Mashrabaمشربة

Root · 28 in the Quran · 48 in 17 texts of the library

حوطa single sense — a thing that encircles or surrounds another thing (root hwt)

الحاء والواو والطاء كلمة واحدة وهو الشيء يطيف بالشيء فالحوط من حاطه حوطا والحمار يحوط عانته يجمعها وحوطت حائطا ويقال إن …

Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-lugha · English rendering

حوط

The family of the root

Patterns computed · our data

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

30 words7 verbs2 verbal nouns6 participles1 place or instrument2 intensives and elatives10 other nouns2 plurals

  • أَحَاطَit, or he, surrounded, encompassed, environed, enclosed, or hemmed in, it, or …
  • مُحِيطsurrounding, encompassing, or enclosing
  • مُحَاطsuch a one is slain
  • حوّطَhe surrounded it by some such thing as earth, so as to make this to encompass it
  • حاوطَhe endeavoured to induce such a one to turn, or incline
The whole family7 groups, by pattern; tap a pattern to see what it does
Verbs7حَاطَ · أَحَاطَ · حوّطَ

The root as an action: the bare Form I, and the Forms made by adding letters before, inside or after the root.grammar →

  • حَاطَForm ILane
  • أَحَاطَit, or he, surrounded, encompassed, environed, enclosed, or hemmed in, it, or …LaneForm IVQurʾān ×17library ×15Lane
  • حوّطَhe surrounded it by some such thing as earth, so as to make this to encompass itLaneForm IILaneIbn Fāris
  • حاوطَhe endeavoured to induce such a one to turn, or inclineLaneForm IIILane
Verbal nouns2حَوْط · تَحْوِيط

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

  • حَوْطForm I · Lane: inf. n.LaneIbn Fāris
  • تَحْوِيطForm I · Lane: inf. n.Lane
Participles6مُحِيط · مُحَاط · حَائِط

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

  • مُحِيطsurrounding, encompassing, or enclosingLaneactive, Form IVQurʾān ×9Lane
  • مُحَاطsuch a one is slainLanepassive, Form IVlibrary ×3Lane
  • حَائِطwallLaneactive, Form ILane
  • مُحوَّطvine having a wall built around itLanepassive, Form IILane
Place, time and instrument1مَحَاط

Where or when it happens, and what it is done with: the m- nouns.grammar →

  • مَحَاطplace behind the camels or other beasts and the people to whom they belong, …Lanenoun of place or timeLane
Intensives, qualities and the elative2أَحْوَط · حَوَّاط

The quality carried far, held as a trait, or compared.grammar →

  • أَحْوَطelative or colour adjective (afʿal)Lane
  • حَوَّاطmonopolizerLaneintensive (faʿʿāl)Lane
Other nouns10حُوَاطَة · تَحُوط · تَحْويِطَة

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

  • حُوَاطَةenclosure made for wheatLanenounLaneIbn Fāris
  • تَحُوطnounLane
  • تَحْويِطَةthing that is hung upon a boy to repel the evil eyeLanenounLane
  • تُحِيطprov., iiLanenounLane
Plurals2حَوَائِط · حِيطَان

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

  • حَوَائِطwallsfrom the singularbroken plural of حَائِطLane
  • حِيطَانwallsfrom the singularbroken plural of حَائِطLane

Reference

Why this shape?What each of the 16 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 و طمَحْوَطَة

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

This root has a weak or doubled letter, so real words change shape (qāla → qāʾil, not qāwil); the machine pours the letters in as they are, and matches attested words by their regular pattern.

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 · 170Ḥāṭa yaḥūṭu ḥawṭan wa-ḥiyāṭatan (حاط يحوط حوطا وحياطة).

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

    Ḥāṭa yaḥūṭu ḥawṭan wa-ḥiyāṭatan (حاط يحوط حوطا وحياطة). The donkey 'yaḥūṭu' (يحوط) his herd of wild she-asses (ʿānatahu), meaning he gathers them together, and the noun [for this] is al-ḥīṭa (الحيطة). It is said: ḥāṭahu ḥīṭatan (حاطه حيطة) [he protected him] when he attends to/looks after him. And 'iḥtāṭat al-khaylu bi-fulānin' (احتاطت الخيل بفلان) and 'aḥāṭat bihi' (أحاطت به) mean: they surrounded him. And anyone who has fully secured/mastered a thing, and whose knowledge of it has reached its utmost extent, is said to have 'aḥāṭa bihi' (أحاط به) [encompassed it] — one says: 'this is a matter I have not encompassed with knowledge' (هذا أمر ما أحطت به علما). And al-ḥāʾiṭ (الحائط) [the wall] is so named because it 'yaḥūṭu' (يحوط) [encloses/protects] what is inside it. And you say: 'ḥawwaṭtu ḥāʾiṭan' (حوطت حائطا) [I built a wall]. And al-ḥuwwāṭ (الحواط) is an enclosure made for food, [or] a thing that is quickly uprooted/stripped away from. He said: 'Indeed we found the wife of the wheat-seller (al-ḥannāṭ) blameworthy, base in her ḥuwāṭ (guarding).' It is also transmitted as 'base in her ḥiwāṭ.' And al-ḥuwwāṭ (الحواط) are those who guard/enclose it, preventing [access to] it. The plural of al-ḥāʾiṭ is ḥīṭān (حيطان).

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    حاط يحوط حوطا وحياطة. والحمار يحوط عانته: يجمعها، والاسم: الحيطة. يقال: حاطه حيطة إذا تعاهده. واحتاطت الخيل بفلان وأحاطت [به] ، أي: أحدقت. وكل من أحرز شيئا كله، وبلغ علمه أقصاه فقد أحاط به [يقال: هذا أمر ما أحطت به علما] «1» . وسمي الحائط، لأنه يحوط ما فيه. و [تقول] : حوطت حائطا. والحواط: حضيرة تتخذ للطعام، والشيء يقلع عنه سريعا. قال: «2» إنا وجدنا عرس الحناط ... مذمومة لئيمة الحواط ويروى: لئيمة الحواط. والحواط: هم الذين يحوطونها يمنعون من ذلك. وجماعة الحائط: حيطان.

    al-Khalīl · 170 · OpenITIvowelled page on al-Maktaba al-Shāmila (print 3, p. 276) ↗
  • al-Jawharī · 393Al-ḥāʾiṭ (الحائط) [the wall]: singular of ḥīṭān (حيطان);

