حسسIbn Fāris gives two roots: overpowering a thing, by killing or otherwise; the imitative … (root hss)

Al-ḥass (الحس): swift, thorough killing. Al-ḥass: the harm cold does to things; you say "aṣābathum ḥāssa min al-bard" (أصابتهم حاسة من البرد), "a blight of cold struck them," and "bāta fulān bi-ḥissati sū'" (بات فلان بحسة سوء), meaning: in a bad and harsh condition. Al-ḥass: your brushing dust off a riding-beast with the miḥassa (المحسة), which is the currycomb (al-firjawn الفرجون). It is said: "mā sami'tu lahu ḥissan wa lā jarsan" (ما سمعت له حسا ولا جرسا) ["I heard from him neither sound nor voice"] — al-ḥiss is [what is perceived] from movement, and al-jars from a voice/sound. Al-ḥass: a disease that afflicts a woman in her womb after childbirth. "Aḥsastu min fulānin amran" (أحسست من فلان أمرا): I perceived/saw something from so-and-so. And upon [the meaning of] 'seeing' is interpreted His saying, Mighty and Exalted: "فلما أحس عيسى منهم الكفر" ["When Jesus perceived disbelief from them"], meaning: saw. It is said: "miḥassat al-mar'a" (محسة المرأة): a woman's backside. It is said: "ḍaraba fulānun famā qāla ḥiss wa lā biss" (ضرب فلان فما قال حس ولا بس) ["So-and-so was struck and said neither ḥiss nor biss"]; some do not decline it and put it in the genitive, saying ḥiss[i]; some vocalize the ḥā' with kasra. The Arabs say at the sting of fire or of pain: "ḥiss ḥiss" (حس حس). Al-ḥass: the touch of fever at its very first onset. Al-ḥass: al-ḥasīs (الحسيس), which you hear passing by you without seeing it. [Poetry]: "ترى الطير العتاق يظلن منه … جنوحا إن سمعن له حسيسا" "You see the noble birds inclining away from it, if they hear from it a faint sound." "Taḥassastu khabaran" (تحسست خبرا): I inquired about and sought news.

Al-ḥiss and al-ḥasīs (الحس والحسيس): the faint sound. Allah, Exalted, said: "لا يسمعون حسيسها" ["They will not hear its slightest sound"]. Al-ḥiss also: a pain that afflicts a woman in labour after childbirth. It is also said: "alḥiq al-ḥiss bi'l-iss" (ألحق الحس بالإس), meaning: join thing to thing, i.e., if something comes to you from a certain quarter, do the like of it. Al-ḥiss also: the maṣdar of your saying "ḥassa lahu" (حس له), i.e. he felt compassion for him. Al-Qutāmī said: "أخوك الذي لا تملك الحس نفسه … وترفض عند المحفظات الكتائف" "Your brother is the one whose soul cannot restrain compassion, while the burden-bearers give way when angering matters arise." Al-ḥiss also: a cold that scorches vegetation. Al-ḥass with fatḥa: the maṣdar of your saying "ḥassa al-bardu al-kala'a yaḥussuhu" (حس البرد الكلأ يحسه) with ḍamma. "Ḥassasnāhum" (حسسناهم) means: we exterminated them by killing. He, Exalted, said: "إذ تحسونهم بإذنه" ["When you were killing them by His permission"]. "Ḥassa al-bardu al-jarāda" (حس البرد الجراد): the cold killed the locusts. Al-ḥasīs (الحسيس): the slain one. Al-Afwah said: "نفسي لهم عند انكسار القنا … وقد تردى كل قرن حسيس" "My soul be theirs at the breaking of the spears, when every rival lay fallen, slain." "Ḥasastu al-dābbata aḥussuhā ḥassan" (حسست الدابة أحسها حسا): if you curried it. From this is the saying of Zayd ibn Ṣūḥān when mortally wounded on the Day of the Camel: "Bury me in my clothes, and do not brush the dust off me [lā taḥussū 'annī turāban]" — meaning do not shake it off. It is said: "al-bardu muḥassatun li'l-kalā'" (البرد محسة للكلا), meaning it scorches it. Al-muḥassa also: a dialectal variant of al-muḥashsha (المحشة), which is the anus. Al-miḥassa, with kasra on the mīm: the currycomb. Al-ḥawāss (الحواس): the five faculties — hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch. It is also said: "aṣābathum ḥāssa" (أصابتهم حاسة), which is when cold or something else damages vegetation. The 'senses' of the earth (حواس الأرض) are five: hail, cold, wind, locusts, and livestock. "Sanatun ḥasūsun" (سنة حسوس): a year of severe drought. "Ḥasastu lahu aḥiss" (حسست له أحس), with kasra: I felt compassion for