عززStrength and power, and what resembles them of overcoming and subduing. (root zz)

Al-ʿizzah (العزة) belongs to God, blessed and exalted, and God is al-ʿazīz (العزيز) — He grants might (yuʿizzu) to whom He wills and abases whom He wills. Whoever seeks might through God (man iʿtazza billāh), God grants him might. One says: ʿazza al-shayʾ (عز الشيء) — a general term for anything, when it becomes scarce, so that it is hardly found on account of its scarcity — yaʿizzu (يعز), ʿizzah (عزة); and it is ʿazīz (عزيز), characterized by al-ʿazāzah (العزازة). A king who is aʿazz (أعز) — i.e. ʿazīz (عزيز). Al-Farazdaq said: 'Indeed the One who raised the sky built for us a house whose pillars are mightier and taller.' And al-ʿazāʾ (العزاء) is a severe year. Al-ʿAjjāj said: 'And he slaughters the fat she-camels in al-ʿazāʾ, when it strikes.'

Al-ʿizz (العز): the opposite of al-dhull (الذل, abasement). Maṭarun ʿizzun (مطر عز) — intense rain. And ʿazza al-shayʾ yaʿizzu ʿizzatan wa-ʿazāzatan (عز الشيء يعز وعزة وعزازة) — it became scarce, hardly to be found, so it is ʿazīz (عزيز). And ʿazza fulānun yaʿizzu ʿizzan wa-ʿizzatan wa-ʿazāzatan (عز فلان يعز عزا وعزة وعزازة) also — he became ʿazīz, i.e. he grew strong after abasement. Aʿazzahu Allāh (أعزه الله) — God made him mighty. ʿAzaztu ʿalayhi (عززت عليه) also means: I became dear to him. His saying, exalted, {fa-ʿazzaznā bi-thālithin} may be read lightened or doubled, meaning: We strengthened and reinforced [them] with a third. Al-Aṣmaʿī said: Abū ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAlāʾ recited to me, on this, from al-Mutalammis: 'I find that, when she journeys, her flesh hardens (taʿazzazu), and when she is bound by her girth-strap, she does not cry out (lā tanbis).' It is also transmitted: 'ajidu idhā ḍamizat' (أجد إذا ضمزت). 'Lā tanbis' means: she does not bray. Taʿazzaza al-rajul (تعزز الرجل) — the man became ʿazīz. Huwa yaʿtazzu bi-fulān (هو يعتز بفلان) — he takes pride/finds strength through so-and-so. ʿAzza ʿalayya an tafʿala kadhā (عز علي أن تفعل كذا) — it grieved/was hard for me that you do such-and-such. ʿAzza ʿalayya dhāka (عز علي ذاك) — that was true and severe for me. In the proverb: 'idhā ʿazza akhūka fahin' (إذا عز أخوك فهن) — if your brother is harsh, be gentle. Aʿziz ʿalayya bimā aṣibtu bihi (أعزز علي بما أصبت به) [a condolence expression]. Qad aʿzaztu bimā aṣābaka (قد أعززت بما أصابك) — what befell you grieved me greatly. The plural of ʿazīz (عزيز) is ʿizāz (عزاز), like karīm/kirām. A people are aʿizzah (أعزة) and aʿizzāʾ (أعزاء). He said: 'White of face... and refuges, in every calamity, stern of noses (ʿizāz al-ānuf).' Al-ʿazūz (العزوز) of she-camels: one narrow in the teat. One says of it: ʿazzat al-nāqah taʿizzu ʿuzūzan wa-ʿizāzan (عزت الناقة تعز عزوزا وعزازا). Aʿazzat (أعزت) and taʿazzazat (تعززت) likewise. ʿAzzahu (عزه) also yaʿizzuhu ʿizzan (يعزه عزا): he overpowered him. In the proverb: 'man ʿazza bazza' (من عز بز) — whoever overcomes, plunders. The verbal noun is al-ʿizzah (العزة), meaning strength and domination. Al-ʿIzzah (العزة), with fatḥah: the young of a gazelle. The