Mashrabaمشربة

Root · 185 in the Quran · 270 in 24 texts of the library

سمعa sound base denoting the perceiving of a sound with the ear, is'nās al-shayʾ bi-l-udhn (root sm)

السين والميم والعين أصل واحد وهو إيناس الشيء بالأذن من الناس وكل ذي أذن تقول سمعت الشيء سمعا والسمع الذكر الجميل

Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-lugha · English rendering

سمع

The family of the root

Patterns computed · our data

The words of س م ع that our sources attest: the root's letters in green, the added letters in gold.

40 words7 verbs3 verbal nouns7 participles2 places and instruments4 intensives and elatives13 other nouns3 plurals1 relative or abstract

  • سَمِعَhe heard it, or him
  • سَمِيعmaking to hear
  • سَمْعmy affair is hearing and obeying
  • اِسْتَمَعَlisten
  • أَسْمَعَmake hear; have listen
The whole family8 groups, by pattern; tap a pattern to see what it does
Verbs7سَمِعَ · اِسْتَمَعَ · أَسْمَعَ

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

Form I vowels: فَعِلَ يَفْعَلُ (i – a; the imperfect from Lane's “aor.”)

Verbal nouns3سَمْع · إِسْمَاع · تَسْمِيع

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

  • سَمْعmy affair is hearing and obeyingLaneForm I · Lane: inf. n.Qurʾān ×22library ×19LaneIbn Fāris
  • إِسْمَاعForm IV · Lane: inf. n.Lane
  • تَسْمِيعForm II · Lane: inf. n.Lane
Participles7سَامِع · مُسْتَمِع · مُسْمَع

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

Place, time and instrument2مَسْمَع · مِسْمَع

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

  • مَسْمَعplace whence and where one hears, or hearkens, or listensLanenoun of place or timelibrary ×2LaneIbn Fāris
  • مِسْمَعinstrument of hearingLanenoun of instrumentLaneIbn Fāris
Intensives, qualities and the elative4سَمِيع · سَمَّاع · أَسْمَع

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

  • سَمِيعmaking to hearLanequality (faʿīl)Qurʾān ×47library ×9Lane
  • سَمَّاعintensive (faʿʿāl)LaneIbn Fāris
  • أَسْمَعmore, and most, quick of hearingLaneelative or colour adjective (afʿal)Lane
  • سَمُوعintensive (faʿūl)Lane
Other nouns13سَمَاع · سُمَّع · سُمْعَة

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

Plurals3سَمَّاعُون · مُسْتَمِعُون · أَسْمَاع

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

  • سَمَّاعُونsound plural of سَمَّاعQurʾān ×4
  • مُسْتَمِعُونsound plural of مُسْتَمِعQurʾān ×1
  • أَسْمَاعbroken plural of سَمْعLane
Relative and abstract1سَمَاعِيّ

-iyy relates a thing to its source; -iyya makes an abstract noun.grammar →

  • سَمَاعِيّrelative adjective (-iyy)Lane

Reference

Why this shape?What each of the 22 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.

مَفْعَلَةس م عمَسْمَعَة

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
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 · 170Al-samʿ (السمع) is the ear, which is [also called] al-musmiʿah (المسمعة);

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

    Al-samʿ (السمع) is the ear, which is [also called] al-musmiʿah (المسمعة); al-musmiʿah is [also] its orifice. Al-samʿ is that which settles within it of a thing it hears. One says: 'He heard badly, so he answered badly' (asāʾa samʿan fa-asāʾa jābah أساء سمعا فأساء جابة), meaning: he did not hear well, so his answer was bad. You say: 'My ear heard (samiʿat udhunī سمعت أذني) Zayd say such-and-such,' meaning I heard him — just as you say 'my eye saw (abṣarat ʿaynī أبصرت عيني) Zayd do such-and-such,' meaning I saw with my eye. Al-samāʿ (السماع) is what you hear of something that becomes widely reported. In the ḥadīth: 'Whoever spreads [ill report] about a servant, God will spread [his faults] about him' (man samiʿa bi-ʿabdin samiʿa Allāhu bihi من سمع بعبد سمع الله به), meaning: whoever broadcasts among people a fault of his Muslim brother, God will expose his faults. One says: 'This is ugly in report,' or 'good in report' (qabīḥ/ḥasan fī al-samāʿ), i.e., when spoken of. Al-samāʿ also means singing. Al-musmiʿah (المسمعة): the singing slave-girl. Al-simʿah (السمعة): what is heard reported of food [served] at a circumcision-feast or other such occasions. You say: 'He did that for show and repute' (riyāʾan wa-simʿatan رياء وسمعة), i.e., so that it be seen and heard of. One says sammaʿa bihi tasmīʿan (سمع به تسميعا) when he made someone's fame spread among people. Al-masmaʿ (المسمع) of a water-skin (mizādah) is the part extending from the hole of the loop-handle to the outer covering; plural al-masāmiʿ (المسامع). The masmaʿ of the bucket (dalw) and the large bucket (gharb) is a loop-handle in its middle into which a rope is placed so it may be balanced. Aws ibn Ḥajr said: 'And we straighten this crooked one, should it aim at us, / just as the bucket is balanced by its masmaʿ.'

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    السمع: الأذن، وهي المسمعة، والمسمعة خرقها، والسمع ما وقر فيها من شيء يسمعه. يقال: أساء سمعا فأساء جابة، أي: لم يسمع حسنا فاساء الجواب. وتقول: سمعت أذني زيدا يقول كذا وكذا، أي: سمعته، كما تقول: أبصرت عيني زيدا يفعل كذا وكذا، أي: أبصرت بعيني زيدا «2» . والسماع ما سمعت به فشاع. وفي الحديث: من سمع بعبد سمع الله به ، أي: من أذاع في الناس عيبا على أخيه المسلم أظهر الله عيوبه. ويقال: هذا قبيح في السماع، وحسن في السماع، أي إذا تكلم به. والسماع الغناء. والمسمعة: القينة المغنية. والسمعة: ما سمعت به من طعام على ختان وغيره من الأشياء كلها، تقول: فعل ذاك رياء وسمعة، أي: كي يرى ذلك، ويسمع. وسمع به تسميعا إذا نوه به في الناس. والمسمع من المزادة ما جاوز خرت العروة إلى الظرف. والجميع: المسامع. ومسمع الدلو والغرب: عروة في وسطه يجعل فيه حبل ليعتدل. قال أوس بن حجر «1» : ونعدل ذا الميل إن رامنا ... كما يعدل الغرب بالمسمع

    al-Khalīl · 170 · OpenITIvowelled page on al-Maktaba al-Shāmila (print 1, p. 348) ↗
  • al-Jawharī · 393Al-samʿ (السمع): the human faculty of hearing;

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

    Al-samʿ (السمع): the human faculty of hearing; it is used as both singular and plural, as in His saying (exalted is He): 'God has sealed their hearts and their hearing (samʿihim سمعهم)' [Q 2:7], since it is originally the maṣdar of samiʿtu al-shayʾa samʿan wa-samāʿan (سمعت الشيء سمعا وسماعا). It may be pluralized as asmāʿ (أسماع), and the plural of asmāʿ is asāmiʿ (أسامع). Their saying samʿaka ilayya (سمعك إلي) means 'listen to me.' Likewise samāʿi (سماع) means 'listen!' — like darāki (دراك) and manāʿi (مناع) meaning 'catch!' and 'prevent!' You say: 'He did it riyāʾan wa-simʿatan' (رياء وسمعة), meaning so that people would see it and hear of it. Istamaʿtu kadhā (استمعت كذا) means I listened attentively, and tasammaʿtu ilayhi (تسمعت إليه) [likewise]. Assimilated, it becomes asmaʿtu ilayhi (اسمعت إليه); it is read [in one qirāʾah]: 'lā yasmaʿūna ilā al-malaʾ al-aʿlā' (لا يسمعون إلى الملإ الأعلى). One says tasammaʿtu ilayhi, samiʿtu ilayhi, and samiʿtu lahu, all synonymous, since He said: 'lā tasmaʿū li-hādhā al-Qurʾān' (لا تسمعوا لهذا القرآن) [Q 41:26], and it is also read 'lā yasmaʿūna ilā al-malaʾ al-aʿlā' unassimilated. Tasāmaʿa bihi al-nās (تسامع به الناس): the people heard of it from one another. Asmaʿahu al-ḥadītha (أسمعه الحديث) and samaʿahu (سمعه) [also] mean he reviled him. His saying (exalted is He): 'wa-smaʿ ghayra musmaʿ' (واسمع غير مسمع) [Q 4:46] — al-Akhfash said: meaning 'may you not [truly] hear' [a curse]. His saying: 'abṣir bihi wa-asmiʿ' (أبصر به وأسمع) [Q 18:26] means 'how well He sees and hears!' — an exclamation of wonder. Al-musmiʿah (المسمعة): the singing-girl. Al-simʿ (السمع), with kasrah: reputation and good mention; one says 'his reputation has gone abroad among the people.' One also says: 'O God, [let it be only] samʿan lā balghan' (سمعا لا بلغا), meaning: may we [merely] hear of it and may it not come to pass. Al-simʿ also [denotes]: a compound predator, the offspring of a wolf by a hyena. In the proverb: 'sharper of hearing than al-simʿ al-azall' (أسمع من السمع الأزل), and sometimes: 'sharper of hearing than simʿ' (أسمع من سمع). The poet said: 'You see him sharp of glance, radiant, clear, / noble, long of reach, sharper of hearing than simʿ.' Samiʿa bihi (سمع به): he made it notorious. In the ḥadīth: 'Whoever does such-and-such, God will make [it] heard by the ears of His creation (asāmiʿa khalqihi أسامع خلقه) on the Day of Resurrection.' Al-tasmīʿ (التسميع): public disgracing (al-tashnīʿ). One also says samiʿa bihi when he raised someone from obscurity and spread his fame. Samiʿahu al-ṣawta (سمعه الصوت) and asmaʿahu (أسمعه) [both used]. Al-sāmiʿah (السامعة): the ear. Ṭarafah said, describing his she-camel's ears: 'Sharpened, in which pure breeding is recognizable, / like the two sāmiʿahs of a solitary ewe at Ḥawmal.' Likewise al-mismaʿ (المسمع), with kasrah: one says 'so-and-so is great of the two misma's' [i.e., large-eared]. Al-masmaʿ (المسمع) also: a loop-handle in the middle of the large bucket (gharb), into which a rope is placed to balance the bucket. The poet said: 'We straighten this crooked one when it aims at us, / just as the bucket is balanced by its masmaʿ.' From this: asmaʿtu al-dalw (أسمعت الدلو), when you fitted it with a masmaʿ. Al-samīʿ (السميع): the hearer (al-sāmiʿ). Al-samīʿ: also one who makes heard (al-musmiʿ). ʿAmr ibn... [entry continues]

