Mashrabaمشربة

فتحa sound root denoting the opposite of closing. (root fth)

الفاء والتاء والحاء أصل صحيح يدل على خلاف الإغلاق

Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-lugha · English rendering

فتح
Patterns computed · our data

The words of ف ت ح that our sources attest: the root's letters in green, the added letters in gold.

42 words9 verbs4 verbal nouns7 participles3 places and instruments2 intensives and elatives9 other nouns8 plurals

  • فَتَحَhe opened
  • فَتْحopening; beginning
  • مِفْتَاحkeys; switches
  • اِنْفَتَحَthe doors opened, or became opened or open
  • اِسْتَفْتَحَ—
The whole family7 groups, by pattern; tap a pattern to see what it does
Verbs9فَتَحَ · اِنْفَتَحَ · اِسْتَفْتَحَ

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: فَعَلَ يَفْعَلُ (a – a; the imperfect from Lane's “aor.”)

Verbal nouns4فَتْح · اِفْتِتاح · فِتَاح

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

  • فَتْحopening; beginningautoForm I · Lane: inf. n.Qurʾān ×12library ×12LaneIbn Fāris
  • اِفْتِتاحopening; inaugurationautoForm VIIIlibrary ×1
  • فِتَاحForm III · Lane: inf. n.Lane
  • مُفَاتَحَةForm III · Lane: inf. n.Lane
Participles7مَفَاتِح · فَاتِح · مَفْتُوح

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

Place, time and instrument3مِفْتَاح · مَفْتَح · مِفْتَح

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

  • مِفْتَاحkeys; switchesautonoun of instrumentlibrary ×8Lane
  • مَفْتَحplace in which things are reposited, stowed, laid up, kept, preserved, or …Lanenoun of place or timeLane
  • مِفْتَحnoun of instrumentLane
Intensives, qualities and the elative2فَتَّاح · فَتُوح

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

  • فَتَّاحopenerLaneintensive (faʿʿāl)Qurʾān ×1library ×1Lane
  • فَتُوحshe-camel having wide orifices to her teatsLaneintensive (faʿūl)Lane
Other nouns9فَتَاحَة · فُتَاحَة · فُتُح

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

Plurals8مَفاتِيح · فَاتِحِين · فَوَاتِح

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

  • مَفاتِيحbroken plural of مِفْتاحlibrary ×5
  • فَاتِحِينplural of openingfrom the singularsound plural of فَاتِحQurʾān ×1
  • فَوَاتِحbroken plural of فَاتِحَةLaneIbn Fāris
  • فُتَحbroken plural of فُتْحَةLaneIbn Fāris
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.

مَفْعَلَةف ت حمَفْتَحَة

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.

English: AI translation
  • al-Khalīl · 170Al-fatḥ (الفتح): the opposite of closing (الإغلاق).

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

    Al-fatḥ (الفتح): the opposite of closing (الإغلاق). Al-fatḥ (الفتح): the conquest (افتتاح) of the abode of war [enemy territory]. Al-fatḥ (الفتح): that you give a ruling/answer (تفتح) to one who asks you for a verdict (يستقرئك). Al-fatḥ (الفتح): that you judge between a people who bring their dispute to you, as the Exalted said: "Our Lord, judge (افتح) between us and our people in truth" [Quran 7:89]. Al-fatḥ (الفتح): victory/aid (النصرة), as the Exalted said: "If you seek victory (تستفتحوا), victory (الفتح) has come to you" [Quran 8:19]. Istaftaḥtu Allāha ʿalā fulān (استفتحت الله على فلان) means: I asked Him for victory over him, and the like. Al-miftaḥ/mifataḥ (المفتح): the storehouse/treasury; everything has its mifataḥ (مفتح), pronounced with fatḥah or kasrah, for the various kinds of things. Al-fattāḥ (الفتاح): the judge. His saying, the Exalted: "while its keys (مفاتحه) would weigh down a band of strong men" [Quran 28:76] means the treasures and various kinds of his wealth. As for al-mafātīḥ (المفاتيح), it is the plural of al-miftāḥ (المفتاح), that with which a lock is opened. Al-fatḥah (الفتحة): a person's boastful display (تفتح) of wealth or accomplishment he possesses, by which he exalts himself over others; one says: 'What is this fatḥah (الفتحة) you have shown?' and 'You have flaunted it (تفتحت بها) before us.' Fawātiḥ al-Qurʾān (فواتح القرآن): the openings of the sūrahs. Iftitāḥ al-ṣalāh (افتتاح الصلاة): the first takbīrah [opening declaration of the prayer]. Bāb fatḥ (باب فتح): i.e. wide.

