دبرone governing sense, the end/back of a thing, the opposite of the front, with a handful … (root dbr)

Dubr (دبر) of everything is the opposite of its front, except for their saying 'ja'ala fulānun qawlī dubra udhunihi' (جعل فلان قولي دبر أذنه), 'so-and-so put my words behind his ear,' and 'dabbara udhunahu' (دبر أذنه). One says of a people in war: 'wallūhum al-dubur' (ولوهم الدبر), 'turn your backs to them'; and al-idbār (الإدبار) is the turning of backs itself. 'Mā lahum min muqbalin wa lā mudbarin' (وما لهم من مقبل ولا مدبر) means 'they have nowhere to go, advancing or retreating.' 'Adbār al-sujūd' (أدبار السجود): the ends of the prayers. 'Idbār al-nujūm' (إدبار النجوم): at dawn, at the end of the night, when they turn away, setting toward the west. Al-dābir (الدابر): the follower; one says dabara yadburu dabran (دبر يدبر دبرا), meaning he followed the track. His exalted saying: 'wa-l-layli idh adbar' (والليل إذ أدبر) means 'it turned away, departing'; whoever reads 'dubira' means 'it followed the day.' 'Qaṭa'a Allāhu dābirahum' (قطع الله دابرهم): the last remaining one of them. 'Ja'ala al-dabrata 'alayhim' (جعل الدبرة عليهم): the defeat was inflicted on them. Al-dabūr (الدبور): a wind coming from the direction of the qiblah, blowing toward the east; its plural is dubur (دبر), though al-dabā'ir (الدبائر) is more correct. Al-dābirah (الدابرة) of a bird: the hind-toe, belonging to the rooster, lower than the spur, with which it treads, and with which a hawk strikes [its prey]. Dābirat al-ḥāfir (دابرة الحافر): what adjoins the back of the fetlock. He said: 'The galloping in the sand-hills wore away their hind-parts (دوابر)...' [partial verse]. A proverb of the Arabs: 'mā yadrī fulānun qabīlan min dabīrin' (ما يدري فلان قبيلا من دبير) — al-qabīl (القبيل) is what faces you, al-dabīr (الدبير) is what is turned away from you. It is said: al-dabīr (الدبير) is the [reverse] twisting of linen and wool, while al-qabīl (القبيل) is the twisting of cotton. Dubār (دبار): the name for Wednesday in pre-Islamic times. Al-dabār (الدبار): destruction; one says 'dabara al-qawmu yadburūna dabāran' (دبر القوم يدبرون دبارا), 'the people perished.' 'Dabira ẓahru al-dābbati' (دبر ظهر الدابة): the riding-animal's back became galled; the noun is al-dabr (الدبر), and a galled animal is dābbah dabrah (دابة دبرة). 'Adbara amruhu' (أدبر أمره): his affair turned toward ruin. 'Dābartuhu' (دابرته): I made him my enemy. Al-mudābir (المدابر) among dwellings is the opposite of al-muqābil (المقابل, facing). Al-dabrah (الدبرة): a plot (al-kurdah) of a cultivated field or vegetable garden, plural dibār (دبار). Al-Dabarān (الدبران): a star between the Pleiades and Orion/Gemini, one of the lunar mansions, inauspicious, in the constellation Taurus. Al-tadbīr (التدبير): freeing a slave after death. Al-tadbīr (التدبير): reflection upon the outcomes of affairs; so-and-so 'yatadabbaru a'jāza umūrin qad wallat ṣudūruhā' (يتدبر أعجاز أمور قد ولت صدورها), 'he ponders the tail-ends of matters whose beginnings have already passed.' 'Istadbara min amrihi mā lam yakun istaqbala' (استدبر من أمره ما لم يكن استقبل): he examined the aspect of his affair he had not looked into from the front, discerning the outcome of what he had not known at its start. 'Istadbara fulānun fulānan min ḥīnihi' (استدبر فلان فلانا من حينه): from the moment he turned away, he continued to pursue his affair. Al-dabr (الدبر): bees, plural al-dubūr (الدبور). Al-tadābur (التدابر): estrangement and abandonment — that a man turns his back on his companion and turns away from him with his face. [The text then continues into a new entry, bdr (بدر): al-badr (البدر) is the moon on the night of fullness, the fourteenth night, named thus because it hastens... [entry continues]