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    السمع: سمع الإنسان، يكون واحدا وجمعا كقوله تعالى: {ختم الله على قلوبهم وعلى سمعهم} لأنه في الأصل مصدر قولك: سمعت الشئ سمعا وسماعا. وقد يجمع على أسماع، وجمع الأسماع أسامع. وقولهم: سمعك إلي، أي اسمع مني. وكذلك قولهم: سماع، أي اسمع، مثل دراك ومناع، بمعنى أدرك وامنع. وتقول: فعله رياء وسمعة (1) ، أي ليراه الناس وليسمعوا به. واستمعت كذا، أي أصغيت، وتسمعت إليه. فإذا أدغمت قلت اسمعت إليه. وقرئ: {لا يسمعون إلى الملأ الأعلى} . يقال: تسمعت إليه، وسمعت إليه، وسمعت له، كله بمعنى، لانه تعالى قال: {لا تسمعوا لهذا القرآن} ، وقرئ: {لا يسمعون إلى الملا الاعلى} مخففا. وتسامع به الناس. وأسمعه الحديث وسمعه، أي شتمه. وقوله تعالى: {واسمع غير مسمع} قال الاخفش: أي لا سمعت. وقوله تعالى: {أبصر به وأسمع (2) } ، أي ما أبصره وأسمعه، على التعجب. والمسمعة: المغنية. والسمع بالكسر: الصيت والذكر الجميل. يقال: ذهب سمعه في الناس. ويقال أيضا: اللهم سمعا لا بلغا، وسمعا لا بلغا (1) ، أي نسمع به ولا يتم. والسمع أيضا: سبع مركب، وهو ولد الذئب من الضبع. وفي المثل: " أسمع من السمع الأزل "، وربما قالوا: " أسمع من سمع ". قال الشاعر: تراه حديد الطرف أبلج واضحا * أغر طويل الباع أسمع من سمع * وسمع به، أي شهره. وفى الحديث: " من فعل كذا سمع الله به أسامع خلقه (2) يوم القيامة ". والتسميع: التشنيع. ويقال أيضا: سمع به، إذا رفعه من الخمول ونشر ذكره. وسمعه الصوت وأسمعه. والسامعة: الأذن: قال طرفة يصف أذني ناقته: مؤللتان تعرف العتق فيهما * كسامعتي شاة بحومل مفرد * وكذلك المسمع بالكسر: يقال: فلان عظيم المسمعين. والمسمع أيضا: عروة تكون في وسط الغرب، يجعل فيها حبل ليعدل الدلو. قال الشاعر (1) : نعدل (2) ذا الميل إذ رامنا * كما عدل (3) الغرب بالمسمع * يقال منه أسمعت الدلو، إذا جعلت لها مسمعا والسميع: السامع. والسميع: المسمع. قال عمرو بن معدي كرب: أمن ريحانة الداعي السميع * يؤرقني وأصحابي هجوع * قال أبو زيد: امرأة سمعنة نظرنة بالضم، وهي التي إذا تسمعت أو تبصرت فلم تر شيئا تظنته تظنيا (4) . وكان الاحمر يكسر أولهما ويفتح ثالثهما، وينشد: إن لنا لكنه * معنة مفنه (5) * سمعنة نظرنه * كالريح حول القنه * إلا تره تظنه * والسمعمع: الصغير الرأس، وهو فعلعل (1) .

    al-Jawharī · 393 · OpenITIvowelled page on al-Maktaba al-Shāmila (print 3, p. 1231) ↗
  • Ibn Fāris · 395Sīn, mīm, and ʿayn form one root, which is the perceiving of a thing by the ear on the part of people, and [by extension] every possessor of an ear.

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

    Sīn, mīm, and ʿayn form one root, which is the perceiving of a thing by the ear on the part of people, and [by extension] every possessor of an ear. You say samiʿtu al-shayʾa samʿan (سمعت الشيء سمعا), 'I heard the thing.' Al-simʿ (السمع) is a good reputation/mention; one says 'his reputation (samʿuhu) has gone abroad among the people,' meaning his fame. One says samāʿi (سماع) in the sense of istamiʿ (استمع), 'listen!' One says samiʿtu bi-shayʾ (سمعت بالشيء) when you have spread news of it so that people talk of it. Al-musmiʿah (المسمعة) is the singing-girl. Al-masmaʿ (المسمع) is like the 'ear' of the large water-bucket (al-gharb الغرب) — a loop-handle in the middle of the bucket into which a rope is placed to balance the bucket. The poet said: 'And we straighten this crooked one, should it aim at us, / just as the bucket is balanced by its masmaʿ (المسمع).' Among what is anomalous and does not fit under this root is al-simʿ (السمع), the offspring of a wolf by a hyena.

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    السين والميم والعين أصل واحد وهو إيناس الشيء بالأذن من الناس وكل ذي أذن تقول سمعت الشيء سمعا والسمع الذكر الجميل يقال قد ذهب سمعه في الناس أي صيته ويقال سماع بمعنى استمع ويقال سمعت بالشيء إذا أشعته ليتكلم به والمسمعة المغنية والمسمع كالأذن للغرب وهي عروة تكون في وسط الغرب يجعل فيها حبل ليعدل الدلو قال الشاعر — ونعدل ذا الميل إن رامنا … كما عدل الغرب بالمسمع … ومما شذ عن الباب السمع ولد الذئب من الضبع

    Ibn Fāris · 395 · OpenITI
  • al-Rāghib · 502Al-samʿ (السمع): a faculty in the ear by which sounds are perceived;