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    الفتح: نقيض الإغلاق. والفتح: افتتاح دار الحرب. والفتح: أن تفتح على من يستقرئك. والفتح: أن تحكم بين قوم يختصمون إليك، قال تعالى: ربنا افتح بيننا وبين قومنا بالحق «1» . والفتح: النصرة، قال تعالى: إن تستفتحوا فقد جاءكم الفتح «2» . واستفتحت الله على فلان أي: سألته النصر عليه ونحو ذلك. والمفتح: الخزانة، ولكل شيء مفتح، ومفتح بالفتح والكسر، من صنوف الأشياء. والفتاح: الحاكم. وقوله تعالى: ما إن مفاتحه لتنوأ بالعصبة «3» يعني الكنوز وصنوف أمواله، فأما المفاتيح فجمع المفتاح الذي يفتح به المغلاق. والفتحة: تفتح الإنسان بما عنده من أموال أو أدب يتطاول به، يقال: ما هذه الفتحة التي أظهرتها، وتفتحت بها علينا. وفواتح القرآن: أوائل السور. وافتتاح الصلاة: التكبيرة الأولى. وباب فتح أي: واسع.

  • al-Jawharī · 393Fataḥtu al-bāb fa-nfataḥa (فتحت الباب فانفتح): I opened the door and it opened.

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

    Fataḥtu al-bāb fa-nfataḥa (فتحت الباب فانفتح): I opened the door and it opened. Fattaḥtu al-abwāb (فتحت الأبواب) — [the middle radical] doubled to indicate multiplicity — fa-tafattaḥat hiya (فتفتحت هي): and they [the doors] opened. Bāb fatḥ (باب فتح): i.e. a wide, open door. Qārūrah fatḥ (قارورة فتح): i.e. a wide-mouthed vial. Al-Kisāʾī said: it has neither stopper nor cover. It is [the pattern] faʿl (فعل) in the sense of mafʿūl (مفعول) [i.e. passive adjective]. Istaftaḥtu al-shayʾ (استفتحت الشيء) and iftataḥtuhu (افتتحته) [are equivalent, meaning 'I opened it']. Al-istiftāḥ (الاستفتاح): seeking aid/victory (الاستنصار). Al-miftāḥ (المفتاح): the key of a door and of anything locked. Its plural is mafātīḥ (مفاتيح) and also mafātiḥ (مفاتح). Al-Akhfash said: it is like their saying amānī and amānī (أماني وأماني) [two plural forms], [the middle letter] being pronounced light or doubled. Al-fatḥ (الفتح): victory (النصر). Al-fatḥ (الفتح): water that flows from a spring or elsewhere. Fātiḥat al-shayʾ (فاتحة الشيء): its beginning. Al-fattāḥ (الفتاح): the judge. You say: iftaḥ baynanā (افتح بيننا), meaning 'judge between us.' Al-fatāḥah (الفتاحة), with ḍammah: judgment/arbitration. Al-fatūḥ (الفتوح) of she-camels: one with a wide teat-orifice (إحليل). One says of this: fataḥat al-nāqah (فتحت الناقة) and aftaḥat (أفتحت) — [the forms] faʿala and afʿala having the same meaning.

