-Naḥl 16:77]. 'Amartuhu bi-kadhā amran' (أمرته بكذا أمرا); plural al-awāmir (الأوامر). Al-amīr (الأمير): the possessor of command (dhū al-amr). Al-amīr [also]: the one who commands (al-āmir). He said: 'And people blame the amīr, when they have erred from what is right, while the one guiding rightly is not blamed.' When forming the imperative from 'amara' you say 'mur' (مر); its origin is 'u'mur' (أؤمر), but when two hamzas came together and the word came into frequent use, the original hamza was dropped, whereupon the sukūn [it protected] was removed, and there was no further need for the added [connecting] hamza; yet it has also come according to its original form. In the Glorious Revelation: '(wa-mur ahlaka bi'l-ṣalāti)' (وأمر أهلك بالصلاة) [Ṭāhā 20:132]; and: '(khudhi l-ʿafwa wa-'mur bi'l-ʿurfi)' (خذ العفو وأمر بالعرف - 'take what is given freely and enjoin what is good') [al-Aʿrāf 7:199]. Al-amr: the singular of al-umūr. One says: 'amru fulānin mustaqīmun' (أمر فلان مستقيم) and 'umūruhu mustaqīmatun' (أموره مستقيمة). Al-amr: the event/happening (al-ḥāditha), plural umūr, not pluralized otherwise. In the Glorious Revelation: '(alā ilā Llāhi taṣīru l-umūru)' (ألا إلى الله تصير الأمور - 'indeed, to God do [all] matters return'). And His saying, Mighty and Majestic: '(wa-awḥā fī kulli samāʾin amrahā)' (وأوحى في كل سماء أمرها) — it is said [this means] what sets it aright (mā yuṣliḥuhā), and it is said [it means] its angels; all this from al-Zajjāj. Al-āmira (الآمرة): [is a term for] al-amr, being one of the maṣdars that come on the pattern fāʿila, like al-ʿāfiya (العافية), al-ʿāqiba (العاقبة), al-jāziya (الجازية), and al-khātima (الخاتمة). And they said, for the imperative: 'ūmur' (أومر) and 'mur' (مر), by analogy with 'kul' (كل) and 'khudh' (خذ). Ibn Sīdah said: but this is not consistently applied (muṭṭarid), according to Sībawayh. In al-Tahdhīb, al-Layth said: one does not say 'ūmur' (أومر), nor 'ūkhudh minhu shayʾan' (أوخذ منه شيئا), nor 'ūkul' (أوكل); rather one says 'mur,' 'kul,' 'khudh' [entry continues]