حسنthe opposite of ugliness; goodness, beauty, comeliness (root hsn)

A thing became ḥasan (حسن) [beautiful], so it is ḥasan. Al-muḥsan (المحسن) is the beautiful spot on the body, its plural being maḥāsin (محاسن). A woman is ḥasnāʾ (حسناء), and a man is ḥassān (حسان); the pattern faʿāl (فعال) may also occur as a descriptive adjective, [as in] 'a generous man' (rajul kurām). God—Mighty and Exalted—said: 'a great scheming' (makran kubbāran). Al-ḥassān (الحسان) means very beautiful, and one does not say 'a man aḥsan (أحسن)' [in this simple sense]. A girl is ḥassāna (حسانة). Al-maḥāsin (المحاسن) of deeds are the opposite of al-masāwiʾ (المساوئ). God—Mighty and Exalted—said: 'For those who have done good is the best [reward], and more' [Yūnus 10:26], i.e., Paradise, which is the opposite of al-sūʾā (السوأى) [the worst].

Al-ḥusn (الحسن): the opposite of qubḥ (القبح); its plural is maḥāsin (محاسن), against analogy, as though it were the plural of muḥsin (محسن). One says ḥasuna al-shayʾ (حسن الشيء), and if you wish you may lighten the ḍamma and say ḥasna al-shayʾ. It is not permitted to transfer the ḍamma to the ḥāʾ, because this is a plain statement (khabar); transfer is only permitted when the word carries a sense of praise or blame, since it then resembles niʿma and biʾsa in admitting such transfer—for the origin of both is niʿima and baʾisa, whose second letter was made quiescent and its vowel transferred to the preceding letter; likewise everything of that meaning. The poet said: 'The people did not withhold from me what I wanted, nor did I give them what they wanted — ḥasuna dhā adaban [how fine is this in manners]!' He meant ḥasuna hādhā adaban, but lightened and transferred [the vowel]. One says 'a man is ḥasan basan (حسن بسن),' basan being an echo-word (itbāʿ) accompanying it. A woman is ḥasana (حسنة). They said 'a woman is ḥasnāʾ (حسناء)' but did not say 'a man is aḥsan (أحسن)'; it is a feminine form without a corresponding masculine, just as they said 'a boy is amrad (أمرد)' without saying 'a girl is mardāʾ (مرداء)'—so it [amrad] is used for the masculine without a feminine counterpart. Al-ḥāsin (الحاسن) is the moon. Ḥassantu al-shayʾ taḥsīnan (حسنت الشيء تحسينا): I adorned it. Aḥsantu ilayhi wa-bihi (أحسنت إليه وبه): I did good to him. Huwa yuḥsinu al-shayʾ (يحسن الشيء): he does it [skillfully]. Yastaḥsinuhu (يستحسنه): he considers it good. Al-ḥasana (الحسنة): the opposite of al-sayyiʾa (السيئة). Al-maḥāsin (المحاسن): the opposite of al-masāwī (المساوي). Al-ḥusnā (الحسنى): the opposite of al-sūʾā (السوأى). Al-ḥassān (الحسان), with ḍamma, is more beautiful than al-ḥasan; the feminine is ḥassāna (حسانة). Al-Shammākh said: 'The abode of the young woman about whom we used to say, O gazelle, bare-necked, most beautiful of neck (حسانة الجيد)' — Sībawayh said: dār (دار) is put in the accusative by an implied aʿnī (أعني) [I mean], though it is also transmitted in the nominative. One says: innī uḥāsinu bika al-nās (إني أحاسن بك الناس) [I compare you favorably with people]. Hādhā ṭaʿāmun maḥsanatun lil-jism (هذا طعام محسنة للجسم), with fatḥa: this food is good for the body. Ḥassān (حسان) is a man's name; if you take it as faʿāl from al-ḥusn you decline it fully, but if you take it as fiʿlān from al-ḥiss (الحس)—meaning killing, or perceiving a thing—you do not decline it. The diminutive of faʿāl is ḥusaysīn (حسيسين), and of fiʿlān is ḥusaysān (حسيسان). Al-Kalbī mentioned that among Ṭayyiʾ there are two clans called al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn. Al-Ḥasan (الحسن) is the name of a sandy tract belonging to Banū Saʿd, where Abū al-Ṣahbāʾ Bisṭām ibn Qays ibn Khālid al-Shaybānī was killed, slain by ʿĀṣim ibn Khalīfa al-Ḍabbī. He said: they are two ridges (ḥablān) or two sand-hills (naqawān). Al-Mubarrid said: I heard al-Tawwazī say: one of these two ridges is called al-Ḥasan, and the other al-Ḥusayn. The poet said, elegizing Bisṭām ibn Qays, concerning al-Ḥasan: 'Woe to mother-earth for what she concealed, where the path caused harm at al-Ḥasan.' And another said, concerning al-Ḥusayn: 'We left, at al-Nawāṣif of Ḥusayn, the women of the encampment gathering pearls (al-jumānā).' And if you make it dual you say... [entry continues]