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

    Al-ḥāʾiṭ (الحائط) [the wall]: singular of ḥīṭān (حيطان); the wāw became yāʾ because of the kasra before it. And 'ḥawwaṭa karmahu taḥwīṭan' (حوط كرمة تحويطا) means he built a wall around it, so it is 'karmun muḥawwaṭ' (كرم محوط) [a walled vineyard]. From this comes the saying: 'anā aḥūṭu ḥawla dhālika al-amr' (أنا أحوط حول ذلك الأمر) [I go around that matter], meaning I circle around it. And al-ḥawwāṭa (الحواطة) is an enclosure made for food. And al-ḥīṭa (الحيطة), with kasra, is al-ḥiyāṭa (الحياطة) [protection], both being from the wāw [root]. One says: ḥāṭahu yaḥūṭuhu ḥawṭan wa-ḥīṭatan wa-ḥiyāṭatan (حاطه يحوطه حوطا وحيطة وحياطة), meaning he took care of him and looked after him. And [the expression] 'with so-and-so there is ḥīṭa (حيطة) for you' — and do not say 'against you' — means compassion and kindness. And the donkey 'yaḥūṭu' (يحوط) his herd of wild she-asses (ʿānatahu), meaning he gathers them. And 'iḥtāṭa al-rajulu li-nafsihi' (احتاط الرجل لنفسه) means he acted with confidence/certainty [took the safe course]. And 'aḥāṭa bihi' (أحاط به) means he knew it. And 'aḥāṭa bihi ʿilman' (أحاط به علما) [he encompassed it with knowledge]. And 'aḥāṭat al-khaylu bi-fulānin' (أحاطت الخيل بفلان) and 'iḥtāṭat bihi' (احتاطت به) mean they surrounded him.

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    الحائط: واحد الحيطان، صارت الواو ياء لانكسار ما قبلها. وحوط كرمة تحويطا: بنى حوله حائطا، فهو كرم محوط. ومنه قولهم: أنا أحوط حول ذلك الأمر، أي أدور. والحواطة: حظيرة تتخذ للطعام. والحيطة بالكسر (1) : الحياطة، وهما من الواو. وقد حاطه يحوطه حوطا وحيطة وحياطة، أي كلأه ورعاه. ومع فلان حيطة لك - ولا تقل عليك - أي تحنن وتعطف. والحمار يحوط عانته، أي يجمعها. واحتاط الرجل لنفسه، أي أخذ بالثقة. وأحاط به، أي علمه. وأحاط به علما. وأحاطت الخيل بفلان واحتاطت به، أي أحدقت به.

    al-Jawharī · 393 · OpenITIvowelled page on al-Maktaba al-Shāmila (print 3, p. 1121) ↗
  • Ibn Fāris · 395Ḥāʾ, wāw, ṭāʾ is a single [root-meaning]: a thing that encircles/surrounds another thing.

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

    Ḥāʾ, wāw, ṭāʾ is a single [root-meaning]: a thing that encircles/surrounds another thing. So al-ḥawṭ (الحوط) is from ḥāṭahu ḥawṭan (حاطه حوطا) [he protected/guarded it]. The donkey 'yaḥūṭu' (يحوط) his herd of wild she-asses (ʿānatahu العانة), meaning he gathers them together. And 'ḥawwaṭtu ḥāʾiṭan' (حوطت حائطا) [I built a wall]. It is said that al-ḥawwāṭa (الحواطة) is an enclosure made for food/grain. And al-ḥawṭ (الحوط) is a round thing of silver that a woman hangs on her forehead.

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    الحاء والواو والطاء كلمة واحدة وهو الشيء يطيف بالشيء فالحوط من حاطه حوطا والحمار يحوط عانته يجمعها وحوطت حائطا ويقال إن الحواطة حظيرة تتخذ للطعام والحوط شيء مستدير تعلقه المرأة على جبينها من فضة

    Ibn Fāris · 395 · OpenITIvowelled page on al-Maktaba al-Shāmila (print 2, p. 120) ↗
  • al-Rāghib · 502Al-ḥāʾiṭ (الحائط) [the wall]: the wall that 'yaḥūṭu' (يحوط) [encloses] a place.

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

    Al-ḥāʾiṭ (الحائط) [the wall]: the wall that 'yaḥūṭu' (يحوط) [encloses] a place. And al-iḥāṭa (الإحاطة) [encompassing] is used in two senses. One: with regard to physical bodies, as in 'aḥṭtu bi-makānin kadhā' (أحطت بمكان كذا) [I surrounded such-and-such a place]; or it is used [in the sense of] preservation, as in: 'innahu bikulli shayʾin muḥīṭ' (إنه بكل شيء محيط) 'Indeed He is encompassing of all things' [Fuṣṣilat 41:54], meaning: He preserves it from every side. And it is used [in the sense of] prevention, as in: 'illā an yuḥāṭa bikum' (إلا أن يحاط بكم) 'unless you are surrounded [prevented]' [Yūsuf 12:66], meaning: unless you are hindered. And His saying: 'aḥāṭat bihi khaṭīʾatuhu' (أحاطت به خطيئته) 'his sin has encompassed him' [al-Baqara 2:81] — this is a most eloquent metaphor, for when a person commits a sin and persists in it, it draws him on to repeat what is even greater, and he continues to ascend [in sin] until his heart is sealed, so that he cannot escape engaging in it. And al-iḥtiyāṭ (الاحتياط) [precaution] is the employment of that which contains ḥiyāṭa (حياطة), i.e., preservation. The second [sense]: with regard to knowledge, as in His saying: 'aḥāṭa bikulli shayʾin ʿilman' (أحاط بكل شيء علما) 'He has encompassed all things in knowledge' [al-Ṭalāq 65:12]; and His saying, Mighty and Majestic: 'inna Allāha bimā yaʿmalūna muḥīṭ' (إن الله بما يعملون محيط) 'Indeed God is encompassing of what they do' [Āl ʿImrān 3:120]; and His saying: 'inna rabbī bimā taʿmalūna muḥīṭ' (إن ربي بما تعملون محيط) 'Indeed my Lord is encompassing of what you do' [Hūd 11:92]. And al-iḥāṭa bi-l-shayʾi ʿilman (الإحاطة بالشيء علما) [encompassing a thing with knowledge] is that you know its existence, its genus, its measure, its quality, the purpose intended by it and by its being brought into existence, and that by and from which it comes to be — and that belongs to none but God, Exalted is He. He, Mighty and Majestic, said: 'bal kadhdhabū bimā lam yuḥīṭū biʿilmihi' (بل كذبوا بما لم يحيطوا بعلمه) 'Rather, they denied that which they could not encompass in knowledge' [Yūnus 10:39], thereby negating that from them. And the companion of Moses said: 'wa-kayfa taṣbiru ʿalā mā lam tuḥiṭ bihi khubran' (وكيف تصبر على ما لم تحط به خبرا) 'And how can you have patience for what you have not encompassed in knowledge?' [al-Kahf 18:68], indicating that complete patience only comes after encompassing knowledge of a thing, and that is difficult except through a divine outpouring. And His saying, Mighty and Majestic: 'wa-ẓannū annahum uḥīṭa bihim' (وظنوا أنهم أحيط بهم) 'and they thought that they were surrounded' [Yūnus 10:22] — that is an encompassing by power. Likewise His saying, Mighty and Majestic: 'wa-ukhrā lam taqdirū ʿalayhā qad aḥāṭa Allāhu bihā' (وأخرى لم تقدروا عليها قد أحاط الله بها) 'and another [victory] which you were not able to attain — God has already encompassed it' [al-Fatḥ 48:21]. And accordingly His saying: 'innī akhāfu ʿalaykum ʿadhāba yawmin muḥīṭ' (إني أخاف عليكم عذاب يوم محيط) 'Indeed I fear for you the punishment of an encompassing Day' [Hūd 11:84].

