حفظa single root denoting attentive watching over and care for a thing. (root hfz)

Al-ḥifẕ (الحفظ) is the opposite of forgetting (al-nisyān); it is watchful attentiveness and scarcity of heedlessness. Al-ḥafīẕ (الحفيظ) is one charged with guarding a thing. Al-ḥafaẕah (الحفظة) is the plural of al-ḥāfiẕ (الحافظ); they are those among the angels who tally the deeds of the children of Adam. Al-iḥtifāẕ (الاحتفاظ) is a specific [form] of guarding; you say iḥtafaẕtu bihi li-nafsī (احتفظت به لنفسي) ['I kept it for myself'], and istaḥfaẕtuhu kadhā (استحفظته كذا), meaning: I asked him to guard it for you. Al-taḥaffuẕ (التحفظ) is scarcity of heedlessness, out of caution against slips in speech and matters. Al-muḥāfaẕah (المحافظة) is persevering in matters such as the prayers, learning, and the like. Al-ḥifāẕ (الحفاظ) is guarding one's sacred/forbidden things (maḥārim) and defending them in wars; the noun from it is al-ḥafīẕah (الحفيظة); one says huwa dhū ḥafīẕah (هو ذو حفيظة) [he is possessed of protective zeal]. Ahl al-ḥafā'iẕ (أهل الحفائظ) are the defenders who stand behind their brothers, committed to their affairs, protecting their vulnerable/private matters. He said: 'We are a people who cling to the ḥafā'iẕ (protective duties), when Rabī'ah disliked the crush [of battle].' Al-ḥafaẕah (الحفظة) [here] is the verbal noun of al-iḥtifāẕ, [used] for what is seen of a man's ḥafīẕah (protective anger). You say aḥfaẕtuhu fa-ḥtafaẕa ḥafaẕatan (أحفظته فاحتفظ حفظة), meaning 'I angered him and he became angry.' Al-'Ajjāj said: 'and a ḥafẕah (fit of anger) which my conscience concealed' — they explain it as: 'over an anger which my conscience hid.' And you say iḥfāẕẕat al-jīfah (احفاظت الجيفة), meaning: the carcass swelled up.

Ḥafiẕtu al-shay'a ḥifẕan (حفظت الشيء حفظاً) means 'I guarded it.' I also say ḥafiẕtuhu (حفظته) in the sense of 'I recited/memorized it.' Al-ḥafaẕah (الحفظة) are the angels who write down the deeds of the children of Adam. Al-muḥāfaẕah (المحافظة) is watchfulness. It is said: innahu la-dhū ḥifāẕ wa-dhū muḥāfaẕah (إنه لذو حفاظ وذو محافظة), if he has self-respect (anfah). Al-ḥafīẕ (الحفيظ) is 'the guardian' (al-muḥāfiẕ), from which is His saying, Most High: 'And I am not a guardian over you' (Qur'an 11:86). One says iḥtafaẕa bi-hādhā al-shay' (احتفظ بهذا الشيء), meaning 'guard it.' Al-taḥaffuẕ (التحفظ) is watchfulness and scarcity of heedlessness. Taḥaffaẕtu al-kitāb (تحفظت الكتاب) means 'I memorized the book bit by bit.' Ḥafiẕtuhu al-kitāb (حفظته الكتاب) means 'I made him memorize the book.' Istaḥfaẕtuhu (استحفظته) means 'I asked him to guard it.' Al-ḥafīẕah (الحفيظة) is anger and protective zeal (ḥamiyyah), and likewise al-ḥifẕah (الحفظة) with kasra. One says aḥfaẕtuhu fa-ḥtafaẕa (أحفظته فاحتفظ), meaning 'I angered him and he became angry.' Al-'Ujayr al-Sulūlī said: 'Far is he from the thing whose protective zeal is little toward you, and sparing of contentment when he grows angry.' And their saying, 'Indeed protective zeal (al-ḥafā'iẕ) breaks grudges,' meaning: if you see your kinsman wronged, you rise to defend him even if you harbor a grudge against him in your heart.

Ḥā', fā', and ẕā' form a single root indicating the guarding/watching over of a thing. One says ḥafiẕtu al-shay'a ḥifẕan (حفظت الشيء حفظاً) [I guarded the thing]. Anger is called al-ḥafīẕah (الحفيظة), because that state calls one to guard/defend the thing. Anger [that provokes] is called al-iḥfāẕ (الإحفاظ); one says aḥfaẕanī (أحفظني), meaning 'he angered me.' Al-taḥaffuẕ (التحفظ) is scarcity of heedlessness. Al-ḥifāẕ (الحفاظ) is the safeguarding/maintaining of matters.

Al-ḥifẕ (الحفظ) is used sometimes for the disposition of the soul by which what understanding conveys becomes fixed, sometimes for the retention of a thing within the soul, its opposite being forgetting (nisyān), and sometimes for the exercise of that faculty, so one says ḥafiẕtu kadhā ḥifẕan (حفظت كذا حفظاً). It is then used for every kind of watching over, keeping to, and taking care of. God, Most High, said: 'And indeed We are guardians of him' (Yūsuf 12:12); 'Guard the prayers' (al-Baqarah 2:238); 'and those who guard their private parts' (al-Mu'minūn 23:5); 'and the men who guard their private parts, and the women who guard [theirs]' (al-Aḥzāb 33:35) — a euphemism for chastity; 'guarding the unseen by means of what God has guarded' (al-Nisā' 4:34), meaning: they guard the covenant of [their] husbands in [the husbands'] absence, because God, Most High, watches over them, i.e., is aware of them. It is also read: bimā ḥafiẕa Allāh (بما حفظ الله) with the accusative, meaning: because of their [own] care/guarding.

