برحtwo branches — zawāl/burūz/inkishāf, to move away from a place, to emerge, to become … (root brh)

Baraḥa al-rajulu yabraḥu barāḥan (برح الرجل يبرح براحا) — when he moved away from his place. And abraḥtuhu (أبرحته): [I made him move] (as glossed: 'I made him go'). And the saying of al-Aʿshā: 'abraḥta rabban wa-abraḥta jāran (أبرحت ربا وأبرحت جارا)' ["You were an excellent lord, and an excellent neighbor"].

Laqītu minhu barḥan bāriḥan (لقيت منه برحا بارحا), meaning severity and harm. The poet said: 'Is this serious of you — by God's life! — every time passion calls you, a fierce affliction (bāriḥ) besets your eyes.' And 'laqītu minhu banāti burḥ (بنات برح), wa-banī burḥ (بني برح),' and 'laqītu minhu al-birḥayn wa-l-burḥayn (البرحين والبرحين),' with kasra and ḍamma on the bāʾ, meaning hardships and calamities. And it is said: 'hādhihi burḥatun min al-burḥ (برحة من البرح),' with ḍamma, for a she-camel when she is among the best of camels. Al-bāriḥ (البارح): the hot wind. Abū Zayd said: al-bawāriḥ (البوارح) are the hot north winds of summer. Al-bāriḥa (البارحة): the nearest past night. You say: 'laqītuhu al-bāriḥata (لقيته البارحة)' [I met him last night], and 'laqītuhu al-bāriḥata al-ūlā (لقيته البارحة الأولى)' [I met him the night before last]; it is from baraḥa (برح), 'it departed.' Barḥāʾ (برحاء) of fever and the like: severity of affliction. From it you say: 'barraḥa bihi al-amru tabrīḥan (برح به الأمر تبريحا),' meaning 'the matter exhausted him severely.' And 'ḍarabahu ḍarban mubarriḥan (ضربه ضربا مبرحا)' [he struck him a severe blow]. Tabārīḥ al-shawq (تباريح الشوق): the burning intensity of longing. And 'hādhā al-amr abraḥu min hādhā (هذا الأمر أبرح من هذا),' meaning 'more severe.' And 'qatalūhum abraḥa qatlin (قتلوهم أبرح قتل)' [they slew them most thoroughly]. And 'abraḥahu (أبرحه)' means 'it amazed him.' One says: 'mā abraḥa hādhā al-amr! (ما أبرح هذا الأمر)' [How amazing this matter is!]. Al-Aʿshā said: 'I say to her, when departure grew serious: You have been an excellent lord, and an excellent neighbor!' meaning 'you amazed and went to the extreme.' 'Abraḥahu (أبرحه)' also means 'he honored and magnified him.' Al-barāḥ (البراح), with fatḥa: the open expanse of land with no crops or trees. 'Jāʾanā bi-l-amri barāḥan (جاءنا بالأمر براحا)' means 'plainly.' Al-barāḥ (البراح) is the verbal noun of your saying 'baraḥa makānahu (برح مكانه),' meaning 'he departed from it and went into the open (barāḥ).' Their saying 'lā barāḥa (لا براح)' is accusative, like 'lā rayba (لا ريب)'; but it may also be nominative, functioning like 'laysa (ليس),' as Saʿd ibn Mālik said: 'Whoever flees from its fires — I am the son of Qays: there is no departing (lā barāḥu).' and the ode has nominative rhymes. 'Baraḥa al-khafāʾ (برح الخفاء)' means 'the matter became clear,' as if the secret had gone and vanished. 'Lā abraḥu afʿalu dhāka (لا أبرح أفعل ذاك)' means 'I do not cease doing it.' Barāḥ (براح), like Qaṭām (قطام), is a name for the sun. Quṭrub cited: 'This is the standing-place of the feet of Rabāḥ; he was driven off until [the sun] sank (dalakat barāḥi).' Al-Farrāʾ transmitted it with kasra on the bāʾ [barāḥi], taking it as the plural of rāḥa (راحة), the palm of the hand. 'Baraḥa al-ẓabyu (برح الظبي),' with fatḥa, 'burūḥan (بروحا)': when it showed you its left side, passing from your right to your left. The Arabs take a bad omen from al-bāriḥ (البارح) and a good omen from al-sāniḥ (السانح), because you cannot shoot it [the bāriḥ] until you turn around. In the proverb: 'innamā huwa ka-bāriḥi al-arwā (إنما هو كبارح الأروى),' because their dwellings are in the mountains, in the peaks, so people scarcely ever see them, sāniḥ or bāriḥ, except once in ages. Umm Barīḥ (أم بريح): a name for the crow. 'Baraḥā (برحى),' on the pattern faʿlā: a word said upon a miss in shooting. And 'marḥā (مرحى),' upon [a hit — text cut off]. [entry continues]