Al-dabr (الدبر), with fatḥah: a swarm of bees. Al-Aṣma'ī said it has no singular, and it is pluralized as dubūr (دبور). Labīd said: 'With white [honey] like the first rains of a cloud, / and dabūr-honey (أري دبور) that the roaming bees have made flow...' It is also said for wasps/hornets: dabr (دبر); hence it was said of 'Āṣim ibn Thābit al-Anṣārī, 'Ḥamā al-dabr' (حمى الدبر) — 'protected by the hornets' — because when the polytheists killed him and wished to mutilate his body, God sent great wasps upon them that stung anyone in armor, so they were deterred from him until the Muslims took and buried him. One says 'ja'altu kalāmahu dubra udhunī' (جعلت كلامه دبر أذني), 'I put his speech behind my ear,' meaning I overlooked it and feigned deafness. Al-dabrah (الدبرة) and al-dabārah (الدبارة): the irrigated plot in a cultivated field, in Persian 'kurd'; plural dabr and dibār. 'Dhāt al-Dabr' (ذات الدبر): the name of a dual [place]; Ibn al-A'rābī said al-Aṣma'ī corrupted it, saying 'Dhāt al-Ẓabr.' Al-dubr (الدبر) and al-dubur (الدبر): the back. God, exalted, said: 'wa yuwallūna al-dubura' (ويولون الدبر), putting it in the singular for the group, just as He said 'lā yartaddu ilayhim ṭarfuhum' [likewise singular for plural]. Al-dubr and al-dubur: the opposite of al-qubl (القبل). 'Dabara al-amru' and 'dabbarahu' (دبر الأمر ودبره): its end. Al-Kumayt said: 'Do you recall, of the first days of youth, seeking / at its very end (على دبر) — alas, a far-off goal (شأو مغرب)...' Dabīr (دبير): a tribe of Banū Asad. Al-dibr (الدبر), with kasrah: abundant wealth, its singular and plural being the same; one says māl dibr, mālāni dibr, amwāl dibr. A man dhū dibr (ذو دبر): one abundant in property and wealth — related by Abū 'Ubayd from Abū Zayd. Al-dibrah (الدبرة): the opposite of al-qiblah; one says 'fulānun mā lahu qiblatun wa lā dibratun' (فلان ماله قبلة ولا دبرة), meaning he is not guided to any course in his affair; and 'laysa li-hādhā al-amri qiblatun wa lā dibratun,' meaning its direction is unknown. Al-dabarah (الدبرة), with fatḥah: a single instance of al-dabar and al-adbār, like shajarah/shajar/ashjār; from it one says 'dabira al-ba'īru' (دبر البعير) and 'adbarahu al-qatab' (أدبره القتب), 'the saddle galled it.' Al-dabrah (الدبرة), with sukūn or also with fatḥah: defeat in battle, a noun from al-idbār. It is also said: 'sharr al-ra'yi al-dubrī' (شر الرأي الدبري), 'the worst counsel is the belated one,' that which occurs at the last moment after the need has passed. Abū Zayd said: one says 'fulānun lā yuṣallī al-ṣalāta illā dabariyyan' (فلان لا يصلي الصلاة إلا دبريا), with fatḥah, meaning at the very end of its time; the later scholars say 'dubriyyan' with ḍammah. Al-Dabarān (الدبران): five stars in Taurus, said to be its hump; one of the lunar mansions. Al-Shaybānī said: al-dabarah (الدبرة) is the farthest part of the sand-dune. Dābirat al-insān (دابرة الإنسان): his hock/heel-tendon. Dābirat al-ṭā'ir (دابرة الطائر): that with which it strikes, which is like a toe/finger... [entry continues]