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    فتحت الباب فانفتح، وفتحت الأبواب شدد للكثرة، فتفتحت هي. وباب فتح (1) ، أي واسع مفتوح. وقارورة فتح، أي واسعة الرأس. قال الكسائي: ليس لها صمام ولا غلاف. وهو فعل بمعنى مفعول. واستفتحت الشئ وافتتحته. والاستفتاح: الاستنصار. والمفتاح: مفتاح الباب وكل مستغلق. والجمع مفاتيح ومفاتح أيضا. قال الاخفش: هو مثل قولهم أمانى وأمانى، يخفف ويشدد. والفتح: النصر. والفتح: الماء يجري من عين أو غيرها. وفاتحة الشئ: أوله. والفتاح: الحاكم. وتقول: افتح بيننا، أي احكم. والفتاحة بالضم: الحكم. والفتوح من النوق: الواسعة الإحليل. تقول منه: فتحت الناقة وأفتحت، فعل وأفعل بمعنى.

  • Ibn Fāris · 395Fāʾ, tāʾ, ḥāʾ (ف ت ح) is a sound root indicating the opposite of closing (الإغلاق).

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

    Fāʾ, tāʾ, ḥāʾ (ف ت ح) is a sound root indicating the opposite of closing (الإغلاق). One says fataḥtu al-bāb (فتحت الباب) 'I opened the door' and other things, fatḥan (فتحا); then everything else in this pattern is carried on this [basic meaning]. Al-fatḥ (الفتح) and al-fatāḥah (الفتاحة) mean judgment (الحكم), and Allah the Exalted is al-Fātiḥ (الفاتح), i.e. the Judge (الحاكم). The poet said concerning al-fatāḥah (الفتاحة): "Convey, O messenger, to Banū ʿAwf, that I am free of need of your judgment (فتاحتكم)." Al-fatḥ (الفتح) is water that comes out from a spring or elsewhere. Al-fatḥ (الفتح) is victory (النصر) and triumph (الإظفار). Istaftaḥtu (استفتحت) means 'I sought victory.' In the ḥadīth: he (peace and blessings be upon him) used to seek victory (يستفتح) through the destitute ones among the Emigrants and the Helpers. Fawātiḥ al-Qurʾān (فواتح القرآن) are the openings of the sūrahs. Bāb fatḥ (باب فتح) means a wide, open door.

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    الفاء والتاء والحاء أصل صحيح يدل على خلاف الإغلاق يقال فتحت الباب وغيره فتحا ثم يحمل على هذا سائر ما في هذا البناء فالفتح والفتاحة الحكم والله تعالى الفاتح أي الحاكم قال الشاعر في الفتاحة : — ألا أبلغ بني عوف رسولا … بأني عن فتاحتكم غني … والفتح الماء يخرج من عين أو غيرها والفتح النصر والإظفار واستفتحت استنصرت وفي الحديث أنه صلى الله عليه وسلم كان يستفتح بصعاليك المهاجرين والأنصار وفواتح القرآن أوائل السور وباب فتح أي واسع مفتوح

  • al-Rāghib · 502Al-fatḥ (الفتح): the removal of closure (الإغلاق) and of difficulty/ambiguity (الإشكال).

