شعرtwo roots — thabāt and ʿilm. (root shr)

A man is ashʿar (أشعر): having long, abundant hair on the head and body. The plural of shaʿr (hair) is shuʿūr (شعور), shuʿr (شعر), and ashʿār (أشعار). Al-shiʿār (الشعار) is what one wears next to the body beneath the [outer] clothes, so named because it lies against the body beneath all other clothing, and its plural is shuʿur; al-Aʿshā called the saddle-blanket (jull) a shiʿār, saying: 'And every tall one, as if the wick / where the hide had concealed the shiʿār (شعارا).' Its meaning is 'where the shiʿār concealed the hide,' but they say this and its like out of the breadth of Arabic, just as they say nāṣiḥ al-jayb ('sincere of the collar/bosom'), meaning 'sincere of heart.' Al-shiʿār is also the call-word by which a group calls to one another in battle so they may recognize one another. Al-ashʿar (الأشعر) is what surrounds the hoof at the edge of the skin where the small hairs grow around the hoof, plural ashāʿir (أشاعر). One says: 'you are the shiʿār and not the dithār' [i.e., you are close to me, not merely outer covering], describing someone with closeness and affection. Ashʿara fulānun qalbī hamman (أشعر فلان قلبي هما) means 'so-and-so clothed my heart with worry,' as if clothing it with worry until it became like a shiʿār for the heart. Shaʿartu bi-kadhā (شعرت بكذا) ashʿuru shiʿran — this is not meant in the sense of hair (shaʿr) at all; rather its meaning is 'I perceived it and knew of it.' From this: laytā shiʿrī (ليت شعري), meaning 'would that I knew.' Mā yushʿiruka (ما يشعرك) means 'what informs you.' Some say shaʿartuhu (شعرته) means 'I comprehended and understood it.' Al-shiʿr (الشعر) is poetry (qarīḍ) bounded by specific markers it does not exceed, and it is called shiʿr because the poet perceives (yafṭinu) meanings in it that others do not perceive. They say 'shiʿrun shāʿirun (شعر شاعر)' meaning 'excellent [poetry],' just as one says sabyun sābin ('excellent captivity') and ṭarīqun sālikun ('passable road'), though properly it is shiʿrun mashʿūrun (شعر مشعور). Al-mashʿar (المشعر) is the place of the rite among the mashāʿir (مشاعر) of the ḥajj, from God's word: 'So remember God at al-mashʿar al-ḥarām (المشعر الحرام)' [Q. 2:198]. Likewise al-shaʿārah (الشعارة) is among the shaʿāʾir (شعائر) of the ḥajj, and shaʿāʾir Allāh are the rites of the ḥajj, i.e., its landmarks (ʿalāmāt). Al-shaʿīrah (الشعيرة) is one of the shaʿāʾir of the ḥajj, being the acts of the ḥajj — the running (saʿy), the circumambulation (ṭawāf), and the sacrifices — all of these are shaʿāʾir al-ḥajj. Al-shaʿīrah is also the sacrificial camel offered to the House of God, plural al-shaʿāʾir. One says: 'this camel has been offered (ushʿirat) for God as a rite,' meaning it was made a shaʿīrah to be sacrificed. It is said that ishʿāruhā ('marking it') is to pierce the base of its hump with a knife so that blood flows on its side, whereby it is known to be a sacrificial camel offered as hady. Some jurists disliked this and said: 'once it has been garlanded, it has [in effect] been marked.' Al-shaʿīrah is also an iron or silver piece made as a socket for the knife-blade in the handle, where it is mounted. Al-shaʿārīr (الشعارير) are small cucumbers, singular shaʿrūrah (شعرورة) and shaʿrūr (شعرور). Al-shaʿārīr are also a game... [entry continues]

