Mashrabaمشربة

Root · 8 in the Quran · 118 in 21 texts of the library

حجبa single root meaning prevention. The eyebrows, the 'brow' of the sun and the hip-point … (root hjb)

الحاء والجيم والباء أصل واحد وهو المنع

Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-lugha · English rendering

حجب

The family of the root

Patterns computed · our data

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

23 words5 verbs3 verbal nouns4 participles7 other nouns4 plurals

  • حِجَابthing that prevents, hinders, debars,or precludes
  • حَجَبَhe, or it, prevented, hindered, debarred, or precluded, him, or it
  • مَحْجُوبking secluded, or concealed, from the people
  • حُجُب—
  • اِحْتَجَبَhe, or it, became prevented, hindered, debarred, or precluded
The whole family5 groups, by pattern; tap a pattern to see what it does
Verbs5حَجَبَ · اِحْتَجَبَ · حَجَّبَ

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: فَعَلَ يَفْعُلُ (a – u; the imperfect from Lane's “aor.”)

  • حَجَبَhe, or it, prevented, hindered, debarred, or precluded, him, or itLaneForm Ilibrary ×20Lane
  • اِحْتَجَبَhe, or it, became prevented, hindered, debarred, or precludedLaneForm VIIIlibrary ×6Lane
  • حَجَّبَLane: see Form IForm IILane
  • تَحَجَّبَLane: see Form VIIIForm VLane
  • اِسْتَحْجَبَForm XLane
Verbal nouns3حَجَاب · اِحْتِجاب · حَجْب

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

  • حَجَابForm I · Lane: inf. n.LaneIbn Fāris
  • اِحْتِجابconcealing; protectingautoForm VIIIlibrary ×1
  • حَجْبForm I · Lane: inf. n.Lane
Participles4مَحْجُوب · حَاجِب · مُحَجَّب

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

  • مَحْجُوبking secluded, or concealed, from the peopleLanepassive, Form Ilibrary ×9Lane
  • حَاجِبactive, Form ILaneIbn Fāris
  • مُحَجَّبpassive, Form IILane
  • مُحْتَجِبactive, Form VIIILane
Other nouns7حِجَاب · حَجَبَة · حِجْبَة

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

  • حِجَابthing that prevents, hinders, debars,or precludesLanenounQurʾān ×7library ×39LaneIbn Fāris
  • حَجَبَةthe head or crest of the kip or haunch of a man, and of a horseLanenounLaneIbn Fāris
  • حِجْبَةnounLaneIbn Fāris
  • حَجَابَةthe office of doorkeeper or chamberlainLanenounLane
Plurals4حُجُب · حُجَّاب · مَحْجُوبُون

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

  • حُجُبbroken plural of حِجَابlibrary ×9Lane
  • حُجَّابbroken plural of حَاجِبLaneIbn Fāris
  • مَحْجُوبُونsound plural of مَحْجُوبQurʾān ×1
  • حَوَاجِبbroken plural of حَاجِبLane

Reference

Why this shape?What each of the 14 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.

مَفْعَلَةح ج بمَحْجَبَة

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
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-ḥajb (الحجب): whatever prevents one thing from [reaching] another has 'veiled' it — ḥajabahu ḥajban (حجبه حجبا).

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

    Al-ḥajb (الحجب): whatever prevents one thing from [reaching] another has 'veiled' it — ḥajabahu ḥajban (حجبه حجبا). Al-ḥijāba (الحجابة) is the office of the ḥājib (الحاجب, chamberlain/doorkeeper). Al-ḥijāb (الحجاب), a noun, is whatever you use to veil one thing from another; its plural is ḥujub (حجب). The plural of ḥājib (حاجب) is ḥajaba (حجبة). Ḥijāb al-jawf (حجاب الجوف) is the membrane that veils between the heart and the rest of the belly. Al-ḥājib (الحاجب) is the bone of the eye from above, covered by its hair and flesh. Ḥājib al-fīl (حاجب الفيل) is the name of a poet. The tops of the two hip bones, and what adjoins the two hip-sockets, are called al-ḥajbatān (الحجبتان), and [in the plural] thalāth ḥajabāt (ثلاث حجبات); its plural is ḥujab (حجب). He [the poet] said: 'And it did not strike upon mounting its ḥajbah (حجبه).'

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    الحجب: كل شيء منع شيئا من شيء فقد حجبه حجبا. والحجابة: ولاية الحاجب. والحجاب، اسم،: ما حجبت به شيئا عن شيء، ويجمع [على] : حجب. وجمع حاجب: حجبة. وحجاب الجوف: جلدة تحجب بين الفؤاد وسائر البطن. والحاجب: عظم العين من فوق يستره بشعره ولحمه. وحاجب الفيل: اسم شاعر. ويسمى رءوس عظم الوركين وما يلي الحرقفتين حجبتين وثلاث حجبات، وجمعه حجب، قال «1» : ولم يوقع بركوب حجبه

    al-Khalīl · 170 · OpenITIvowelled page on al-Maktaba al-Shāmila (print 3, p. 86) ↗
  • al-Jawharī · 393Al-ḥijāb (الحجاب): the veil/curtain.

