شهدa single root denoting presence, knowledge, and making known; every derivative returns to … (root shhd)

Al-shahd (الشهد): honey not yet pressed from its wax, [plural] shihād (شهاد), singular shahda/shuhda. Al-shahāda (الشهادة) is [as in] your saying "ustushhida fulān (استشهد فلان)" — so he is shahīd (شهيد); and "shahida 'alayya fulān bi-kadhā shahāda (شهد علي فلان بكذا شهادة)" — he is shāhid (شاهد) and shahīd. Al-tashahhud (التشهد) in prayer is from your saying "ashhadu an lā ilāha illā Allāh, wa ashhadu anna Muḥammadan 'abduhu wa rasūluh" (I testify there is no god but God, and I testify Muhammad is His servant and messenger). "Fulān yashhadu bi-l-khuṭbah" [so-and-so testifies/attends at the sermon] is from this. Al-mashhad (المشهد) is the gathering-place of people, plural mashāhid (مشاهد); the mashāhid of Mecca are the places of the pilgrimage rites. Concerning God's word, Mighty and Exalted: "wa shāhidin wa mashhūd" (and a witness and a witnessed) [Qur'ān 85:3], it is said in its interpretation: al-shāhid is the Prophet, peace be upon him and his family, and al-mashhūd is the Day of Resurrection. In the dialect of Tamīm: shihīd (شهيد) with kasra on the shīn — they give kasra to [the pattern] fa'īl (فعيل) whenever its second letter is a guttural, and likewise "suflā Muḍar" (the lower [dialect] of Muḍar). In the shan'ā' dialect they give kasra to every fa'īl, while fatḥa is the higher [more prestigious] dialect. Al-shuhūd (الشهود): what comes out on a child's head, singular shāhid (شاهد); these are al-aghrās (الأغراس) [afterbirths], singular ghirs (غرس). He said: "She came with [cloth] like Sābirī silk, they marveled at it, while the moist earth had not dried from its shuhūd"

Al-shahāda (الشهادة): a decisive report. One says from it "shahida al-rajul 'alā kadhā (شهد الرجل على كذا)"; sometimes they say "shahd al-rajul (شَهْد الرجل)" with sukūn on the hā' for lightening, per al-Akhfash. Their saying "ashhadu bi-kadhā (اشهد بكذا)" means "I swear". Al-mushāhada (المشاهدة) is direct observation. "Shahidahu shuhūdan (شهده شهودا)": he was present at it, so he is shāhid (شاهد). "Qawm shuhūd (قوم شهود)": people present — originally a verbal noun; shuhūd is also [used] like rāki'/ruka' [kneeling/kneelers]. "Shahida lahu bi-kadhā shahāda (شهد له بكذا شهادة)": he gave the testimony he had, so he is shāhid, plural shuhd (شُهْد), like ṣāḥib/ṣaḥb and sāfir/safr — though some deny [this plural]. The plural of al-shahd [honey] is shuhūd and ashhād. Al-shahīd (الشهيد) is al-shāhid, plural shuhadā' (شهداء). "Ashhadtuhu 'alā kadhā fa-shahida 'alayhi (أشهدته على كذا فشهد عليه)": I made him a witness to it, so he became a witness against it. A woman [whose husband is present] is mushhid (مشهد), without hā'; a woman whose husband is absent is mughība (مغيبة), with hā'. "Istashhadtu fulānan (استشهدت فلانا)": I asked him to bear witness. "Ashhadanī imlākahu (أشهدني إملاكه)": he had me present [as witness] at his marriage contract. Al-mashhad (المشهد) is the gathering-place of people. Al-shahīd is one slain in the path of God; one says "istushhida fulān (استشهد فلان)" [he was martyred], the verbal noun being al-shahāda. Al-tashahhud in prayer is well known. Al-shāhid is what comes out with the newborn as though mixed with it. It is said: shuhūd al-nāqah are the traces at the place of her delivery, of blood or afterbirth. The poet said: "She came with [cloth] like Sābirī silk, they marveled at it, while the moist earth had not dried from its shuhūd" Al-shāhid also means the tongue, and also the angel. Al-A'shā said: "So do not think me ungrateful for your favor before my witness, O witness of God, bear witness!" Al-shahd and al-shuhd (الشهد والشهد): honey in its wax; al-shahda (الشهدة) is more specific, plural shihād (شهاد). The poet Umayya said: "...to deep bowls of shīzā-wood, filled with the finest wheat mixed with honey" i.e., of the finest wheat. "Ashhada al-rajul (أشهد الرجل)": he emitted madhī [pre-seminal fluid]. Al-madhī is 'usayla (عسيلة).

