بررtruthfulness/sincerity, extended to obedience and dutifulness, with two other senses in … (root brr)

Al-birr (البر) is the opposite of the sea, and the antonym of shelter (al-kinn). You say 'kharajtu barran wa jalastu barran' (خرجت برا وجلست برا), used indefinitely by the Arabs. 'Al-barriyya' (البرية) is the desert. 'Al-birr' (البر) is dutifulness (al-bārr) toward one's kinsfolk. A people are called 'bararah' (بررة) and 'abrār' (أبرار). One says 'laysa bi-birrin wa-huwa bārrun ghadan' (ليس ببر وهو بار غدا) [he is not yet dutiful, but will be dutiful tomorrow]. The verbal noun and the noun 'al-birr' are one and the same. 'Barrat yamīnuhu' (برت يمينه) means his oath was true, and 'abarrahā Allāhu' (أبرها الله) means God fulfilled it truly, and 'abrartu yamīnī ibrāran' (أبررت يميني إبرارا) [I made my oath true]. 'Barra Allāhu ḥajjaka' (بر الله حجك) — hence 'mabrūr' (مبرور) [accepted]. 'Fulānun yabirruka' (فلان يبرك) means: he obeys you. He said: 'yabirruka al-nāsu wa-yafjurūnaka' [people are true to you and betray you]. 'Al-barīr' (البرير) is the fruit of the arāk tree. 'Abarra ʿalayhim' (أبر عليهم) means he overcame them. 'Ibtarra fulānun' (ابتر فلان) means he stood apart, separated from his companions. 'Al-barbarah' (البربرة) is excessive talk and commotion with the tongue. He said: [entry continues]

Al-birr (البر) is the opposite of undutifulness (al-ʿuqūq), and al-mabarra (المبرة) is likewise. You say 'barartu wālidī' (بررت والدي) with kasra, 'abirruhu birran' (أبره برا), so I am 'barrun bihi wa-bārrun' (بر به وبار) [dutiful to him]. The plural of 'al-birr' is 'abrār' (أبرار), and the plural of 'al-bārr' is 'bararah' (بررة). 'Fulānun yabirru khāliqahu wa-yatabarraruhu' (فلان يبر خالقه ويتبرره) means he obeys Him. 'Al-ummu barratun bi-waladihā' (الأم برة بولدها) [the mother is devoted to her child]. 'Barra fulānun fī yamīnihi' (بر فلان في يمينه) means he was true. 'Barra ḥajjahu' (بر حجه), 'barra ḥajjahu' [variant], 'barra Allāhu ḥajjahu' (بر الله حجه) — all with kasra [in the imperfect]. 'Tabāraw' (تباروا) is a mutual [reciprocal] form from al-birr. In the proverb: 'lā yaʿrifu hirran min birrin' (لا يعرف هرا من بر), meaning he does not distinguish one who dislikes him from one who is kind to him (yaburruhu). Ibn al-Aʿrābī said: 'al-hirr' (الهر) is the call to stop sheep, and 'al-birr' (البر) is the driving of them. 'Al-barr' (البر), with fatḥa, is the opposite of the sea. 'Al-barriyya' (البرية), with fatḥa, is the desert, plural 'al-barārī' (البراري). 'Al-barīt' (البريت), on the pattern of 'faʿlīt,' means al-barriyya; when the yāʾ became quiescent the hāʾ became tāʾ, like 'ʿifrīt/ʿifriya,' plural 'al-barārīt' (البراريت). 'Barratu' (برة) is the [proper] name for wheat (al-birr), and it is definite. Al-Nābighah said: 'We divided our two portions between us, / so I carried Barra and he carried Fajār.' 'Barra bint Murr' (برة بنت مر) is the sister of Tamīm ibn Murr, and mother of al-Naḍr ibn Kinānah. 'Al-barbarah' (البربرة) is a sound, and speech uttered in anger. You say 'barbara' (بربر), so he is 'barbārun' (بربار), like 'tharthara' so he is 'tharthārun.' 'Barbar' (بربر) is a group/tribe of people, called 'al-barābirah' (البرابرة); the hāʾ [in the nisba] is for foreignness and relation, and may be dropped if one wishes. 'Al-barīr' (البرير) is the fruit of the arāk tree, its singular 'barīrah' (بريرة). 'Barīrah' (بريرة) is also a woman's name. 'Al-burr' (البر) is the plural of 'burra' (برة), a grain of wheat. Sībawayh forbade pluralizing 'al-burr' as 'abrār' (أبرار), but al-Mubarrad permitted it by analogy. 'Al-burbūr' (البربور) is coarsely-crushed wheat. 'Abarra Allāhu ḥajjaka' (أبر الله حجك) is a dialectal variant of 'barra Allāhu ḥajjaka,' meaning He accepted it. 'Abarra fulānun ʿalā aṣḥābihi' (أبر فلان على أصحابه) means he prevailed over them. Ibn al-Sikkīt said: 'abarra fulānun' (أبر فلان) means he took to the open land.