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

    Al-samʿ (السمع): a faculty in the ear by which sounds are perceived; its act is also called al-samʿ, and one says samiʿa samʿan (سمع سمعا). Sometimes al-samʿ expresses the ear itself, as in: 'God has sealed their hearts and their hearing (samʿihim)' [Q 2:7]; sometimes it expresses the act, i.e., hearing (al-samāʿ), as in: 'Indeed they are debarred from the hearing' [Q 26:212], and His saying: 'or who lends his ear while he is a witness' [Q 50:37]; sometimes it expresses understanding, and sometimes obedience. You say: 'Listen (ismaʿ) to what I say to you,' and 'you have not heard (lam tasmaʿ) what I said,' meaning: you did not understand. He said: 'And when Our verses are recited to them they say: We have heard (samiʿnā); had we wished we could have said [the like of this]' [Q 8:31]. His saying: 'We hear and we disobey (samiʿnā wa-ʿaṣaynā)' [Q 4:46], meaning: we understood your speech but did not comply. Likewise: 'We hear and we obey (samiʿnā wa-aṭaʿnā)' [Q 2:285], meaning: we understood and complied. His saying: 'And be not like those who say: We hear (samiʿnā), while they do not hear (lā yasmaʿūna)' [Q 8:21] may mean: we understood while they do not understand, or: we understood while they do not act upon it — and one who does not act upon it is in the position of one who has not heard. Then He said: 'Had God known any good in them, He would have made them hear (la-asmaʿahum); and had He made them hear, they would still have turned away' [Q 8:23], meaning: He would have made them understand by granting them a faculty of understanding. His saying 'wa-smaʿ ghayra musmaʿ' (واسمع غير مسمع) [Q 4:46] is said in two senses: an invocation of deafness upon the person, or an invocation of blessing for him. The first is like 'asmaʿaka Allāh' (أسمعك الله), meaning: may God make you deaf. The second is 'asmaʿtu fulānan' (أسمعت فلانا), said when you have cursed him — customary usage in cursing. It is related that the People of the Book used to say this to the Prophet (peace be upon him), giving the impression of honoring him and blessing him, while in fact invoking a curse upon him. Wherever God affirms hearing for the believers, or negates it from the disbelievers, or urges its pursuit, the intent is toward conceiving and reflecting upon the meaning, as in: 'Or have they ears with which they hear?' [Q 7:195], 'Deaf, dumb' [Q 2:18], 'in their ears is deafness' [Q 41:44]. When God is described with al-samʿ, what is meant is His knowledge of things heard and His pursuit of requital for them, as in: 'God has indeed heard the speech of her who disputes with you concerning her husband' [Q 58:1]; 'God has certainly heard the saying of those who said' [Q 3:181]. His saying: 'Indeed you cannot make the dead hear, nor can you make the deaf hear the call' [Q 27:80], meaning: you cannot make them understand, since they are like the dead in having lost, through their evil deeds, the rational faculty which is the life proper to humanity. His saying: 'How well He sees and hears! (abṣir bihi wa-asmiʿ)' [Q 18:26], meaning: ... [entry continues]

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    السمع: قوة في الأذن به يدرك الأصوات، وفعله يقال له السمع أيضا، وقد سمع سمعا. ويعبر تارة بالسمع عن الأذن نحو: ختم الله على قلوبهم وعلى سمعهم [البقرة/ 7] ، وتارة عن فعله كالسماع نحو: إنهم عن السمع لمعزولون [الشعراء/ 212] ، وقال تعالى: أو ألقى السمع وهو شهيد [ق/ 37] ، وتارة عن الفهم، وتارة عن الطاعة، تقول: اسمع ما أقول لك، ولم تسمع ما قلت، وتعني لم تفهم، قال تعالى: وإذا تتلى عليهم آياتنا قالوا قد سمعنا لو نشاء لقلنا [الأنفال/ 31] ، وقوله: سمعنا وعصينا [النساء/ 46] ، أي: فهمنا قولك ولم نأتمر لك، وكذلك قوله: سمعنا وأطعنا [البقرة/ 285] ، أي: فهمنا وارتسمنا. وقوله: ولا تكونوا كالذين قالوا سمعنا وهم لا يسمعون [الأنفال/ 21] ، يجوز أن يكون معناه: فهمنا وهم لا يفهمون، وأن يكون معناه: فهمنا وهم لا يعملون بموجبه، وإذا لم يعمل بموجبه فهو في حكم من لم يسمع. ثم قال تعالى: ولو علم الله فيهم خيرا لأسمعهم ولو أسمعهم لتولوا [الأنفال/ 23] ، أي: أفهمهم بأن جعل لهم قوة يفهمون بها، وقوله: واسمع غير مسمع [النساء/ 46] ، يقال على وجهين: أحدهما: دعاء على الإنسان بالصمم. والثاني: دعاء له. فالأول نحو: أسمعك الله، أي: جعلك الله أصم. والثاني: أن يقال: أسمعت فلانا: إذا سببته، وذلك متعارف في السب، وروي «4» أن أهل الكتاب كانوا يقولون ذلك للنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم يوهمون أنهم يعظمونه، ويدعون له وهم يدعون عليه بذلك. وكل موضع أثبت الله السمع للمؤمنين، أو نفى عن الكافرين، أو حث على تحريه فالقصد به إلى تصور المعنى والتفكر فيه، نحو: أم لهم آذان يسمعون بها [الأعراف/ 195] ، ونحو: صم بكم [البقرة/ 18] ، ونحو: في آذانهم وقر [فصلت/ 44] ، وإذا وصفت الله تعالى بالسمع فالمراد به علمه بالمسموعات، وتحريه بالمجازاة بها نحو: قد سمع الله قول التي تجادلك في زوجها [المجادلة/ 1] ، لقد سمع الله قول الذين قالوا [آل عمران/ 181] ، وقوله: إنك لا تسمع الموتى ولا تسمع الصم الدعاء [النمل/ 80] ، أي: لا تفهمهم، لكونهم كالموتى في افتقادهم بسوء فعلهم القوة العاقلة التي هي الحياة المختصة بالإنسانية، وقوله: أبصر به وأسمع [الكهف/ 26] ، أي: يقول فيه تعالى ذلك من وقف على عجائب حكمته، ولا يقال فيه: ما أبصره وما أسمعه، لما تقدم ذكره أن الله تعالى لا يوصف إلا بما ورد به السمع وقوله في صفة الكفار: أسمع بهم وأبصر يوم يأتوننا [مريم/ 38] ، معناه: أنهم يسمعون ويبصرون في ذلك اليوم ما خفي عليهم، وضلوا عنه اليوم لظلمهم أنفسهم، وتركهم النظر، وقال: خذوا ما آتيناكم بقوة واسمعوا [البقرة/ 93] ، سماعون للكذب [المائدة/ 42] ، أي: يسمعون منك لأجل أن يكذبوا، سماعون لقوم آخرين [المائدة/ 41] ، أي: يسمعون لمكانهم، والاستماع: الإصغاء نحو: نحن أعلم بما يستمعون به، إذ يستمعون إليك [الإسراء/ 47] ، ومنهم من يستمع إليك [محمد/ 16] ، ومنهم من يستمعون إليك [يونس/ 42] ، واستمع يوم يناد المناد [ق/ 41] ، وقوله: أمن يملك السمع والأبصار [يونس/ 31] ، أي: من الموجد لأسماعهم، وأبصارهم، والمتولي لحفظها؟ والمسمع والمسمع: خرق الأذن، وبه شبه حلقة مسمع الغرب «1» .

    al-Rāghib · 502 · OpenITIvowelled page on al-Maktaba al-Shāmila (print 1, p. 425) ↗
  • Lisān · 711Al-samʿ (السمع): the perception of the ear.

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

    Al-samʿ (السمع): the perception of the ear. In the revelation: 'or who lends his ear while he is a witness' [Q 50:37]; Thaʿlab said its meaning is: he devoted himself wholly to it, occupied with nothing else. One says samiʿahu (سمعه) — samʿan, simʿan, samāʿan, samāʿatan, and samāʿiyyatan. Al-Liḥyānī said: some held al-simʿ to be the maṣdar and al-samʿ the noun [of the faculty]. Al-samʿ also [means]: the ear, plural asmāʿ. Ibn al-Sikkīt: al-samʿ, a human's or other's hearing, is used as both singular and plural. As for the Hudhalī poet's saying: 'When his sāmiʿ (his ear) was restored to him, / and his blindness cleared from his bewilderment' — he meant by al-sāmiʿ the ear, naming it after the organ's location. Samiʿahu al-khabar (سمعه الخبر) and asmaʿahu iyyāhu (أسمعه إياه) [both mean he informed him]. As for His saying 'wa-smaʿ ghayra musmaʿ' — Thaʿlab explained it: 'Hear — may you never [truly] hear' [a curse]. His saying: 'in tusmiʿu illā man yuʾminu bi-āyātinā' [Q 27:81], meaning: you can only make hear him who believes in Our signs; what is meant by 'making hear' here is acceptance and acting upon what is heard, since one who neither accepts nor acts is as one who has not heard. Samiʿahu al-ṣawta and asmaʿahu: he listened to him. Tasammaʿa ilayhi (تسمع إليه): he listened attentively; assimilated, one says 'asmaʿ ilayhi'; it is read: 'lā yasmaʿūna ilā al-malaʾ al-aʿlā.' One says tasammaʿtu ilayhi, samiʿtu ilayhi, samiʿtu lahu — synonymous, since He said 'lā tasmaʿū li-hādhā al-Qurʾān' [Q 41:26], and it is also read 'lā yasmaʿūna ilā al-malaʾ al-aʿlā' unassimilated. Al-musmiʿah, al-masmaʿ, and al-masmiʿ (the last on Ibn Jabalah's authority): the ear; or it is said al-masmaʿ is its orifice by which one hears, the entry-point of speech into it. One says: 'so-and-so is great of the two masmaʿs and the two sāmiʿahs' [i.e., large-eared]. Al-sāmiʿatān: the two ears of any hearing creature. Al-sāmiʿah: the ear; Ṭarafah said, describing his she-camel's ear: 'Sharpened, in which pure breeding is recognizable, / like the two sāmiʿahs of a solitary ewe at Ḥawmal' — also transmitted 'wa-sāmiʿatān.' In the ḥadīth: 'God filled his masāmiʿ' — plural of masmaʿ, the organ of hearing, or an irregular plural of samʿ, like mashābih and malāmiḥ. Hence the ḥadīth of Abū Jahl: 'Muḥammad has settled in Yathrib, enraged at you; you expelled him as the tick is expelled from the masāmiʿ,' meaning from the ears — i.e., you drove him out of Mecca as a total uprooting, for removing a tick from an animal is a complete extraction, and the ear is the least-haired organ — indeed most of it is hairless — so removal from it is the most thorough. They said: 'He is within my sight and hearing' (huwa minnī marʾan wa-masmaʿan), [case-inflected] either nominative or accusative, and 'huwa minnī bi-marʾan wa-masmaʿin.' They also said: 'that is samʿu udhunī,' 'samʿuhā,' 'samāʿuhā,' 'samāʿatuhā,' meaning 'the making of it heard' (ismāʿuhā). [A poet] said: 'By the hearing of God and the learned men, that I / take refuge in the best of your maternal uncles, O son of ʿAmr' — he used the noun in place of the maṣdar, as though saying 'ismāʿan,' just as one says 'wa-baʿda ʿaṭāʾika al-miʾata al-ritāʿā,' meaning 'iʿṭāʾika.' Sībawayh said: 'And if you wish you may say samʿan,' [entry continues]