Shīn, hā', and dāl is a root indicating presence, knowledge, and informing; none of its branches depart from what we have mentioned. Al-shahāda (الشهادة) combines the roots we mentioned — presence, knowledge, and informing. One says shahida yashhadu shahādah (شهد يشهد شهادة). Al-mashhad (المشهد) is the gathering-place of people. From this chapter also is al-shuhūd (الشهود), plural of al-shāhid (الشاهد), which is the fluid that comes out on a child's head when born; it is also said to be the afterbirth (الغرس). The poet said: "She came with [cloth] like Sābirī silk, they marveled at it, while the moist earth had not dried from its shuhūd" Some said: shuhūd al-nāqah (شهود الناقة) are the traces at the place of her delivery, of blood or afterbirth. Al-shahīd (الشهيد) is one slain in the path of God. Some said he is so named because the angels of mercy shahida-hu, i.e. attend him; others said he is so named because of his falling to the ground, the earth being called al-shāhidah (الشاهدة). Al-shāhid also means the tongue, and al-shāhid also means the angel. Al-A'shā combined both in a verse: "So do not think me ungrateful for your favor before my witness (shāhidī), O witness of God (shāhid Allāh), bear witness!" So his shāhid is the tongue, and shāhid Allāh — glory to His praise — is the angel. As for His saying, Mighty and Exalted: "God bears witness (shahida Allāh) that there is no god but He" [Qur'ān 3:18], the people of knowledge said its meaning is that God made clear, clarified — just as one says "so-and-so shahida before the judge" when he clarifies and informs to whom the right belongs and against whom. A woman is mushhid (مشهد) when her husband is present, just as the wife of an absent man is called mughīb (مغيب). As for their saying ashhada al-rajul (أشهد الرجل) when he emits pre-seminal fluid, it seems based on the fluid mentioned that comes out on the newborn's head. Among what deviates from this root is al-shahd (الشهد), honey in its wax, plural shihād (شهاد). He said: "...to deep bowls of shīzā-wood, filled with the finest wheat mixed with honey (shihād)"

Al-shuhūd and al-shahāda (الشهود والشهادة): presence together with mushāhada (observation), whether by sight or by insight; it may also be used for mere presence, as God Exalted said: "'Ālim al-ghayb wa-l-shahāda" (Knower of the unseen and the witnessed) [32:6] — though al-shuhūd is more fitting for mere presence and al-shahāda more fitting when observation is involved. The place of gathering is called mashhad (مشهد), and a woman whose husband is present with her is mushhid (مشهد); the plural of mashhad is mashāhid (مشاهد), whence "mashāhid al-ḥajj" (the pilgrimage sites), its noble stations attended by angels and the righteous among people — or it is said the mashāhid of ḥajj are the places of the rites. He Exalted said: "li-yashhadū manāfi'a lahum" (that they may witness benefits for themselves) [22:28]; "wa-l-yashhad 'adhābahumā" (and let [a group] witness their punishment) [24:2]; "mā shahidnā mahlika ahlihi" (we did not witness the destruction of his family) [27:49], i.e. we were not present; "wa-lladhīna lā yashhadūna al-zūr" (those who do not witness falsehood) [25:72], i.e. they do not attend it with their persons or with their concern and will. Al-shahāda is a statement arising from knowledge obtained through observation, whether of insight or of sight. His saying "ashhidū khalqahum" (were they made to witness their creation?) [43:19] refers to observation by sight; then He said "satuktabu shahādatuhum" (their testimony will be recorded) [43:19], alerting that testimony proceeds from witnessing. His saying "li-ma takfurūna bi-āyāti-llāhi wa antum tashhadūn" (why do you disbelieve in God's signs while you witness?) [3:70] means: while you know. His saying "mā ashhadtuhum khalqa al-samāwāt" (I did not make them witness the creation of the heavens) [18:51] means: I did not make them among those who observed its creation with insight. His saying "'ālim al-ghayb wa-l-shahāda" [32:6] means: what is absent from people's senses and insights, and what they witness by both. "Shahidtu (شهدت)" is used in two ways: one runs in the sense of knowledge, and by its very wording testimony is established — one says "ashhadu bi-kadhā (أشهد بكذا)"; it is not accepted from a witness that he say "a'lamu (I know)", rather he must say "ashhadu (I testify)". The second runs in the sense of an oath, as when one says "ashhadu billāhi anna Zaydan munṭaliq" (I testify by God that Zayd has departed) — this functions as an oath; some hold that even saying "ashhadu" alone, without "billāhi", functions as an oath, with "'alimtu (I knew)" running the same course, so it is answered as an oath is answered, as in the poet's saying: [entry continues]