him. Al-Kumayt said: "هل من بكى الدار راج أن تحس له … أو يبكي الدار ماء العبرة الخضل" "Does the one who weeps for the abode hope that it feels for him, or does the weeper for the abode merely shed the moist tear's water?" Abū al-Jarrāḥ al-'Uqaylī said: "I never saw an 'Uqaylī but that I felt compassion for him." "Ḥasistu lahu" (حسست له), with kasra, is also a dialectal variant of it, as reported by Ya'qūb. It is also said: "ḥasastu bi'l-khabar" and "aḥsastu bihi" (حسست بالخبر وأحسست به): I became certain of it. Sometimes they say "ḥasaytu bi'l-khabar" and "aḥsaytu bihi" (حسيت بالخبر وأحسيت به), substituting yā' for sīn. Abū Zubayd said: "خلا أن العتاق من المطايا … حسين به فهن إليه شوس" "Except that the noble riding-camels perceived it, so they eyed it askance." Sometimes they say "aḥasta minhum aḥadan" (أحست منهم أحدا), dropping one of the two sīns for lightening, this being among the irregular contractions. Abū 'Ubayda transmits Abū Zubayd's verse as: "أحسن به فهن إليه شوس", its origin being "aḥsasna" (أحسسن). "Aḥsastu al-shay'" (أحسست الشيء): I found/perceived its trace. Al-Akhfash said: aḥsastu means 'I supposed' and 'I found,' and from this... [entry continues]

Ḥā' and sīn are two roots: the first is the overpowering/overwhelming of something by killing or otherwise, and the second is the imitation of a sound made at pain or something similar. As for the first: al-ḥass (الحس) is killing. Allah, Exalted is He, says: "إذ تحسونهم بإذنه" ["When you were killing them by His permission" — Āl 'Imrān 152]. From this is the ḥadīth "ḥussūhum bi'l-sayf ḥassan" (حسوهم بالسيف حسا) ["Slaughter them thoroughly with the sword"], and in the ḥadīth about locusts: "إذا حسه البرد" ["when the cold kills it"]. Al-ḥasīs (الحسيس) is the slain one. Al-Afwah said: "وقد تردى كل قرن حسيس" "And every rival lay fallen, slain." It is said that cold is a muḥassa (محسة) for plants [i.e. destroys them]. From this: ḥasḥasta (حسحست) a thing of meat means you put it on the embers, and ḥashḥashta (حشحشت) likewise. The Arabs say: "Do that before ḥassās al-aysār" (حساس الأيسار), i.e. before the gambling-partners ḥasḥasū from their slaughtered camel, i.e. put the meat on the fire. From this chapter also is their saying aḥsastu (أحسست), meaning "I came to know the thing." Allah, Exalted, says: "هل تحس منهم من أحد" ["Do you perceive any one of them?" — Maryam 92]. This is based on their saying "qataltu al-shay'a 'ilman" ["I mastered the thing in knowledge"], so it returns to the root meaning we mentioned. The five faculties (المشاعر الخمس) are called al-ḥawāss (الحواس): touch, taste, smell, hearing, and sight. From this chapter also is their saying "min ayna ḥasasta hādhā al-khabar" (من أين حسست هذا الخبر), meaning "from where did you get informed of this news." From this chapter also is their calling one who repels hunger by his generosity ḥasḥās (حسحاس). [Poetry]: "واذكر حسينا في النفير وقبله … حسنا وعتبة ذا الندى الحسحاسا" "And mention Ḥusayn among the raiding party, and before him Ḥasan, and 'Utba, the generous one, the ḥasḥās." The second root: their saying ḥiss (حس), a word uttered at the moment of pain. It is said "ḥasastu lahu" (حسست له), "I felt for him," meaning I felt compassion for him, as though your heart felt the pain of pity for him. From this chapter: al-ḥass (الحس), a pain that seizes a woman at childbirth. It is said "inḥasat asnānuhu" (انحست أسنانه), his teeth fell out. [Poetry]: "في معدن الملك القديم الكرس … ليس بمقلوع ولا منحس" "In the ancient, firmly-established seat of kingship — not uprooted, nor decayed." From this chapter, and not far from it, is al-ḥassās (الحساس), meaning bad temper. [Poetry]: "رب شريب لك ذي حساس … شرابه كالحز بالمواسي" "Many a drinking-companion of yours is ill-tempered — his drink is like cutting with razors." It is said that al-ḥassās (الحساس) means ill-omen; this could belong to this root, or it could belong to the first, since it takes away good [fortune].

