حرفPer Ibn Fāris: three related senses — the edge/limit of a thing, deviation from a course, … (root hrf)

Al-ḥarf (الحرف) is one of the letters of the alphabet (ḥurūf al-hijā', حروف الهجاء). Every word constructed as a bare particle in speech to distinguish meanings is called a ḥarf, even if its construction is of two letters or more, like ḥattā (حتى), hal (هل), bal (بل), and la'alla (لعل). And every word that is read in different ways (wujūh, وجوه) in the Qur'an is called a ḥarf; one says: 'this ḥarf is read in the ḥarf of Ibn Mas'ūd,' meaning in his recitation. (And taḥrīf (التحريف) in the Qur'an is changing a word from its meaning while it remains close in resemblance, just as the Jews used to change the meanings of the Torah through resemblances; so God described their deed, saying: {They distort words from their places}.) One says fulān taḥarrafa ʿan fulān (تحرف عن فلان), inḥarafa (انحرف), and iḥrawrafa (احرورف) — all the same, meaning 'he turned aside.' A person is 'upon a ḥarf of his affair,' as if waiting and anticipating: if he sees from one direction what he likes [he stays], otherwise he turns to another. Ḥarf al-safīnah (حرف السفينة) is the side of its hull. Al-ḥarf (الحرف) is the hardy she-camel, likened to the ḥarf (edge) of a mountain. The poet said: "A camel-like (jumāliyyah, جمالية) ḥarf, firmly built (sinād, سناد), driven along / by a slender-shanked (wazīf azajj al-khaṭw, وظيف أزج الخطو) leg, well-fed (rayyān, ريان), tall (sahwaq, سهوق)." This refutes those who say nāqah ḥarf means 'emaciated,' comparing it to a written letter (ḥarf) for its thinness — for if ḥarf meant 'emaciated' [here], he would not have described her as jumāliyyah and sinād, nor her shank as rayyān. Al-ḥarf (الحرف) is also a seed like mustard (khardal, خردل), a single grain of it being ḥarfah (حرفة). Al-muḥārafah (المحارفة) is probing/measuring with the miḥrāf (المحراف), the probe with which wounds are examined. Al-muḥārif (المحارف) is the deprived, ill-fated one.

Ḥarf (حرف) of anything is its edge (ṭaraf), its rim (shafīr), and its boundary (ḥadd). From this comes ḥarf al-jabal (حرف الجبل), its topmost, pointed part. Al-ḥarf (الحرف) is one of the letters of spelling (ḥurūf al-tahjī). Regarding His saying, Most High: {And among the people is he who worships God upon a ḥarf} — they said: [it means] 'in one manner,' namely worshipping Him in ease but not in hardship. Al-ḥarf (الحرف) is the lean, hardy she-camel, likened to the ḥarf of a mountain. The poet said: "A camel-like ḥarf, firmly built (sinād), driven along / by a slender-shanked leg [...], well-fed, tall." Al-Aṣmaʿī used to say: al-ḥarf is the emaciated she-camel. One says aḥraftu nāqatī (أحرفت ناقتي) when I have made her lean. Others say it with thā' [aḥrathtu]. Abū Zayd said: aḥrafa al-rajulu (أحرف الرجل), so he is muḥrif (محرف), when his wealth increases and prospers; one says 'so-and-so came with al-ḥalaq wa-l-iḥrāf (الحلق والإحراف)' when he brought much wealth. A man [called] muḥārif (محارف), with fatḥah on the rā', means deprived, denied fortune — opposite of mubārak (مبارك, 'blessed'). The rajaz poet said: "Deprived (muḥārif) as regards sheep and camels, / blessed (mubārak) with the sharp qalʿī sword." One says ḥūrifa kasbu fulānin (حورف كسب فلان) when his livelihood is made difficult for him, as if his provision were turned away from him. In the ḥadīth of Ibn Masʿūd, God be pleased with him: 'The death of the believer is [by] the sweat of the brow (ʿaraq al-jabīn, عرق الجبين); some remnant of sins remains upon him, so he is yuḥārafu (يحارف) with them at death' — meaning he is made to struggle so that his sins are purged from him. Al-ḥurf (الحرف), with ḍammah, is cress-seed (ḥabb al-rashād); from this something is called ḥarrīf (حريف), with tashdīd, meaning it stings the tongue with its pungency (ḥarāfah); likewise 'ḥarrīf onion' — do not say ḥarīf [without doubling]. Al-ḥirf (الحرف) is also the noun from 'a man is muḥārif,' meaning deprived of fortune, whose wealth does not grow. Likewise al-ḥirfah (الحرفة), with kasrah. In the ḥadīth of ʿUmar, God be pleased with him: 'The deprivation (ḥirfah) of one of them is harder on me than his poverty (ʿaylah).' Al-ḥirfah (الحرفة) also means 'craft/trade.' Al-muḥtarif (المحترف) is the craftsman. 'So-and-so is my ḥarīfā (حريفى)' means my business-partner. Al-Aṣmaʿī said: one says 'he yaḥrifu (يحرف) for his dependents,' meaning he earns from here and there, like yaqrifu. Abū ʿUbaydah related: ḥaraftu al-shay'a ʿan wajhihi ḥarfan (حرفت الشيء عن وجهه حرفا) ['I turned the thing from its course']. Al-miḥrāf (المحراف) is the probe by which wounds are measured. Al-Quṭāmī said, describing a wound: "When the physician treats it with his two probes (miḥrāfayn), / it swells more from the probing or moving it, with a groan." It is also transmitted 'ʿalā al-naqr' (النقر), meaning the swelling, or [it is said to mean] the flow of blood. Taḥrīf al-kalām ʿan mawāḍiʿih (تحريف الكلام عن مواضعه) is changing it [from its places]. Taḥrīf al-qalam (تحريف القلم) is cutting it on a slant. One says: inḥarafa ʿanhu, taḥarrafa, iḥrawrafa (انحرف عنه، تحرف، احرورف), meaning 'he turned aside and deviated.' The rajaz poet said, describing a bull digging a lair: "And if he met an obstacle (ʿadwā', عدواء), he swerved away (iḥrawrafa) from it, and..." [entry continues]