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

    Al-ḥijāb (الحجاب): the veil/curtain. Ḥijāb al-jawf (حجاب الجوف): what veils between the heart and the rest [of the body]. Ḥajabahu (حجبه) means he prevented him from entering. The brothers 'veil' (yaḥjubūn) the mother from [inheriting] the third [share, reducing her to a sixth]. Al-maḥjūb (المحجوب) means the blind person. Ḥājib al-ʿayn (حاجب العين), 'the eyebrow,' plural ḥawājib (حواجب); ḥājib al-amīr (حاجب الأمير), 'the ruler's chamberlain,' plural ḥujjāb (حجاب). Istaḥjabahu (استحجبه): he appointed him to the office of chamberlain (ḥijāba). Ḥawājib al-shams (حواجب الشمس): the edges/rim of the sun. Qaws Ḥājib (قوس حاجب) refers to Ḥājib ibn Zurāra al-Tamīmī. Iḥtajaba al-malik ʿan al-nās (احتجب الملك عن الناس): the king secluded himself from the people. Malik muḥajjab (ملك محجب): a secluded/veiled king. Al-ḥajaba (الحجبة), with fatḥa, is the top of the hip-bone; there are two ḥajbatān that project over the two flanks.

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    الحجاب: الستر. وحجاب الجوف: ما يحتجب بين الفؤاد وسائره. وحجبه أي منعه عن الدخول. والاخوة يحجبون الام عن الثلث. والمحجوب: الضرير. وحاجب العين جمعه حواجب، وحاجب الأمير جمعه حجاب. واستحجبه: ولاه الحجبة. وحواجب الشمس: نواحيها. وقوس حاجب هو حاجب بن زرارة التميمي (1) . واحتجب الملك عن الناس. وملك محجب. والحجبة، بالتحريك: رأس الورك، وهما حجبتان تشرفان على الخاصرتين.

    al-Jawharī · 393 · OpenITIvowelled page on al-Maktaba al-Shāmila (print 1, p. 107) ↗
  • Ibn Fāris · 395The letters ḥāʾ, jīm, and bāʾ form one root, which means prevention.

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

    The letters ḥāʾ, jīm, and bāʾ form one root, which means prevention. One says ḥajabtuhu ʿan kadhā (حجبته عن كذا), meaning 'I prevented him from such-and-such.' Ḥijāb al-jawf (حجاب الجوف), 'the veil of the interior,' is what separates the heart from the rest of the interior of the body. Al-ḥājibān (الحاجبان), 'the two eyebrows,' are the two bones above the eyes together with their hair and flesh, and this is by way of comparison (tashbīh), as if they veil something that reaches the eyes. Likewise ḥājib al-shams (حاجب الشمس), 'the eyebrow/rim of the sun,' is so named by comparison to a person's eyebrow. Likewise al-ḥajaba (الحجبة), the top of the hip-bone, is also named by comparison, due to its prominence/projection.

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    الحاء والجيم والباء أصل واحد وهو المنع يقال حجبته عن كذا أي منعته وحجاب الجوف ما يحجب بين الفؤاد وسائر الجوف والحاجبان العظمان فوق العينين بالشعر واللحم وهذا على التشبيه كأنهما تحجبان شيئا يصل إلى العينين وكذلك حاجب الشمس إنما هو مشبه بحاجب الإنسان وكذلك الحجبة رأس الورك تشبيه أيضا لإشرافه

    Ibn Fāris · 395 · OpenITIvowelled page on al-Maktaba al-Shāmila (print 2, p. 143) ↗
  • al-Rāghib · 502Al-ḥajb (الحجب) and al-ḥijāb (الحجاب): prevention from reaching [something].

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

    Al-ḥajb (الحجب) and al-ḥijāb (الحجاب): prevention from reaching [something]. One says: ḥajabahu ḥajban wa-ḥijāban (حجبه حجبا وحجابا). Ḥijāb al-jawf (حجاب الجوف): what veils [something] from the heart. His saying, Most High: 'and between them is a ḥijāb (وبينهما حجاب)' [al-Aʿrāf 7:46] — He does not mean by it what veils sight, but rather what prevents the pleasure of the people of Paradise from reaching the people of the Fire, and the harm of the people of the Fire from reaching the people of Paradise, like His saying, Mighty and Majestic: 'so a wall will be erected between them with a gate, its interior containing mercy, and its exterior, facing it, is punishment' [al-Ḥadīd 57:13]. And He, Mighty and Majestic, said: 'It is not for any human being that God should speak to him except by revelation or from behind a ḥijāb (حجاب)' [al-Shūrā 42:51], i.e., from a place where the one addressed and conveyed-to does not see Him. And His saying, Most High: 'until it [the sun] was hidden by al-ḥijāb (الحجاب)' [Ṣād 38:32] means the sun when it disappears in its setting. Al-ḥājib (الحاجب): the one who prevents [access] to the ruler; the two ḥājibān (eyebrows) on the head are so called because they are like two guards (ḥājibān) for the eyes, warding [harm] off from them. Ḥājib al-shams (حاجب الشمس) is named [thus] because of its precedence before it, like the precedence of a chamberlain (ḥājib) before the ruler. His saying, Mighty and Majestic: 'No indeed! Truly, that Day they will be veiled (la-maḥjūbūn) from their Lord' [al-Muṭaffifīn 83:15] alludes to the withholding of light from them, indicated by His saying: 'so a wall will be erected between them' [al-Ḥadīd 57:13].

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    الحجب والحجاب: المنع من الوصول، يقال: حجبه حجبا وحجابا، وحجاب الجوف: ما يحجب عن الفؤاد، وقوله تعالى: وبينهما حجاب [الأعراف/ 46] ، ليس يعني به ما يحجب البصر، وإنما يعني ما يمنع من وصول لذة أهل الجنة إلى أهل النار، وأذية أهل النار إلى أهل الجنة، كقوله عز وجل: فضرب بينهم بسور له باب باطنه فيه الرحمة، وظاهره من قبله العذاب [الحديد/ 13] ، وقال عز وجل: وما كان لبشر أن يكلمه الله إلا وحيا أو من وراء حجاب [الشورى/ 51] ، أي: من حيث ما لا يراه مكلمه ومبلغه، وقوله تعالى: حتى توارت بالحجاب [ص/ 32] ، يعني الشمس إذا استترت بالمغيب. والحاجب: المانع عن السلطان، والحاجبان في الرأس لكونهما كالحاجبين للعين في الذب عنهما. وحاجب الشمس سمي لتقدمه عليها تقدم الحاجب للسلطان، وقوله عز وجل: كلا إنهم عن ربهم يومئذ لمحجوبون [المطففين/ 15] ، إشارة إلى منع النور عنهم المشار إليه بقوله: فضرب بينهم بسور [الحديد/ 13] .

    al-Rāghib · 502 · OpenITIvowelled page on al-Maktaba al-Shāmila (print 1, p. 219) ↗
  • Lisān · 711Al-ḥijāb (الحجاب): the veil/curtain.