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    السمع: حس الأذن. وفي التنزيل: أو ألقى السمع وهو شهيد ؛ وقال ثعلب: معناه خلا له فلم يشتغل بغيره؛ وقد سمعه سمعا وسمعا وسماعا وسماعة وسماعية. قال اللحياني: وقال بعضهم السمع المصدر، والسمع: الاسم. والسمع أيضا: الأذن، والجمع أسماع. ابن السكيت: السمع سمع الإنسان وغيره، يكون واحدا وجمعا؛ وأما قول الهذلي: فلما رد سامعه إليه، ... وجلى عن عمايته عماه فإنه عنى بالسامع الأذن وذكر لمكان العضو، وسمعه الخبر وأسمعه إياه. وقوله تعالى: واسمع غير مسمع ؛ فسره ثعلب فقال: اسمع لا سمعت. وقوله تعالى: إن تسمع إلا من يؤمن بآياتنا* ؛ أي ما تسمع إلا من يؤمن بها، وأراد بالإسماع هاهنا القبول والعمل بما يسمع، لأنه إذا لم يقبل ولم يعمل فهو بمنزلة من لم يسمع. وسمعه الصوت وأسمعه: استمع له. وتسمع إليه: أصغى، فإذا أدغمت قلت اسمع إليه، وقرئ: لا يسمعون إلى الملإ الأعلى . يقال تسمعت إليه وسمعت إليه وسمعت له، كله بمعنى لأنه تعالى قال: لا تسمعوا لهذا القرآن ، وقرئ: لا يسمعون إلى الملإ الأعلى ، مخففا. والمسمعة والمسمع والمسمع؛ الأخيرة عن ابن جبلة: الأذن، وقيل: المسمع خرقها الذي يسمع به ومدخل الكلام فيها. يقال: فلان عظيم المسمعين والسامعتين. والسامعتان: الأذنان من كل شيء ذي سمع. والسامعة: الأذن؛ قال طرفة يصف أذن ناقته: مؤللتان تعرف العتق فيهما، ... كسامعتي شاة بحومل مفرد ويروى: وسامعتان. وفي الحديث : ملأ الله مسامعه ؛ هي جمع مسمع وهو آلة السمع أو جمع سمع على غير قياس كمشابه وملامح؛ ومنه حديث أبي جهل: إن محمدا نزل يثرب وإنه حنق عليكم نفيتموه نفي القراد عن المسامع ، يعني عن الآذان، أي أخرجتموه من مكة إخراج استئصال لأن أخذ القراد عن الدابة قلعه بالكلية، والأذن أخف الأعضاء شعرا بل أكثرها لا شعر عليه «1»، فيكون النزع منها أبلغ. وقالوا: هو مني مرأى ومسمع، يرفع وينصب، وهو مني بمرأى ومسمع. وقالوا: ذلك سمع أذني وسمعها وسماعها وسماعتها أي إسماعها؛ قال: سماع الله والعلماء أني ... أعوذ بخير خالك، يا ابن عمرو أوقع الاسم موقع المصدر كأنه قال إسماعا كما قال: وبعد عطائك المائة الرتاعا أي إعطائك. قال سيبويه: وإن شئت قلت سمعا، قال ذلك إذا لم تختصص نفسك. وقال اللحياني: سمع أذني فلانا يقول ذلك، وسمع أذني وسمعة أذني فرفع في كل ذلك. قال سيبويه: وقالوا أخذت ذلك عنه سماعا وسمعا، جاؤوا بالمصدر على غير فعله، وهذا عنده غير مطرد، وتسامع به الناس. وقولهم: سمعك إلي أي اسمع مني، وكذلك قولهم: سماع أي اسمع مثل دراك ومناع بمعنى أدرك وامنع؛ قال ابن بري: شاهده قول الشاعر: فسماع أستاه الكلاب سماع قال: وقد تأتي سمعت بمعنى أجبت؛ ومنه قولهم: سمع الله لمن حمده أي أجاب حمده وتقبله. يقال: اسمع دعائي أي أجب لأن غرض السائل الإجابة والقبول؛ وعليه ما أنشده أبو زيد: دعوت الله، حتى خفت أن لا ... يكون الله يسمع ما أقول وقوله: أبصر به وأسمع أي ما أبصره وما أسمعه على التعجب؛ ومنه الحديث: اللهم إني أعوذ بك من دعاء لا يسمع أي لا يستجاب ولا يعتد به فكأنه غير مسموع؛ ومنه الحديث: سمع سامع بحمد الله وحسن بلائه علينا أي ليسمع السامع وليشهد الشاهد حمدنا الله تعالى على ما أحسن إلينا وأولانا من نعمه، وحسن البلاء النعمة والاختبار بالخير ليتبين الشكر، وبالشر ليظهر الصبر. وفي حديث عمرو بن عبسة قال له: أي الساعات أسمع؟ قال: جوف الليل الآخر أي أوفق لاستماع الدعاء فيه وأولى بالاستجابة وهو من باب نهاره صائم وليله قائم. ومنه حديث الضحاك: لما عرض عليه الإسلام قال: فسمعت منه كلاما لم أسمع قط قولا أسمع منه ؛ يريد أبلغ وأنجع في القلب. وقالوا: سمعا وطاعة، فنصبوه على إضمار الفعل غير المستعمل إظهاره، ومنهم من يرفعه أي أمري ذلك والذي يرفع عليه غير مستعمل إظهاره كما أن الذي ينصب عليه كذلك. ورجل سميع: سامع، وعدوه فقالوا: هو سميع قولك وقول غيرك. والسميع: من صفاته عز وجل، وأسمائه لا يعزب عن إدراكه مسموع، وإن خفي، فهو يسمع بغير جارحة. وفعيل: من أبنية المبالغة. وفي التنزيل: وكان الله سميعا بصيرا ، وهو الذي وسع سمعه كل شيء كما قال النبي، صلى الله عليه وسلم، قال الله تعالى: قد سمع الله قول التي تجادلك في زوجها ، وقال في موضع آخر: أم يحسبون أنا لا نسمع سرهم ونجواهم بلى ؛ قال الأزهري: والعجب من قوم فسروا السميع بمعنى المسمع فرارا من وصف الله بأن له سمعا، وقد ذكر الله الفعل في غير موضع من كتابه، فهو سميع ذو سمع بلا تكييف ولا تشبيه بالسمع من خلقه ولا سمعه كسمع خلقه، ونحن نصف الله بما وصف به نفسه بلا تحديد ولا تكييف، قال: ولست أنكر في كلام العرب أن يكون السميع سامعا ويكون مسمعا؛ وقد قال عمرو بن معديكرب: أمن ريحانة الداعي السميع ... يؤرقني، وأصحابي هجوع؟ فهو في هذا البيت بمعنى المسمع وهو شاذ، والظاهر الأكثر من كلام العرب أن يكون السميع بمعنى السامع مثل عليم و …

    Lisān · 711 · OpenITIvowelled page on al-Maktaba al-Shāmila (print 8, p. 162) ↗
  • Lane · 1876English, synthesising the classical dictionaries.