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

    Al-fatḥ (الفتح): the removal of closure (الإغلاق) and of difficulty/ambiguity (الإشكال). This is of two kinds: one is perceived by sight (البصر), such as the opening of a door and the like, and the opening of a lock, a bolt, or of goods, as in His saying: "And when they opened (فتحوا) their goods" [Quran 12:65], and "Even if We opened (فتحنا) to them a gate from the sky" [Quran 15:14]. The second is perceived by inner insight (البصيرة), such as the 'opening' of worry/distress (فتح الهم), which is the removal of grief (الغم); and this is of several kinds. One of them concerns worldly matters, such as distress relieved, or poverty removed by the giving of wealth and the like, as in: "But when they forgot that by which they had been reminded, We opened (فتحنا) upon them the gates of everything" [Quran 6:44], meaning: We made things abundant for them; and He said: "We would have opened (لفتحنا) upon them blessings from the heaven and the earth" [Quran 7:96], meaning: good things came upon them abundantly. The second kind is the opening of what is locked in the sciences, as when you say: 'So-and-so opened (فتح) a closed door of knowledge,' and His saying: "Indeed We have given you a clear opening (فتحا مبينا)" [Quran 48:1] — it is said this means the conquest (فتح) of Mecca; and it is also said that it means rather what was opened for the Prophet of the sciences and forms of guidance which are a means to reward, and the praiseworthy stations which became a cause for the forgiveness of his sins. Fātiḥah (فاتحة) of anything: its beginning, by which what follows it is opened; and by this the Fātiḥat al-Kitāb (فاتحة الكتاب) [the Opening of the Book] was named. It is also said: iftataḥa fulānun kadhā (افتتح فلان كذا) means: so-and-so began such-and-such. And fataḥa ʿalayhi kadhā (فتح عليه كذا) means: he informed him of it and apprised him of it, as He said: "Do you tell them what Allah has revealed (فتح) to you" [Quran 2:76], and "whatever Allah opens (يفتح) to mankind" [Quran 35:2]. And fataḥa al-qaḍiyyah fatāḥan (فتح القضية فتاحا): he settled the matter and removed its ambiguity. The Exalted said: "Our Lord, decide (افتح) between us and our people in truth, and You are the best of deciders (الفاتحين)" [Quran 7:89], and from this [comes] "the Fattāḥ (الفتاح), the All-Knowing" [Quran 34:26]. The poet said: [entry continues]

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    الفتح: إزالة الإغلاق والإشكال، وذلك ضربان: أحدهما: يدرك بالبصر كفتح الباب ونحوه، وكفتح القفل والغلق والمتاع، نحو قوله: ولما فتحوا متاعهم [يوسف/ 65] ، ولو فتحنا عليهم بابا من السماء [الحجر/ 14] . والثاني: يدرك بالبصيرة كفتح الهم، وهو إزالة الغم، وذلك ضروب: أحدها: في الأمور الدنيوية كغم يفرج، وفقر يزال بإعطاء المال ونحوه، نحو: فلما نسوا ما ذكروا به فتحنا عليهم أبواب كل شيء [الأنعام/ 44] ، أي: وسعنا، وقال: لفتحنا عليهم بركات من السماء والأرض [الأعراف/ 96] ، أي: أقبل عليهم الخيرات. والثاني: فتح المستغلق من العلوم، نحو قولك: فلان فتح من العلم بابا مغلقا، وقوله: إنا فتحنا لك فتحا مبينا [الفتح/ 1] ، قيل: عنى فتح مكة «1» ، وقيل: بل عنى ما فتح على النبي من العلوم والهدايات التي هي ذريعة إلى الثواب، والمقامات المحمودة التي صارت سببا لغفران ذنوبه «2» . وفاتحة كل شيء: مبدؤه الذي يفتح به ما بعده، وبه سمي فاتحة الكتاب، وقيل: افتتح فلان كذا: إذا ابتدأ به، وفتح عليه كذا: إذا أعلمه ووقفه عليه، قال: أتحدثونهم بما فتح الله عليكم [البقرة/ 76] ، ما يفتح الله للناس [فاطر/ 2] ، وفتح القضية فتاحا: فصل الأمر فيها، وأزال الإغلاق عنها. قال تعالى: ربنا افتح بيننا وبين قومنا بالحق وأنت خير الفاتحين [الأعراف/ 89] ، ومنه الفتاح العليم [سبأ/ 26] ، قال الشاعر:

  • Lane · 1876English, synthesising the classical dictionaries.