Al-Ḥafīẕ (الحفيظ) is among the attributes of God, Mighty and Exalted; nothing escapes His guarding — not even the weight of an atom, of all things in the heavens and the earth. He has kept a record for His creatures and servants of whatever good or evil they do. He has preserved the heavens and the earth by His power, and preserving them is no burden to Him, and He is the Most High, the Most Great. In the Glorious Revelation: 'Nay, it is a glorious Qur'an, in a preserved tablet (fī lawḥin maḥfūẕ)' [Qur'an 85:21-22]. Abū Isḥāq said: that is, the Qur'an is in a preserved tablet, which is the Mother of the Book (umm al-kitāb) with God, Mighty and Exalted. He said: it was also read maḥfūẕ [differently inflected], as a description qualifying His saying 'Nay, it is a glorious Qur'an, preserved, in a tablet.' And He, Mighty and Exalted, said: 'But God is the best of guardians (khayrun ḥifẕan), and He is the Most Merciful of the merciful' [Qur'an 12:64]. It is read khayrun ḥifẕan with the accusative as a specifier (tamyīz); and whoever reads ḥāfiẕan (حافظاً), it may be either a circumstantial accusative (ḥāl) or a specifier. Ibn Sīdah: al-ḥifẕ (الحفظ) is the opposite of forgetting; it is watchful attentiveness and scarcity of heedlessness. Ḥafiẕa al-shay' ḥifẕan (حفظ الشيء حفظاً). A man is ḥāfiẕ (حافظ), from a people [called] ḥifāẕ (حفاظ) and ḥafīẕ (حفيظ), according to al-Liḥyānī. They have also made it transitive, saying: huwa ḥafīẕu 'ilmika wa-'ilma ghayrika (هو حفيظ علمك وعلم غيرك) [he is a keeper of your knowledge and the knowledge of others]. And [they say] innahu la-ḥāfiẕu al-'ayn (إنه لحافظ العين), meaning 'sleep does not overcome him,' according to al-Liḥyānī; this derives from the same root because the eye guards its owner when sleep does not overcome it. Al-Azharī: a man is ḥāfiẕ (حافظ), and a people [are] ḥifāẕ (حفاظ); they are those granted [the gift of] retaining what they hear, and who rarely forget anything they take in. Another [scholar] said: al-ḥāfiẕ (الحافظ) and al-ḥafīẕ (الحفيظ) [both mean] one charged with guarding a thing. One says: fulānun yaḥfaẕunā 'alaykum wa ḥāfaẕunā (فلان يحفظنا عليكم وحافظنا) [so-and-so watches over us on your behalf and guards us]. Al-ḥafaẕah (الحفظة) are those among the angels who tally the deeds [of humans] and write them down against the children of Adam; they are al-ḥāfiẕūn (الحافظون). In the Revelation: 'And indeed, over you are guardians (ḥāfiẕīn)' [Qur'an 82:10]; and [the word] does not occur in the Qur'an in the broken-plural form. Ḥafiẕa al-māl wa-l-sirr ḥifẕan (حفظ المال والسر حفظاً): he took care of it. And His saying, Most High: 'And We made the sky a guarded ceiling (saqfan maḥfūẕan)' [Qur'an 21:32]. Al-Zajjāj said: God preserved it from falling upon the earth except by His permission. And it is said: it is preserved by the stars, as He, Most High, said: 'Indeed We have adorned the lowest heaven with an adornment, the stars, and as a guard (ḥifẕan) against every rebellious devil' [Qur'an 37:6-7]. Al-iḥtifāẕ (الاحتفاظ) is a specific [form] of guarding; one says: iḥtafaẕtu bi-l-shay' li-nafsī (احتفظت بالشيء لنفسي) [I kept the thing for myself]. And one says: istaḥfaẕtu fulānan mālan (استحفظت فلاناً مالاً) when you ask him to guard [some] wealth for you; and istaḥfaẕtuhu sirran (استحفظته سراً) and istaḥfaẕahu iyyāhu (استحفظه إياه) [both mean]: he entrusted him with its care. In the Revelation, concerning the People of the Book: 'because of what they were entrusted to guard (istuḥfiẕū) of the Book of God' [Qur'an 5:44], meaning: they were entrusted with it and made trustees over it. Iḥtafaẕa al-shay' li-nafsihi (احتفظ الشيء لنفسه): he singled himself out with it exclusively. Al-taḥaffuẕ (التحفظ) is scarcity of heedlessness in matters and speech, and wakefulness against slipping, as though one were on guard against a fall. Tha'lab recited: 'Indeed I detest a lover who is guarded/reserved (mutaḥaffiẕ), whom eyes and hearts do not suspect.' Al-muḥāfaẕah (المحافظة) is persevering diligently in a matter. In the Glorious Revelation: 'Guard the prayers (ḥāfiẕū 'alā al-ṣalawāt)' [Qur'an 2:238], meaning: perform them at their [proper] times. Al-Azharī: that is, persevere in maintaining [entry continues]