The letters dāl (د), bā' (ب), and rā' (ر): the basic principle of this chapter is that most of it follows one single analogy — the end of a thing and what comes after it, opposite to its front (قبل) — though a few divergent words exist, which we mention. The bulk of the chapter is that dubr (الدبر) is the opposite of qubl (القبل). Al-dabīr (الدبير) is what a woman spins 'away' from her when she twists it; Ibn al-Sikkīt said: al-qabīl (القبيل) in twisting is what you twist facing toward your chest, while al-dabīr (الدبير) is what you twist away from your chest. Dābirat al-ṭā'ir (دابرة الطائر) is the toe/spur at the back of a bird's leg. You say ja'altu qawlahu dubra udhunī (جعلت قوله دبر أذني), 'I put his words behind my ear,' meaning I overlooked it and feigned deafness. Dabara al-nahāru (دبر النهار) and adbara (أدبر): this is when its end comes, and that [end] is dubruhu (دبره). Dabartu al-ḥadītha 'an fulānin (دبرت الحديث عن فلان) means 'I related the report on his authority' — belonging to this chapter, since the later narrator 'follows behind' (يدبر) the earlier one, coming after him. Dābirat al-ḥāfir (دابرة الحافر) is what lies opposite the back of the fetlock. 'Qaṭa'a Allāhu dābirahum' (قطع الله دابرهم) means 'the last remaining one of them.' Al-dābir (الدابر) of arrows is the one that flies out beyond the target, as though it turned its back (دبره) on the archer; one says dabara yadburu dubūran (دبر يدبر دبورا). Al-Dabarān (الدبران) is a star named thus because it 'follows behind' (يدبر) the Pleiades (الثريا). Dābartu fulānan (دابرت فلانا) means 'I made him my enemy.' In the ḥadīth: 'Lā tadābarū' (لا تدابروا) — belonging to this chapter, meaning that neither of two people turns his face to the other [i.e., they turn their backs on one another]. Al-tadbīr (التدبير) is for a person to manage his affair (يدبر أمره), looking to what its outcome and end (دبره) will be. Al-tadbīr (التدبير) [also] is a man's manumission of his slave or slave-girl 'from behind' (عن دبر) — that he be freed after his master's death, as though saying, 'you are free after my death.' A man muqābil mudābir (مقابل مدابر) is one noble in lineage from both parents' sides — meaning that whichever of them 'faces' (أقبل) is noble, and whichever 'turns away' (أدبر) is likewise. Al-mudābarah (المدابرة) is a ewe whose ear is slit from behind its neck. Al-dābir (الدابر) among gambling-arrows is the one that does not come out [win], opposite of al-fā'iz (الفائز, the winner) — belonging to this chapter because it 'follows behind' its fellow. Al-dābir (الدابر) [also means] 'the follower'; one says dabara dubūran (دبر دبورا), and by this is explained His exalted words: 'wa-l-layli idhā dabar' (والليل إذا دبر) [al-Muddaththir 74:33] — meaning 'it followed the day.' Dabara bi-l-qimār (دبر بالقمار) means he took something away by gambling. One says: 'laysa li-hādhā al-amri qiblatun wa lā dibratun' (ليس لهذا الأمر قبلة ولا دبرة) — 'this matter has neither a front by which it may be known nor a back by which it may be known.' A man adābir (أدابر) is one who severs his kinship ties, because he 'turns his back' on it and does not face it. Al-dabūr (الدبور) is a wind that comes from behind the Ka'bah. Al-dābirah (الدابرة) is a kind of throw/hold in wrestling [a way of bringing down in a fall]. Abū Zayd said: one says 'huwa lā yuṣallī al-ṣalāta illā dabariyyan' (هو لا يصلي الصلاة إلا دبريا), and the later scholars (al-muḥaddithūn) say dubriyyan, meaning he prays it at the very end of its time, i.e., after the time has already 'departed' (adbara al-waqt). As for the remaining words, I consider them to deviate from the principle mentioned, though some are sound. Among the doubtful is their saying that Dubār (دبار) is a name for Wednesday, which the pre-Islamic Arabs so called — there is some question about this. Among the sound is al-dibār (الدبار), the irrigated plots of a cultivated field; Bishr said: 'Upon a furrowed plot (جربة) over which its water-channels/buckets (دبار / غروب) rise...' [partial verse]. From this also is al-dabr (الدبر), abundant wealth; one says māl dabr (مال دبر), mālāni dabr (مالان دبر), amwāl dabr (أموال دبر).