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

    فَتَحَ

    1. فَتَحَ, (S, A, MA, Msb, K, &c.,) aor. فَتَحَ , (K,) inf. n. فَتْحٌ, (Msb,) He opened, (MA,) i. q. فَرَجَ, (Msb,) and [app. he unlocked,] contr. of أَغْلَقَ, (Msb, K,) a door; (S, A, MA, Msb;) and so فتّح, and افتتح; (K;) or you say فَتَّحْتُ الأَبْوَابَ [I opened the doors], this verb being with teshdeed to denote multiplicity [of the objects]; (S;) and استفتح signifies the same as افتتح; (S, * K;) i. e. each of these signifies he opened a door; (TK;) you say الشَّىْءَ اِسْتَفْتَحْتُ and اِفْتَتَحْتُهُ [I opened the thing; and the former signifies also I sought, or demanded, the opening of the thing]; (S, TA;) and البَابَ جَآءَ يَسْتَفْتِحُ [He came opening the door; or seeking, or demanding, the opening of the door; the latter being the more obvious meaning]. (A, TA.) [Hence,] one says, فُلَانٌ لَا يُفْتَحُ العَيْنُ عَلَى مِثْلِهِ [Such a one, the eye will not be opened upon the like of him]. (A.) And فَتَحْتُ القَنَاةَ, inf. n. as above, I opened the conduit, in order that the water might run, and irrigate the seed-produce. (Msb.) And فَتَحَ بَيْنَ رِجْلَيْهِ [He made an opening between his legs; he parted his legs; like فَرَجَ بَيْنَهُمَا]. (S in art. رهو.) And فَتَحَ أَصَابِعَ رِجْلَيْهِ [app. He parted his toes; if not a mistake for فَتَخَ, as it seems probably to be from the fact of its being expl. as meaning] he inclined the ends of his toes towards the back, i. e. the upper part, of his foot. (Mgh.) فَتَحَتْ, said of a she-camel, [and of a sheep or goat (see فَتُوحٌ),] She had wide orifices to her teats; as also افتحت; (S, K;) and افتتحت. (TK: but this I do not find in the K.) [The following meanings are tropical.] فَتَحَ, (A, Msb, TA,) inf. n. فَتْحٌ; (K;) and افتتح; (K, TA;) (tropical:) [He laid open by invasion, to (عَلَى) such a person, or such a people, (see an ex. voce طَرَفٌ,) i. e.] he conquered, won, or took by force, (Msb,) a country (A, Msb, K, TA) of the unbelievers, (A, TA,) or of a people with whom there was war. (K, TA.) [فَتَحَهُ لَهُ (assumed tropical:) He granted it, permitted it, allowed it, or made it to be unrestricted, to him. See Ksh and Bd in xxxv. 2.] فَتَحَ المُشْكِلَ (assumed tropical:) He explained, or made clear, that which was dubious, or confused. (Bd in vii. 87.) And اِفْتَحْ سِرَّكَ عَلَىَّ لَا عَلَى فُلَانٍ (tropical:) [Open, or reveal, thy secret to me; not to such a one]. (A, TA.) [Hence,] فَتَحَ عَلَيْهِ (tropical:) He taught him, informed him, or acquainted him. (TA.) [You say, فَتَحَ عَلَيْهِ بِكَذَا (assumed tropical:) He taught him such a thing, informed him of it, or acquainted him with it.] And hence, (TA,) (tropical:) [He prompted him; i. e.] he recited to him (namely, an Imám, A, Msb, or a reciter, A, TA) what he was unable to utter [by reason of forgetfulness], in order that he might know it. (Msb, TA. *) And فَتَحَ عَلَى مَنِ ٱسْتَقْرَأَهُ (tropical:) [He recited something to him who desired him to do so, the latter being unable to do it]. (TA.) And, said of God, (tropical:) He aided him against his enemy; or made him to be victorious, to conquer, or to overcome; syn. نَصَرَهُ. (A, Msb.) فُتِحَ عَلَى فُلَانٍ (tropical:) Such a one became fortunate; possessed of good fortune; favoured by the world, or by worldly circumstances. (A, TA.) فَتَحَ ٱللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِمْ فُتُوحًا كَثِيرَةً (tropical:) is said of persons who have been rained upon [as meaning God bestowed upon them many, or abundant, first rains]. (A.) فَتَحَ بَيْنَهُمْ, (A,) or بَيْنَ النَّاسِ, (Msb,) or بَيْنَ الخَصْمَيْنِ, (K,) inf. n. فَتْحٌ, (T, Msb, K,) and فُتَاحَةٌ (S, * K) and فِتَاحَةٌ are syn. therewith [app. as inf. ns.], (K,) and فُتُوحَةٌ and فِتَاحٌ, (L,) in the dial. of Himyer, (TA,) He judged (T, Msb, K, TA) between them, (A,) or between the men, (Msb,) or between the two litigants. (K.) You say, اِفْتَحْ بَيْنَنَا Judge thou between us: (S:) thus in the Kur vii. 87. (TA.) And مَا أَحْسَنَ فِتَاحَتَهُ How good is his judging, or judgment! (A.) [فَتَحَ الحَرْفَ, a conventional phrase in grammar and lexicology, He pronounced the letter with the vowel-sound termed فَتْح: and he marked the letter with the sign of that vowel-sound.]