The letters bāʾ and rāʾ in the geminated (doubled) root have four principal meanings: truthfulness, imitation of a sound, the opposite of sea, and a plant. As for truthfulness: it is as in their saying, 'so-and-so was truthful (ṣadaqa) and dutiful (barra)'; 'barrat yamīnuhu' (برت يمينه) means his oath was true, and 'abarrahā' (أبرها) means he fulfilled it truly. One says 'barra Allāhu ḥajjaka' (بر الله حجك) and 'abarrahu' (أبره), and 'ḥajjatun mabrūratun' (حجة مبرورة) means it was accepted as a sincere deed is accepted. From this comes their saying 'yabirru rabbahu' (يبر ربه), meaning he obeys Him, which is from [the sense of] truthfulness. He said: 'O God, were it not that Bakr stands between you and them, / people would be true (yabirruka) to you and would betray (yafjurūnaka) you.' From this is the saying of God Almighty: 'It is not al-birr (البر) that you turn your faces toward the east and the west' (Q. 2:177). As for al-Nābighah's line: 'Upon them, disheveled, intent on their devotion (li-birrihim)' — it is said he meant obedience, and it is said he meant the pilgrimage (ḥajj). Their term for the outstripping, generous racehorse, 'al-mubirr' (المبر), is from this, because when it runs it proves true, and when it carries [a burden] it proves true. Ibn al-Aʿrābī said: I asked a Bedouin, 'Do you know the generous outstripping horse (al-jawād al-mubirr) from the slow, ignoble one (al-baṭīʾ al-muqrif)?' He said, 'Yes.' I said, 'Describe them to me.' He said: 'As for the generous one, it is lean like a wild ass, slender in gait, which when it runs stretches out, and when it stands erect stands firm. As for the slow, ignoble one, it is worn at the haunches, thick-nosed, coarse-necked, given to much commotion, which if you hold it says "let me go," and if you let it go says "hold me."' The origin of al-ibrār (الإبرار) is what we mentioned regarding overpowering and prevailing, its reference going back to truthfulness. Ṭarafa said: 'They remove distress from those in distress among them, / and they prevail (yabirrūna) over the recalcitrant one (al-ābī al-mubirr).' From this chapter is their saying 'huwa yabirru dhā qarābatihi' (هو يبر ذا قرابته) [he is dutiful to his kinsman], its origin being truthfulness in affection. One says 'rajulun barrun wa-bārrun' (رجل بر وبار), 'barartu wālidī' (بررت والدي) [I was dutiful to my father], 'barartu fī yamīnī' (بررت في يميني) [I was true in my oath]. 'Abarra al-rajulu' (أبر الرجل) means a man had dutiful children (abrāran). Abū ʿUbayda said: 'Barratu' (برة) is a proper, definite name for wheat (al-birr), diptote. Al-Nābighah said: 'The day we divided our two portions between us, / I carried Barra (برة) and he carried Fajār (فجار).' As for the imitation of a sound: the Arabs say 'lā yaʿrifu hirran min birrin' (لا يعرف هرا من بر) — al-hirr (الهر) is the call to stop sheep, and al-birr (البر) is the sound made in driving them when they are driven. It is also said of one who does not distinguish between someone who dislikes him and someone kind to him (yaburruhu). Al-barbarah (البربرة) is excessive talk and commotion with the tongue. He said: '... by ʿAḍr, every scolding chatterer (barbār)...' One says 'rajulun barbārun wa-barbāratun.' Perhaps the derivation of 'al-Barbar' (البربر) is from this. As for Ṭarafa's line: 'But a group from Qays ʿAylān called out, / driving the little lambs (al-barābira) in the highlands of the Ḥijāz' — it is said this is the plural of 'birbir' (بربر), the young of sheep/goats, and this too is said to be from the sound, since al-barbarah is the bleating of goats. The third meaning is the opposite of sea: 'abarra al-rajulu' (أبر الرجل) means he went onto dry land (al-barr), and 'abḥara' (أبحر) means he went to sea. 'Al-barriyya' (البرية) is the desert. 'Al-barr' (البر) is the opposite of shelter (al-kinn). The Arabs use it indefinitely, saying 'kharajtu barran wa-kharajtu baḥran' (خرجت برا وخرجت بحرا). God Almighty said: 'Corruption has appeared on land and sea (fī al-barri wa-l-baḥri)' (Q. 30:41). As for the plant: from it is 'al-burr' (البر), wheat, its singular 'burra' (برة). Al-Aṣmaʿī said: 'abarrat al-arḍu' (أبرت الأرض) means the land produced abundant wheat, just as 'abhamat' means it produced abundant bahmā-grass. 'Al-burbūr' (البربور) is coarsely-crushed wheat. One calls bread 'ibn burra' (ابن برة) and 'ibn ḥabba' (ابن حبة), both diptote. Al-Shaybānī said it is shorter than 'burra' — i.e. the singular of wheat, 'al-burra' being the extreme of shortness. Al-Khalīl said 'al-barīr' (البرير) is the fruit of the arāk tree. Al-Nābighah said: 'She grazes on barīra and roams about therein.' Abū Ziyād al-Kilābī said al-barīr has smaller berries than al-mard and al-kabāth, like small beads. Al-Aṣmaʿī said, al-barīr [entry continues]