Ḥā', rā', and fā' (ح ر ف) form three roots: the boundary (ḥadd, حد) of a thing, deviation (al-ʿudūl, العدول), and the measuring/assessing of a thing (taqdīr al-shay', تقدير الشيء). As for the boundary: ḥarf (حرف) of anything is its edge/boundary, like that of a sword or other things. From this comes ḥarf (الحرف) meaning 'aspect' (al-wajh, الوجه); you say 'he is on one ḥarf of his affair,' meaning 'one way.' God Almighty said: {And among the people is he who worships God upon a ḥarf} (al-Ḥajj 22), meaning 'in one manner.' This is because the servant must obey his Lord in both ease and hardship; if he obeys Him in ease but disobeys Him in hardship, he has worshipped Him upon a ḥarf. Do you not see His saying: {But if good befalls him he is content with it, and if a trial befalls him he turns on his face}? A she-camel is called ḥarf (حرف): some said it is the lean one (aḍ-ḍāmir, الضامر), likened to the edge of a sword; others said it is the huge one, likened to the ḥarf (edge/side) of a mountain. Aws said: "A ḥarf-camel — her brother is her father, from a noble-bred dam (muhajjanah, مهجنة), / and her paternal uncle is her maternal uncle — long-necked (qawdā', قوداء), swift (mi'shīr, مئشير)." And Ka'b ibn Zuhayr said: "A ḥarf-camel — her brother is her father, from a noble-bred dam (muhajjanah, مهجنة), / and her paternal uncle is her maternal uncle — smooth-flanked (jardā', جرداء), swift (shimlīl, شمليل)." The second root is deviation from a thing: one says inḥarafa ʿanhu yanḥarifu inḥirāfan (انحرف عنه ينحرف انحرافا), and ḥaraftuhu anā ʿanhu (حرفته أنا عنه), meaning 'I turned it away from it.' For this reason one says muḥārif (محارف) [deprived], which occurs when one's livelihood is diverted (ḥūrifa) away from him — like taḥrīf al-kalām (تحريف الكلام), which is turning speech away from its [proper] direction. God Almighty said: {They distort words from their places} (al-Nisā' 46, al-Mā'idah 13). The third root is al-miḥrāf (المحراف), an iron probe by which wounds are assessed during treatment. [The poet] said: "When the physician treats it with his two probes (miḥrāfayn, محرافيه), / it swells more from the probing or its movement, with a groan." Some claimed that muḥārif derives from this, as if one's provision were measured against him as a wound is measured with the miḥrāf. From this chapter also: 'so-and-so yaḥrifu (يحرف) for his family,' meaning he earns a living. Better than this is to say that the fā' here is substituted from thā' (ث), deriving from ḥarth (حرث), meaning earning and gathering. They sometimes say aḥrafa fulānun iḥrāfan (أحرف فلان إحرافا) when his wealth increases and prospers. 'So-and-so is ḥarīf (حريف) of so-and-so' means his business-partner. All this derives from ḥarf (حرف) and iḥtarafa (احترف), meaning 'he earned a living' — and the [true] root is what we have mentioned.