    فتّح

    2. فتّح: see 1, first sentence, in two places. [Also, said of a medicine &c., It opened the bowels; acted as an aperient: and it removed obstructions: see the act. part. n.]

    فاتحهُ

    3. فاتحهُ [He addressed him first]. One says, المُلُوكُ لَا تُفَاتَحُ بِالكَلَامِ (tropical:) [Kings shall not be addressed first with speech]. (A.) And, (A, K, * TA,) inf. n. مُفَاتَحَةٌ and فِتَاحٌ, (assumed tropical:) He commenced a dispute, debate, discussion, or controversy, with him: (TA:) or (tropical:) he summoned him to the judge, and litigated with him. (A, K, * TA.) And فاتحهُ signifies also (tropical:) He bargained with him and gave him nothing: in the case of his giving him, one says فاتكهُ. (IAar, TA; and O and K in art. فتك.) And فاتح (assumed tropical:) He compressed (K, TA) his wife. (TA.) [Also (assumed tropical:) He rendered a thing easy: and (assumed tropical:) He was liberal. (Freytag, from the Deewán of the Hudhalees.)]

    أَفْتَحَ

    4: see 1, in the second quarter of the paragraph.

    تَفَتَّحَ

    5: see 7, in three places. [Hence,] تفتّح النَّوْرُ The blossom [or blossoms] opened. (MA.) And تفتّح الأَكِمَّةُ عَنِ النَّوْرِ The calyxes burst open [from over the blossoms, so as to disclose them]. (TA.) [تفتّح فِى الكَلَامِ is like our phrase (assumed tropical:) He showed off, or made an ostentatious display, in speech, or talk.] And you say, تفتّح بِمَا عِنْدَهُ مِنْ مَالٍ أَوْ أَدَبٍ (L, in the K مِنْ مُلْكٍ وَأَدَبٍ,) (assumed tropical:) He boasted of, or boasted himself in, or made a vain display of, what he had, or possessed, of wealth, or of good education, or polite accomplishments: (L, K: *) and تفتّح بِهِ عَلَيْنَا (assumed tropical:) He boasted of it, or boasted himself in it, against us. (L.)

    تَفَاتَحَا كَلَامًا بَيْنَهُمَا

    6. تَفَاتَحَا كَلَامًا بَيْنَهُمَا (assumed tropical:) They two talked together with a suppressed voice, exclusively of others [i. e. so as not to be heard by others]. (K.)

    انفتح

    7. انفتح quasi-pass. of فَتَحَ, said of a door, (S, A, Msb, TA,) It opened, or became opened or open; (Msb;) as also تفتّح: (TA:) or the latter is quasi-pass. of فَتَّحَ, so that you say, الأَبْوَابُ تَفَتَّحَتِ [The doors opened, or became opened or open]. (S.) And انفتح عَنْهُ It (anything) became removed from over it, or from before it, (i. e. another thing,) so as to disclose it, or expose it to view. (TA.) [And تفتّح has a similar meaning, but is properly said of a number of things.]