rajaz-poet said: 'It was easy for ʿIzzah, daughter of al-Shaḥḥāj, [to bear] the far journeying of Mālik's camels by night.' By this a woman was named ʿIzzah. ʿAzzahu fī al-khiṭāb wa-ʿāzzahu (عزه في الخطاب وعازه) — he strove to overcome him [in argument]. Aʿazzat al-baqarah (أعزت البقرة) — her calving became difficult. Al-ʿAzāz (العزاز), with fatḥah: hard ground. Qad aʿzaznā (قد أعززنا) — we came upon it and traveled through it. Arḍun maʿzūzah (أرض معزوزة) — hard land. Al-maṭaru yuʿazzizu al-arḍa (المطر يعزز الأرض) — the rain packs/hardens the ground. Al-ʿazāʾ (العزاء): a severe year. The poet said: 'And he slaughters the fat she-camels in al-ʿazāʾ, when it strikes.' One says: 'innakum muʿazzazun bikum' (إنكم معزز بكم) — it is made severe on account of you, [yet] eased for you. Istaʿazza al-raml wa-ghayruhu (استعز الرمل وغيره) — it became compact and did not loosen. Istaʿazza fulānun bi-ḥaqqī (استعز فلان بحقي) — he withheld/prevailed over me regarding my right. Istaʿazza bi-fulān (استعز بفلان) — he was entirely overcome, whether by illness or otherwise. Abū ʿAmr said: istuʿizza bi-l-ʿalīl (استعز بالعليل) — the sick person's pain intensified and overcame his reason. In the ḥadīth: 'istuʿizza bi-Kulthūm' (استعز بكلثوم) [he died]. Fulānun muʿzāzu al-maraḍ (فلان معزاز المرض) — his illness is severe. Al-ʿUzzā (العزى): the feminine of al-aʿazz (الأعز). Sometimes al-aʿazz carries the sense of al-ʿazīz (العزيز), and al-ʿUzzā the sense of al-ʿazīzah (العزيزة).

ʿAyn and zāʾ (ع ز) is one sound root indicating intensity and strength, and what resembles these — such as overcoming and subduing. Al-Khalīl said: ʿizzah (العزة) belongs to God, exalted be His praise, and it is derived from al-ʿazīz (العزيز). One says ʿazza (عز) the thing — i.e. it became so scarce it can hardly be found; though this is correct, it is better expressed differently: this is a thing one can hardly gain power over. One says ʿazza (عز) the man — i.e. he grew strong after weakness; aʿzaztuhu (أعززته) — I made him ʿazīz (mighty); iʿtazza bī (اعتز بي) and taʿazzaza (تعزز) [he found strength/pride through me]. He said: one says ʿazzahu ʿalā amrihi yaʿuzzuhu (عزه على أمر يعزه) — he overpowered him in his affair. In the proverb: 'man ʿazza bazza' (من عز بز) — whoever overcomes, plunders. And they say: 'idhā ʿazza akhūka fahin' (إذا عز أخوك فهن) — if your brother is harsh with you, be gentle with him. Al-muʿāzzah (المعازة) is mutual striving for mastery; you say ʿāzanī fulānun ʿizāzan wa-muʿāzzatan (عازني فلان عزازا ومعازة) fa-ʿazaztuhu (فعززته) — he vied with me and I overcame him. The poet, describing old age and youth, said: 'And when I saw the eagle overpower (ʿazza) the young of Daʾyah, and it nested in its two nests, my soul surged [with grief] for it.' Al-Farrāʾ said: one says ʿazaztu ʿalayhi (عززت عليه) — fa-anā aʿizzu ʿizzan wa-ʿazāzatan (فأنا أعز عزا وعزازة); aʿzaztuhu (أعززته) — I strengthened him; ʿazzaztuhu (عززته) likewise. God, exalted, said: {fa-ʿazzaznā bi-thālithin} ['so We strengthened them with a third']. Al-Khalīl said: you say aʿzaztu bimā aṣāba fulānan (أعززت بما أصاب