Ḥarf al-shay' (حرف الشيء) is its edge; its plurals are aḥruf (أحرف) and ḥurūf (حروف). One says ḥarf al-sayf (حرف السيف, edge of the sword), ḥarf al-safīnah (حرف السفينة, side of the ship), ḥarf al-jabal (حرف الجبل, edge of the mountain); and ḥurūf al-hijā' (حروف الهجاء) are the constituent units of a word (aṭrāf al-kalimah); and al-ḥurūf al-ʿawāmil (الحروف العوامل) in grammar are the [particle] units linking words together. Nāqatun ḥarf (ناقة حرف) [is so named] by comparison to the edge of a mountain, or by comparison in thinness to a letter (ḥarf) of a word. He, Mighty and Exalted, said: {And among the people is he who worships God upon a ḥarf} (al-Ḥajj 22:11) — explained by what follows: {But if good befalls him he is content with it, and if a trial befalls him he turns on his face} (al-Ḥajj 22:11); and in similar meaning: {wavering between that} (al-Nisā' 4:143). Inḥarafa ʿan kadhā (انحرف عن كذا), taḥarrafa (تحرف), iḥtarafa (احترف), and al-iḥtirāf (الاحتراف) [mean] seeking a ḥirfah (حرفة, trade) for earning a livelihood; al-ḥirfah (الحرفة) is the condition one is bound to in that pursuit, like al-qaʿdah and al-jilsah (manner of sitting). Al-muḥārif (المحارف) is the one deprived, whom good fortune has bypassed. Taḥrīf al-shay' (تحريف الشيء) is inclining/tilting it, as in taḥrīf al-qalam (تحريف القلم, cutting the pen on a slant); and taḥrīf al-kalām (تحريف الكلام) is making it susceptible to [double] interpretation, capable of being carried on two senses. He, Mighty and Exalted, said: {They distort words from their places} (al-Nisā' 4:46); {and they distort words from after their places} (al-Mā'idah 5:41); {and a party of them used to hear the word of God, then distort it after they had understood it} (al-Baqarah 2:75). And al-ḥarf (الحرف) is that which has heat and a stinging quality, as if it were turned (muḥarraf) away from sweetness and mildness; and food... [entry continues]

Al-ḥarf (الحرف), among the letters of spelling (ḥurūf al-hijā'), is well known — one of the ḥurūf al-tahjī. Al-ḥarf (الحرف) is also the particle called 'the linking one' (al-rābiṭah, الرابطة) because it links noun to noun and verb to verb, such as ʿan (عن) and ʿalā (على) and the like. Al-Azharī said: every word constructed as a bare particle in speech to distinguish meanings is named ḥarf, even if its structure is of one letter or more, like ḥattā (حتى), hal (هل), bal (بل), and laʿalla (لعل); and every word read in [various] ways in the Qur'an is called a ḥarf — you say 'this is in the ḥarf of Ibn Masʿūd,' meaning in the reading of Ibn Masʿūd. Ibn Sīdah [said]: al-ḥarf is the reading recited according to [various] aspects. As for what came in the ḥadīth, his saying, peace be upon him: 'The Qur'an was sent down upon seven aḥruf (أحرف), all of them sufficient and satisfying' — by ḥarf he meant 'dialect' (lughah, لغة). Abū ʿUbayd and Abū al-ʿAbbās said: it was sent down in seven dialects of the Arabs. He said: this does not mean that a single ḥarf has seven aspects — this has not been heard of; rather these dialects are scattered through the Qur'an: some in the dialect of Quraysh, some in that of the people of Yemen, some in that of Hawāzin, some in that of Hudhayl, and so on for the rest of the dialects, their meanings throughout being one. Others said: it does not mean a single ḥarf has seven aspects, given that parts of the Qur'an have been read in seven or even ten ways, such as 'māliki/maliki yawmi l-dīn' and 'ʿabada/ʿabuda l-ṭāghūt.' What clarifies this is the saying of Ibn Masʿūd: 'I have heard the recitation(s) and found them close to one another, so recite as you have been taught; it is only like one of you saying halumma (هلم), taʿāla (تعال), and aqbil (أقبل) [different words for 'come'].' Ibn al-Athīr said: there are other opinions besides this; this is the best of them. Al-ḥarf in its origin is the edge and side, and by this the letter of the alphabet was named. Al-Azharī related from Abū al-ʿAbbās that, asked about the saying 'The Qur'an was sent down upon seven aḥruf,' he said: 'They are nothing but dialects.' Al-Azharī said: Abū al-ʿAbbās the grammarian, unmatched in his era, approved and endorsed what Abū ʿUbayd held, saying: these seven aḥruf, meaning dialects, do not go beyond what is written in the codices (maṣāḥif) of the Muslims upon which the approved predecessors and the followed successors agreed. Whoever recites according to a ḥarf not contradicting the muṣḥaf by addition, omission, or transposition, and has recited it following one of the leading reciters well known in the various regions, has recited according to one of the seven aḥruf upon which the Qur'an was sent down. Whoever recites according to an anomalous ḥarf contradicting the muṣḥaf, and in that contradicting the consensus of the well-known reciters, is not correct. This is the doctrine of the people of knowledge who are the exemplars, and the doctrine of those firmly grounded in the science of the Qur'an, both anciently and in modern times, [entry continues]