عصمholding fast, preventing, and continual attachment (root sm)

Al-ʿiṣma (العصمة) is that God protects you (yaʿṣimuka) from evil, i.e., He repels it from you. Iʿtaṣamtu bi-Llāh (اعتصمت بالله) means I was protected/refrained by Him from evil. Istaʿṣamtu (استعصمت) means I refused. Aʿṣamtu (أعصمت) means I took refuge in something I held onto. He said: 'Say to the one clinging (dhī l-maʿṣam), holding fast to the reins, O son of al-Fujjār, O son of Ḍarībah.' Aʿṣamtu fulānan (أعصمت فلانا) means I prepared for him something he could hold onto. The drowning man clings (yaʿtaṣimu) to whatever his hand can reach, i.e., he takes refuge in it. He said: [entry continues]

Abū ʿAmr: al-ʿaṣīm (العصيم) is the remainder of anything and its trace, from tar, dye, or the like; al-ʿaṣm (العصم), with ḍamma, is the same. Al-Aṣmaʿī said: I heard a Bedouin woman say to her neighbor, 'Give me the ʿaṣm (عصم) of your henna,' meaning what she wiped off of it. Al-ʿiṣma (العصمة) is prevention (al-manʿ); one says 'ʿiṣmat al-ṭaʿām (عصمة الطعام),' meaning its keeping [one] from hunger. Abū ʿĀṣim is the kunya (byname) for sawīq (a roasted-grain drink). As for the poet's line 'arjada raʾsu shaykhatin ʿaysūm,' it is said to mean 'a voracious woman' (al-akūl); some transmit it with the dotted ḍād [ʿayḍūm]. Al-ʿiṣma (العصمة) is protection/preservation (al-ḥifẓ); one says ʿaṣamtuhu fa-inʿaṣam (عصمته فانعصم) [I protected him, and he was protected]. Iʿtaṣamtu bi-Llāh (اعتصمت بالله) means I refrained, through His grace, from disobedience. ʿAṣama yaʿṣimu ʿaṣman (عصم يعصم عصما) means he earned/acquired. And His saying, Most High: 'lā ʿāṣima l-yawma min amri Llāh (لا عاصم اليوم من أمر الله)' [Quran 11:43] — it may mean 'no one is protected' (lā maʿṣūm), i.e., no one possessing ʿiṣma, so that fāʿil (active) is used in the sense of mafʿūl (passive). Al-ʿiṣma (العصمة) [also means] the necklace, plural al-aʿṣām (الأعصام). Labīd said: 'Until when the archers despaired and released floppy-eared hounds, their necklaces (aʿṣāmuhā) trailing/returning.' Al-maʿṣam (المعصم) is the place of the bracelet on the forearm. Al-ghurāb al-aʿṣam (الغراب الأعصم) is [a crow] with a white feather in its wing, because a bird's wing corresponds to a hand for it; it is said, this is like their sayings 'al-ablaq al-ʿaqūq (الأبلق العقوق)' and 'bayḍ al-anūq (بيض الأنوق)' — [proverbial expressions] for anything rare. Al-Aṣmaʿī said: al-aʿṣam (الأعصم) among gazelles and mountain goats is the one with whiteness in both forelegs; Abū ʿUbayda said it is the one with whiteness in one of its two [forelegs]. The noun is al-ʿiṣma (العصمة); mountain goats [collectively] are ʿuṣm (عصم), and a she-goat is ʿaṣmāʾ (عصماء). If a horse has whiteness in one foreleg, little or much, it is called aʿṣam al-yumnā or al-yusrā (أعصم اليمنى/اليسرى); if in both forelegs, aʿṣam al-yadayn (أعصم اليدين) — unless it also has a blaze on its face, in which case it is called muḥajjal (محجل), and the name ʿuṣm no longer applies. If it has both a facial blaze and whiteness in one foreleg, it is still called aʿṣam; the facial blaze's whiteness is not termed tahjīl when the leg-whiteness is confined to one foreleg. Al-ʿiṣām (العصام) is the tie/strap of the water-skin by which it is carried. The poet Abū Kabīr said: 'And a water-skin of people, whose ʿiṣām (عصامها) I made upon a shoulder of mine, docile, laden for travel.' Ibn al-Sikkīt said: aʿṣamtu l-qirba (أعصمت القربة) means I made a ʿiṣām for it. Aʿṣamtu fulānan (أعصمت فلانا) means I prepared for him, in the saddle or howdah, something he could hold onto so as not to fall. Aʿṣama (أعصم) means he was cautious and held fast to something for fear his horse or mount would throw him. The poet said: '...persistently clinging (dāʾim al-iʿṣām)...' Likewise iʿtaṣama bihi (اعتصم به) and istaʿṣama bihi (استعصم به) [mean the same]. Aʿṣama al-rajulu bi-ṣāḥibihi (أعصم الرجل بصاحبه) means he clung to him. And their saying: mā warāʾaka yā [...] [entry continues]