Dubr (دبر) of a thing: the opposite of al-qubl (القبل), and the two terms are used as euphemisms for the two specific [private] organs; one says dubr and dubur, plural adbār (أدبار). He, exalted, said: 'wa man yuwallihim yawma'idhin dubrahu' (Q al-Anfāl 8:16), 'and whoever turns his back to them that day'; and He said: 'yaḍribūna wujūhahum wa adbārahum' (Q al-Anfāl 8:50), meaning their fronts and their backs; and He said: 'fa-lā tuwallūhumu al-adbāra' (Q al-Anfāl 8:15), a prohibition against fleeing [in battle]. His saying 'wa adbāra al-sujūd' (Q Qāf 50:40) means the ends of the prayers; it is read both 'wa idbāra al-nujūm' and 'wa adbāra al-nujūm' (Q al-Ṭūr 52:49) — idbār being a verbal noun made into an adverb, like 'muqdam al-ḥājj' [the pilgrims' time of arrival] and 'khufūq al-najm' [a star's setting]; whoever reads 'adbār' takes it as a plural. It is derived sometimes with respect to the agent's 'back,' sometimes with respect to the object's 'back.' From the first: 'dabara fulānun' (دبر فلان), 'amsi al-dābir' (أمس الدابر, yesterday, now past), and 'wa-l-layli idh adbar' (Q al-Muddaththir 74:33). With respect to the object: 'dabara al-sahmu al-hadafa' (دبر السهم الهدف), 'the arrow fell short/behind the target,' and 'dabara fulānun al-qawma' (دبر فلان القوم), 'so-and-so came to be behind the people.' He, exalted, said: 'anna dābira hā'ulā'i maqṭū'un muṣbiḥīna' (Q al-Ḥijr 15:66), and 'fa-quṭi'a dābiru al-qawmi alladhīna ẓalamū' (Q al-An'ām 6:45). Al-dābir (الدابر) is used for 'the one lagging behind' and for 'the follower,' whether with respect to place, time, or rank. 'Adbara' (أدبر): he turned away, presenting his back; He said 'thumma adbara wa-stakbar' (Q al-Muddaththir 74:23), and 'tad'ū man adbara wa tawallā' (Q al-Ma'ārij 70:17). He, peace be upon him, said: 'Lā taqāṭa'ū wa lā tadābarū wa kūnū 'ibāda Allāhi ikhwānan' — 'Do not sever relations, and do not turn your backs on one another; be, servants of God, brothers.' It is also said [tadābur means]: that none of you speak of his companion from behind him [backbite]. Al-istidbār (الاستدبار): seeking the back of a thing. 'Tadābara al-qawmu' (تدابر القوم): when they turn away from one another. Al-dibār (الدبار) is a verbal noun from 'dābartuhu' (دابرته), meaning I made him my enemy, approaching from behind him. Al-tadbīr (التدبير): reflection on the outcomes of affairs; He, exalted, said: 'fa-l-mudabbirāti amran' (Q al-Nāzi'āt 79:5), meaning angels charged with managing affairs. Al-tadbīr (التدبير): the manumission of a slave 'from behind' (عن دبر), i.e., after death. Al-dabār (الدبار): the destruction which cuts off their 'last remnant' (dābirah); Wednesday was named Dubār (دبار) in the Jāhiliyyah — said to be due to considering it ill-omened. Al-dabīr (الدبير) of twisted thread is al-madbūr (المدبور), i.e., twisted backward; al-qabīl (القبيل) is its opposite. A man muqābil mudābir (مقابل مدابر): noble from both sides [of lineage]. A ewe muqābalah mudābarah (مقابلة مدابرة): with its ear slit both front and back. Dābirat al-ṭā'ir (دابرة الطائر): its hind toe. Dābirat al-ḥāfir (دابرة الحافر): what surrounds the fetlock. Al-dabūr (الدبور) among winds is well-known. Al-dabrah (الدبرة) of a cultivated field, plural dibār (دبار); the poet said: [entry continues]