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    الحائط: الجدار الذي يحوط بالمكان، والإحاطة تقال على وجهين: أحدهما: في الأجسام نحو: أحطت بمكان كذا، أو تستعمل في الحفظ نحو: إنه بكل شيء محيط [فصلت/ 54] ، أي: حافظ له من جميع جهاته، وتستعمل في المنع نحو: إلا أن يحاط بكم [يوسف/ 66] ، أي: إلا أن تمنعوا، وقوله: أحاطت به خطيئته [البقرة/ 81] ، فذلك أبلغ استعارة، وذاك أن الإنسان إذا ارتكب ذنبا واستمر عليه استجره إلى معاودة ما هو أعظم منه، فلا يزال يرتقي حتى يطبع على قلبه، فلا يمكنه أن يخرج عن تعاطيه. والاحتياط: استعمال ما فيه الحياطة، أي: الحفظ. والثاني: في العلم نحو قوله: أحاط بكل شيء علما [الطلاق/ 12] ، وقوله عز وجل: إن الله بما يعملون محيط [آل عمران/ 120] ، وقوله: إن ربي بما تعملون محيط [هود/ 92] . والإحاطة بالشيء علما هي أن تعلم وجوده وجنسه وقدره وكيفيته، وغرضه المقصود به وبإيجاده، وما يكون به ومنه، وذلك ليس إلا لله تعالى، وقال عز وجل: بل كذبوا بما لم يحيطوا بعلمه [يونس/ 39] ، فنفى ذلك عنهم. وقال صاحب موسى: وكيف تصبر على ما لم تحط به خبرا [الكهف/ 68] ، تنبيها أن الصبر التام إنما يقع بعد إحاطة العلم بالشيء، وذلك صعب إلا بفيض إلهي. وقوله عز وجل: وظنوا أنهم أحيط بهم [يونس/ 22] ، فذلك إحاطة بالقدرة، وكذلك قوله عز وجل: وأخرى لم تقدروا عليها قد أحاط الله بها [الفتح/ 21] ، وعلى ذلك قوله: إني أخاف عليكم عذاب يوم محيط [هود/ 84] .

    al-Rāghib · 502 · OpenITIvowelled page on al-Maktaba al-Shāmila (print 1, p. 265) ↗
  • Lisān · 711Ḥāṭahu yaḥūṭuhu ḥawṭan wa-ḥīṭatan wa-ḥiyāṭatan (حاطه يحوطه حوطا وحيطة وحياطة): he protected him and looked after him.