The letters ḥāʾ, sīn, and nūn form a single root: ḥusn (الحسن) is the opposite of qubḥ (القبح) [ugliness]. One says 'a man is ḥasan (حسن)' and 'a woman is ḥasnāʾ (حسناء) or ḥassāna (حسانة).' He [the poet] said: — 'The abode of the young woman about whom we used to say... O gazelle, bare-necked, most beautiful of neck (حسانة الجيد)...' — There is nothing else in this chapter. They also say al-ḥasan (الحسن) is a mountain, and a ridge among the sand-ridges. He said: — 'Woe to mother-earth for what she concealed... on the morning the path harmed [travelers] at al-Ḥasan...' — Maḥāsin (المحاسن) [good qualities] of a person or anything else are the opposite of masāwī (المساوئ) [faults]. Al-ḥasan (الحسن) of the forearm is the half adjacent to the wrist (al-kūʿ); I think it was so named in contrast to the other half, since they call the half adjacent to the elbow al-qabīḥ (القبيح), which is termed kasr qabīḥ (كسر قبيح) [an ugly break]. He said: — 'If you were a donkey, you would be a donkey of humiliation... and if you were a break, you would be an ugly break (كسر قبيح)...'

Al-ḥusn (الحسن) is an expression for everything delightful and desired, and this is of three kinds: what is deemed good from the standpoint of reason (ʿaql); what is deemed good from the standpoint of desire (hawā); and what is deemed good from the standpoint of sense-perception (ḥiss). Al-ḥasana (الحسنة) expresses everything pleasing among the blessings that reach a person in himself, his body, and his circumstances; al-sayyiʾa (السيئة) is its opposite. Both are equivocal terms (alfāẓ mushtaraka), like ḥayawān (الحيوان) [animal], which applies to different kinds such as the horse, the human, and others. Thus His saying, Exalted is He: 'And if good (ḥasana) befalls them, they say, This is from God' [al-Nisāʾ 4:78], meaning fertility, abundance, and victory; 'and if evil (sayyiʾa) befalls them,' meaning drought, hardship, and disappointment, 'they say, This is from you. Say: All is from God' [al-Nisāʾ 4:78]. And He said: 'But when good (al-ḥasana) came to them, they said, This is ours' [al-Aʿrāf 7:131]. And His saying: 'Whatever good (ḥasana) befalls you is from God' [al-Nisāʾ 4:79], meaning: from reward, 'and whatever evil (sayyiʾa) befalls you' [al-Nisāʾ 4:79], meaning: from punishment. The difference between al-ḥusn, al-ḥasana, and al-ḥusnā is that al-ḥusn is said of both concrete things and events, and likewise al-ḥasana when used as a descriptive adjective; but when used as a noun it is conventionally applied to events, while al-ḥusnā is said only of events, not of concrete things. Al-ḥusn is most commonly used, in ordinary speech, for what is deemed beautiful by sight; one says 'a man is ḥasan or ḥassān,' and 'a woman is ḥasnāʾ or ḥassāna.' Most occurrences of al-ḥusn in the Qurʾān refer to what is deemed good from the standpoint of insight (baṣīra). His saying, Exalted is He: 'Those who listen to speech and follow the best (aḥsanahu) of it' [al-Zumar 39:18], means: that which is furthest from doubt, as the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: 'If you are in doubt about something, leave it.' [His saying]: 'And speak to people [words that are] good (ḥusnan)' [al-Baqara 2:83], meaning a good word. And He said: 'And We have enjoined upon man goodness (ḥusnan) to his parents' [al-ʿAnkabūt 29:8]. And His saying, Mighty and Exalted is He: 'Do you await for us except one of the two best things (iḥdā al-ḥusnayayn)?' [al-Tawba 9:52]. And His saying, Exalted is He: 'And who is better (aḥsan) than God in judgment, for a people who are certain [in faith]?' [al-Māʾida 5:50]—if it be said: His judgment is good both for one who is certain and one who is not, so why was it specified [for the certain]? It is said: the intent is toward the manifestation of its goodness and awareness of it, and that becomes manifest to one who has purified himself and become aware of God's wisdom, Exalted is He, unlike the ignorant. Al-iḥsān (الإحسان) is used in two senses: one is conferring benefit upon another, as one says 'he did good (aḥsana) to so-and-so'; the second is excellence in one's own action, which occurs when one possesses good knowledge or performs a good deed. In accordance with this is the saying of the Commander of the Faithful: 'People are the sons of what they do well (yuḥsinūn),' meaning: they are attributed to what they know and what they do of good deeds. His saying, Exalted is He: 'He who perfected (aḥsana) everything He created' [al-Sajda 32:7]. And al-iḥsān... [entry continues]