Al-shaʿr (الشعر) is [the hair] of a human being and others, plural shuʿūr (شعور) and ashʿār (أشعار), singular shaʿrah (شعرة). One says 'so-and-so saw al-shaʿrah (الشعرة)' meaning he saw gray hair — reported by Yaʿqūb. A man is ashʿar (أشعر): having abundant body hair; people [described as such] are shuʿr (شعر). ʿUbaydallāh ibn Ziyād used to be called 'ashʿar baraka (أشعر بركا).' Al-ashʿar (الأشعر) is what encircles the hoof of hair, plural al-ashāʿir (الأشاعر). The ashāʿir (أشاعر) of a she-camel are the sides of her vulva. Al-shiʿrah (الشعرة), with kasrah, is the pubic hair specifically of women. Al-shaʿīr (الشعير) is among grains, singular shaʿīrah (شعيرة). Shaʿīrat al-sikkīn (شعيرة السكين) is the iron piece inserted into the socket to serve as a holder for the blade. Al-shaʿīrah is also the sacrificial camel offered (hady). Al-shaʿāʾir (الشعائر) are the acts of the ḥajj, and anything made a mark (ʿalam) of obedience to God Almighty. Al-Aṣmaʿī said: the singular is shaʿīrah; he said some also say shaʿārah (شعارة). Al-mashāʿir (المشاعر) are the stations of the rites. Al-mashʿar al-ḥarām (المشعر الحرام) is one of the mashāʿir; kasrah on the mīm is also a dialectal variant. Al-mashāʿir (المشاعر) [also] means the senses (al-ḥawāss); Balʿāʾ ibn Qays said: 'And the head, held high, in it are its senses (mashāʿiruhu) / hearing and two eyes guide the way for it.' Al-shiʿār (الشعار) is what is next to the body among clothes. Shiʿār al-qawm (شعار القوم) in war is their sign by which they recognize one another. Al-shiʿār, with fatḥah, is trees; one says 'a land abundant in shiʿār.' Ashʿara al-hadya (أشعر الهدي) means: he pierced its right hump until blood flowed from it, so that it be known to be a sacrificial animal. In the ḥadīth: 'the Commander of the Faithful was marked (ushʿira).' Ashʿara al-rajulu hamman (أشعر الرجل هما) means he became weighed down by worry as if it clung to the place of the shiʿār-garment against his body. Shaʿartu bi-al-shayʾi (شعرت بالشيء), with fatḥah, ashʿuru bihi, shiʿran: I perceived it. From this comes their saying laytā shiʿrī (ليت شعري), meaning 'would that I had known.' Sībawayh said: its origin is shiʿrah (شعرة), but they dropped the hāʾ, just as they dropped it in dhahaba biʿudhrihā (ذهب بعذرها) and huwa abū ʿudhrihā (هو أبو عذرها). Al-shiʿr (الشعر) is [also used as] singular of ashʿār. One says: 'I have not seen a qaṣīdah more skillfully composed (ashʿar jamʿan) than it.' Al-shāʿir (الشاعر), plural al-shuʿarāʾ (الشعراء), on an irregular pattern. Al-Akhfash said: al-shāʿir is like lābin and tāmir, i.e., 'possessor of poetry (shiʿr).' He was named shāʿir for his perceptiveness (fiṭnah). One says mā kāna shāʿiran wa-laqad shaʿura (وما كان شاعرا ولقد شعر), with ḍammah, yashʿuru: [he became a poet]. Al-mutashāʿir (المتشاعر) is one who takes up composing poetry [without being a true poet]. Shāʿartuhu fa-shaʿartuhu (شاعرته فشعرته), ashʿuruhu, with fatḥah, means I outdid him in poetry. Shāʿartuhu also means I slept alongside him under one shiʿār (garment). Istashʿara fulānun khawfan (استشعر فلان خوفا) means he concealed fear within himself. Ashʿartu al-sikkīna (أشعرت السكين) means I made a shaʿīrah [socket] for it. Ashʿartuhu fa-shaʿara (أشعرته فشعر) means I informed him and he came to know. Ashʿartuhu (أشعرته) means I clothed him with the shiʿār-garment. Ashʿarahu fulānun sharran (أشعره فلان شرا) means he covered/afflicted him with... [entry continues]