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

    Ḥāṭahu yaḥūṭuhu ḥawṭan wa-ḥīṭatan wa-ḥiyāṭatan (حاطه يحوطه حوطا وحيطة وحياطة): he protected him and looked after him. And the saying of al-Hudhalī [the Hudhali poet]: 'I guard my standing and I protect (aḥūṭu) my honor, while some of the people have no ḥiyāṭ (protection).' He meant ḥiyāṭa (حياطة), and dropped the [final] tāʾ, just as in God's saying: 'wa-aqāma al-ṣalāta' (وأقام الصلاة) [and he established prayer], meaning al-iqāma (الإقامة) [the establishing]; likewise ḥawṭahu (حوطه). Sāʿida ibn Juʾayya said: '...to me, and they were people of might, foremost, and glory, when the guarding (ḥawṭ) of glory is attained.' And it is also transmitted as ḥawṣ (حوص), which is mentioned in its [proper] place. And taḥawwaṭahu (تحوطه) is like ḥāṭahu (حوطه) [the same]. And 'iḥtāṭa al-rajulu' (احتاط الرجل) means: the man took the most prudent course in his affairs. And 'iḥtāṭa al-rajulu li-nafsihi' (احتاط الرجل لنفسه) means he acted with confidence/certainty for himself. And al-ḥawṭa (الحوطة) and al-ḥīṭa (الحيطة) [both] mean al-iḥtiyāṭ (الاحتياط) [precaution]. And 'ḥāṭahu Allāhu ḥawṭan wa-ḥiyāṭatan' (حاطه الله حوطا وحياطة) — the noun [from it] being al-ḥīṭa (الحيطة) and al-ḥīṭa (الحيطة) — means: God preserved him, guarded him, and took care of him. And in the ḥadīth of al-ʿAbbās: 'I said: O Messenger of God, what benefit did you provide for your uncle' — meaning Abū Ṭālib — 'for indeed he used to protect you (yaḥūṭuka)?' 'Ḥāṭahu yaḥūṭuhu ḥawṭan' (حاطه يحوطه حوطا) is said when he preserved him, protected him, defended him, and fully devoted himself to his interests. And in the ḥadīth: 'wa-tuḥīṭu daʿwatuhu min warāʾihim' (وتحيط دعوته من ورائهم) 'and his call surrounds them from behind them,' meaning it encircles them from every side. And 'ḥāṭahu' (حاطه) and 'aḥāṭa bihi' (أحاط به) [are equivalent]. And the wild ass 'yaḥūṭu' (يحوط) his herd of wild she-asses (ʿānatahu), meaning he gathers them together. And al-ḥāʾiṭ (الحائط) [the wall] is the wall, because it 'yaḥūṭu' (يحوط) [encloses] what is within it; and its plural is ḥīṭān (حيطان). Sībawayh said: its analogical plural should have been ḥuwṭān (حوطانا). And Ibn al-Aʿrābī related, regarding its plural, ḥiyāṭ (حياط), like qāʾim/qiyām (قائم وقيام); except that ḥāʾiṭ (حائط) has come to predominate as a [substantive] noun, so its rule is that it be broken [into plural] according to the pattern by which fāʿil (فاعل) is broken when used as a noun. Al-Jawharī said: the wāw became a yāʾ because of the kasra before it. Ibn Jinnī said: al-ḥāʾiṭ (الحائط) is a noun in the same standing as al-saqf (السقف) [the roof] and al-rukn (الركن) [the corner], even though it contains the meaning of al-ḥawṭ (الحوط) [enclosing]. And 'ḥawwaṭa ḥāʾiṭan' (حوط حائطا) means: he built/made a wall. Abū Zayd said: 'ḥuṭtu qawmī' (حطت قومي) [I protected my people] and 'aḥṭtu al-ḥāʾiṭa' (أحطت الحائط) [I built the wall]. And 'ḥawwaṭa ḥāʾiṭan' (حوط حائطا) means: he built it. And 'ḥawwaṭa karmahu taḥwīṭan' (حوط كرمه تحويطا) means he built a wall around it, so it is 'karmun muḥawwaṭ' (كرم محوط) [a walled vineyard]. From this comes the saying: 'anā aḥūṭu ḥawla dhālika al-amr' (أنا أحوط حول ذلك الأمر) [I circle around that matter], meaning I go around it. And al-ḥuwwāṭ (الحواط) is an enclosure made for food, because it 'taḥūṭuhu' (تحوطه) [encloses it]. And al-ḥuwwāṭ (الحواط) [is also said to be] an enclosure made for food, or a thing that is quickly uprooted/stripped away from; and he cited [as evidence]: 'Indeed we found the wife of the wheat-seller (al-ḥannāṭ) blameworthy, base in her ḥuwāṭ (guarding).' And al-ḥawwāṭa (الحواطة) is an enclosure made for food. And al-ḥīṭa (الحيطة), with kasra, is al-ḥiyāṭa (الحياطة) [protection]; both are from the wāw [root]. And [the expression] 'with so-and-so there is ḥīṭa (حيطة) for you' — and do not say 'against you' — means compassion and kindness. And al-muḥāṭ (المحاط) is the place that lies behind the livestock and the people, encircling and enclosing them; al-ʿAjjāj said: '...until he saw, from the concealment of al-muḥāṭ...' And it is said: al-arḍ al-muḥāṭ (الأرض المحاط) is land that has a wall and an enclosed garden around it; if it is not walled around, then it is ḍāḥiya (ضاحية) [open/exposed]. And in the ḥadīth of Abū Ṭalḥa: 'fa-idhā huwa fī al-ḥāʾiṭ wa-ʿalayhi khamīṣa' (فإذا هو في الحائط وعليه خميصة) 'and there he was in al-ḥāʾiṭ, wearing a khamīṣa [a striped garment].' Here al-ḥāʾiṭ (الحائط) means the palm-grove/orchard, when it has a wall (ḥāʾiṭ) around it, i.e., al-jidār (الجدار) [the wall]; this recurs in the ḥadīth, and its plural is al-ḥawāʾiṭ (الحوائط). And in the ḥadīth: 'regarding the people of...' [entry continues]

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    حاطه يحوطه حوطا وحيطة وحياطة: حفظه وتعهده؛ وقول الهذلي: وأحفظ منصبي وأحوط عرضي، ... وبعض القوم ليس بذي حياط أراد حياطة، وحذف الهاء كقول الله تعالى: وأقام الصلاة*، يريد الإقامة، وكذلك حوطه؛ قال ساعدة بن جؤية: علي وكانوا أهل عز مقدم ... ومجد، إذا ما حوط المجد نائل «2» ويروى: حوص، وهو مذكور في موضعه. وتحوطه: كحوطه. واحتاط الرجل: أخذ في أموره بالأحزم. واحتاط الرجل لنفسه أي أخذ بالثقة. والحوطة والحيطة: الاحتياط. وحاطه الله حوطا وحياطة، والاسم الحيطة والحيطة: صانه وكلأه ورعاه. وفي حديث العباس: قلت يا رسول الله ما أغنيت عن عمك، يعني أبا طالب، فإنه كان يحوطك؟ حاطه يحوطه حوطا إذا حفظه وصانه وذب عنه وتوفر على مصالحه. وفي الحديث: وتحيط دعوته من ورائهم أي تحدق بهم من جميع نواحيهم. وحاطه وأحاط به، والعير يحوط عانته: يجمعها. والحائط: الجدار لأنه يحوط ما فيه، والجمع حيطان، قال سيبويه: وكان قياسه حوطانا، وحكى ابن الأعرابي في جمعه حياط كقائم وقيام، إلا أن حائطا قد غلب عليه الاسم فحكمه أن يكسر على ما يكسر عليه فاعل إذا كان اسما؛ قال الجوهري: صارت الواو ياء لانكسار ما قبلها؛ قال ابن جني: الحائط اسم بمنزلة السقف والركن وإن كان فيه معنى الحوط. وحوط حائطا: عمله. وقال أبو زيد: حطت قومي وأحطت الحائط؛ وحوط حائطا: عمله. وحوط كرمه تحويطا أي بنى حوله حائطا، فهو كرم محوط، ومنه قولهم: أنا أحوط حول ذلك الأمر أي أدور. والحواط: حظيرة تتخذ للطعام لأنها تحوطه. والحواط: حظيرة تتخذ للطعام أو الشيء يقلع عنه سريعا؛ وأنشد: إنا وجدنا عرس الحناط ... مذمومة لئيمة الحواط والحواطة: حظيرة تتخذ للطعام، والحيطة، بالكسر: الحياطة، وهما من الواو. ومع فلان حيطة لك ولا تقل عليك أي تحنن وتعطف. والمحاط: المكان الذي يكون خلف المال والقوم يستدير بهم ويحوطهم؛ قال العجاج: حتى رأى من خمر المحاط وقيل: الأرض المحاط التي عليها حائط وحديقة، فإذا لم يحيط عليها فهي ضاحية. وفي حديث أبي طلحة: فإذا هو في الحائط وعليه خميصة ؛ الحائط هاهنا البستان من النخيل إذا كان عليه حائط، وهو الجدار، وتكرر في الحديث، وجمعه الحوائط. وفي الحديث: على أهل الحوائط حفظها بالنهار ، يعني البساتين، وهو عام فيها. وحواط الأمر: قوامه. وكل من بلغ أقصى شيء وأحصى علمه، فقد أحاط به. وأحاطت به الخيل وحاطت واحتاطت: أحدقت، واحتاطت بفلان وأحاطت إذا أحدقت به. وكل من أحرز شيئا كله وبلغ علمه أقصاه، فقد أحاط به. يقال: هذا الأمر ما أحطت به علما. وقوله تعالى: والله محيط بالكافرين ؛ أي جامعهم يوم القيامة. وأحاط بالأمر إذا أحدق به من جوانبه كله. وقوله تعالى: والله من ورائهم محيط ؛ أي لا يعجزه أحد قدرته مشتملة عليهم. وحاطهم قصاهم وبقصاهم: قاتل عنهم. وقوله تعالى: أحطت بما لم تحط به ؛ أي علمته من جميع جهاته. وأحاط به: علمه وأحاط به علما. وفي الحديث: أحطت به علما أي أحدق علمي به من جميع جهاته وعرفه. ابن بزرج: يقولون للدراهم إذا نقصت في الفرائض أو غيرها هلم حوطها، قال: والحوط ما تتمم به الدراهم. وحاوطت فلانا محاوطة إذا داورته في أمر تريده منه وهو يأباه كأنك تحوطه ويحوطك؛ قال ابن مقبل: وحاوطته حتى ثنيت عنانه، ... على مدبر العلباء ريان كاهله وأحيط بفلان إذا دنا هلاكه، فهو محاط به. قال الله عز وجل: وأحيط بثمره فأصبح يقلب كفيه على ما أنفق فيها ؛ أي أصابه ما أهلكه وأفسده. وقوله تعالى: إلا أن يحاط بكم ؛ أي تؤخذوا من جوانبكم، والحائط من هذا. وأحاطت به خطيئته أي مات على شركه، نعوذ بالله من خاتمة السوء. ابن الأعرابي: الحوط خيط مفتول من لونين: أحمر وأسود، يقال له البريم، تشده المرأة على وسطها لئلا تصيبها العين، فيه خرزات وهلال من فضة، يسمى ذلك الهلال الحوط ويسمى الخيط به. ابن الأعرابي: حط حط إذا أمرته أن يحلي صبية بالحوط، وهو هلال من فضة، وحط حط إذا أمرته بصلة الرحم. وحوط الحظائر: رجل من النمر بن قاسط وهو أخو المنذر بن امرئ القيس لأمه جد النعمان بن المنذر. وتحوط وتحيط وتحيط والتحوط والتحيط، كله: اسم للسنة الشديدة.