Al-ḥusn (الحسن): the opposite and contrary of qubḥ (القبح). Al-Azharī [said]: al-ḥasan is a descriptive term for what is beautiful; one says ḥasuna (حَسُنَ) and ḥasina (حَسِنَ), yaḥsunu (يحسن) for both, ḥusnan (حسنا) [as verbal noun] for both, so it is ḥāsin (حاسن) or ḥasan (حسن). Al-Jawharī said: its plural is maḥāsin (محاسن), against analogy, as though it were the plural of muḥsin (محسن). Al-Liḥyānī related: 'iḥsan in kunta ḥāsinan' [be good if you are being good]—this is in the future [imperative sense]; and 'innahu la-ḥasan' is meant as the present state. The plural of al-ḥasan is ḥisān (حسان). Al-Jawharī: you say 'qad ḥasuna al-shayʾ,' and if you wish you may lighten the ḍamma and say 'ḥasna al-shayʾ.' It is not permitted to transfer the ḍamma to the ḥāʾ, because this is a plain statement (khabar); transfer is only permitted when the word carries a sense of praise or blame, since it then resembles niʿma and biʾsa in admitting such transfer, for the origin of both is niʿima and baʾisa, whose second letter was made quiescent and its vowel transferred to the preceding letter; likewise everything of that meaning. Sahm ibn Ḥanẓala al-Ghanawī said: 'The people did not withhold from me what I wanted, nor did I give them what they wanted — ḥasuna dhā adaban [how fine is this in manners]!' He meant ḥasuna hādhā adaban, but he lightened and transferred [the vowel]. 'A man is ḥasan basan (حسن بسن)'—basan being an echo-word (itbāʿ) accompanying it; 'a woman is ḥasana (حسنة)'; and they said 'a woman is ḥasnāʾ (حسناء)' but did not say 'a man is aḥsan (أحسن).' Thaʿlab said: it ought to have been said, since analogy requires it, but it [ḥasnāʾ] is a feminine form with no corresponding masculine, just as they said 'a boy is amrad (أمرد)' without saying 'a girl is mardāʾ (مرداء)'—so it [amrad] is a masculine form with no corresponding feminine. Al-ḥassān (الحسان), with ḍamma, means more beautiful than al-ḥasan. Ibn Sīda said: 'a man is ḥassān (حسان),' lightened, like ḥasan, and [also] ḥassān (with shadda); the plural is ḥassānūn (حسانون). Sībawayh said: it takes no broken plural; they made do instead with the sound masculine plural in wāw and nūn. The feminine is ḥasana (حسنة), plural ḥisān (حسان) like the masculine, and also ḥassāna (حسانة). Al-Shammākh said: 'The abode of the young woman about whom we used to say... O gazelle, bare-necked, most beautiful of neck (حسانة الجيد)' — the plural [of ḥassāna] is ḥassānāt (حسانات). Sībawayh said: dār is put in the accusative by an implied aʿnī, though it is also transmitted in the nominative. Ibn Barrī said: ḥasīn (حسين), ḥassān (حسان), and ḥissān (حسان) are like [the patterns] kabīr/kubār/kibār, ʿajīb/ʿujāb/ʿijāb, and ẓarīf/ẓurāf/ẓirāf. Dhū al-Iṣbaʿ said: 'As if we, on the day of Qirā, only kill ourselves — standing among them, every young man is fair, most beautiful (ḥassānā).' The origin of saying 'a thing is ḥasan' is ḥasīn (حسين), since it derives from ḥasuna yaḥsunu, just as they said ʿaẓuma so it is ʿaẓīm, and karuma so it is karīm; likewise ḥasuna so it is ḥasīn—though this form occurs rarely. Then the pattern faʿīl was converted to faʿāl, then to faʿāl [with shadda] when the description was intensified, so they said ḥasan, ḥassān, and ḥassān; likewise karīm, kurām, and kurrām. The plural of ḥasnāʾ among women is ḥisān, with no parallel except ʿajfāʾ/ʿijāf [lean/thin]. One does not say aḥsan for the masculine [in the plain sense]; rather one says 'huwa al-aḥsan' intending the comparative, its plural being al-aḥāsin (الأحاسن). Aḥāsin al-qawm (أحاسن القوم): the best/most beautiful of the people. In the ḥadīth: 'The best of you in character (aḥāsinukum akhlāqan) are those who are easy-going and approachable (al-muwaṭṭaʾūna aknāfan)'—and it is al-ḥusnā (الحسنى). Al-ḥāsin (الحاسن): [entry continues]