فلانا) — it was grave and severe to me [what befell so-and-so]. From this same root: a she-camel called ʿazūz (عزوز) — narrow in the teat, yielding milk only with difficulty; one says qad taʿazzazat ʿazāzatan (قد تعززت عزازة). In the proverb: 'innamā huwa ʿanzun ʿazūzun lahā durrun jamm' (إنما هو عنز عزوز لها در جم) — 'she is but a narrow-uddered she-goat with abundant milk' — said of a miser who is nevertheless wealthy. He said: one says ʿazzat al-shātu taʿuzzu ʿuzūzan (عزت الشاة تعز عزوزا), and ʿazazat (عززت) also, ʿazazan (عززا); so she is ʿazūz (عزوز), plural ʿuzuz (عزز). One says istaʿazza ʿalā al-marīḍ (استعز على المريض) — his illness intensified. Al-Aṣmaʿī said: a man is muʿzāz (معزاز) when severely ill; istuʿizza bihi al-maraḍ (استعز به المرض) — the illness overcame him. In the ḥadīth: 'When the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, arrived in Medina, he stayed with Kulthūm ibn al-Hadm, who was ill; he remained with him three days, then istuʿizza bi-Kulthūm (استعز بكلثوم) — i.e. he died — so he moved to Saʿd ibn Khaythamah.' A man is muʿzūz (معزوز) — stripped of his wealth, which was seized. One says istaʿazza ʿalayhi al-shayṭān (استعز عليه الشيطان) — Satan overpowered him and his reason; istaʿazza ʿalayhi al-amr (استعز عليه الأمر) — he persisted stubbornly in the matter. Al-Khalīl said: al-ʿazāzah (العزازة) is hard ground without stones, over which water does not rise. [Poetry:] 'From the rugged rock, and they trample the hollows of hard ground (ʿazāzah), and they course swiftly wherever [rain] has poured.' One says al-ʿazāz (العزاز) is like al-jahād (الجهاد) — rugged ground that scarcely produces growth even when rained on, though level. Abū Ḥātim said: al-ʿazāz, [as applied] to land, was derived from their saying taʿazzaza laḥmu al-nāqah (تعزز لحم الناقة) — the she-camel's flesh became hard and firm. Al-Zuhrī said: 'I used to frequent ʿUbaydullāh ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUtbah, writing down [knowledge] from him; I would rise for him when he entered or left, and straighten his garments when he mounted. Then, supposing I had exhausted what he had [to teach], one day he went out and I did not rise; he said to me: You are still in al-ʿazāz (العزاز), so rise.' He meant: you are still at the outer edges of knowledge and have not reached its middle. Abū Ḥātim said: that is because al-ʿazāz lies at the edges and margins of land, and when one reaches the middle one is in ease (al-suhūlah). Abū Zayd said: aʿzaznā (أعززنا) — we entered al-ʿazāz. Al-Farrāʾ said: arḍun ʿazāʾ (أرض عزاء) — hard [land], like al-ʿazāz. One says istaʿazza al-raml (استعز الرمل) and the like — it became compact and did not loosen. Ruʾbah said: 'He spent the night by an arṭāh-tree on a rugged dune, taking from it a windbreak; when he saw its hardening (istiʿzāzahu), he refrained.' From this same root also: al-ʿazāʾ (العزاء) — a severe [drought] year. [Poetry:] 'And he slaughters the fat she-camels in al-ʿazāʾ, when it strikes.' Al-ʿizz (العز) — of rain, means abundant and heavy. Arḍun maʿzūzah (أرض معزوزة) — land [made] hard [by rain].