Al-birr (البر) [in one sense] is the opposite of the sea, and from it the notion of expansiveness was conceived; from that, al-birr [in the ethical sense] was derived, meaning: expansiveness in doing good. This is attributed to God Almighty at times, as in 'Indeed He is al-Barr, al-Raḥīm' (إنه هو البر الرحيم) (Q. 52:28), and to the servant at other times, as one says 'barra al-ʿabdu rabbahu' (بر العبد ربه), meaning: he was expansive in obedience to Him — so from God comes reward, and from the servant comes obedience. This is of two kinds: a kind pertaining to belief, and a kind pertaining to deeds, and this is comprised in His saying: 'It is not al-birr that you turn your faces...' (Q. 2:177). In accordance with this is what is related: 'he, peace and blessings be upon him, was asked about al-birr, and he recited this verse' — for the verse encompasses both belief and deeds, obligatory and supererogatory. 'Birr al-wālidayn' (بر الوالدين) [dutifulness to one's parents] is expansiveness in kindness toward them, its opposite being undutifulness (al-ʿuqūq). He, exalted, said: 'God does not forbid you, concerning those who have not fought you on account of religion and have not expelled you from your homes, from being dutiful to them (an tabarrūhum)' (Q. 60:8). Al-birr is also used for truthfulness, since it is part of the good in which one is expansive; one says 'barra fī qawlihi' (بر في قوله) and 'barra fī yamīnihi' (بر في يمينه) [he was true in his speech/oath]. And the saying of the poet: [entry continues]

Al-birr (البر) is truthfulness and obedience. In the revelation: 'It is not al-birr that you turn your faces toward the east and the west, but al-birr is [the quality of] one who believes in God' (ليس البر أن تولوا وجوهكم قبل المشرق والمغرب ولكن البر من آمن بالله); he meant: 'but al-birr is the birr of one who believes in God.' Ibn Sīdah said this is the view of Sībawayh; some said: 'but the possessor of birr is one who believes in God.' Ibn Jinnī said the first is better, because omission of the annexed noun is a type of extension (ittisāʿ), and extension is more fitting in the predicate than the subject, since extension in the latter parts [of a sentence] is more fitting than in the beginnings. He said: as for what is related, that al-Nimr ibn Tawlab said: I heard the Messenger of God, God bless him and grant him peace, say (in dialect): 'laysa min al-mbirr al-mṣiyām fī al-msfar,' meaning 'it is not part of al-birr to fast while traveling' — he substituted mīm for the lām of the definite article, which is an anomaly not to be permitted; this is related from him by Ibn Jinnī, who said it is reported that al-Nimr ibn Tawlab transmitted no ḥadīth from the Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, other than this one. He said: a parallel anomaly is what I read to Abū ʿAlī, with his chain back to al-Aṣmaʿī, who said: one says 'banāt makhr' and 'banāt bakhr,' clouds that come before summer, white, standing erect in the sky. Shamir said, explaining his saying, God bless him and grant him peace: 'Hold to truthfulness, for it guides to al-birr' — scholars differed in interpreting al-birr; some said al-birr is righteousness (al-ṣalāḥ), others said al-birr is goodness (al-khayr). He said: I know of no more comprehensive interpretation than this, for it encompasses all that was said. He said: Labīd made al-birr equivalent to piety (al-taqwā), as in his line: 'And al-birr is nothing but things concealed within, of piety.' He said: as for the poet's line 'They cut off their heads, not out of birr,' its meaning is: not out of obedience and goodness. And His saying, mighty and exalted: 'You will never attain al-birr until you spend of what you love' (لن تنالوا البر حتى تنفقوا مما تحبون) (Q. 3:92); al-Zajjāj said: some said every act by which one draws near to God, mighty and exalted, of good deeds, counts as spending (infāq). Abū Manṣūr said: al-birr is the good of this world and the next; the good of this world is what God, blessed and exalted, facilitates for His servant of guidance, blessing, and good things, and the good of the hereafter is attaining the everlasting bliss of Paradise — may God unite the two for us by His generosity and mercy. 'Barra yabirru' (بر يبر) means he became righteous. 'Barra fī yamīnihi yabirru' (بر في يمينه يبر) means he was true to it and did not break it. 'Barra raḥimahu yabirru' (بر رحمه يبر) means he maintained ties with it [his kin]. It is said: 'fulānun yabirru rabbahu' (فلان يبر ربه) means he obeys Him; from this is his saying: 'yabirruka al-nāsu wa-yafjurūnaka' [people are true to you and betray you]. A man is 'barrun bi-dhī qarābatihi wa-bārrun' (بر بذي قرابته وبار) [dutiful to his kinsman], from a people [called] 'bararah' (بررة) and 'abrār' (أبرار), the verbal noun being 'al-birr.' And God, mighty and exalted, said: 'It is not al-birr that you turn your faces toward the east and the west, but al-birr is [the quality of] one who believes in God' — he meant: 'but al-birr is the birr of one who believes in God.' The poet's line: 'And how can one maintain ties with one / whose intimate friendship is like that of Abū Marḥab?' [entry continues]