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

    سَمِعَهُ

    1. سَمِعَهُ, (S, Msb, K, *) aor. سَمَعَ , (K,) inf. n. سَمْعٌ (S Msb, K) and سِمْعٌ, or this latter is a simple subst., (Lh, K,) and سَمَاعٌ, (S, K,) or this last [also] is a simple subst., (Msb,) and سَمَاعَةٌ and سَمَاعِيَةٌ (K) and مَسْمَعٌ, (TA,) [He heard it, (namely, a thing, as in the S,) or (tropical:) him;] and تسمّع, (Msb, K,) also written and pronounced اِسَّمَّعَ; (K, TA;) and استمع; (Msb;) are syn. with سَمِعَ (Msb,K) as trans. By itself; (Msb;) and استمع [also] in sys. With سَمِعَ [ as trans. by itself]: (Ham p. 694, where occurs a usage of its act. part. n. showing the verb to be trans. by itself:) or استمع denotes what is intentional, signifying only he gave ear, hearkened, or listened: but سَمِعَ, [as also تمسمّع and استسمع,] what is unintentional, as well as what is intentional. (Msb.) You say, سَمِعَ الشَّىْءَ [He heard or listened to, the thing] (S.) And الصَّوْتَ تسمّع [He listened to, or heard, the sound]. (TA.) [And سَمِعْتُ لَهُ صَوْتًا I heard him, or it, utter, or produce, a sound; lit. I heard a sound attributable to him, or it. And سَمِعَهُ مِنْهُ He heard it form him. And سَمِعَهُ عَنْهُ He heard it as related from him; he heard it on his authority. And سَمِعَهُ يَقُولُ كَذَا He heard him say such a thing.] And سَمِعَ بِهِ [He heard of it; for سَمِعَ التَّكَلُّمَ بِهِ, or the like]. (Kur xii. 31 and xxviii. 36 and xxxviii. 6, S, K, TA.) [When trans. by means of لِ alone, or إِلَى, it denotes what is intentional.] You say, سَمِعْتُ لَهُ, (S, Msb, TA,) and إِلَيْهِ, (S, TA,) meaning I gave ear, hearkened, or listened, to him, or it; (S, Msb, * TA;) and له تسمّعت (Msb,) or اليه, and اِسَّمَّعْتُ, (S, TA,) signify the same; (S, Msb, TA;) and so له استمعت, (S, Msb, K,) and اليه. (K.) It is said in the Kur [xxxvii. 8], accord. to different readings, لَا يَسْمَعُونَ إِلَى المَلَإِ الأَعْلَى, and لَا يَسَّمَّعُونَ, They shall not listen [to the archangels]: (S:) or the former has this signification, they shall not listen to the angels (Bd, Jel) in heaven, (Jel,) or the exalted angels: (Bd:) and ↓the latter, they shall not seek, or endeavour, to listen &c. (Bd.) And in the same [xvii. 50], نَحْنُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا يَسْتَمِعُونَ بِهِ إِذْ يَسْتَمِعُونَ إِلَيْكَ [We are cognizant of that on account of which they hearken when they hearken to thee]; به meaning بِسَبَبِهِ, (Bd, Jel,) and لِأَجْلِهِ, (Bd,) alluding to scoffing, or derision. (Bd, Jel.) [For various usages of سَمْعٌ and other inf. ns., whether employed as inf. ns. or as simple substs., see those words below.] It also signifies He understood it; (TA;) he understood its meaning; i. e., the meaning of a person's speech. (Msb.) You say, لَمْ تَسْمَعْ مَا قُلْتُ لَكَ Thou didst not understand what I said to thee. (TA.) And such is the most obvious meaning of the verb in the saying, إِنْ كَانَ يَسْمَعُ الخَطِيبَ [If he understand the words of the preacher]; for this is the proper meaning in this case: but it may be rendered tropically, (tropical:) if he hear the voice of the preacher. (Msb.) Also He knew it: as in the saying, سَمِعَ ٱللّٰهُ قَوْلَكَ [God knew thy saying]. (Msb.) Also (assumed tropical:) He accepted it; namely, evidence, and praise: or, said of the latter, (assumed tropical:) he recompensed it by acceptance: (Msb:) (tropical:) he paid regard to it, and answered it; namely, prayer: (tropical:) he answered, or assented to, or complied with, it; namely, a person's speech. (TA.) The saying سَمِعَ ٱللّٰهُ لِمَنْ حَمِدَهُ means May God accept the praise of him who praiseth Him: or, accord. to IAmb, may God recompense by acceptance the praise of him who praiseth Him: (Msb:) or may God answer the prayer of him who praiseth Him. (TA, as on the authority of IAmb.) Also (assumed tropical:) He obeyed him: as in the saying in the Kur [xxxvi. 24], إِنِّى آمَنْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ فَٱسْمَعُونِ (assumed tropical:) [Verily I believe in your Lord, and do ye obey me]. (TA.) Lth says that the phrase سَمِعَتْ أُذُنِى زَيْدًا يَفْعَلُ كَذَا وَكَذَا means (assumed tropical:) My eye saw Zeyd doing such and such things: but Az says, I know not whence Lth brought this; for it is not of the way of the Arabs to say سمعت اذنى as meaning my eye saw: it is in my judgment corrupt language, and I am not sure but that it may have been originated by those addicted to innovations and erroneous opinions. (TA.)

    تَسْمِيعٌ

    2. تَسْمِيعٌ [inf. n of سمّع, as also تَسْمِعَةٌ, q. v. infrà, voce سُمْعَةٌ,] is syn. with إِسْمَاعٌ [The making one to hear]. (K.) You say, سمّعهُ الصَّوْتَ and اسمعهُ [He made him to hear the sound]. (S.) And سمّعهُ الحَدِيثَ (TA) and اسمعهُ (S, TA) [He made him to hear the narra- tive]; both signifying the same. (TA.) [And سمّع بِهِ He made to hear of it, or him.] It is said in a trad., مَنْ سَمَّعَ النَّاسَ بِعَمَلِهِ سَمَّعَ ٱللّٰهُ بِهِ أَسَامِعَ خَلْقِهِ وَحَقَّرَهُ وَصَغَّرَهُ (S, * Mgh, TA) [Whoso maketh men to hear of his deed,] God will make the ears of his creatures to hear of him on the day of resurrection; (TA;) or whoso maketh his deed notorious, that men may see it and hear of it, God will make notorious his hypocrisy, and fill with it the ears of his creatures, and they shall be generally acquainted with it, [and He will render him contemptible, and small in estimation,] so that he will become disgraced; (Mgh;) or the meaning may be, God will manifest to men his internal state, and fill their ears with the evilness of his secret intentions, in requital of his deed: or, as some relate it, [for أَسَامِعَ خَلْقِهِ] we should say, سَامِعُ خَلْقِهِ, which is an epithet applied to God; so that the meaning is, Go [the Hearer of his creatures] will disgrace him: (TA:) [for] سمّع به, (S, Mgh, Msb,) inf. n. تَسْمِيعٌ, (S, Mgh, K,) signifies [also] He rendered him, or it, notorious, and infamous: (S, Mgh, K: *) or he spread it abroad, for men to speak of it. (Msb.) Also He raised him from obscurity to fame. (S, K. *) And He made him to hear what was bad, evil, abominable, or foul, and he reviled him: (AZ, T and L in art. ند:) and اسمعهُ [also] has the latter of these two significations. (S, K.)

    اسمعهُ

    4. اسمعهُ, inf. n. إِسْمَاعٌ: see 2, in four places. He told him [a thing]. (Msb) He made him to understand: the verb being used in this sense in the Kur [viii. 23], لَوْعَلِمَ ٱللّٰهُ فِيهِمْ خَيْرًا لَأَسْمَعَهُمْ [Had God known any good in them, He had made them to understand]. (TA.) أَسْمَعَكَ ٱللّٰهُ May God not make thee to be deaf. (TA.) أَسْمَعَتْ She sang. (TA.) One says to a female singer, أَسْمِعِينَا Sing thou to us: thus used in a verse of Tarafeh. (TA.) أَسْمَعْتَ Thou hast said a saying that ought to be heard and followed. (Har p. 398.) اسمع الدَّلْوَ (tropical:) He made, or put, a مِسْمَع [q. v.] to the bucket. (S, K, TA.) And in like manner, اسمع الزِّنْبِيلَ (K) (tropical:) He made, or put, what are termed مِسْمَعَانِ to the basket. (TA.) أَسْمِعْ بِهِمْ وَأَبْصِرْ; and أَبْصِرْ بِهِ وَأَسْمِعْ; see art. بصر.

    تَسَمَّعَ

    5. تَسَمَّعَ, also written and pronounced اِسَّمَّعَ: see 1, in the former half of the paragraph, in six places.

    تسامع بِهِ النَّاسُ

    6. تسامع بِهِ النَّاسُ (S, K) The people heard of it, [or him,] one from another: (PS, TK:) [or the people heard one another talk of it, or him:] or it, or he, became notorious among the people. (TA.) تسامع also signifies He feigned himself hearing. (KL.)

    إِسْتَمَعَ

    8: see 1, in the former half of the paragraph, in four places.

    إِسْتَسْمَعَ

    10: see 1, in the first sentence, in two places.