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

    Al-ḥijāb (الحجاب): the veil/curtain. Ḥajaba al-shayʾ yaḥjubuhu ḥajban wa-ḥijāban (حجب الشيء يحجبه حجبا وحجابا) and ḥajabahu (حجبه): he veiled/covered it. One says iḥtajaba (احتجب) and taḥajjaba (تحجب) [of a person] when he conceals himself behind a veil. A woman who is maḥjūba (محجوبة) is one who has been covered with a veil. Ḥijāb al-jawf (حجاب الجوف): what veils between the heart and the rest [of the interior]. Al-Azharī said: it is a membrane between the heart and the rest of the belly. Al-ḥājib (الحاجب): the doorkeeper — an epithet used substantively (ṣifa ghāliba); its plurals are ḥajaba (حجبة) and ḥujjāb (حجاب); his office is called al-ḥijāba (الحجابة). Ḥajabahu (حجبه): he prevented him from entering. In the ḥadīth: 'The Banū Quṣayy said: Ours is al-ḥijāba (الحجابة)' — meaning the custodianship of the Kaʿba, its guardianship and care, [held by] those in whose hands are its keys. Al-ḥijāb (الحجاب) is the name for whatever one veils oneself with; anything that stands between two things is a ḥijāb, plural ḥujub (حجب) only. His saying, Most High: '[from] between us and you is a ḥijāb (حجاب)' means: between us and you there is a barrier in creed and religion; it is like His saying, Most High: 'our hearts are in coverings (akinna)' — except that the meaning here is: we do not agree with you in doctrine. Iḥtajaba al-malik ʿan al-nās (احتجب الملك عن الناس): the king secluded himself from the people; malik muḥajjab (ملك محجب): a secluded king. Al-ḥijāb (الحجاب) [also]: a thin membrane like a lining that lies crosswise, interposed between the two sides [of the body], separating the lungs from the abdomen. Anything that prevents something is said to 'veil' it, just as the brothers 'veil' the mother from her [full] entitled share — for the brothers reduce the mother's share from a third to a sixth. Al-ḥājibān (الحاجبان): the two bones above the eyes, together with their flesh and hair — an epithet used substantively, plural ḥawājib (حواجب); it is also said that al-ḥājib is [specifically] the hair growing on the bone, so called because it veils the eye from the glare of the sun. Al-Liḥyānī said: it is masculine only, and he related the phrase 'innahu la-muzajjaj al-ḥawājib' (he has finely-arched eyebrows), as if they made each part of it a separate ḥājib; he said: likewise it is said of anyone possessing a ḥājib. Abū Zayd said: in the forehead (jabīn) are the two ḥājibān, which are the place from which the hair of the two eyebrows grows out of the bone. Ḥājib al-amīr (حاجب الأمير): well known [i.e., the ruler's chamberlain], plural ḥujjāb (حجاب). Ḥajaba al-ḥājib yaḥjubu ḥajban (حجب الحاجب يحجب حجبا) [he served as chamberlain]. Al-ḥijāba (الحجابة): the office of chamberlain. Istaḥjabahu (استحجبه): he appointed him to the ḥijāba. Al-maḥjūb (المحجوب): the blind person. Ḥājib al-shams (حاجب الشمس): a part/side of it. He [the poet] said: 'She appeared to us like the sun beneath a cloud, / a ḥājib of it showed, while another ḥājib was withheld.' Ḥawājib al-shams (حواجب الشمس): its sides/edges. Al-Azharī: ḥājib al-shams is the sun's 'horn' (qarn), a part of its disk at the moment it begins to rise; one says 'the ḥājib of the sun or moon appeared.' Al-Azharī cited for al-Ghanawī: 'When we grow angry with a Muḍarī anger, / we tear away the ḥijāb of the sun, or it rains blood' — he said: its ḥijāb here is its light. And in the ḥadīth about prayer: 'until it [the sun] was hidden by al-ḥijāb' — here al-ḥijāb means the horizon; he means: when the sun set at the horizon and was concealed by it; from this comes His saying, Most High: 'until it was hidden by al-ḥijāb.' Ḥājib of anything: its edge/rim... [entry continues]