'...and even if they be many... their chief (ʿarīfuhum), under the [heaped] hearth-stones of evil, is one cast down.' And 'yawm ʿArafah' (يوم عرفة) is the day of standing there. And His saying {wa ʿalā al-aʿrāfi rijāl} ['And upon the Heights are men,' Q. 7:46] — for it is a barrier between Paradise and the Fire. Al-iʿtirāf (الاعتراف): acknowledgment; its origin is manifesting knowledge of one's sin, the opposite of denial (juḥūd). He, exalted, said: {fa-ʿtarafū bi-dhanbihim} ['so they confessed their sin,' Q. 67:11], {fa-ʿtarafnā bi-dhunūbinā} ['so we confessed our sins,' Q. 40:11]. [...continuing, regarding al-ʿarāyā (العرايا):] ...it is said: it is [a palm tree] that its owner grants as a gift to one in need, its fruit thus made his, and it was permitted that it be purchased with dried dates because of the need; it is also said: it is a palm belonging to a man amid abundant palms belonging to another, causing the owner of the abundance discomfort, so he was permitted to buy its fruit with dried dates. Collectively these are called al-ʿarāyā (العرايا). 'And the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, permitted the sale of al-ʿarāyā.' ʿIzz (عز): al-ʿizzah (العزة) is a condition that protects a person from being overcome, from their saying arḍun ʿazāz (أرض عزاز) — i.e. hard [land]. He, exalted, said: {a-yabtaghūna ʿindahumu al-ʿizzata fa-inna al-ʿizzata lillāhi jamīʿan} ['Do they seek honor with them? Indeed, honor belongs to Allah entirely,' Q. 4:139]. Taʿazzaza al-laḥm (تعزز اللحم): it became firm and hard, as though it had come to be in ʿazāz [rugged ground] hard to reach — like their saying taẓallafa (تظلف), i.e. it came to be on ẓalaf (rocky ground). Al-ʿAzīz (العزيز): the one who overpowers and is not overpowered. He, exalted, said: {innahu huwa al-ʿazīzu al-ḥakīm} ['Indeed He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise,' Q. 29:26], {yā ayyuhā al-ʿazīzu massanā} ['O ʿAzīz, affliction has touched us,' Q. 12:88]. He said: {wa-lillāhi al-ʿizzatu wa-li-rasūlihi wa-lil-muʾminīn} ['To Allah belongs honor, and to His Messenger, and to the believers,' Q. 63:8], {subḥāna rabbika rabbi al-ʿizzati} ['Exalted is your Lord, Lord of Might,' Q. 37:180]. Thus al-ʿizzah is sometimes praised, as seen, and sometimes blamed, as in the ʿizzah of the disbelievers. He said: {bali alladhīna kafarū fī ʿizzatin wa-shiqāq} ['Rather, those who disbelieve are in pride and dissension,' Q. 38:2]. The reason is that the ʿizzah belonging to God, His Messenger, and the believers is the lasting, abiding ʿizzah — the true one — while the ʿizzah of the disbelievers is [mere] taʿazzuz (تعزز), self-assumed pride, which is in reality abasement, as he, peace and blessings be upon him, said: 'Every might not [derived] through God is [in fact] abasement.' On this basis is His saying: {wa-ttakhadhū min dūni Allāhi ālihatan li-yakūnū lahum ʿizzan} ['And they took gods besides Allah that they might be for them a [source of] might,' Q. 19:81] — i.e. that they might thereby protect themselves from punishment. And His saying {man kāna yurīdu al-ʿizzata fa-lillāhi al-ʿizzatu jamīʿan} ['Whoever desires might — then to Allah belongs all might,' Q. 35:10] means: whoever wishes to be mighty must acquire that might from Him, exalted, for it is His. Al-ʿizzah is sometimes used metaphorically for blameworthy zeal and disdain, as in His saying: {akhadhathu al-ʿizzatu bi-l-ithm} ['his pride drives him to sin,' Q. 2:206]. And He said: [entry continues]