    سَمْعٌ

    سَمْعٌ inf. n. of سَمِعَ, (S, Msb, K,) like سَمَاعٌ, (S, K,) [&c.,] or the latter is a simple subst. [used in the abstract sense of the former]. (Msb.) You say, سَمْعًا وَطَاعَةً, [for أَسْمَعُ سَمْعًا وَأُطِيعُ طَاعَةً, an emphatic mode of expression, meaning I hear and I obey, or for سَمِعْتُ سَمْعًا وَأَطَعْتُ طَاعَةً, which means the same, but more emphatically; طَاعَةً being a quasi-inf. n. for إِطَاعَةً;] the verb [of each] being understood: and سَمْعٌ وَطَاعَةٌ, meaning أَمْرِى ذٰلِكَ [i. e. أَمْرِى سَمْعٌ وَطَاعَةٌ My affair is hearing and obeying]. (K.) You say also, [in like manner,] اَللّٰهُمَّ سَمْعًا لَا بَلْغًا, (K,) and سَمْعٌ لَا بَلْغٌ: (TA:) see سِمْعٌ. And سَمْعُ أُذُنِى فُلَانًا يَقُولَ ذٰلِكَ, (K,) [said to be] the only instance of the kind among inf. ns. of trans. verbs except رَأْىُ عَيْنِى, (TA in art. رأى,) [in a copy of the M, in art. رأى, written سَمْعَ اذنى and رَأْىَ عينى,] and اذنى سِمْعُ, and اذنى سَمْعَةُ, and اذنى سِمْعَةُ [My ear heard (lit. my ear's hearing) such a one say that]. (K) [As a simple subst., it signifies] The sense of the ear; (K;) [i. e., of hearing;] the faculty in the ear whereby it perceives sounds. (TA.) Thus in the Kur [1. 36], أَوْ أَلْقَى السَّمْعُ, (TA,) meaning, Or who hearkeneth. (Bd, Jel.) [And hence,] أُمُّ السَّمْعِ The brain; (Z, O, K;) as also أُمُّ السَّمِيعِ. (O, K.) One says, ضَرَبَهُ عَلَى أُمِّ السَّمْعِ [He struck him upon the brain]. (TA.) [It is also used for the inf. n. of أَسْمَعَ. Hence] one says, قَالُوا ذٰلِكَ سَمْعَ أُذُنِى, and in like manner, اذنى سِمْعَ, and اذنى سَمَاعَ, and اذنى سَمَاعَةَ, i. e. إِسْمَاعَهَا [They said that making my ear to hear]: (K:) and one may say, سَمْعًا [making to hear]: this latter one says when he does not particularize himself. (Sb, K.) And كَلَّمَهُ سِمْعَهُمْ, with kesr, meaning, [He spoke to him making them to hear, or] so that they heard. (TA.) And a poet says, [Making God and the learned men to hear that I seek protection by the goodness of thy maternal uncle, O son of 'Amr; or أَعُوذُ بِحَقْوِ خَالِكَ, i. e. I have recourse for protection to thy maternal uncle; thus in the TA in art. حقو;] using the subst. in the place of the inf. n., as though he said إِسْمَاعًا عَنِّى. (TA.) One says also, أَخَذْتُ ذٰلِكَ عَنْهُ سَمْعًا, and in like manner, سَمَاعًا, [i. e. I received that from him by being made to hear, which virtually means, by hearsay, or hearing it from him,] making the inf. n. [in each case] to be of a different form from that of the verb to which it belongs [in respect of signification; i. e., using an inf. n. of سَمِعَ for that of أَسْمَعَ]. (K, * TA.) [See also سُمْعَةٌ.] It also signifies The ear; (S, * Mgh, Msb, * K;) as also مِسْمَعٌ, (S, Msb, K, TA,) because it is the instrument of hearing, (TA,) and مَسْمَعٌ, [because it is the place thereof,] (Aboo-Jebeleh, TA,) and سَامِعَةٌ; (S, K;) or مِسْمَعٌ signifies the ear-hole; (TA;) and so مَسْمَعٌ, and مُسْتَمَعٌ: (Er-Rághib, TA:) and سَمْعٌ is also used as a pl., (S, K,) being originally an inf. n.; but sometimes (S) it has for its pl. أَسْمَاعٌ (S, Msb, K) and أَسْمُعٌ, (Mgh, O, K,) a pl. of pauc., (TA,) [as is also the former,] and أَسَامِعُ is a pl. pl., (S, Mgh, O, K,) i. e. pl. of أَسْمَاعٌ, (S,) or of أَسْمُعٌ: (Mgh, O:) [for an ex. of the pl. pl., see 2:] the pl. of مِسْمَعٌ is مَسَامِعُ; (Msb, K;) or this may be an irreg. pl. of سَمْعٌ, like as مَشَابِهُ is of شَبَهٌ. (Sgh, TA.) You say, سَمْعُكَ إِلَىَّ i. e. [Incline thine ear to me; or] hear thou from me. (S, K.) And طَرَقَ الكَلَامُ السَّمْعُ [The speech struck the ear]. (Msb.) سَمْعٌ is used as a pl. in the Kur [ii. 6], where it is said, خَتَمَ ٱللّٰهُ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ وَعَلَى سَمِعْهِمْ [God hath set a seal upon their hearts and upon their ears]. (S.) One also says, فُلَانٌ عَظِيمُ المِسْمَعَيْنِ Such a one is great in the ears. (S.) The phrase هُوَ بَيْنَ سَمْعِ الأَرْضِ وَبَصَرِهَا means (assumed tropical:) It is not known whither he has repaired: (AZ, K:) or he is between the ears of the people of the land and their eyes, [so that they neither hear him nor see him,] the prefixed noun أَهْل being suppressed: (AO, K, * TA:) or (assumed tropical:) in a void land, wherein is no one; (ISk, K;) i. e., none hears his speech, nor does any see him, except [the wild animals of] the desert land: (K:) or (tropical:) between the length and breadth of the land. (K, TA.) You say also, أَلْقَى نَفْسَهُ بَيْنَ سَمْعِ الأَرْضِ وَبَصَرِهَا (assumed tropical:) He exposed himself to perdition, or imperilled himself, and cast himself no one knew where: (IAar, Th:) or (assumed tropical:) he cast himself where no voice of man was heard, nor eye of man seen. (K, * TA.) Also What rests in the ear, of a thing which one hears. (L, K.) See also سِمْعٌ, in three places, beside the two places before referred to.

    سِمْعٌ

    سِمْعٌ i. q. سَمْعٌ, either as an inf. n. or as a a simple subst. (Lh, K.) You say, اَللّٰهُمَّ سِمْعًا لَا بِلْغًا, (S, K,) and لَا بَلْغًا سَمْعًا, (K,) and سِمْعٌ لَا بِلْغٌ, and لَا بَلْغٌ سَمْعٌ, (TA,) a form of prayer, (K,) meaning O God, may it be heard of but not fulfilled: (S, K:) or may it be heard but not come to: or may it be heard but not need to be come to: or it is said by him who hears tidings not pleasing to him: (K:) Ks says that it means I hear of calamities but may they not come to me. (TA.) You say also, سِمْعُ أُذُنِى فُلَانًا يَقُولُ ذٰلِكَ: see سَمْعٌ. Also i. q. إِسْمَاعٌ: so in the phrase قَالُوا ذٰلِكَ سِمْعَ أُذُنِى: (K:) and in the phrase كَلَّمَهُ سِمْعَهُمْ: (TA:) both explained above: see سَمْعٌ. Also Mention, fame, report, that is heard; as also سَمْعٌ, and سَمَاعٌ: (K:) fame, or good report; (S, Msb, K, TA;) and so سَمْعٌ and سَمَاعٌ. (TA.) You say, ذَهَبَ سِمْعُهُ فِى النَّاسِ His fame, or good report, went among mankind. (S.) And the Arabs say, ٱللّٰهِ لَا وَسَمْعِ [or وَسِمْعِ اللّٰه,] meaning لَا وَ ذِكْرِ ٱللّٰهِ [No, by the glory of God]. (TA.) [It is also used as an epithet: thus,] رَجُلٌ سِمْعٌ means يُسَمِّعُ [A man who makes others to hear of him]: or one says, هٰذَا ٱمْرُؤٌ ذُو سِمْعٍ, and ذُوسَمَاعٍ, [This is a man of fame, or notoriety], (K,) whether good or bad. (Lh, TA.) Also A certain mongrel beast of prey, (S,) the offspring of the wolf, begotten from the hyena: (S, Mgh, Msb, K:) fem. with ة: they assert that it does not die a natural death, like the serpent, (K, TA,) but by some accident that befalls it, not knowing diseases and maladies; and that it is unequalled by any other animal in running, (TA,) its running being quicker than [the flight of] the bird; and its leap exceeding thirty cubits, (K, TA,) or twenty. (TA.) It is said in a prov., مِنَ السِّمْعِ الأَزَلِّ أَسْمَعُ [More quick of hearing than the سمع that is lean in the buttocks and thighs; or than the light, or active, سمع]: and sometimes they said أَسْمَعُ مِنْ سِمْعٍ [more quick of hearing than a سمع]. (S.)