Among the names of God, Mighty and Exalted, is al-Shahīd (الشهيد). Abū Isḥāq said: al-Shahīd is among God's names, meaning the Trustworthy in His testimony; and it is said al-Shahīd is He from whose knowledge nothing is absent. Al-shahīd also means the present one (al-ḥāḍir). Fa'īl (فعيل) is among the intensive patterns of fā'il (فاعل): if knowledge is considered absolutely, He is al-'Alīm; if attributed to hidden matters, He is al-Khabīr; if attributed to manifest matters, He is al-Shahīd — and with this it may also be considered that He bears witness against creation on the Day of Resurrection. Ibn Sīda: al-shāhid is the knowing one who clarifies what he knows; "shahida shahādah (شهد شهادة)" — whence His saying, Exalted: "shahādatu baynikum idhā ḥaḍara aḥadakumu-l-mawtu ḥīna al-waṣiyyati ithnān" (testimony among you, when death approaches one of you, at the time of bequest, shall be two [witnesses]) [5:106], i.e. "the testimony among you [shall be] the testimony of two" — the annexed noun (muḍāf) was elided and the noun annexed to it (muḍāf ilayhi) put in its place. Al-Farrā' said: if you wish, you may raise ithnān (اثنان) governed by ḥīna al-waṣiyya, i.e. "let two of just character among you bear witness" — "or two others not of your religion," from the Jews and Christians, this being for travel and necessity, since a disbeliever's testimony against a Muslim is not permitted except in this case. A man is shāhid (شاهد), and likewise the feminine, since what is well known of this applies to the masculine [form]; plural ashhād (أشهاد) and shuhūd (شهود); and shahīd (شهيد), plural shuhadā' (شهداء). Al-shahd (الشهد) is a collective noun (ism li-l-jam') according to Sībawayh; al-Akhfash said it is a [broken] plural. "Ashhadtuhum 'alayhi (أشهدتهم عليه)": I made them witnesses over it. "Istashhadahu (استشهده)": he asked him for testimony. In the Revelation: "wa-stashhidū shahīdayni (واستشهدوا شهيدين)" (and call to witness two witnesses) [2:282]. Al-shahāda is a decisive report; one says "shahida al-rajul 'alā kadhā (شهد الرجل على كذا)"; sometimes "shahd al-rajul (شَهْد الرجل)" with sukūn on the hā' for lightening, per al-Akhfash. Their saying "ashhadu bi-kadhā (اشهد بكذا)" means "I swear". Al-tashahhud (التشهد) in prayer is well known; Ibn Sīda: al-tashahhud is the recitation of "al-Taḥiyyātu lillāh", its derivation being from "ashhadu an lā ilāha illā Allāh wa ashhadu anna Muḥammadan 'abduhu wa rasūluh", and it is [the verbal form] tafa''ul from al-shahāda. In the ḥadīth of Ibn Mas'ūd: "He used to teach us the tashahhud as he taught us a sūra of the Qur'ān" — meaning the tashahhud of prayer, the taḥiyyāt. Abū Bakr ibn al-Anbārī said regarding the muezzin's words "ashhadu an lā ilāha illā Allāh": I know that there is no god but God, and I make it clear. He said: and his saying "ashhadu anna Muḥammadan rasūlu-llāh" [means] I know and make it clear that Muhammad is the Messenger of God. And His saying, Mighty and Exalted: "shahida-llāhu annahu lā ilāha illā huwa" (God bears witness that there is no god but He) [3:18]: Abū 'Ubayda said the meaning of "shahida-llāh" is "God decreed that there is no god but He," its underlying reality being "God knew and God made clear," for al-shāhid is the one who knows and clarifies what he knows. So God indicated His oneness through all that He created, making clear that no one is able to originate even a single thing of what He originated; the angels bore witness to what they observed of His immense power, and the possessors of knowledge bore witness to what was established for them, and... [entry continues]