    إِفْتَتَحَ

    8: see 1, first sentence, in three places; and again, in the second quarter of the paragraph, in two places. One says also, افتتح الصَّلَاةَ (tropical:) (A, MA) He opened, or commenced, prayer: (MA:) اِفْتِتَاحُ الصَّلَاةِ meaning (tropical:) The saying اَللّٰهُ أَكْبَرْ the first time [in prayer, i. e., before the first recitation of the Opening Chapter of the Kur-án]. (TA.) And اِفْتَتَحْتُهُ بِكَذَا (assumed tropical:) I commenced it with such a thing. (Msb.) And مَا أَحْسَنَ مَا ٱفْتُتِحَ عَامُنَا بِهِ (tropical:) [How good is that with which our year has commenced!]; said when the sign, or token, [or prognostic,] of plenty, or abundance of herbage, has appeared. (A, TA.)

    إِسْتَفْتَحَ

    10: see 1, first sentence, in three places. آتِى بَابَ الجَنَّةِ فَأَسْتَفْتِحُ is a saying of Mohammad, meaning I shall come to the gate of Paradise and seek, or demand, or ask for, the opening thereof. (El-Jámi' es-Sagheer, the first of the trads. mentioned therein, and thus expl. in the margin of a copy of that work.) استفتحهُ القُرْآنَ (tropical:) He desired, or asked, him to explain the Kur-án. (MA.) استفتحهُ الإِمَامُ (tropical:) [The Imám desired, or asked, him to prompt him; i. e., to recite to him what he was unable to utter by reason of forgetfulness: see فَتَحَ عَلَيْهِ]. (A, TA.) And استفتح signifies also (assumed tropical:) He sought, desired, demanded, or asked, aid against an enemy, or victory. (S, Msb, K.) One says, استفتح بِهِمْ (assumed tropical:) He sought, &c., aid, or victory, by means of them. (L, from a trad.) And استفتح ٱللّٰهَ (tropical:) (A, TA) He desired, or asked, God to grant aid, or victory, (TA,) لِلْمُسْلِمِينَ عَلَى الكُفَّارِ [to the Muslims against, or over, the unbelievers]. (A.) Also (assumed tropical:) He sought, desired, demanded, or asked, judgment. (L.)

    فَتْحٌ

    فَتْحٌ inf. n. of فَتَحَ [q. v.]. (Msb, &c.) [As a subst.,] (tropical:) Conquest of a country: (K, TA:) pl. فُتُوحٌ (TA) [and pl. pl. فُتُوحَاتٌ]. يَوْمٌ الفَتْحِ means particularly (assumed tropical:) The day of the conquest of Mekkeh: (L:) and also (assumed tropical:) The day of resurrection. (Mujáhid, L.) (assumed tropical:) Aid against an enemy; or victory; syn. نَصْرٌ; as also فَتَاحَةٌ. (K.) (assumed tropical:) Means of subsistence, with which God gives aid: pl. as above. (TA.) (tropical:) The first of the rain called الوَسْمِىّ; (L, K;) as also فَتُوحٌ [which see again in what follows]: (K:) or the first of any rain; as also فُتْحَةٌ: (L:) pl. of the first فُتُوحٌ, (A,) or فَتُوحٌ, with fet-h to the ف, (L,) [see the mention of this voce فَيْحٌ,] but MF strongly reprobates this latter form, and observes that فَعُولٌ as a pl. measure is absolutely unknown. (TA.) One says, أَصَابَتِ الأَرْضُ فُتُوحٌ (tropical:) [First rains fell upon the land]. (A.) (tropical:) Water running (S, K, TA) from a spring or other source: (S, TA:) or water running upon the surface of the earth: (AHn, TA:) or water for which a channel is opened to a tract of land for its irrigation thereby: (L:) or a river, or rivulet, or canal of running water. (T, TA.) مَا سُقِىَ بِالفَتْحِ فَفِيهِ العُشْرُ, and مَا سُقِىَ فَتْحًا, (L,) فَتْحًا being here in the accus. case as an inf. n., i. e. مَا فُتِحَ إِلَيْهِ مَآءُ الأَنْهَارِ فَتْحًا, (Mgh, L, *) occurring in a trad., means In the case of that (relating to the several sorts of seed-produce, and palm-trees,) which is irrigated by means of the channel opened to conduct to it the water of the river [or rivers], the tithe [of the produce shall be taken]. (L.) The place of insertion of the tang of the iron head that enters into the shaft of an arrow: (K, * TA:) pl. as above. (TA.) The fruit of the tree called نَبْع, resembling the حَبَّة خَضْرَآء [or fruit of the pistachia terebinthus], (K, TA,) except that it is red, sweet, and round; eaten by men. (TA.) [As a conventional term in grammar and lexicology, A certain vowel-sound, well-known: and فَتْحَةٌ signifies The sign of that vowel-sound.]