The letters ʿayn, ṣād, mīm (عصم) form one sound root indicating holding back, prevention, and constant attachment (mulāzama); the meaning throughout is a single one. From this is ʿiṣma (العصمة): that God, Most High, protects (yaʿṣimu) His servant from an evil he might fall into. And iʿtaṣama (اعتصم) the servant with God means he refrained/was protected through Him [from evil]. And istaʿṣama (استعصم) means he sought refuge. The Arabs say aʿṣamtu fulānan (أعصمت فلانا), meaning 'I prepared for him something to hold onto,' i.e., whatever his hand can grasp, that he might take refuge in and cling to. Al-Nābigha said: 'The sailor remains, out of fear, clinging (muʿtaṣiman) to the bamboo pole, from fear and from thunder.' Al-muʿṣam (المعصم) is the horseman in poor condition as a rider, whom you see clinging to his horse's mane or the like. He said: 'When he sets out, terror does not make his spear fall, nor does he witness battle weak and clinging (aluwatha muʿṣiman).' Al-ʿiṣma (العصمة) is anything you hold fast to (iʿtaṣamta bihi). ʿAṣamahu al-ṭaʿām (عصمه الطعام) means the food kept him from hunger. From this root also is al-ʿaṣīm (العصيم), the rust/residue of tar or urine that dries on a she-camel's thigh. He said: 'And he became, apart from their bridles, a slain man, at his throat streaks like al-ʿaṣīm (العصيم).' The trace of dye (khiḍāb) is called ʿaṣīm (عصيم). Al-muʿṣam (المعصم) is a hide whose wool has not been stripped off but whose hair is left attached, because it is not [otherwise] usable; one says aʿṣamnā al-ihāb (أعصمنا الإهاب). Al-Aṣmaʿī said: al-ʿaṣm (العصم) is the trace of anything — of wars (a yellow dye) or saffron or the like; he said: I heard a Bedouin woman say to another, 'Give me the ʿaṣm (عصم) of your henna,' meaning what she wiped off of it. It is said 'in his hand is ʿiṣmat khalūq (عصمة خلوق)' meaning its trace. We say: what al-Aṣmaʿī reported of the woman's speech contradicts his own statement that al-ʿaṣm means 'the trace,' since she was not asking for the trace [but the substance itself]. The correct view is to say: al-ʿaṣm (العصم) is the henna that clings to the hand of the woman dyeing it, and its trace afterward is called ʿaṣm because it remains attached. Measured by analogy on the henna's ʿaṣm is al-ʿiṣma (العصمة): whiteness on the pastern of any hoofed/legged animal — from this, al-waʿl al-aʿṣam (الوعل الأعصم) [the white-marked mountain goat], its ʿiṣma being whiteness on its pastern; the plural of al-aʿṣam is ʿuṣm (عصم). He said: 'The measures of souls are fixed times that bring down al-ʿuṣm (العصم) from the peak of the high ground.' And al-Aʿshā said: 'Time sometimes leaves in a smooth solid rock a crack, and brings out from it al-aʿṣam al-ṣadʿā (الأعصم الصدعا).' One says 'ghurāb aʿṣam (غراب أعصم)' [white-marked crow] when that spot on it is white, and it is rarely found. Ibn al-Aʿrābī said: al-ʿiṣma in horses is whiteness, little or much, on the forelegs but not the hind legs; so they say 'huwa aʿṣam al-yadayn (هو أعصم اليدين).' All of this follows one analogy, as though that