    Lisān · 711 · OpenITIvowelled page on al-Maktaba al-Shāmila (print 7, p. 279) ↗
  • Lane · 1876English, synthesising the classical dictionaries.

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

    حَاطَ بِهِ

    1. حَاطَ بِهِ, aor. يَحُوطُ: see 4, in three places. حَاطَهُ, (S, Msb, K,) aor. as above, (S, Msb,) inf. n. حَوْطٌ (S, Msb, K) and حِيطَةٌ and حِيَاطَةٌ, (S, K, TA, [the second and third, in the CK, erroneously, with fet-h to the ح, the former of them being expressly said in the S and TA, and the latter also in the TA, to be with kesr, and both being shown in the S to be originally with و, i. e. حِوْطَةٌ and حِوَاطَةٌ,]) and حِيَاطٌ is used in poetry for the last of these; (TA;) and حوّطهُ, (K,) inf. n. تَحْوِيطٌ; (TA;) and تحوّطهُ; (K, TA; [omitted in the CK;]) He guarded, kept, kept safely, protected, or took care of, him, or it; (S, Msb, K, TA;) he defended him, or it; (TA;) he paid frequent attention to him, or it; (K, TA;) he minded, or was regardful of, the things that were for his, or its, good. (TA.) You say, لَا زِلْتَ فِى حِيَاطَةِ ٱللّٰهِ Mayest thou not cease to be in the protection of God. (TA.) And مَعَ فُلَانٍ حِيطَةٌ لَكَ There is with such a one compassion and affection for thee: you should not say عَلَيْكَ. (S.) And أَحُوطُ عِرْضِى [I guard, or defend, or take care of, my honour, or reputation]. (TA.) And أَخَاهُ هُوَ يَتَحَوَّطُ He takes care of, or pays frequent attention to, his brother; and undertakes, or superintends, or manages, his affairs. (TA.) And حَاطَهُمْ قَصَآءَهُمْ and بِقَصَائِهِمْ He fought in their defence. (TA.) [But this is generally meant ironically.] When an affliction befalls thee, and thy brother does not guard thee, or defend thee, and does not aid thee, one says [to thee], حَاطَكَ الفَضَآءَ [so in the TA, app. a mistranscription for القَصَآءَ or القَصَا, with which, however, it is nearly syn.,] which is used ironically; i. e. He guarded thee, or defended thee, in a distant quarter; meaning, (tropical:) he did not guard thee, or defend thee; for he who guards, or defends, his brother, draws near to him, and supports him, or aids him. (A, TA.) [See also 1 in art. حبو.] You say also, حَاطُونَا القَصَآءَ, (K,) or القَصَا, (TK,) [both are said to be correct in the TA in art. قصو, on the authority of Ibn-Wellád,] in some of the copies of the K with ف and ض, and in some with ف and ض, the latter unpointed, and so in [a copy of] the A, (TA,) (tropical:) They retired to a distance from us, they being around us, and we not being distant from them, had they desired to come to us. (K, TA.) And حُطْنِى القَصَا (tropical:) Retire thou to a distance from me; (Ibn-Wellád, and K in art. قصو;) as also القَصَآءَ. (Ibn-Wellád, and TA in that art.) And لَأَحُوطَنَّكَ القَصَا وَلَأَغْزُوَنَّكَ بِالعَصَا, in each case with the short & ا, meaning I will assuredly leave thee, and not go near thee; [and I will assuredly go against thee to fight thee with the staff.] (Ks, TA in art. قصو.) حُطْ حُطْ means Take thou care of the tie of kindred, and preserve it. (IAar, K. *) It also signifies Deck thou the boys (الصِّبْيَة [in the CK الصَّبِيَّة the girl]) with the حَوْط [for preservation from the evil eye]. (IAar, K.) And حُوطُوا غُلَامَكُمْ Deck ye your boy with the حَوْط. (AA.) حَاطَ الحِمَارُ عَانَتَهُ, (S, * Msb, K,) nor, as above, (S, Msb,) inf. n. حَوْطٌ, (Msb,) The [wild] he-ass collected, or drew together, (S, * Msb, K, *) and guarded, or took care of, (TA,) his عَانَة [app. meaning his herd of wild asses: or the phrase may mean the he-ass drew towards himself, or compressed, and guarded, his she-ass: Freytag here renders عانة by “ pubem; ” and Golius, by “ veretrum ”]. (S, Msb, K.)