Shīn, ʿayn, and rāʾ have two well-known roots: one indicates fixity/permanence, and the other indicates knowledge and learning. The first is shaʿr (الشعر), 'hair,' well known, plural ashʿār (أشعار), which is a plural of a plural, the singular being shaʿrah (شعرة). A man is ashʿar (أشعر) if he has long hair on his head and body. Shiʿār (الشعار) means trees; one says 'a land abundant in shiʿār (شعار)' [trees]. What surrounds the hoof at the edge of the skin where hair grows around the hoof is called ashʿar (أشعر), plural ashāʿir (الأشاعر). Al-shaʿrāʾ (الشعراء) among fruits is a kind of peach, so named because of something covering it like down (zaghab); the proof of this is that there is a kind without down which they call al-qarʿāʾ (القرعاء). Al-shaʿrāʾ (الشعراء) is also a fly that appears to have down on its legs. From this same root: a calamity described as shaʿrāʾ (شعراء) and dhāt wabar (ذات وبر) [lit. 'hairy' and 'possessed of fur/wool']. Ibn Durayd said: among their speech, when a person says something regarded as momentous, they say 'jiʾta bihā shaʿrāʾ dhāt wabar (جئت بها شعراء ذات وبر)' [you have brought something extraordinary]. A meadow (rawḍah) described as shaʿrāʾ (شعراء) is one abundant in plants, and sand (ramlah) described as shaʿrāʾ (شعراء) is one that grows naṣī-grass and the like. Al-shaʿrāʾ (الشعراء) also means abundant trees. Close to this is shaʿīr (الشعير), 'barley,' which is well known. As for shaʿīrah (الشعيرة), the iron piece placed as a socket for a knife blade when it is mounted, it is so called because it is likened in shape to a grain of barley. Al-shaʿārīr (الشعارير) are small cucumbers. Al-shiʿār (الشعار) is what is next to the body among garments, because it touches the hair (shaʿr) that is on the skin. The other root: al-shiʿār (الشعار) is the call-word that a group shouts to one another in battle so that they may recognize each other. The origin is their saying shaʿartu bi-al-shayʾ (شعرت بالشيء), meaning 'I knew it and became aware of it.' Laytā shiʿrī (ليت شعري) means 'would that I knew.' Some say its origin is from shaʿrah (الشعرة) [a single hair], like darbah and fiṭnah [skill/acumen]; one says shaʿartu shaʿratan (شعرت شعرة). They say the poet (shāʿir) is so named because he perceives (yafṭinu) what others do not perceive. The proof of this, they say, is the verse of ʿAntarah: 'Have the poets (al-shuʿarāʾ) left any place for a patch to be added, / or have you recognized the dwelling after uncertain surmise?' meaning: the poets have not left anything without perceiving it (faṭinū lahu). The mashāʿir (مشاعر) of the ḥajj are the stations of the rites, so named because they are the landmarks (maʿālim) of the ḥajj. Al-shaʿīrah (الشعيرة), plural shaʿāʾir (الشعائر), are the emblems and rites of the ḥajj. God Almighty said: 'Indeed al-Ṣafā and al-Marwah are among the shaʿāʾir (شعائر) of God' [Q. 2:158]. Al-shaʿīrah (الشعيرة) is also said of the sacrificial camel that is offered; ishʿāruhā (إشعارها, 'marking it') is to slit the base of its hump so that blood flows, so that it may be known to be a sacrificial offering. For this reason they say of the caliph, if he is killed, 'he has been marked (ushʿira)' — a term specific to him and not to any other slain person. Al-Shiʿrā (الشعرى) is a star, well known. One says ashʿara fulānun fulānan sharran (أشعر فلان فلانا شرا) 'so-and-so afflicted so-and-so with evil,' as if covering him with it, and ashʿarahu al-ḥubbu maraḍan (أشعره الحب مرضا) 'love afflicted him with sickness' — this could belong to this [second] root, as if it were made upon him like a mark (ʿalam), or it could belong to the first root, as if it were made for him a shiʿār (garment). As for their saying 'the people scattered shaʿārīr (شعارير)' [in all directions], this, in our view, belongs to the category of substitution, the original being shaʿālīl (شعاليل), which has already been discussed.