white mark were a trace permanently attached to the leg, as we said of the ʿaṣm of henna. From this root also is al-ʿiṣma (العصمة) meaning 'necklace,' so named for its attachment to the neck. Labīd said, pluralizing it as aʿṣām (أعصام) as though intending the plural of ʿiṣm: 'Until when the archers despaired and released floppy-eared hounds, their necklaces (aʿṣāmuhā) trailing/returning.' From this root also: ʿiṣām al-miḥmal (عصام المحمل) is its binding-strap and tie by which its two sides are fastened; and ʿiṣām al-qirba (عصام القربة) is a tie about two cubits long placed at the two openings of the water-skins so they meet; one says aʿṣamtuhumā (أعصمتهما), 'I made a ʿiṣām for them.' Taʾabbaṭa Sharran said: 'And a water-skin of people, whose ʿiṣām (عصامها) I made upon a shoulder of mine, docile, laden for travel.' He said: a bucket (dalw) has no ʿiṣām. From this root also is maʿṣam al-marʾa (معصم المرأة), the place of the two bracelets on her forearms. He said: 'So today you have her coquetry and her talk, and tomorrow, for another, her palm and her wrist (al-maʿṣam).' It is called maʿṣam only because it holds the bracelet in place; then it continues to be called maʿṣam even without a bracelet. One says aʿṣama bihi (أعصم به) and akhlada (أخلد) meaning he clung to it. ʿIṣām (عصام) is a man's name, and the Arabs say, when seeking news, 'mā warāʾaka yā ʿIṣām (ما وراءك يا عصام)?' [What news do you bring, O ʿIṣām?] And the origin is q... [entry continues]

Al-ʿaṣm (العصم) is holding/restraining (al-imsāk), and al-iʿtiṣām (الاعتصام) is holding fast (al-istimsāk). He, Most High, said: 'lā ʿāṣima l-yawma min amri Llāh (لا عاصم اليوم من أمر الله)' [Quran 11:43], meaning 'there is nothing that protects from it'; and whoever says its meaning is 'no one is protected' (lā maʿṣūm) does not mean that al-ʿāṣim carries the sense of al-maʿṣūm — rather that is an indication of the intended meaning, since al-ʿāṣim (the protector) and al-maʿṣūm (the protected) are correlatives: whichever of them occurs, the other occurs with it. He said: 'mā lakum min Allāhi min ʿāṣim (ما لكم من الله من عاصم)' [Quran 40:33]. Al-iʿtiṣām (الاعتصام) is holding fast to something; He said: 'wa-iʿtaṣimū bi-ḥabli Llāhi jamīʿan (واعتصموا بحبل الله جميعا)' [Quran 3:103], and 'wa-man yaʿtaṣim bi-Llāh (ومن يعتصم بالله)' [Quran 3:101]. Istaʿṣama (استعصم) means he held firm, as though seeking whatever would protect him from committing indecency; He said: 'fa-staʿṣam (فاستعصم)' [Quran 12:32], i.e., he sought out what would protect him. And His saying: 'wa-lā tumsikū bi-ʿiṣami l-kawāfir (ولا تمسكوا بعصم الكوافر)' [Quran 60:10]. Al-ʿiṣām (العصام) is that by which one is bound (yuʿṣamu bihi), i.e., tied. ʿIṣmat al-anbiyāʾ (عصمة الأنبياء), the [divine] protection of the prophets, is God's safeguarding of them — first through what He singled them out with of purity of essence, then through what He granted them of bodily virtues, then through [divine] support and the steadying of their feet, then through sending down tranquility upon them, guarding their hearts, and granting success (tawfīq). He, Most High, said: 'wa-Llāhu yaʿṣimuka mina l-nās (والله يعصمك من الناس)' [Quran 5:67]. Al-ʿiṣma (العصمة) [also denotes] something like a bracelet, and al-maʿṣam (المعصم) is its place on the arm; it is said that the whiteness on the pastern is called ʿiṣma by analogy with the bracelet, just as the whiteness on a horse's leg is called taḥjīl; on this basis it is said 'ghurāb aʿṣam (غراب أعصم)' [a white-marked crow].