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    الحجاب: الستر. حجب الشيء يحجبه حجبا وحجابا وحجبه: ستره. وقد احتجب وتحجب إذا اكتن من وراء حجاب. وامرأة محجوبة: قد سترت بستر. وحجاب الجوف: ما يحجب بين الفؤاد وسائره؛ قال الأزهري: هي جلدة بين الفؤاد وسائر البطن. والحاجب: البواب، صفة غالبة، وجمعه حجبة وحجاب، وخطته الحجابة. وحجبه: أي منعه عن الدخول. وفي الحديث: قالت بنو قصي: فينا الحجابة ، يعنون حجابة الكعبة، وهي سدانتها، وتولي حفظها، وهم الذين بأيديهم مفاتيحها. والحجاب: اسم ما احتجب به، وكل ما حال بين شيئين: حجاب، والجمع حجب لا غير. وقوله تعالى: ومن بيننا وبينك حجاب ، معناه: ومن بيننا وبينك حاجز في النحلة والدين؛ وهو مثل قوله تعالى: قلوبنا في أكنة، إلا أن معنى هذا: أنا لا نوافقك في مذهب. واحتجب الملك عن الناس، وملك محجب. والحجاب: لحمة رقيقة كأنها جلدة قد اعترضت مستبطنة بين الجنبين، تحول بين السحر والقصب. وكل شيء منع شيئا، فقد حجبه كما تحجب الإخوة الأم عن فريضتها، فإن الإخوة يحجبون الأم عن الثلث إلى السدس. والحاجبان: العظمان اللذان فوق العينين بلحمهما وشعرهما، صفة غالبة، والجمع حواجب؛ وقيل: الحاجب الشعر النابت على العظم، سمي بذلك لأنه يحجب عن العين شعاع الشمس. قال اللحياني: هو مذكر لا غير، وحكى: إنه لمزجج الحواجب، كأنهم جعلوا كل جزء منه حاجبا. قال: وكذلك يقال في كل ذي حاجب. قال أبو زيد: في الجبين الحاجبان، وهما منبت شعر الحاجبين من العظم. وحاجب الأمير: معروف، وجمعه حجاب. وحجب الحاجب يحجب حجبا. والحجابة: ولاية الحاجب. واستحجبه: ولاه الحجبة «1». والمحجوب: الضرير. وحاجب الشمس: ناحية منها. قال: تراءت لنا كالشمس، تحت غمامة، ... بدا حاجب منها وضنت بحاجب وحواجب الشمس: نواحيها. الأزهري: حاجب الشمس: قرنها، وهو ناحية من قرصها حين تبدأ في الطلوع، يقال: بدا حاجب الشمس والقمر. وأنشد الأزهري للغنوي «2»: إذا ما غضبنا غضبة مضرية ... هتكنا حجاب الشمس أو مطرت دما قال: حجابها ضوؤها هاهنا. وقوله في حديث الصلاة: حين توارت بالحجاب. الحجاب هاهنا: الأفق؛ يريد: حين غابت الشمس في الأفق واستترت به؛ ومنه قوله تعالى: حتى توارت بالحجاب . وحاجب كل شيء: حرفه. وذكر الأصمعي أن امرأة قدمت إلى رجل خبزة أو قرصة فجعل يأكل من وسطها، فقالت له: كل من حواجبها أي من حروفها. والحجاب: ما أشرف من الجبل. وقال غيره: الحجاب: منقطع الحرة. قال أبو ذؤيب: فشربن ثم سمعن حسا، دونه ... شرف الحجاب وريب قرع يقرع وقيل: إنما يريد حجاب الصائد، لأنه لا بد له أن يستتر بشيء. ويقال: احتجبت الحامل من يوم تاسعها، وبيوم من تاسعها، يقال ذلك للمرأة الحامل، إذا مضى يوم من تاسعها، يقولون: أصبحت محتجبة بيوم من تاسعها، هذا كلام العرب. وفي حديث أبي ذر: أن النبي، صلى الله عليه وسلم، قال: إن الله يغفر للعبد ما لم يقع الحجاب. قيل: يا رسول الله، وما الحجاب؟ قال: أن تموت النفس، وهي مشركة ، كأنها حجبت بالموت عن الإيمان. قال أبو عمرو وشمر: حديث أبي ذر يدل على أنه لا ذنب يحجب عن العبد الرحمة، فيما دون الشرك. وقال ابن شميل، في حديث ابن مسعود، رضي الله عنه: من اطلع الحجاب واقع ما وراءه ، أي إذا مات الإنسان واقع ما وراء الحجابين حجاب الجنة وحجاب النار، لأنهما قد خفيا. وقيل: اطلاع الحجاب: مد الرأس، لأن المطالع يمد رأسه ينظر من وراء الحجاب، وهو الستر. والحجبة، بالتحريك: رأس الورك. والحجبتان: حرفا الورك اللذان يشرفان على الخاصرتين. قال طفيل: ورادا وحوا مشرفا حجباتها، ... بنات حصان، قد تعولم، منجب وقيل: الحجبتان: العظمان فوق العانة، المشرفان على مراق البطن، من يمين وشمال؛ وقيل: الحجبتان: رؤوس عظمي الوركين مما يلي الحرقفتين، والجميع الحجب، وثلاث حجبات. قال إمرؤ القيس: له حجبات مشرفات على الفال وقال آخر: ولم توقع، بركوب، حجبه والحجبتان من الفرس: ما أشرف على صفاق البطن من وركيه. وحاجب: اسم. وقوس حاجب: هو حاجب بن زرارة التميمي. وحاجب الفيل: اسم شاعر من الشعراء. وقال الأزهري في ترجمة عتب: العتبة في الباب هي الأعلى، والخشبة التي فوق الأعلى: الحاجب. والحجيب: موضع. قال الأفوه: فلما أن رأونا، في وغاها، ... كآساد الغريفة والحجيب «3» ويروى: واللهيب.

    Lisān · 711 · OpenITIvowelled page on al-Maktaba al-Shāmila (print 1, p. 298) ↗
  • Lane · 1876English, synthesising the classical dictionaries.