Al-shaʿr (الشعر) is well known [hair], plural ashʿār (أشعار). God Almighty said: 'and from their wool, and their fur, and their hair (ashʿārihā)' [Q. 16:80]. Shaʿartu (شعرت) [originally] means 'I hit/touched the hair'; from this is metaphorically derived shaʿartu kadhā (شعرت كذا), meaning 'I knew it with a fine, precise knowledge,' like hitting a [single] hair precisely. The poet (shāʿir) is so named for his perceptiveness (fiṭnah) and the precision of his knowledge. So shiʿr (الشعر) originally is a term for fine, precise knowledge, as in their saying laytā shiʿrī (ليت شعري), and it came in common usage to designate metered, rhymed speech, and al-shāʿir designates the one specialized in that craft. His saying, quoting the unbelievers: 'Rather he invented it; rather he is a poet (shāʿir)' [Q. 21:5], and His saying: 'for a mad poet (li-shāʿirin majnūn)' [Q. 37:36], '[he is] a poet; we await for him [misfortune]' [Q. 52:30] — many exegetes took this to mean that they accused him of producing metered, rhymed poetry, so much so that they interpreted every expression in the Qurʾān resembling metered speech accordingly, such as: 'and basins like reservoirs and fixed cooking-pots' [Q. 34:13], and His saying: 'Perish the hands of Abū Lahab' [Q. 111:1]. But some careful scholars said they did not intend this in their accusation, for it is evident from the speech [of the Qurʾān] that it is not composed according to the conventions of poetry, and this would not be hidden even from non-Arabic speakers who are inarticulate, let alone from eloquent Arabs. Rather, they accused him of lying, for shiʿr is used to express falsehood, and al-shāʿir [in this sense] means 'the liar,' to the point that some people called false proofs 'poetic' (shiʿriyyah). For this reason God Almighty said, describing poets in general: 'And the poets — the deviant follow them' [Q. 26:224], to the end of the sūrah. And because poetry is a locus of falsehood, it was said: 'the best poetry is its most mendacious.' Some of the wise said: 'No truthful, pious person has ever been seen to excel in his poetry.' Al-mashāʿir (المشاعر) are the senses (al-ḥawāss). His saying: 'while you do not perceive (lā tashʿurūn)' [Q. 49:2] and similar expressions mean: you do not grasp it with the senses; though in many places where lā yashʿurūn occurs it could not simply mean 'they do not comprehend intellectually,' since much of what does not fall under lā yashʿurūn could indeed be something intelligible even if not sensible. Mashāʿir al-ḥajj (مشاعر الحج) are the landmarks of the ḥajj that are perceptible to the senses, singular mashʿar; one also says shaʿāʾir al-ḥajj (شعائر الحج), singular shaʿīrah. God Almighty said: 'that — and whoever magnifies the shaʿāʾir (شعائر) of God' [Q. 22:32], and: 'So remember God at al-mashʿar al-ḥarām' [Q. 2:198], 'Do not violate the shaʿāʾir of God' [Q. 5:2], meaning: what is offered to the House of God, so named because it is 'marked' (tushʿaru), i.e., made known by being bled with a shaʿīrah, i.e., an iron implement with which it is marked. Al-shiʿār (الشعار) is the garment that lies next to the body because it touches the hair (shaʿr); al-shiʿār is also what a person marks himself with in battle, i.e., by which he is made known. Ashʿarahu al-ḥubbu (أشعره الحب) is like 'clothed him.' Al-ashʿar (الأشعر) is the one with long hair, and what surrounds the hoof of the... [entry continues]