Al-ʿiṣma (العصمة) in the speech of the Arabs means prevention/protection (al-manʿ). God's ʿiṣma of His servant is His protecting him (yaʿṣimuhu) from what would destroy him. ʿAṣamahu yaʿṣimuhu ʿaṣman (عصمه يعصمه عصما) means he protected and guarded him. In the revelation: 'lā ʿāṣima l-yawma min amri Llāhi illā man raḥima (لا عاصم اليوم من أمر الله إلا من رحم)' [Quran 11:43], i.e., 'no one is protected except him upon whom mercy is shown'; it is also said this is by way of nasab (attributive derivation), meaning 'possessing ʿiṣma,' and dhū l-ʿiṣma (ذو العصمة) may function as mafʿūl (object/passive) just as it functions as fāʿil (subject/active) — hence the interpretation 'no one is protected.' If so, the exception here [illā man raḥima] is not of a different category from the first but of the same category; it is also said that 'illā man raḥima' is a disconnected exception (not of the same category as the first), which is the view of Sībawayh; the noun/verbal noun is al-ʿiṣma. Al-Farrāʾ said: 'man' is in the accusative because al-maʿṣūm (the protected) is the opposite of al-ʿāṣim (the protector), and al-marḥūm (the one shown mercy) is maʿṣūm; so its accusative case parallels His saying: 'mā lahum bihi min ʿilmin illā ittibāʿa l-ẓann (ما لهم به من علم إلا اتباع الظن)' ['no knowledge of it save following conjecture']. He said: but if you take ʿāṣim to mean al-maʿṣūm, i.e., 'no one is protected today from God's command,' then the nominative case of 'man' would be permissible. He said: do not deny that the passive sense (mafʿūl) may be expressed in the active form (fāʿil) — do you not see His saying: 'khuliqa min māʾin dāfiq (خلق من ماء دافق)' [created from spurting water], meaning 'poured out' (madfūq)? Al-Akhfash said: 'lā ʿāṣima l-yawma' can mean 'no one possessing ʿiṣma,' i.e., 'no maʿṣūm,' with 'illā man raḥima' as a substitute (badal), in the nominative, for 'lā ʿāṣim.' Abū al-ʿAbbās said: this is an aberration in speech; the active form cannot bear the sense of the passive except as an anomaly in their usage; al-marḥūm is maʿṣūm, while the first [ʿāṣim] is the active protector; whoever puts it in the accusative does so by disconnected exception. He said: what al-Akhfash proposed is permissible only as an anomaly. Al-Zajjāj said, regarding His saying 'sa-āwī ilā jabalin yaʿṣimunī mina l-māʾ (سآوي إلى جبل يعصمني من الماء)' [Quran 11:43] — i.e., 'protects me from the water,' meaning from being drowned by the water. He said: 'lā ʿāṣima l-yawma min amri Llāhi illā man raḥima' — this exception is not from the first category; 'man' is in the accusative; the meaning is 'but whomever God shows mercy is indeed protected.' He said: it is also said that ʿāṣim may mean maʿṣūm, that 'lā ʿāṣim' means 'no one possessing ʿiṣma,' and that 'man' is in the nominative, the meaning being 'no one is protected except him shown mercy.' Al-Azharī said: the precise grammarians agreed that His saying 'lā ʿāṣima' means 'no preventer' (lā māniʿ), that it is [used] as fāʿil (active) not mafʿūl (passive), and that 'man' is accusative by disconnected exception. Wa-iʿtaṣama fulānun bi-Llāh (واعتصم فلان بالله) means he refrained/was protected through God. Al-ʿiṣma (العصمة) [also means] protection/preservation (al-ḥifẓ); one says ʿaṣamtuhu fa-inʿaṣam (عصمته فانعصم) [I protected him, and he was protected]. Iʿtaṣamtu bi-Llāh (اعتصمت بالله) means I refrained, through His grace, from disobedience. ʿAṣamahu al-ṭaʿām (عصمه الطعام) means the food kept him from hunger; 'this is food that yaʿṣimu (protects one from hunger).' Iʿtaṣama bihi wa-staʿṣama (اعتصم به واستعصم) means he refrained and refused; God Almighty said, narrating of the wife of al-ʿAzīz when she solicited Joseph regarding himself: 'fa-staʿṣam (فاستعصم)' [Quran 12:32], i.e., he refused her and did not respond to what she requested. Al-A... [entry continues]