Al-ḥāssa (الحاسة): the faculty by which sensible accidents/qualities are perceived; al-ḥawāss (الحواس) are the five faculties. It is said ḥasastu (حسست), ḥasaytu (حسيت), and aḥsastu (أحسست). Ḥasastu is said in two senses: one, that you say 'aṣabtuhu bi-ḥissī' (أصبته بحسي) [I affected him with my perception], like 'antuhu (عنته) and ra'tuhu (رعته); the second, 'aṣabtu ḥāssatahu' (أصبت حاسته) [I struck his sense-faculty], like kabadtuhu (كبدته) and fa'adtuhu (فأدته). Since this might result in death, it came to be used metonymically for killing, so it is said 'ḥasastuhu' (حسسته), i.e. I killed him. He, Exalted, said: "إذ تحسونهم بإذنه" ["When you were killing them by His permission"]. Al-ḥasīs (الحسيس) is the slain one; from this, 'jarādun maḥsūs' (جراد محسوس) means [locusts] when cooked, and their saying 'al-bardu muḥassatun li'l-nabt' (البرد محسة للنبت) [cold is destructive to plants]. 'Inḥasat asnānuhu' (انحست أسنانه) [his teeth fell out] is a reflexive form from it. As for ḥasastu (حسست), it is like 'alimtu (علمت) and fahimtu (فهمت) [I knew and understood], but that is said only of what pertains to sense-perception. As for ḥasaytu (حسيت), it is formed by substituting one of the two sīns with a yā'. As for aḥsastuhu (أحسسته), its true meaning is: I perceived it with my sense-faculty; and 'aḥast' (أحست) is likewise, but one of the two sīns is dropped for lightening, as in ẓaltu (ظلت) [from ẓalaltu]. His saying, Exalted: "فلما أحس عيسى منهم الكفر" ["When Jesus perceived disbelief from them" — Āl 'Imrān 52] indicates that disbelief had appeared from them so clearly as to be evident to the senses, beyond mere comprehension. Likewise His saying: "فلما أحسوا بأسنا إذا هم منها يركضون" ["When they perceived Our punishment, behold, they fled from it" — al-Anbiyā' 12], and His saying: "هل تحس منهم من أحد" ["Do you perceive any one of them?" — Maryam 98], meaning: do you find, by your sense-faculty, any one of them? Motion is expressed by al-ḥasīs (الحسيس) and al-ḥiss (الحس). He, Exalted, said: "لا يسمعون حسيسها" ["They will not hear its slightest sound" — al-Anbiyā' 102]. Al-ḥassās (الحساس) is an expression for bad character, formed on the pattern of zukām (زكام) [rheum] and su'āl (سعال) [cough].