Bāʾ, rāʾ, ḥāʾ (برح) has two root meanings from which many branches derive. The first is departure, emergence, and disclosure; the second is severity, greatness, and the like. As for the first: al-Khalīl said, baraḥa yabraḥu barāḥan (برح يبرح براحا) means 'he moved away from his place,' and abraḥtuhu (أبرحته) means 'I made him move away.' Al-ʿĀmirī said: a man says to his riding-beast, when it is slow and will not budge in any useful way (lā tabraḥu barāḥan yuntafaʿu bihi). And one says 'mā baraḥtu afʿalu dhālika (ما برحت أفعل ذلك)' in the sense of 'mā ziltu (ما زلت)' [I have not ceased]. God Almighty said, narrating one who said: "lan nabraḥa ʿalayhi ʿākifīn (لن نبرح عليه عاكفين)" ["We will not cease to remain devoted to it"], meaning 'we will not cease.' He cited as evidence: 'So may I continue — as long as God preserves my people — by the praise of God, girded, a majīd!' meaning 'lā azālu (لا أزال),' [I shall not cease]. Majīd (مجيد) is the owner of a swift horse, and muntaṭiq (منتطق) is one who has bound on the waist-wrapper. The Arabs say 'baraḥa al-khafāʾ (برح الخفاء)' meaning 'the matter became disclosed.' And he said: 'The concealment has become manifest, and there is no more forbearance left.' Al-Farrāʾ said: baraḥa (برح), also with fatḥa, means 'it passed away/went by,' and from this al-bāriḥa (البارحة) [last night] is named. They said: al-bāriḥa (البارحة) is the night before your [present] night — a descriptive epithet so predominant for it that it became like a proper name; its origin is from baraḥa (برح), 'it departed from its place.' Abū ʿUbayda said, regarding the proverb 'mā ashbaha al-layla bi-l-bāriḥa (ما أشبه الليلة بالبارحة)' ["How similar tonight is to last night"]: it is used for a thing one expects to be better than another, but it turns out the same. Abū ʿUbayd said: al-barāḥ (البراح) is open confrontation/disclosure; one says 'bāraḥa barāḥan (بارح براحا)' meaning 'he confronted openly.' And I reckon that al-bāriḥ (البارح), the opposite of al-sāniḥ (السانح), derives from this, since it is something that emerges and becomes visible. Al-Khalīl said: al-burūḥ (البروح) is the verbal noun of al-bāriḥ (البارح), the opposite of al-sāniḥ (السانح); this pertains to gazelles and birds by which one takes a bad or a good omen. He said: 'And they pass before him from the left (burūḥan), and at times come to him from the right (sunūḥan).' The Arabs say in their proverbs: 'huwa ka-bāriḥi al-arwā, qalīlan mā yurā (هو كبارح الأروى قليلا ما يرى)' ["He is like the bāriḥ of the mountain-goat — rarely seen"] — said of one scarcely ever seen, or from whom a thing occurs but once in a long while. Its origin is that the mountain-goats dwell in the mountains and their peaks, so people scarcely ever see them, whether as sāniḥ or bāriḥ, except once in an age (we have already discussed people's disagreement about this in the book of sīn, under our discussion of al-sāniḥ). It is also said that 'he is like the bāriḥ of the mountain-goat' is inauspicious in two respects: the mountain-goat is itself a bad omen wherever it appears, and if it passes as bāriḥ as well, that increases its inauspiciousness. The other root meaning: Abū ʿUbayd said one says 'mā abraḥa hādhā al-amr (ما أبرح هذا الأمر)' meaning 'how excellent/amazing this matter is!' He cited from al-Aʿshā: 'You have been an excellent lord, and an excellent neighbor!' They said its meaning is 'aʿẓamta (أعظمت)' [you did/showed greatly], the sense being the same. Ibn al-Aʿrābī said one says 'abraḥtu bi-fulān (أبرحت