Al-dubr (الدبر) and al-dubur (الدبر): the opposite of al-qubl (القبل). Dubr (دبر) of everything: its rear part and its end; their duals/plurals are adbār (أدبار). Dubr of everything: the opposite of its front in every sense, except for their saying: 'ja'ala fulānun qawlaka dubra udhunihi' (جعل فلان قولك دبر أذنه), 'so-and-so put your words behind his ear.' Al-Jawharī said: al-dubr and al-dubur, the opposite of al-qubl. 'Dubr al-shahri' (دبر الشهر): its end, by comparison; one says 'ji'tuka dubra al-shahri' (جئتك دبر الشهر), 'fī dubrihi' (في دبره), 'alā dubrihi' (على دبره); and the plural in all this is adbār; one says 'ji'tuka adbāra al-shahri' (جئتك أدبار الشهر), 'fī adbārihi' (في أدباره). Al-adbār (الأدبار) for hoofed, cloven-hoofed, and claw-footed animals: that which comprises together the anus and the pudendum; some restrict it to hoofed animals specifically, while the pudendum of each of these alone is called dubr. Dubr al-bayti (دبر البيت): its rear part and its corner. 'Idbār al-nujūm' (إدبار النجوم): their succession one after another; and their adbār is their moving toward the west to set at the end of the night — this is the lexicographers' account; Ibn Sīdah said: I do not know how this is valid, since al-idbār cannot be 'the taking' [as an action], for al-akhdh is a verbal noun while al-adbār are [concrete] nouns. 'Adbār al-sujūd' (أدبار السجود) and 'idbāruhu' (إدباره): the ends of the prayers; it has been read both 'wa adbār' and 'wa idbār' — whoever reads 'wa adbār' [takes it] on the pattern of khalf/warā' [rear, behind, as nouns], and whoever reads 'wa idbār' [takes it] on the pattern of 'khufūq al-najm' [a star's setting, verbal noun]. Tha'lab said, regarding His saying 'wa idbāra al-nujūmi' and 'wa adbāra al-sujūdi': al-Kisā'ī said: idbār al-nujūm is that they have a single 'ending' (dubr) at the time of dawn, while adbār al-sujūd is because with every prostration there is an 'ending' (idbār). Al-Tahdhīb: whoever reads 'wa adbār al-sujūd' with fatḥah of the alif [takes it as] a plural on the pattern of dubr/adbār — these being the two rak'ahs after Maghrib, as related from 'Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, may God honor his face; he said: as for His saying 'wa idbār al-nujūm' in Sūrat al-Ṭūr, these are the two rak'ahs before Fajr; and he said both readings, with kasrah or fatḥah/naṣb, are permissible. 'Dabarahu yadburuhu duburan' (دبره يدبره دبورا): he followed him from behind. 'Dābir al-shay'i' (دابر الشيء): its end/last part. Al-Shaybānī: al-dābirah (الدابرة) is the last part of the sand-dune. 'Qaṭa'a Allāhu dābirahum' (قطع الله دابرهم): the last remaining one of them. In the Revelation: 'fa-quṭi'a dābiru al-qawmi alladhīna ẓalamū' (Q al-An'ām 6:45), meaning their last remnant was utterly uprooted; and dābirat al-shay'i is like its dābir. And God, exalted, said elsewhere: 'wa qaḍaynā ilayhi dhālika al-amra anna dābira hā'ulā'i maqṭū'un muṣbiḥīn' (Q al-Ḥijr 15:66). Regarding their saying 'qaṭa'a Allāhu dābirahu' (قطع الله دابره): al-Aṣma'ī and others said al-dābir means 'the root,' i.e., 'may God destroy his root.' He cited [a verse] by Wa'lah: 'May the legs of my mother and my aunt be sacrificed for you both, / on the morning of al-Kilāb, when the hind-parts (al-dawābir) were cut off...' — meaning the people were slain and their roots perished, leaving no trace. Ibn Buzurj said: 'dābir al-amri' (دابر الأمر): its end — as though invoking [a curse] that its continuation be cut off, leaving no one to succeed it. Al-Jawharī: 'dabara al-amru' and 'dabbarahu' (دبر الأمر ودبره): its end. Al-Kumayt said: 'Do you recall, of the first days of youth, seeking / at its very end (على دب...' [entry continues, cut off mid-word]