Al-ḥiss and al-ḥasīs (الحس والحسيس): the faint sound; Allah, Exalted, said: "لا يسمعون حسيسها" ["They will not hear its slightest sound"]. Al-ḥiss (الحس), with kasra on the ḥā': from 'aḥsastu bi'l-shay'' (أحسست بالشيء). 'Ḥassa bi'l-shay' yaḥissu ḥissan wa ḥassan wa ḥasīsan' (حس بالشيء يحس حسا وحسا وحسيسا) and 'aḥassa bihi' and 'aḥassahu' (أحس به وأحسه): he perceived it. As for their saying 'aḥasta bi'l-shay'' (أحست بالشيء), it is by elision, to avoid the coincidence of two identical letters. Sībawayh said: this is done in every construction where the final radical of the verb is built upon sukūn and no vowel reaches it — they treated it like 'aqamtu' (أقمت) [from aqwamtu]. Al-Azharī: it is said 'hal aḥast' (هل أحست), meaning 'hal aḥsasta' (هل أحسست); it is said 'ḥasta bi'l-shay'' (حست بالشيء) if you knew and recognized it. He said: it is said 'aḥsastu al-khabar' and 'aḥsatuhu' (أحسست الخبر وأحسته) and 'ḥasaytu' and 'ḥastu' (حسيت وحست) if you learned a hint of it. And you say: 'mā aḥsastu bi'l-khabar wa mā aḥastu wa mā ḥasaytu mā ḥastu' (ما أحسست بالخبر وما أحست وما حسيت ما حست), meaning I learned nothing of it. Ibn Sīda said: they said 'ḥasastu bihi' and 'ḥasaytuhu' and 'ḥasaytu bihi' and 'aḥsaytu' (حسست به وحسيته وحسيت به وأحسيت), and all of this belongs to the class of altered doubled [verbs], and the noun from all of it is al-ḥiss (الحس). Al-Farrā' said: you say 'min ayna ḥasayta hādhā al-khabar' (من أين حسيت هذا الخبر), meaning: from where did you learn it. 'Ḥasastu bi'l-khabar' and 'aḥsastu bihi' (حسست بالخبر وأحسست به) mean: I became certain of it. He said: sometimes they say 'ḥasaytu bi'l-khabar' and 'aḥsaytu bihi' (حسيت بالخبر وأحسيت به), substituting yā' for sīn. Abū Zubayd said: "خلا أن العتاق من المطايا … حسين به، فهن إليه شوس" "Except that the noble riding-camels perceived it, so they eyed it askance." Al-Jawharī said: Abū 'Ubayda transmits Abū Zubayd's verse as 'أحسن به فهن إليه شوس', its origin being 'aḥsasna' (أحسسن); it was also said 'aḥsastu' (أحسست), meaning: I supposed and found. 'Ḥissu al-ḥummā wa ḥasāsuhā' (حس الحمى وحساسها): its first onset and beginning as it is felt — the latter [transmission] is from al-Liḥyānī. Al-Azharī: al-ḥass (الحس) is the touch of fever at its very first appearance. Al-Aṣma'ī said: the first thing a person feels of the touch of fever before it takes hold and becomes manifest is called al-rass (الرس); it is said: he found a ḥiss (touch) of fever. In the ḥadīth: he said to a man, 'When did you feel [aḥsasta] Umm Mildam [fever]?' meaning: when did you find the touch of fever. Ibn al-Athīr said: al-iḥsās (الإحساس) is knowledge by means of the senses, which are man's faculties, such as the eye, ear, nose, tongue, and hand; and man's senses (ḥawāss al-insān) are the five faculties: taste, smell, sight, hearing, and touch. And the 'senses' of the earth are five: hail, cold, wind, locusts, and livestock. Al-ḥass (الحس): a pain that afflicts a woman after childbirth, or, the pain of labour as she feels it. In the ḥadīth of 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him: that he passed by a woman who had given birth and called for a drink of barley-gruel for her, saying: 'Drink this, for it cuts off al-ḥiss (the pain).' 'Taḥassasa al-khabar' (تحسس الخبر): he sought out and investigated the news. In the Revelation: "يا بني اذهبوا فتحسسوا من يوسف وأخيه" ["O my sons, go and inquire about Joseph and his brother"]. Al-Liḥyānī said: 'taḥassasa fulānan wa min fulānin' (تحسس فلانا ومن فلان) means he investigated, with the jīm-form [tajassasa] belonging to another [dialect/usage]. Abū 'Ubayd said: 'taḥassastu al-khabar wa taḥassaytuhu' (تحسست الخبر وتحسيته). Shamir said: 'tanaddastuhu' (تندسته) is similar to it. [entry continues]