Shaʿara bihi (شعر به) and shaʿira (شعر) yashʿuru shiʿran, shaʿran, shiʿratan, mashʿūratan, shuʿūran, shuʿūratan, shuʿrā (شعرى), and mashʿūrāʾ, mashʿūran — the last forms are from al-Liḥyānī — all meaning: he knew (ʿalima). Al-Liḥyānī related from al-Kisāʾī: mā shaʿartu bi-mashʿūrahu ḥattā jāʾahu fulānun (ما شعرت بمشعوره حتى جاءه فلان) [I was not at all aware until so-and-so came to him]; and also from al-Kisāʾī: ashʿara fulānan mā ʿamilahu (أشعر فلانا ما عمله) and ashʿara li-fulānin mā ʿamilahu (أشعر لفلان ما عمله), and mā shaʿartu fulānan mā ʿamilahu (ما شعرت فلانا ما عمله) — he said this is [attested] Arabic usage. Laytā shiʿrī (ليت شعري) means 'would that [I had] my knowledge' or 'would that I had known,' and laytā shiʿrī min dhālika (ليت شعري من ذلك) means 'would that I had perceived [that].' Sībawayh said: they said laytā shiʿratī (ليت شعرتي) and dropped the tāʾ with the annexation because of frequent use, just as they said dhahaba bi-ʿudhratihā (ذهب بعذرتها) and huwa abū ʿudhrihā (هو أبو عذرها), dropping the tāʾ specifically with 'abū.' Al-Liḥyānī related from al-Kisāʾī: laytā shiʿrī li-fulānin mā ṣanaʿa (ليت شعري لفلان ما صنع) and laytā shiʿrī ʿan fulānin mā ṣanaʿa (ليت شعري عن فلان ما صنع), and laytā shiʿrī fulānan mā ṣanaʿa (ليت شعري فلانا ما صنع); and he cited: 'O would that I knew about my donkey, what has happened, / and about Abū Zayd, and how long he has lain down'; and cited: 'O would that I knew about you, Ḥanīfa, / while we have cut off from you the noses'; and cited: 'Would that I knew, Musāfir son of Abū ʿAmr' — and 'would that' [laytā] is spoken by the grief-stricken. In the ḥadīth: 'laytā shiʿrī, what has so-and-so done,' meaning 'would that my knowledge were present or encompassing of what he did' — the predicate being elided, which is frequent in their speech. Ashʿarahu al-amra (أشعره الأمر) and ashʿarahu bihi (أشعره به) mean: he informed him of it. In the Revelation: 'And what will make you perceive (yushʿirukum) that when it comes they will not believe' [Q. 6:109] — i.e., 'what will inform you.' Ashʿartuhu fa-shaʿara (أشعرته فشعر) means: I informed him and he came to know. Shaʿara bihi (شعر به) means: he comprehended it. Al-Liḥyānī related: ashʿartu bi-fulānin (أشعرت بفلان) means I became aware of him; ashʿartu bihi (أشعرت به) means I became informed about him; shaʿara li-kadhā (شعر لكذا) means he became alert/perceptive to it; shaʿara (شعر) [in another sense] means he came to own slaves. One says to a man: 'istashʿir khashyata Allāh (استشعر خشية الله)' meaning 'make it the shiʿār [inner garment] of your heart.' Istashʿara fulānun al-khawfa (استشعر فلان الخوف) means he concealed fear within himself. Ashʿarahu fulānun sharran (أشعره فلان شرا) means he covered/afflicted him with it. One says ashʿarahu al-ḥubbu maraḍan (أشعره الحب مرضا) [love afflicted him with sickness]. Al-shiʿr (الشعر) is versified speech (manẓūm al-qawl); the term came to be applied predominantly to this [i.e., poetry], because of its distinction through meter and rhyme, even though all knowledge is [etymologically] 'shiʿr' in the sense that fiqh predominates as a term for religious knowledge, ʿūd for aloeswood over other kinds of wood, and al-najm for al-Thurayyā [the Pleiades] over other stars — and much is similar to this. Sometimes they even called a single verse (bayt) 'shiʿr,' as al-Akhfash related; Ibn Sīdah said: this is not [linguistically] strong, unless it be an instance of naming the part by the name of the whole, as one says 'water' for a portion of water, 'air' for a quantity of air, and 'earth' for a piece of earth. Al-Azharī said: al-shiʿr is poetry (qarīḍ) bounded by markers it does not exceed, plural ashʿār, and its composer is called shāʿir because he perceives (yashʿuru) what others do not perceive, i.e., he knows. Shaʿara al-rajulu (شعر الرجل) yashʿuru shiʿran, shaʿran, shuʿran — and it is said shaʿira (شعر) means he recited poetry, and shaʿara means he excelled in poetry; a man [who does so] is shāʿir, plural shuʿarāʾ (شعراء). Sībawayh said... [entry continues]