    حوّط حَوْلَهُ

    2. حوّط حَوْلَهُ, inf. n. تَحْوِيطٌ, He surrounded it by some such thing as earth, so as to make this to encompass it. (Msb.) And حوّط كَرْمَهُ, inf. n. as above, He built a حَائِط [or wall] around his vine. (S.) Hence, أَنَا أُحَوِّطُ ذٰلِكَ الأَمْرُ (tropical:) I have within my compass, or power, and care, that thing, or affair; [like أُحَوِّضُ, q. v.;] syn. أَدُورُ. (S, TA.) [Hence also, حوّط عَلَيْهِ, in the present day, is used to signify (assumed tropical:) He monopolized it. See also 4.] حوّط حَائِطًا, (K,) inf. n. as above, (TA,) He made a حائط [meaning either a walled garden or a wall; app. a wall of enclosure]; (K, TA;) as also احاطهُ. (IDrd, TA.) See also 1.

    حاوط فُلَانًا

    3. حاوط فُلَانًا (tropical:) He endeavoured to induce such a one to turn, or incline; or endeavoured to turn him by deceit, or guile; (دَاوَرَهُ;) in a matter that he desired of him, and which he refused him: (K:) as though each of them were guarding, or taking care of, (يَحُوطُ,) the other. (K: and so in the A, in illustration of what next follows.) حَاوِطْهُ فَإِنَّهُ يَلِينُ لَكَ (tropical:) Endeavour thou to induce him to turn, or incline; or endeavour thou to turn him by deceit, or guile; [for he will relent to thee;] syn. دَاوِرْهُ. (A, TA.)

    احاط بِهِ

    4. احاط بِهِ بِهِ حَاطَ signify the same [i. e. It, or he, surrounded, encompassed, environed, enclosed, or hemmed in, it, or him]. (TA.) You say, احاط القَوْمُ بِالبَلَدِ, inf. n. إِحَاطَةٌ; and حَاطُوا بِهِ; The people surrounded, encompassed, environed, encircled, or beset, the sides of the town. (Msb.) And احاطت الخَيْلُ بِفُلَانٍ, (S, TA,) and به حَاطَتْ, (TA,) and به احتاطت, (S,) The horses, or horsemen, surrounded, encompassed, environed, encircled, or beset, such a one. (S, TA.) [And احاطوا بِهِ مِنْ جَانِبَيْهِ, meaning They surrounded him on all his sides; lit. on his two sides: see جَنْبٌ.] It is said in the Kur [xvii. 62], إِنَّ رَبَّكَ أَحَاطَ بِالنَّاسِ (assumed tropical:) Verily thy Lord hath men in his grasp, or power: (Bd, TA:) or (assumed tropical:) hath destroyed them; meaning Kureysh. (Bd.) You say also, أُحِيطَ بِفُلَانٍ, meaning (assumed tropical:) Such a one was destroyed: or (assumed tropical:) his destruction drew near. (TA.) And hence the saying in the Kur [xviii. 40], وَأُحِيطَ بِثَمَرِهِ (assumed tropical:) And its fruit became smitten by that which destroyed and spoiled it: (TA:) or (assumed tropical:) his possessions became destroyed: from أَحَاطَ بِهِ العَدُوُّ [the enemy surrounded him]. (Bd.) [Hence also, in the same, ii. 75,] وَأَحَاطَتْ بِهِ خَطِيْئَتُهُ (assumed tropical:) And over whom his sin hath gained the mastery, affecting all the circumstances of his case, so that he hath become as though he were entirely encompassed thereby: (Bd:) or (assumed tropical:) who hath died in the belief of a plurality of Gods. (TA.) You also say, احاط بِهِ الأَمْرُ (assumed tropical:) The thing beset him on every side, so that he had no place of escape from it. (TA.) And احاط عَلَيْهِ (assumed tropical:) He took it entirely to himself, debarring others from it: [see also 2.] (TA in art شرب.) احاط بِهِ, (K,) or احاط بِهِ عِلْمًا, (S, Msb, TA,) and احاط بِهِ عِلْمُهُ, (S, TA,) (tropical:) [He comprehended it, or knew it altogether, in all its modes or circumstances;] he knew it extrinsically and intrinsically; (Msb;) or he attained the utmost particular thereof, and had a comprehensive and complete knowledge thereof: or he attained everything [relating to it], and the utmost knowledge thereof. (K, accord. to different copies. [In the CK, اَحْصٰى عِلْمُهُ is put, erroneously, for احصى عِلْمَهُ.]) It is said in the Kur [xxvii. 22], أَحَطْتُ بِمَا لَمْ تُحِطْ بِهِ (tropical:) I have known in all its circumstances, or modes, that which thou hast not so known. (TA.) And you say also, عَلِمَهُ عِلْمَ إِحَاطَةٍ (tropical:) He knew it in all its circumstances, or modes; nothing of them escaping him. (TA.) See also 2.

    تَحَوَّطَ

    5: see 1, in two places.

    احتاط

    8. احتاط: see 4. Also (tropical:) He took the course prescribed by prudence, precaution, or good judgment; he used precaution; he took the sure course; (S, * K, * TA;) لِنَفْسِهِ for himself; (S, TA;) [and مِنَ الشَّىْءِ against the thing:] he sought the most successful means, and took the surest method; لِلشَّىْءِ for [the accomplishment, or attainment, of] the thing. (Msb.) The subst. [denoting the abstract signification of the inf. n., اِحْتِيَاطٌ,] is حيطة, (Msb,) i. e. حَيْطَةٌ and حِيطَةٌ, (K, TA,) which latter is originally حِوْطَةٌ, (TA,) [and is also an inf. n. of 1,] and حَوْطَةٌ. (K, TA.) Some hold احتياط to belong to art. حيط. (Msb.) You say also فِى الأُمُورِ استحاط [meaning in like manner (assumed tropical:) He took the course prescribed by prudence, &c., in affairs, or in the affairs: as is shown below: see مُحْتَاطٌ]. (TA.)

    إِسْتَحْوَطَ

    10: see 8.

    حَوْطٌ

    حَوْطٌ A twisted string of two colours, black and red, (IAar, K,) called بَرِيم, (IAar,) upon which are beads and a crescent of silver, which a woman binds upon her waist, [and which is bound upon a boy, (see 1,)] in order that the evil eye may not smite her [or him]: (IAar, K:) and also the crescent above mentioned; as well as the string with it. (TA.) [See also تَحْوِيطَةٌ.]