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

    حَجَبَهُ

    1. حَجَبَهُ, (S, A, Msb,) aor. حَجُبَ , (Msb,) inf. n. حَجْبٌ, (Mgh, Msb,) He, or it, prevented, hindered, debarred, or precluded, him, or it: (Mgh, Msb:) he, or it, precluded him, or it; i. e. prevented him, or it, from entering. (S, A.) [Hence,] الإِخْوَةُ يَحْجُبُونَ الأُمَّ عِنِ الثُّلُثِ [Brothers of a person deceased preclude the mother from receiving the third of the inheritance]. (S, A.) Also, (A, K,) aor. as above, (TA,) inf. n. حَجْبٌ and حَجَابٌ, (K,) He, or it, veiled, concealed, hid, covered, or protected, him, or it; (A, K;) as also حجّبهُ. (K.) [And It intervened between two things. Thus the diaphragm is described as] جِلْدَةٌ تَحْجُبُ بَيْنَ الفُؤَادِ وَالبَطْنِ [A piece of skin that intervenes between the heart and the belly]. (A.) [And He held the office of حَاجِب, i. e. door-keeper, or chamberlain. You say,] فُلَانٌ يَحْجُبُ لِلْأَمِيرِ Such a one holds the office of حاجب to the prince, governor, or commander. (A, TA.)

    حَجَّبَ

    2: see 1.

    تَحَجَّبَ

    5: see 8.

    احتجب

    8. احتجب [He, or it, became prevented, hindered, debarred, or precluded: he became secluded; or he secluded himself:] he, or it, became veiled, concealed, hidden, covered, or protected; as also تحجّب. (K, TA.) You say, احتجب المَلِكُ عِنِ النَّاسِ [The King secluded, or concealed, himself, or became secluded or concealed, from the people]. (S, A.) And احتجبت الشَّمْسُ فِى السَّحَابِ (tropical:) [The sun became concealed, or concealed itself, in the clouds]. (A, TA.) [Hence, app.,] احتجبت المَرْأَةُ بِيَومٍ, (K,) or بِيَوْمٍ مِنْ تَاسِعِهَا, and مِنْ يَوْمٍ مِنْ تَاسِعِهَا, (TA,) [as though meaning The woman secluded herself from the commencement of a day of her ninth month of pregnancy:] said of a pregnant woman, (TA,) when a day has passed of her ninth [month, during which it was probably a custom for a woman to seclude herself in the house or tent]. (K, TA.)

    استحجِبهُ

    10. استحجِبهُ He appointed him to the office of حَاجِب [i. e. door-keeper, or chamberlain]. (S, K.)

    حَجَبٌ

    حَجَبٌ: see حَجَبَةٌ. Also [The windpipe;] the passage of the breath. (K.)

    حَجِبٌ

    حَجِبٌ A hill; syn. أَكَمَةٌ: (K:) or a lofty أَكَمَة. (TA.)

    حِجْبَةٌ

    حِجْبَةٌ: see حِجَابَةٌ.

    حَجَبَةٌ

    حَجَبَةٌ The head [or crest] of the kip or haunch (S, A) [of a man, (see حَرْقَفَةٌ,) and] of a horse; (A;) i. e. each of the حَجَبَتَانِ, which project above, or beyond, the خَاصِرَتَانِ [or two flanks]: (S:) or the dual signifies the two edges of the hip or haunch, that project above, or beyond, the خَاصِرَة [or flank]: (K:) or the two bones above the pubes, that project above, or beyond, the soft parts of the belly, on the right and left: (Zj in his “ Khalk el-Insán, “ * and K:) or the heads of the two hipbones or haunch-bones, next the حَرْقَفَتَانِ [q. v.]; pl. [or rather coll. gen. n.] حَجَبٌ, and pl. of pauc. حَجَبَاتٌ: (TA:) and in a horse, the parts of the two hips, or haunches, that project above, or beyond, the [skin called] صِفَاق, of the belly. (K.)