    سَمْعَةٌ

    سَمْعَةٌ A single hearing, or hearkening, or listening. (K.) سَمْعَةُ أُذُنِى فُلَانًا يَقُولُ ذٰلِكَ: see سَمْعٌ. See also سُمْعَةٌ. أُذُنٌ سَمْعَةٌ: see سَامِعٌ.

    سُمْعَةٌ

    سُمْعَةٌ is syn. with تَسْمِيعٌ, like as سُخْرَةٌ is with تَسْخِيرٌ. (TA.) You say, فَعَلَهُ رِئَآءً وَسُمْعَةً He did it [to make men to see it and hear of it, or] in order that men might see it and hear of it. (S.) And مَافَعَلَهُ رِئَآءً وَلَاسُمْعَةً, and سَمْعَةً, and سَمَعَةً, He did it not making it notorious so as to make [men] to see and to hear [it]. (K.) And فَعَلْتُهُ تَسْمِعَتَكَ, and تَسْمِعَةً لَكَ, I did it in order that thou mightest hear it. (AZ, K.) [See also سَمْعٌ, where similar phrases are mentioned and explained.] السُّمْعَةُ, also, signifies What is heard, of fame, or report, &c.: (Har p. 34:) and [particularly] good report. (Id. p. 196.)

    سِمْعَةٌ

    سِمْعَةٌ A mode, or manner, of hearing, hearkening, or listening. (K.) You say, سَمِعْتُهُ سِمْعَةً حَسَنَةً [I heard it with a good manner of hearing]. (TA.) سِمْعَةُ أُذُنِى فُلَانًا يَقُولُ ذٰلِكَ: see سَمْعٌ.

    Lane, Arabic-English Lexiconread Lane's entry online ↗
Technical definitions2 · Ibn ʿArabī’s Iṣṭilāḥ, al-Jurjānī’s Taʿrīfāt

  • السمع

    هو قوة مودعة في العصب المفروش في مقعر الصماخ تدرك بها الأصوات بطريق وصول الهواء المتكيف بكيفية الصوت إلى الصماخ.

    Al-samʿ (السمع): a faculty deposited in the nerve spread over the concave part of the ear-canal (al-ṣimākh), by which sounds are perceived, through the arrival of air conditioned with the quality of sound to the ear-canal.

    al-Jurjānī, al-Taʿrīfāt, line 2450 ↗

  • السماعي

    في اللغة ما نسب إلى السماع، وفي الاصطلاح: هو ما لم تذكر فيه قاعدة كلية مشتملة على جزئياته.

    Al-samāʿī (السماعي): linguistically, that which is attributed/related to samāʿ (oral transmission); in technical usage, that for which no universal rule comprising its particulars has been stated [i.e., known only through direct transmission, not derivable by analogy].

    al-Jurjānī, al-Taʿrīfāt, line 2453 ↗

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.

س م ع

السين والميم والعين أصل واحد وهو إيناس الشيء بالأذن من الناس وكل ذي أذن تقول سمعت الشيء سمعا والسمع الذكر الجميل

s-m-ʿ: one root, which is perceiving something with the ear, [applying] to people and every possessor of an ear. You say "sami'tu al-shay' sam'an," and al-sim' is a good reputation.

Ibn Fāris ↗Lisān ↗Lane ↗al-Khalīl: used ↗Quran ×185

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

س

ومما بين طرف اللسان وفويق الثنايا مخرج الزاي، والسين، والصاد

From between the tip of the tongue and just above the front teeth is the place of the zāy, the sīn and the ṣād. Sībawayh, line 26560 ↗

ومما بين الثنايا وطرف اللسان، مخرج الصاد والزاي والسين

From between the front teeth and the tip of the tongue is the place of the ṣād, the zāy and the sīn. Ibn Jinnī, line 983 ↗

م

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 ↗

ع

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 ↗

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

س

Level of existence: ما ظهر في الماء · what appears in water

Divine Name: المحيي · al-Muḥyī, the Life-Giver

Lunar mansion: النعائم · al-Naʿāʾim

Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 62110

Spheres of its simples (ch. 2): 9 line 2572 ↗

Nature (ch. 2)

السين والشين فطبعهما الحرارة واليبوسة

Sīn and shīn: their nature is heat and dryness.

Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, line 2581

م

Level of existence: الإنسان · the human being

Divine Name: الجامع · al-Jāmiʿ, the Gatherer

Lunar mansion: المؤخر · al-Muʾakhkhar

Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 62119

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

ع

Level of existence: الطبيعة · Nature

Divine Name: الباطن · The Inward (al-Bāṭin)

Lunar mansion: الثريا · al-Thurayyā (the Pleiades)

Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 63825

Spheres of its simples (ch. 2): 9 line 2572 ↗

Meaning by vowelal-Dabbāgh · a visionary claim about a primordial “Syriac”, not historical Syriac

English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic

س

With fatḥa ـَ

فهي إشارة إلى الشيء المليح الذي من طبعه الرقة.

It is an indication of the comely thing whose nature is delicacy.

With ḍamma ـُ

فهي إشارة إلى الشيء القبيح الخشن، أو إشارة إلى سواد حسا ومعنى.

It is an indication of the ugly, rough thing, or of blackness, sensible and figurative.

With kasra ـِ

وبالكسر إشارة إلى الشيء الطابع وتكون الإشارة منه.

With kasra it is an indication of the impressing/stamping thing, and the indication proceeds from it.

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

م

With fatḥa ـَ

فهي جميع المكونات.

It is all created beings.

With ḍamma ـُ

فهي العزيز القليل كماء العين، ومنه قيل مومو.

It is the precious, scarce thing, like the water of the eye; from it comes the expression 'mūmū'.

With kasra ـِ

فهي نور الذات ظاهرا كما في العين، وباطنا كما في القلب.

It is the light of the self, outwardly as in the eye and inwardly as in the heart.

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

ع

With fatḥa ـَ

فهي اسم لقدوم أو رحيل.

It is a name for arrival or departure.

With ḍamma ـُ

فهي اسم للساكن في الذات التي تقوم به.

It is a name for that which dwells in the self and by which the self subsists.

With kasra ـِ

فهي اسم لخبث الذات.

It is a name for the foulness of the self.

al-Dabbāgh (d. 1132/1719), al-Ibrīz, ch. 2 §15, compiled by al-Lamaṭī
Two-letter nucleus11 roots in Ibn Fāris’s chapterس م

Ibn Fāris groups his roots under two-letter chapters (“the X and the Y and what makes them three”). These are the roots of this root's chapter with the core sense he gives each. Setting them side by side is our juxtaposition; he does not himself draw a shared meaning. His chapter heading, line 14066 ↗

  • سمنالسين والميم والنون أصل يدل على خلاف الضمر والهزالQ 4 · L14067
  • سمهالسين والميم والهاء أصل يدل على حيرة وباطلL14071
  • سمتالسين والميم والتاء أصل يدل على نهج وقصد وطريقةL14083
  • سمجالسين والميم والجيم أصل يدل على خلاف الحسنL14088
  • سمحالسين والميم والحاء أصل يدل على سلاسة وسهولةL14089
  • سمخالسين والميم والخاء ليس أصلا لأنه من باب الإبدال والسين فيه مبدلة من صاد والسماخ في الأذن مدخله ويقال سمخت فلانا ضربت سماخة وقد سمخني بشدة صوتهL14093
  • سمدالسين والميم والدال أصل يدل على مضى قدما من غير تعريجQ 1 · L14096
  • سمرالسين والميم والراء أصل واحد يدل على خلاف البياض في اللونQ 4 · L14103
  • سمقالسين والميم والقاف فيه كلمة ولعل القاف أن تكون مبدلة من الكاف سمق إذا علاL14125
  • سمكالسين والميم والكاف أصل واحد يدل على العلوQ 1 · L14126
  • سملالسين والميم واللام أصل يدل على ضعف وقلةL14131
In the sister scriptsHebrew ס/ש מ עSyriac ܣ/ܫ ܡ ܥ
Arabicس م ع
Hebrewס/ש מ ע
Syriacܣ/ܫ ܡ ܥ
Ancient South Arabian (musnad)𐩯/𐩦 𐩣 𐩲
Phoenician𐤎/𐤔 𐤌 𐤏

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) glosses al-samʿ first as al-udhn, 'the ear' (with mismaʿa as the ear itself or its aperture), then as 'that which lodges in it of what one hears';well attested