    حَوْطَةٌ

    حَوْطَةٌ: see 8.

    حَيْطَةٌ

    حَيْطَةٌ: see 8.

    حِيطَةٌ

    حِيطَةٌ: see 8.

    حُوَاطٌ

    حُوَاطٌ: see what next follows.

    Lane, Arabic-English Lexiconread Lane's entry online ↗
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 و ط

الحاء والواو والطاء كلمة واحدة وهو الشيء يطيف بالشيء فالحوط من حاطه حوطا والحمار يحوط عانته يجمعها وحوطت حائطا ويقال إن الحواطة حظيرة تتخذ للطعام والحوط شيء مستدير تعلقه المرأة على جبينها من فضة

ḥ-w-ṭ: a single word, which is a thing encircling a thing. So al-ḥawṭ is from ḥāṭahu ḥawṭan, and the donkey yaḥūṭu 'ānatahu, gathering its herd; and ḥawwaṭtu ḥā'iṭan; and it is said that al-ḥawwāṭa is an enclosure made for food, and al-ḥawṭ is a round silver thing that a woman hangs on her forehead.

Ibn Fāris ↗Lisān ↗Lane ↗al-Khalīl: used ↗Quran ×28

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 ↗

و

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 ↗

ط

ومما بين طرف اللسان وأصول الثنايا مخرج الطاء، والدال، والتاء

From between the tip of the tongue and the roots of the front teeth is the place of the ṭāʾ, the dāl and the tāʾ. Sībawayh, line 26559 ↗

ومما بين طرف اللسان وأصول الثنايا، مخرج الطاء والدال والتاء

From between the tip of the tongue and the roots of the front teeth is the place of the ṭāʾ, the dāl and the tāʾ. Ibn Jinnī, line 982 ↗

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 ↗

و

Level of existence: تعيين الرتب والمقامات والمنازل · the determination of ranks, stations and waystations

Divine Name: رفيع الدرجات · Rafīʿ al-Darajāt, Exalted in Degrees

Lunar mansion: الرشا · al-Rashāʾ

Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 62121

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

ط

Level of existence: السماء السادسة · the sixth heaven

Divine Name: المحصي · the Enumerator (al-Muḥṣī)

Lunar mansion: الزبانا · al-Zubānā

Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 64680

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

و

With fatḥa ـَ

فهي الأشياء المشتبكة في الإنسان مثل العروق والأصابع وما أشبه ذلك.

It is the intertwined things in the human being, such as veins, fingers and the like.

With ḍamma ـُ

فهي الأشياء المباينة لبني آدم مثل الأفلاك والجبال وما أشبه ذلك

It is things distinct from the children of Adam, such as the celestial spheres, mountains and the like.

With kasra ـِ

فهي الأشياء المشتبكة المستقذرة أو المبغوضة كالأمعاء ونحوها.

It is intertwined things that are filthy or detested, such as the intestines and the like.

al-Dabbāgh (d. 1132/1719), al-Ibrīz, ch. 2 §15, compiled by al-Lamaṭī

ط

With fatḥa ـَ

فهي إشارة إلى الشيء الذي جنسه طاهر وصاف إلى النهاية، وهو في ذاته أيضا طاهر صاف إلى النهاية.

It is an indication of the thing whose genus is pure and clear to the utmost, and which is also, in itself, pure and clear to the utmost.

With ḍamma ـُ

فهي إشارة إلى الخبيث إلى النهاية عكس الأول.

It is an indication of what is foul to the utmost, the reverse of the first.

With kasra ـِ

فهي إشارة إلى الشيء الذي من طبعه السكون أو أمر بالسكون.

It is an indication of the thing whose nature is stillness, or which has been commanded to be still.

al-Dabbāgh (d. 1132/1719), al-Ibrīz, ch. 2 §15, compiled by al-Lamaṭī
In the sister scriptsHebrew ח ו טSyriac ܚ ܘ ܛ
Arabicح و ط
Hebrewח ו ט
Syriacܚ ܘ ܛ
Ancient South Arabian (musnad)𐩢 𐩥 𐩷
Phoenician𐤇 𐤅 𐤈

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 (al-ʿAyn) opens with the concrete image of a donkey 'yaḥūṭu ʿānatahu,' gathering his herd around himself, and ḥāṭahu ḥīṭatan, taʿahhadahu, to look after and tend to someone;well attested

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

    al-Khalīl (al-ʿAyn) opens with the concrete image of a donkey 'yaḥūṭu ʿānatahu,' gathering his herd around himself, and ḥāṭahu ḥīṭatan, taʿahhadahu, to look after and tend to someone; he records iḥtāṭat al-khayl bihi wa-aḥāṭat, riders surrounding a man (aḥdaqat), and already generalizes to the epistemic sense: whoever fully masters a thing and whose knowledge reaches its utmost has 'encompassed' it, citing aḥaṭtu bihi ʿilman. Al-Jawharī (al-Ṣiḥāḥ) notes al-ḥāʾiṭ (wall) derives its yāʾ from wāw after a preceding kasra, gives the idiom anā aḥūṭu ḥawla dhālika l-amr for going round a matter with care, and distinguishes maʿa fulānin ḥīṭatun laka, sympathy toward you (not ʿalayka), from ḥāṭahu = kalaʾahu wa-raʿāhu, protected and tended him. Ibn Fāris (Maqāyīs) reduces the root to a single sense, al-shayʾ yuṭīfu bi-l-shayʾ, grounding both the built wall and the protective ḥiyāṭa in one image, and records al-ḥawṭ as a round silver ornament worn on the forehead. Al-Rāghib (al-Mufradāt) maps iḥāṭa onto three uses — spatial (aḥaṭtu bi-makāni kadhā), protective (Q41:54, God preserving something from every side), and preventive (Q12:66, illā an tumnaʿū) — and singles out Q2:81's 'aḥāṭat bihi khaṭīʾatuhu' as a forceful metaphor: one who persists in sin is drawn to ever greater sin until the heart is sealed and escape becomes impossible. Ibn Manẓūr (Lisān al-ʿArab) consolidates this, confirming ḥāṭahu = ḥafiẓahu wa-taʿahhadahu and glossing al-ḥawṭa/al-ḥīṭa as iḥtiyāṭ, the taking of the securest course.