    حِجَابٌ

    حِجَابٌ [A thing that prevents, hinders, debars,or precludes:] a thing that veils, conceals, hides, covers, or protects; (S, Msb, K TA;) because it prevents seeing, or beholding: (Msb:) a thing, (A, K,) or body. (Msb,) that intervenes (A, Msb, K) between two things, (A, K,) or between two bodies; which is [said to be] the primary signification; (Msb;) [a partition, a bar, a barrier, or an obstacle:] and sometimes applied to ideal things: (Msb:) pl. جُجُبٌ. (A, Msb, K.) You say, ضُرِبَ الحِجَابُ عَلَى النِّسَآءِ [The veil, or curtain, was put, or let down, over the women]. (A, TA.) And لَهُ دَعَوَاتٌ تَخْرِقُ الحُجُبَ [He has prayers that rend the veils]. (A, TA.) And مَا لِدَعْوَةِ المَظْلُومِ حِجَابٌ [There is no veil, or obstacle, to the prayer of the wronged]. (A, TA.) It is said in a trad., مَنِ ٱطَّلَعَ الحِجَابِ وَاقَعَ مَا وَرَآءَهُ [He who gets sight and knowledge of the veil falls into that which is behind it]: i. e., when a man dies, he falls into what is behind [one of] the two veils, that of Paradise and that of Hell: (ISh, TA:) or, accord. to some, اِطَلَاعُ الحِجَابِ signifies the stretching out the head [and looking over the veil]; for he who examines into a thing stretches out his head to see what is behind the veil, or covering. (TA.) And in another trad., a saying of Mohammad, (TA,) إِنَّ ٱللّٰهَ يَغْفِرُ لِلْعَبْدِ مَا لَمْ يَقَعِ الحِجَابُ [Verily God forgiveth the servant (his creature) as long as the precluding event shall not have happened]: الحجاب here meaning the dying in the belief in a plurality of gods: (K, * TA:) as though one were precluded from true belief by death. (TA.) One says also, العَجْزُ حَجَابٌ بَيْنَ الإِنْسَانِ وَمُرَادِهِ [Inability is a bar between man and his desire]. (Msb.) And المَعْصِيَةُ حِجَابٌ بَيْنَ العَبْدِ وَبَيْنَ رَبِّهِ [Disobedience is a bar between the servant and his Lord]. (Msb.) [Hence, in the present day, (assumed tropical:) A written charm or amulet; generally worn in a case (called بَيْتُ حِجَابٍ) suspended, on the right side, by a string passing over the left shoulder, or on some other part of the person: pl. of mult. حُجُبٌ, and of pauc. أَحْجِبَةٌ and حِجَابَاتٌ.] [Hence also,] A thin piece of flesh, (K,) resembling a piece of shin, (TA,) in the interior of the body, between the two sides, intervening between the lungs and the قصب [in the K القَصَب, but this is evidently a mistranscription for القُصْب the lower intestines; for the حجاب is the diaphragm, or midriff]: (K, TA:) and حِجَابُ القَلْبِ, (A,) or حَجَابُ الجَوْفِ, (S,) signifies [the same; as also حَجَابُ الكَبِدِ; (see خِلْبٌ;)] what intervenes between the heart and the rest of the جوف; (S;) the piece of skin that intervenes between the heart and the belly: (A, TA:) or حِجَابُ القَلْبِ signifies a certain fat that clothes the heart: (AHeyth, TA in art. شغف:) [or it signifies, or signifies also, the septum cordis: see قَلْبٌ:] pl. حُجُبٌ (A, TA.) Hence the saying, هَتَكَ الخَوْفُ حِجَابَ قَلْبِهِ (tropical:) [Fear rent open his midriff: or his septum cordis]. (A, TA.) (assumed tropical:) The horizon: [because it terminates the view:] so in the phrase, تَوَارَتْ بِٱلْحِجَابِ (assumed tropical:) It (the sun) became concealed by the horizon; occurring in the Kur [xxxviii. 31], and in a trad. (TA.) (tropical:) A mountain: (A:) or an elevated part of a mountain. (K.) You say, قَعَدَ فِى ظِلِّ الحِجَابِ (tropical:) He sat in the shade of the mountain. (A.) (assumed tropical:) The place where a [stony tract such as is called] حَرَّة ends. (K.) (assumed tropical:) A tract of sand uniformly continuous, and long. (K.) (assumed tropical:) The light of the sun: or the tract, or side, of the sun: (K, TA:) or [like حَاجِبٌ] a side, or part, of the sun. (TA.)

    حَجَابَةٌ

    حَجَابَةٌ, (K,) or حِجْبَةٌ, (S,) The office of doorkeeper [or chamberlain]. (S, * K.) And the former, The office of door-keeper and guardian of the Kaabeh. (TA.)

    حَاجِبٌ

    حَاجِبٌ, an epithet in which the quality of a subst. predominates, (TA,) A door-keeper; (Msb, K;) so called because he prevents persons from entering: (Msb:) [a chamberlain:] pl. حُجَّابٌ (S, Msb, K) and حَجَبَةٌ. (Msb, K.) And حَجَبَةُ البَيْتِ [The door-keepers and guardians of the Kaabeh: see حِجَابَةٌ]. (TA.) Each of the two bones over the eyes, with the hair and flesh upon them: (IF, Msb, K:) or the eyebrow; the hair growing on either of those bones: (AZ, K:) so called because it precludes the rays of the sun from the eye: (TA:) of the masc. gender: (Lh TA:) pl. حَوَاجِبُ. (S Msb, K.) One says, إِنَّهُ لَمُزَجَّجُ الحَاجِبِ [Verily he has the eyebrow made narrow and long, by the removal of redundant hairs; or made narrow and long and arched; or lengthened with antimony]. (Lh, TA.) [Hence, as being likened thereto,] (assumed tropical:) The piece of wood that is over the lintel of a door-frame. (Az, TA.) [See عَتَبَةٌ.] (tropical:) The edge, (A,) or side, (K,) or upper limb of the disk, that appears when it begins to rise, (T, TA,) or the first part that appears, (Mgh,) of the sun, (T, A, Mgh, K,) and of the moon: (T, TA:) likened to the حاجب (A, Mgh) of the face (Mgh) of a man: (A:) and حَوَاجبُ الشَّمْس the sides of the sun. (S.) You say, بَدَا حَاجِبُ الشَّمْس, (T, A, TA,) and القَمَرِ, (T, TA,) (tropical:) The upper limb of the disk, (T, TA,) or the edge, (A,) of the sun appeared, (T, A, TA,) and of the moon. (T, TA.) (assumed tropical:) The edge or anything. (K.) A woman said to a man who was eating of the middle of a round cake of bread, كُلْ مِنْ حَوَاجِبِهَا (tropical:) Eat of its edges, (As, TA,) or its sides. (A.) (assumed tropical:) [The beginning of the dawn.] You say, لَاحَتْ حَوَاجِبُ الصُّبْحِ (tropical:) The beginnings of the dawn appeared. (A, TA.)

    Lane, Arabic-English Lexiconread Lane's entry online ↗
Technical definitions4 · Ibn ʿArabī’s Iṣṭilāḥ, al-Jurjānī’s Taʿrīfāt

  • الحجاب

    كل ما ستر مطلوبك عن عينك.

    Al-ḥijāb (الحجاب): everything that veils/conceals what you seek from your sight.

    Ibn ʿArabī, Iṣṭilāḥ al-Ṣūfiyya, line 304 ↗

  • الحجب

    في اللغة المنع، وفي الاصطلاح: منع شخص معين من ميراثه، إما كله أو بعضه، بوجود شخص آخر، ويسمى الأول: حجب حرمان، والثاني، حجب نقصان.