Al-ʿAzīz (العزيز): one of the attributes and beautiful names of God, mighty and exalted. Al-Zajjāj said: He is the one who cannot be overcome, so nothing overpowers Him. Others said: He is the powerful one who prevails over everything. It is also said: He is the one unlike whom there is nothing. Among His names, mighty and exalted, is al-Muʿizz (المعز) — the one who bestows might upon whomever He wills of His servants. Al-ʿIzz (العز): the opposite of al-dhull (الذل, abasement). In the ḥadīth, he said to ʿĀʾishah: 'Do you know why your people raised the door of the Kaʿbah?' She said: 'No.' He said: 'taʿazzuzan (تعززا) [out of pride], that none should enter it except whom they wished' — i.e. out of arrogance, and to impose hardship on people. In some copies of [Ṣaḥīḥ] Muslim it occurs as 'taʿazzuran' (تعزرا), with rāʾ after zāʾ, from al-taʿzīr and al-tawqīr [honoring/venerating] — meaning either to honor and glorify the House, or to exalt and take pride over the people. Al-ʿizz, in origin, is strength, intensity, and domination. Al-ʿizz and al-ʿizzah: elevation and being unassailable (al-imtināʿ); al-ʿizzah belongs to God. In the glorious revelation: {wa-lillāhi al-ʿizzatu wa-li-rasūlihi wa-lil-muʾminīn} — i.e. to Him belong ʿizzah and dominance, glory be to Him. And in the glorious revelation: {man kāna yurīdu al-ʿizzata fa-lillāhi al-ʿizzatu jamīʿan} — i.e. whoever, by his worship, seeks other than God, has only ʿizzah in this world, while to God belongs al-ʿizzah entirely — i.e. He gathers it in this world and the next, granting victory and dominance in this world. ʿAzza yaʿizzu (عز يعز), with kasrah, ʿizzan wa-ʿizzatan wa-ʿazāzatan (عزا وعزة وعزازة); a man is ʿazīz (عزيز), plural aʿizzah (أعزة), aʿizzāʾ (أعزاء), and ʿizāz (عزاز). And His saying, exalted: {fa-sawfa yaʾtī Allāhu bi-qawmin yuḥibbuhum wa-yuḥibbūnahu adhillatin ʿalā al-muʾminīna aʿizzatin ʿalā al-kāfirīn} ['God will bring a people He loves and who love Him, humble toward the believers, stern toward the disbelievers,' Q. 5:54] — meaning their disposition is harsh toward the disbelievers, gentle toward the believers. The poet said: 'White of face, noble in lineage, in every calamity stern of nose (ʿizāz al-ānuf).' It is also transmitted: 'bīḍ al-wujūh albatun wa-maʿāqilu' [white of face, a band and refuges]. One does not say 'ʿazzāʾ' out of aversion to doubling, and this pattern is consistently avoided in such doubled [geminate] roots. Al-Azharī said: they are humble toward the believers even though they [the believers] may be mighty (aʿizzah), and haughty toward the disbelievers even though the disbelievers may be of nobler lineage than they. Aʿazza al-rajul (أعز الرجل): he made him ʿazīz. Malikun aʿazz (ملك أعز): a mighty (ʿazīz) king. Al-Farazdaq said: 'Indeed the One who raised the sky built for us a house whose pillars are mightier (aʿazz) and taller (aṭwal).' That is: mighty, tall [pillars]; this is like His saying, exalted, {wa-huwa ahwanu ʿalayhi} ['and that is easier for Him,' Q. 30:27] — and Ibn Sīdah explained this as not indicating true comparison [the elative sense of 'more'], since the definite article and 'min' cannot both apply together [in this usage]; and their saying 'Allāhu akbar' is no proof against this, since it is a fixed traditional expression whose frequent use does not preclude this — indeed this same point has been made regarding kabīr as well. In the glorious revelation: {la-yukhrijanna al-aʿazzu minhā al-adhall} ['the mightier will surely expel from it the more abased,' Q. 63:8] — and it has also been read with different vocalization: 'la-yukhrijanna al-aʿazza minhā al-adhalla' — i.e. 'the mighty one will surely be expelled from it, abased' — thus placing the definite article upon the circumstantial accusative (ḥāl); though this reading is not strong, because the ḥāl and what stands in its place from... [entry continues]