    Draws on: cayn · sihah · Ibn Fāris · mufradat · lisan

    • al-Khalīl, al-ʿAyn, s.v. ḥ-w-ṭ
    • al-Jawharī, al-Ṣiḥāḥ, s.v. ḥ-w-ṭ
    • Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-Lugha, s.v. ḥ-w-ṭ
    • al-Rāghib, al-Mufradāt, s.v. ḥ-w-ṭ
    • Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-ʿArab, s.v. ḥ-w-ṭ
  • Letters & soundUsing the data given, ḥāʾ is associated with the dust-like substance (al-jawhar al-habābī), and al-Dabbāgh glosses it directly as denoting encompassing and inclusion of everything, a notably close match to this root's own core sense, worth flagging as juxtaposition.speculative

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

    Using the data given, ḥāʾ is associated with the dust-like substance (al-jawhar al-habābī), and al-Dabbāgh glosses it directly as denoting encompassing and inclusion of everything, a notably close match to this root's own core sense, worth flagging as juxtaposition. Wāw again carries the sense of fixing ranks, stations and waystations. Ṭāʾ is linked to the sixth heaven, and al-Dabbāgh glosses it as marking a thing whose genus and self are pure and clear to the utmost, suggestively apt for the protective, purifying sense of ḥiyāṭa. This is speculative: mainstream historical linguistics does not credit letter-symbolism with explanatory power over semantic development, however apt the fit appears here.

    Draws on: akbari198 · dabbagh_fatha

    • al-Dabbāgh, letter-meanings (fatḥa series), as supplied
  • Root structureThe excerpts here give no chapter of Ibn Fāris's own ḥāʾ-wāw siblings for this root, so no such comparison can be drawn.uncertain

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

    The excerpts here give no chapter of Ibn Fāris's own ḥāʾ-wāw siblings for this root, so no such comparison can be drawn. Among the permutations, ḥawṭ itself (attested, 28 Qur'anic occurrences) stands beside waṭḥ, attested but with the unrelated sense of crowding and alternation (muzāḥama wa-mudāwala), recorded by Ibn Fāris as a separate entry, not a cognate meaning. Ṭaḥw, glossed as basṭ wa-madd, spreading and extending (as in Q91:6), is phonetically adjacent but treated as its own root; ṭawḥ is explicitly flagged as 'laysa bi-aṣl,' not a genuine root, possibly arising through phonetic substitution (bāb al-ibdāl). These are the permutation table's own juxtapositions, offered without any claim of shared derivation.

    Draws on: permutations

  • Semitic kin & loanwordsNo confident Semitic cognate for ḥ-w-ṭ in the sense of 'to encircle, encompass, guard' is identified in the sources at hand;uncertain

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

    No confident Semitic cognate for ḥ-w-ṭ in the sense of 'to encircle, encompass, guard' is identified in the sources at hand; Hebrew, Aramaic/Syriac, Akkadian, Geʿez and Old South Arabian offer no clearly corresponding root in this evidence. The word appears to be an inner-Arabic formation built on the concrete image of encircling — the wall, herded animals, encircling riders — rather than a loan from a neighboring language.

    Draws on: no cognate found in given sources

  • Quranic exegesisAt Āyat al-Kursī (Q2:255), 'wa-lā yuḥīṭūna bi-shayʾin min ʿilmihi illā bi-mā shāʾ,' exegetes read iḥāṭa as comprehensive grasp: no creature's knowledge can encompass God's knowledge except by what He permits.well attested

    How the classical exegetes read the word in the Quran.

    At Āyat al-Kursī (Q2:255), 'wa-lā yuḥīṭūna bi-shayʾin min ʿilmihi illā bi-mā shāʾ,' exegetes read iḥāṭa as comprehensive grasp: no creature's knowledge can encompass God's knowledge except by what He permits. At Q2:81, 'aḥāṭat bihi khaṭīʾatuhu,' exegetes debate the referent — one who dies persisting in major sin or unbelief — largely following al-Rāghib's reading that sin progressively surrounds and seals the sinner's heart, leaving no avenue of escape. The divine epithet muḥīṭ, applied to God's power over the disbelievers (Q2:19, 3:120, 29:54), is read by al-Zamakhsharī as expressing total mastery and inescapable dominance rather than mere physical surrounding; the exegetical tradition consistently treats iḥāṭa/muḥīṭ as majāz for totality of knowledge or power when applied to God.

    Draws on: Q2:255 · Q2:81 · Q2:19 · Q3:120 · Q29:54

  • Philosophy & kalāmAmong the mutakallimūn, iḥāṭa characterizes the distinctive mode of divine knowledge: God's knowledge is said to encompass all objects of knowledge simultaneously and without succession or division, in contrast to human knowledge, which is partial, sequential and acquired.plausible

    The word as a technical term in falsafa and theology.

    Among the mutakallimūn, iḥāṭa characterizes the distinctive mode of divine knowledge: God's knowledge is said to encompass all objects of knowledge simultaneously and without succession or division, in contrast to human knowledge, which is partial, sequential and acquired. Al-Ghazālī and other theologians invoke muḥīṭ, alongside Āyat al-Kursī, to argue for the comprehensiveness and non-discursive unity of God's ʿilm as a mark of divine perfection. This technical use presupposes the lexicographers' basic sense of iḥāṭa as total, exhaustive encompassing rather than the merely spatial sense of a wall around a garden.

    Draws on: kalām discussions of divine ʿilm

  • Akbarian readingIn the Faṣṣ Ādam excerpt given, Ibn ʿArabī writes that the divine forms of the names, within this human configuration (al-nashʾa al-insāniyya), attained the rank of iḥāṭa and jamʿ, comprehensive encompassment and gathering, of this existence, and that by this the proof (ḥujja) was established for God against the angels.plausible

    The word in Ibn ʿArabī's text and terminology.

    In the Faṣṣ Ādam excerpt given, Ibn ʿArabī writes that the divine forms of the names, within this human configuration (al-nashʾa al-insāniyya), attained the rank of iḥāṭa and jamʿ, comprehensive encompassment and gathering, of this existence, and that by this the proof (ḥujja) was established for God against the angels. Iḥāṭa here functions as a near-technical term for the Perfect Human's all-comprehensive receptivity to the divine names, paralleling the jamʿiyya/majmūʿ language used elsewhere of the khalīfa (compare the root f-w-z, where fawz likewise requires the majmūʿ). No formal Iṣṭilāḥ definition of ḥawṭ/iḥāṭa is supplied among the materials given, so this reading is drawn from usage in the Faṣṣ itself rather than a stated definition.

    Draws on: Faṣṣ Ādam excerpt

    • Ibn ʿArabī, Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam, Faṣṣ Ādam (excerpt as supplied)

Reference

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