    Al-ḥajb (الحجب): linguistically, prevention; technically, the exclusion of a specified person from his/her inheritance, either wholly or partly, due to the presence of another person. The first [type] is called ḥajb ḥirmān (حجب حرمان, 'exclusionary bar'), and the second, ḥajb nuqṣān (حجب نقصان, 'reductive bar').

    al-Jurjānī, al-Taʿrīfāt, line 1666 ↗

  • الحجاب

    كل ما يستر مطلوبك، وهو عند أهل الحق: انطباع الصور الكونية في القلب المانعة لقبول تجلي الحق.

    Al-ḥijāb (الحجاب): everything that veils what you seek; and according to the People of the Truth [the Sufis], it is the imprinting of cosmic forms upon the heart, which prevents the reception of the theophany (tajallī) of the Real.

    al-Jurjānī, al-Taʿrīfāt, line 1668 ↗

  • حجاب العزة

    هو العمى والحيرة؛ إذ لا تأثير للإدراكات الكشفية في كنه الذات، فعدم نفوذها فيه حجاب لا يرتفع في حق الغير أبدا.

    Ḥijāb al-ʿizza (حجاب العزة, 'the veil of Might'): it is blindness and bewilderment, since unveiling-perceptions (idrākāt kashfiyya) have no effect upon the innermost reality (kunh) of the Essence; so their failure to penetrate it constitutes a veil that is never lifted with respect to anything other [than the Essence].

    al-Jurjānī, al-Taʿrīfāt, line 1670 ↗

Look this root up elsewhere:Doha Historical Dictionary ↗Quranic Arabic Corpus ↗Arabic Almanac ↗Hawramani Arabic Lexicon ↗

The same letters, turned

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

ح ج ب

الحاء والجيم والباء أصل واحد وهو المنع

ḥ-j-b is one root, meaning prevention.

Ibn Fāris ↗Lisān ↗Lane ↗al-Khalīl: used ↗Quran ×8

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

ح

ومن أوسط الحلق مخرج العين والحاء

From the middle of the throat is the place of the ʿayn and the ḥāʾ. Sībawayh, lines 26548–26549 ↗

ومن وسط الحلق مخرج العين والحاء

From the middle of the throat is the place of the ʿayn and the ḥāʾ. Ibn Jinnī, line 970 ↗

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 ↗

ب

ومما بين الشفتين مخرج الباء، والميم، والواو

From between the two lips is the place of the bāʾ, the mīm and the wāw. Sībawayh, line 26563 ↗

ومما بين الشفتين مخرج الباء والميم والواو

From between the two lips is the place of the bāʾ, the mīm and the wāw. Ibn Jinnī, line 986 ↗

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

ح

Level of existence: الجوهر الهبابي · the dust-like substance (spelled الهبابي in the text)

Divine Name: الآخر · al-Ākhir, the Last

Lunar mansion: الدبران · al-Dabarān

Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 62076

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

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

ب

Level of existence: الجن · the jinn

Divine Name: اللطيف · al-Laṭīf, the Subtle

Lunar mansion: الفرع المقدم · al-Farʿ al-Muqaddam

Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 62118

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
Meaning by vowelal-Dabbāgh · a visionary claim about a primordial “Syriac”, not historical Syriac

English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic

ح

With fatḥa ـَ

فهي تدل على الإحاطة والشمول للجميع.

It denotes encompassing and inclusion of everything.

With ḍamma ـُ

فهي العدد الكثير الخارج عن بني آدم كالنجوم.

It is a great number external to the children of Adam, such as the stars.

With kasra ـِ

فهي العدد الداخل في الذات أو للذات عليه ولاية كملكية العبيد والدنانير والدراهم وغير ذلك.

It is a number contained within the self, or over which the self has authority, such as ownership of slaves, dinars, dirhams and the like.

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

ب

With fatḥa ـَ

فهي إشارة إلى الشيء الذي هو في غاية العز أو في غاية الذل.

It is an indication of the thing that is at the utmost of might or at the utmost of abasement.

With ḍamma ـُ

فهي إشارة معها قبض.

It is an indication accompanied by contraction (qabḍ).

With kasra ـِ

فهي إشارة إلى ما دخل أو هو داخل على الذات.

It is an indication of what has entered, or is entering, upon the self.

al-Dabbāgh (d. 1132/1719), al-Ibrīz, ch. 2 §15, compiled by al-Lamaṭī
Two-letter nucleus5 roots in Ibn Fāris’s chapterح 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 8083 ↗

  • حجرالحاء والجيم والراء أصل واحد مطرد وهو المنع والإحاطة على الشيء فالحجر حجر الإنسان وقد تكسر حاؤه ويقال حجر الحاكم على السفيه حجرا وذلك منعه إياه من التQ 21 · L8084
  • جحفالجيم والحاء والفاء أصل واحد قياسه الذهاب بالشيء مستوعباL8113
  • حجمالحاء والجيم والميم أصل واحد وهو ضرب من المنع والصدفL8125
  • حجنالحاء والجيم والنون أصل واحد يدل على ميل فالحجن اعوجاج الخشبة وغيرها والمحجن خشبة أو عصا معقفة الرأس واحتجنت بها الشيء أخذته ويقال للمخاليب المعقفة حجL8128
  • حجاالحاء والجيم والحرف المعتل أصلان متقاربان أحدهما إطافة الشيء بالشيء وملازمته والآخر القصد والتعمد فأما الأول فالحجوة وهي الحدقة لأنها من أحدق بالشيء وL8135
In the sister scriptsHebrew ח ג בSyriac ܚ ܓ ܒ
Arabicح ج ب
Hebrewח ג ב
Syriacܚ ܓ ܒ
Ancient South Arabian (musnad)𐩢 𐩴 𐩨
Phoenician𐤇 𐤂 𐤁

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 defines ḥajb broadly: anything that keeps one thing from another has 'veiled' it.well attested