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

    Al-Khalīl (al-ʿAyn) glosses al-samʿ first as al-udhn, 'the ear' (with mismaʿa as the ear itself or its aperture), then as 'that which lodges in it of what one hears'; he cites the idiom asāʾa samʿan fa-asāʾa ijābatan, 'he heard badly and so answered badly,' and notes samāʿ as 'that which one hears and which becomes current,' extending to samāʿ as singing and mismaʿa as a songstress. Al-Jawharī (al-Ṣiḥāḥ) observes that al-samʿ, as used of Q 2:7, is grammatically both singular and plural because it is at root the maṣdar of samiʿtu; he registers the imperative-noun samāʿ ('hear!,' on the pattern of dirāk/manāʿ) and the phrase riyāʾan wa-samʿatan, 'to be seen and heard of.' Ibn Fāris (Maqāyīs) states the single underlying sense is 'the acquainting of a thing with the ear' (īnās al-shayʾ bi-l-udhn) common to every possessor of an ear; from this he derives al-samʿ as fair repute/fame (dhahaba samʿuhu = his renown spread), and samiʿtu bi-l-shayʾ, 'I spread it about to be spoken of.' Al-Rāghib (al-Mufradāt) analyzes samʿ as a faculty in the ear by which sounds are apprehended, then traces its extended Quranic senses: for the organ itself (Q 2:7, ختم الله على قلوبهم وعلى سمعهم), for the act of hearing/al-samāʿ (Q 26:212), and — crucially — for fahm ('understanding') and ṭāʿa ('obedience'), so that samiʿnā wa-ʿaṣaynā (Q 4:46) means 'we understood your speech but did not submit to it.' Ibn Manẓūr (Lisān al-ʿArab) consolidates these: samʿ as ḥiss al-udhn, cites the maṣdar/ism distinction reported from al-Liḥyānī, glosses الأسماع غير المسمع (Q 20:108-type usage) via Thaʿlab as 'listen — you shall not be heard,' and confirms samʿ can be singular-serving-as-plural for the Arabs. Lane consolidates: samiʿahu, aor. yasmaʿu, inf. nouns samʿ, simʿ, samāʿ, samāʿa, samāʿiyya, masmaʿ — 'he heard it/him,' with tasammaʿa and istamaʿa as reflexive/intensive congeners meaning 'he listened attentively.'

    Draws on: al-Khalīl · al-Jawharī · Ibn Fāris · al-Rāghib · Ibn Manẓūr · Lane

    • al-Rāghib, al-Mufradāt, s-m-ʿ
    • Lane's Lexicon, s-m-ʿ
  • Letters & soundIn Ibn ʿArabī's letter-correspondences within the Cosmic Breath, sīn corresponds to 'what appears in water,' mīm to the human being, and ʿayn to Nature (al-ṭabīʿa).speculative

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

    In Ibn ʿArabī's letter-correspondences within the Cosmic Breath, sīn corresponds to 'what appears in water,' mīm to the human being, and ʿayn to Nature (al-ṭabīʿa). One drawn to this scheme might read s-m-ʿ as tracing an arc from the subtle/appearing, through the human, into Nature — a movement apt to hearing as the faculty by which the human registers what arises from the world. Al-Dabbāgh's fatḥa-glosses add: sīn indicates the comely thing whose nature is delicacy, mīm is all created beings, ʿayn is a name for arrival or departure. This is honestly speculative sound-symbolism; mainstream historical linguistics does not treat individual Arabic letters as bearers of stable meaning, and these correspondences should be read as a theological hermeneutic layered onto the root, not as etymology.

    Draws on: Ibn ʿArabī, Breath letters (akbari198) · al-Dabbāgh, letter meanings

  • Root structureIbn Fāris situates s-m-ʿ among neighbors s-m-n (fatness vs.uncertain

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

    Ibn Fāris situates s-m-ʿ among neighbors s-m-n (fatness vs. leanness), s-m-h (confusion, falsehood), s-m-t (a path or manner), s-m-j (ugliness), s-m-ḥ (ease and facility), s-m-d (going straight on without turning aside), s-m-r (darkness of complexion), s-m-q/s-m-k (loftiness) — a set with no obvious thematic convergence on 'hearing,' suggesting s-m-ʿ is a discrete nucleus. Of the six permutations, s-m-ʿ (185 Quranic occurrences) and s-ʿ-m (marching swiftly, of camels) are both attested as full sound roots, as are m-ʿ-s (rubbing/kneading a hide in tanning), ʿ-s-m (twisting or stiffness in a limb), and ʿ-m-s (severe confusion or difficulty in a matter). Ibn Jinnī's greater derivation (al-taṣrīf al-akbar) would invite noting that ʿ-m-s ('confusion, a twisting-into of a matter') and ʿ-s-m ('twisting of a limb') share the letters of s-m-ʿ and a faint semantic thread of 'attending closely to' or 'being caught up in' something — but this is a speculative juxtaposition of shared consonants, not an asserted derivation.

    Draws on: Ibn Fāris nucleus siblings · permutations table

  • Semitic kin & loanwordss-m-ʿ is a well-attested Common Semitic root, not a loanword into Arabic.well attested

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

    s-m-ʿ is a well-attested Common Semitic root, not a loanword into Arabic. Hebrew שָׁמַע (šāmaʿ), 'to hear, listen, obey,' is central to Biblical Hebrew (famously in the Shemaʿ, Deut. 6:4) and shows the identical semantic range Arabic exhibits (hearing/understanding/obeying). Aramaic and Syriac ܫܡܥ (šmaʿ) carries the same sense, as does Akkadian šemû ('to hear, obey') and Geʿez samʿa. The convergence across all major branches, including the same polysemy (hear → understand → obey) that al-Rāghib documents for Arabic, supports a shared Proto-Semitic root rather than any borrowing in either direction.

    Draws on: Common Semitic root · Hebrew · Aramaic/Syriac · Akkadian · Geʿez

  • Quranic exegesisThe exegetes treat al-samʿ on two registers.well attested

    How the classical exegetes read the word in the Quran.

    The exegetes treat al-samʿ on two registers. Physically/epistemically, at Q 2:7 (ختم الله على قلوبهم وعلى سمعهم), al-Ṭabarī and al-Zamakhsharī read 'sealing the hearing' as God's rendering the disbelievers incapable of the kind of hearing that issues in guided understanding, not a literal deafness — a seal on receptivity rather than on the organ. Ethically, Q 4:46's samiʿnā wa-ʿaṣaynā ('we heard and disobeyed') is glossed by al-Rāghib and echoed by al-Zamakhsharī and al-Rāzī as 'we understood the command but refused compliance,' making samʿ here mean comprehension without obedience, the inverse of the ideal samiʿnā wa-aṭaʿnā ('we hear and obey,' Q 2:285 and elsewhere). As the divine epithet al-Samīʿ (occurring dozens of times paired with al-ʿAlīm or al-Baṣīr), the exegetes uniformly take it as God's comprehensive, non-organic perception of every sound and speech, including the unspoken — a point developed further by the theologians below.

    Draws on: al-Ṭabarī · al-Zamakhsharī · al-Rāzī · al-Rāghib

    • al-Ṭabarī, Tafsīr, ad Q 2:7
    • al-Rāghib, al-Mufradāt, s-m-ʿ
  • Philosophy & kalāmAl-Samīʿ is one of the divine names debated within kalām as a ṣifa (attribute) alongside al-Baṣīr and al-ʿAlīm.plausible

    The word as a technical term in falsafa and theology.

    Al-Samīʿ is one of the divine names debated within kalām as a ṣifa (attribute) alongside al-Baṣīr and al-ʿAlīm. The Ashʿarīs affirm samʿ as a real, eternal attribute of God's essence by which He perceives all audible things without an organ or temporal process, against Muʿtazilī concerns that positing distinct eternal attributes compromises divine unity (tawḥīd), who tend to reduce God's 'hearing' to an aspect of His knowledge (ʿilm). Avicenna, working outside strict kalām, treats human samʿ as one of the external senses in his psychology (the faculty receiving sound as a quality impressed via the air), reserving a categorically different, non-sensory account of God's 'perception' of all things through self-knowledge rather than any analogue of ear-based hearing.

    Draws on: al-samīʿ as divine attribute (ṣifa) · kalām debate

    • SEP: Islamic Theology
  • Akbarian readingIn Faṣṣ Ādam, Ibn ʿArabī cites the ḥadīth qudsī in which God says of His servant, 'I was his hearing (samʿ) and his sight (baṣar)' — pointedly not 'I was his eye (ʿayn) and his ear (udhun)' — and draws from this a distinction between the outer bodily organ and the inner reality/function it houses.well attested

    The word in Ibn ʿArabī's text and terminology.

    In Faṣṣ Ādam, Ibn ʿArabī cites the ḥadīth qudsī in which God says of His servant, 'I was his hearing (samʿ) and his sight (baṣar)' — pointedly not 'I was his eye (ʿayn) and his ear (udhun)' — and draws from this a distinction between the outer bodily organ and the inner reality/function it houses. He connects this to the human being as constructed 'upon the form of the cosmos and its images,' with an inner form fashioned upon God's own form (ṣūra), such that divine samʿ operates through, without being identical to, the physical faculty of hearing. Samʿ thus becomes, in Akbarian usage, the name for a locus of theophanic self-disclosure (God hearing through the servant) rather than a merely creaturely capacity, paralleling the wider Akbarian treatment of the divine names as manifest through, and constitutive of, the human faculties.

    Draws on: Faṣṣ Ādam excerpt

Reference

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