بفلان)' meaning 'I burdened him with what he could not bear,' so it distressed (tabarraḥa) and grieved him. He cited: 'You made excellent what was planted, and did well as a planter.' Ibn al-Aʿrābī: al-barīḥ (البريح) means exhaustion. Abū Wajza said: 'Upon a riding-camel that has flagged and grown weary, having on it sweat, exhaustion, and clamor.' Al-masīḥ (المسيح) is sweat. Abū ʿAmr: one says 'abraḥta luʾman (أبرحت لؤما)' and 'abraḥta karaman (أبرحت كرما)' [you were extremely mean/generous]. And one says 'baraḥā lahu (برحى له)' when expressing amazement at him. And one says 'al-baʿīru burḥatun min al-burḥ (البعير برحة من البرح)' meaning [he is] of the choicest; and 'aʿṭinī min burḥi ibilika (أعطني من برح إبلك)' meaning 'give me of the best of your camels.' Al-Khalīl said: one says 'barraḥa fulānun tabrīḥan (برح فلان تبريحا),' so he is mubarriḥ (مبرح), when he causes harm through persistence; the noun is al-barḥ (البرح). Dhū al-Rumma said: 'And passion is a torment (barḥ) upon whoever pursues it.' Al-tabārīḥ (التباريح) means hardship and difficulty; and 'ḍarabahu ḍarban mubarriḥan (ضربه ضربا مبرحا)' [he struck him an excruciating blow]. And 'hādhā al-amr abraḥu ʿalayya min dhāka (هذا الأمر أبرح علي من ذاك)' means 'harder for me than that.' Dhū al-Rumma said: 'Moaning and much complaint by day are upon me, but what the night brings is harder still (abraḥu).' meaning 'more difficult.' And one says 'laqītu minhu al-birḥayn wa-l-burḥayn (البرحين والبرحين), wa-banāti burḥ (بنات برح) wa-burḥ (وبرح)' [I met from him severe calamities].

Al-barāḥ (البراح): the wide, visible place containing no building and no tree. Sometimes its visibility is what is meant, so one says 'faʿala kadhā barāḥan (فعل كذا براحا),' i.e. 'openly, unconcealed by anything.' And 'baraḥa al-khafāʾ (برح الخفاء)': it became manifest, as though it emerged into an open space (barāḥ) where it can be seen. From this: 'barāḥ al-dār (براح الدار)' [the open courtyard of the house]. And 'baraḥa (برح)': he went out into the open land. From this too: al-bāriḥ (البارح) for the violent wind, and al-bāriḥ among gazelles and birds — but al-bāriḥ (البارح) is specifically that which turns away from the hunter toward a direction from which he cannot shoot it, and so is taken as a bad omen; its plural is bawāriḥ (بوارح). Al-sāniḥ (السانح), by contrast, is that which approaches from a direction where it can be shot, and is taken as a good omen. Al-bāriḥa (البارحة): the past night. 'Mā baraḥa (ما برح)': he remained fixed, as though settled in the open (barāḥ); hence His Almighty's saying: "lā abraḥ (لا أبرح)" [Q18:60], used specifically with an affirmative sense, like their saying 'lā azālu (لا أزال),' because baraḥa (برح) and zāla (زال) both carry a negative meaning, and 'lā (لا)' is negation, and the joining of two negatives produces affirmation. Thus His Almighty's saying: "lan nabraḥa ʿalayhi ʿākifīn (لن نبرح عليه عاكفين)" [Q20:91], and: "lā abraḥu ḥattā ablugha majmaʿa al-baḥrayn (لا أبرح حتى أبلغ مجمع البحرين)" [Q18:60]. And since a sense of inauspiciousness was conceived from al-bāriḥ (البارح), from it were derived al-tabrīḥ (التبريح) and al-tabārīḥ (التباريح), so one says: 'baraḥa bī al-amr (برح بي الأمر)' [the matter afflicted me severely], 'baraḥa bī fulānun fī al-taqāḍī (برح بي فلان في التقاضي)' [so-and-so pressed me hard in a claim], 'ḍarabahu ḍarban mubarriḥan (ضربه ضربا مبرحا)' [he struck him a severe blow], and 'jāʾa fulānun bi-l-birḥ (جاء فلان بالبرح)' [so-and-so brought a grave affair], and: [entry continues]