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

    Al-Khalīl defines ḥajb broadly: anything that keeps one thing from another has 'veiled' it. He lists the ḥijāba as the office of the ḥājib (chamberlain), the ḥijāb al-jawf as the membrane between heart and belly, and the ḥājib as the bone above the eye, covered by hair and flesh. Al-Jawharī opens with ḥijāb = sitr (covering). He adds 'prevented from entering', the inheritance usage (brothers 'debar' the mother from the third), maḥjūb for the blind, and the king who 'veils himself' from people. Ibn Fāris reduces everything to prevention and explains the brows, ḥājib al-shams and the ḥajaba of the hip as extensions by resemblance. Al-Rāghib glosses the root as 'preventing arrival' and turns it toward Quranic usage. Ibn Manẓūr combines covering and preventing, adds ḥājib = doorkeeper and the Qurayshī ḥijābat al-Kaʿba (its custodianship and keys), and generalises: whatever stands between two things is a ḥijāb. Lane records both senses, 'prevented, precluded from entering' and 'veiled, concealed'.

    Draws on: al-Khalīl · al-Jawharī · Ibn Fāris · al-Rāghib · Ibn Manẓūr · Lane

  • Letters & soundAl-Dabbāgh's meanings are: ḥāʾ for encompassing and including everything, jīm for prophethood or walāya when the context signals it and otherwise for unceasing good, and bāʾ for something at the extreme of might or of abasement.speculative

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

    Al-Dabbāgh's meanings are: ḥāʾ for encompassing and including everything, jīm for prophethood or walāya when the context signals it and otherwise for unceasing good, and bāʾ for something at the extreme of might or of abasement. A symbolic reader could see a veil as an encompassing (ḥ) that separates two parties set at unequal rank (b), such as the king and the petitioner. No letter data from Ibn ʿArabī's Breath chapter is supplied for these letters. Mainstream linguistics treats such readings as suggestive at most.

    Draws on: al-Dabbāgh · sound-symbolism

  • Root structureSeveral of Ibn Fāris's ḥ-j roots also turn on restraint or enclosure.plausible

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

    Several of Ibn Fāris's ḥ-j roots also turn on restraint or enclosure. Ḥ-j-r is 'prevention and enclosing' (the interdict on the incompetent), ḥ-j-m is 'a kind of prevention and turning away', and ḥ-j-w includes 'surrounding a thing and staying close to it'. Ḥ-j-n (bending, the hooked staff) and j-ḥ-f (carrying something off entirely) sit further from this sense. Of the permutations, only ḥ-j-b occurs in the Quran. Ibn Fāris doubts ḥ-b-j ('to appear suddenly'), calls b-j-ḥ 'a single word', and j-b-ḥ is attested without a text given here. Setting the ḥ-j group next to ḥajb suggests a shared note of barrier or enclosure. The permutations do not support a greater-derivation reading.

    Draws on: Ibn Fāris nucleus ḥ-j · permutations

    • Ibn Jinnī, al-Khaṣāʾiṣ (greater derivation) (link not verified)
  • Semitic kin & loanwordsI know of no confident cognate of Arabic ḥ-j-b in Hebrew, Aramaic/Syriac, Akkadian, Geʿez or Epigraphic South Arabian.uncertain

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

    I know of no confident cognate of Arabic ḥ-j-b in Hebrew, Aramaic/Syriac, Akkadian, Geʿez or Epigraphic South Arabian. Hebrew ḥāgāb ('locust') matches in form only and should not be connected. The word shows no sign of being borrowed and is best treated as native Arabic vocabulary.

    Draws on: no secure cognate

  • Quranic exegesisAt Q 17:45 (ḥijāban mastūran) the exegetes read the veil as whatever keeps the unbelievers from understanding the recitation.plausible

    How the classical exegetes read the word in the Quran.

    At Q 17:45 (ḥijāban mastūran) the exegetes read the veil as whatever keeps the unbelievers from understanding the recitation. Al-Zamakhsharī discusses whether mastūr means 'hidden from sight' or 'having a covering'. At Q 7:46 the ḥijāb is the barrier between the people of the Garden and of the Fire, on which the Aʿrāf stand. Al-Rāghib says it prevents pleasure and harm from passing between the two groups, not sight, and compares Q 57:13. At Q 42:51 (min warāʾi ḥijābin) he explains the phrase as speech in which the addressee does not see the speaker; the exegetes commonly apply it to God's speaking to Moses. Q 83:15 ('from their Lord that day they will be veiled') was a point of dispute. Al-Rāzī, with Sunni tradition, takes it as implying that believers are not veiled and will see God. Al-Zamakhsharī reads it as an image of disgrace, like being kept from a king's presence.

    Draws on: al-Ṭabarī · al-Zamakhsharī · al-Rāzī · al-Rāghib

  • Akbarian readingIbn ʿArabī's Iṣṭilāḥ defines al-ḥijāb as 'everything that screens what you seek from your eye'.well attested

    The word in Ibn ʿArabī's text and terminology.

    Ibn ʿArabī's Iṣṭilāḥ defines al-ḥijāb as 'everything that screens what you seek from your eye'. The veil is defined relative to the seeker and what the seeker is after. In Faṣṣ Ādam each human faculty is 'veiled by itself' and sees nothing superior to itself. The world is the visible (shahāda) and the vicegerent is the unseen (ghayb), 'and for this reason the sultan veiled himself'. The Real described Himself with veils of darkness, which are natural bodies, and veils of light, which are subtle spirits; this recalls the ḥadīth of the veils. The world, between dense and subtle, 'is itself the veil over itself', so it does not perceive the Real as He perceives Himself.

    Draws on: Iṣṭilāḥāt · Fuṣūṣ, Faṣṣ Ādam

Reference

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