Baraḥa (برح), barḥan wa-burūḥan (برحا وبروحا): it departed. Al-barāḥ (البراح) is the verbal noun of your saying 'baraḥa makānahu (برح مكانه),' meaning 'he departed from it and went into the open (barāḥ).' Their saying 'lā barāḥa (لا براح)' is accusative, like 'lā rayba (لا ريب)'; but it may also be nominative, functioning like 'laysa (ليس),' as Saʿd ibn Nāshib said in an ode with nominative rhyme: 'Whoever flees from its fires — I am the son of Qays: there is no departing (lā barāḥu).' Ibn al-Athīr said: the verse is by Saʿd ibn Mālik, alluding to al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAbbād, who had withdrawn from the war between Taghlib and Bakr, sons of Wāʾil; hence he says: 'How poor the successors after us: the sons of Yashkur and al-liqāḥ.' By al-liqāḥ (اللقاح) he meant Banū Ḥanīfa, so called because they did not submit in obedience to kings; they too had withdrawn from the war of Bakr and Taghlib except for al-Find al-Zimmānī. 'Tabarraḥa (تبرح)' is like 'baraḥa (برح)'; Mulayḥ al-Hudhalī said: 'They lingered over their needs, while the freshness of forenoon had passed, and the white camels would not stir (tatabarraḥu).' And 'abraḥahu (أبرحه)': [he caused] him [to depart — causative form]. Al-Azharī: 'baraḥa al-rajulu yabraḥu barāḥan (برح الرجل يبرح براحا)' — when he moved away from his place. And 'mā baraḥa yafʿalu kadhā (ما برح يفعل كذا)' means 'he did not cease'; 'lā abraḥu afʿalu dhāka (لا أبرح أفعل ذاك)' means 'I do not cease doing it.' 'Baraḥa al-arḍa (برح الأرض)': he departed from the land. In the Revelation: "fa-lan abraḥa al-arḍa ḥattā yaʾdhana lī abī (فلن أبرح الأرض حتى يأذن لي أبي)" ["I will not leave the land until my father permits me" — Q12:80]; and His Almighty's saying: "lan nabraḥa ʿalayhi ʿākifīn (لن نبرح عليه عاكفين)" [Q20:91], meaning 'we will not cease.' Ḥabīl barāḥ (حبيل براح): the lion, as though bound with ropes so he cannot move; likewise the brave warrior. Al-barāḥ (البراح): manifestation and clarity. 'Baraḥa al-khafāʾ (برح الخفاء)' and 'buriḥa (برح)' — the latter on Ibn al-Aʿrābī's authority — means 'it became manifest'; he said: 'The concealment has become manifest, and there is no forbearance left to me.' Meaning: the matter became clear, as though the secret had gone and vanished. Al-Azharī: 'baraḥa al-khafāʾ (برح الخفاء)' means 'the concealment departed'; it is also said its meaning is 'what was hidden became manifest and was uncovered,' taken from 'barāḥ al-arḍ (براح الأرض),' the exposed, visible land; and it is said its meaning is 'what I was concealing became manifest.' 'Jāʾa bi-l-kufri barāḥan (جاء بالكفر براحا)' means 'openly.' And in the ḥadīth: "jāʾa bi-l-kufri barāḥan (جاء بالكفر براحا)" meaning 'publicly,' from 'baraḥa al-khafāʾ (برح الخفاء)' when it becomes manifest; it is also transmitted with a wāw [variant]. 'Jāʾanā bi-l-amri barāḥan (جاءنا بالأمر براحا)' means 'plainly.' 'Arḍ barāḥ (أرض براح)': wide, open land with no vegetation or habitation. Al-barāḥ (البراح), with fatḥa: the open expanse of land with no crops or trees. Barāḥ and Barāḥi (براح وبراح): a name for the sun, a proper noun like Qaṭām (قطام), so named for its spreading [light] and its manifestness. Quṭrub cited: 'This is the standing-place of the feet of Rabāḥ; he was driven off until [the sun] declined (dalakat barāḥi).' Barāḥi (براح) here means the sun. Al-Farrāʾ transmitted it as 'birāḥi (براح),' with kasra on the bāʾ, that being the prepositional bāʾ, [rāḥ] being the plural of rāḥa (راحة), the palm of the hand — meaning 'rest was found from it (the sun),' i.e. the sun had set or declined, so they place their palms over their eyes, looking to see whether it has set or declined. And it is said of the sun when it sets: 'dalakat barāḥi, yā hādhā (دلكت براح يا هذا),' on the pattern faʿāli: meaning that it declined and departed when it set. So barāḥ is with the meaning... [entry continues]