    فُتُحٌ

    فُتُحٌ a word of the measure فُعُلٌ in the sense of the measure مَفْعُولٌ. (S.) You say بَابٌ فُتُحٌ A wide, open, door: (S, K:) or a large, wide, door. (Msb.) And قَارُورَةٌ فُتُحٌ A wide-headed bottle or flash: (S, K:) or a bottle, or flash, having neither a stopper nor a case: (Ks, S, Msb, K:) because, if so, it is open. (TA.)

    فَتْحَةٌ

    فَتْحَةٌ: see فَتْحٌ, last sentence.

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

The same three letters in all six orders. Choose one.

ف ت ح

الفاء والتاء والحاء أصل صحيح يدل على خلاف الإغلاق

F-t-ḥ is one sound root that indicates the opposite of closing.

Ibn Fāris ↗Lane ↗al-Khalīl: used ↗Quran ×38

an entry in Ibn Fārislater sources onlyin none of them

Do these six share one core meaning?

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.

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
How it is madeSībawayh and Ibn Jinnī · phonetics

English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic

ف

ومن باطن الشفة السفلى وأطراف الثنايا العلى مخرج الفاء

From the inside of the lower lip and the edges of the upper front teeth is the place of the fāʾ. Sībawayh, line 26562 ↗

ومن باطن الشفة السفلى وأطراف الثنايا العلى، مخرج الفاء

From the inside of the lower lip and the edges of the upper front teeth is the place of the fāʾ. Ibn Jinnī, line 985 ↗

ت

ومما بين طرف اللسان وأصول الثنايا مخرج الطاء، والدال، والتاء

From between the tip of the tongue and the roots of the front teeth is the place of the ṭāʾ, the dāl and the tāʾ. Sībawayh, line 26559 ↗

ومما بين طرف اللسان وأصول الثنايا، مخرج الطاء والدال والتاء

From between the tip of the tongue and the roots of the front teeth is the place of the ṭāʾ, the dāl and the tāʾ. Ibn Jinnī, line 982 ↗

ح

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

ف

Level of existence: الملائكة · the angels

Divine Name: القوى · the Strong (al-Qawī)

Lunar mansion: سعد الأخبية · Saʿd al-Akhbiya

Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 65823

Spheres of its simples (ch. 2): 10 line 2573 ↗

المرتبة العشرية فحروفها حارة يابسة

The tenfold rank: its letters are hot and dry.

Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, line 2582

ت

Spheres of its simples (ch. 2): 10 line 2573 ↗

المرتبة العشرية فحروفها حارة يابسة

The tenfold rank: its letters are hot and dry.

Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, line 2582

ح

Level of existence: الجوهر الهبابي · the dust-like substance (spelled الهبابي in the text)

Divine Name: الآخر · al-Ākhir, the Last

Lunar mansion: الدبران · al-Dabarān

Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 62076

Spheres of its simples (ch. 2): 10 line 2573 ↗

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

English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic

ف

فهي لنفي الخبث بعد ما كان جنسه معلوما بالخبث، فهي إشارة إلى أنه طاهر وجنسه خبيث، والخبث مثل المعاصي وما أشبهها.

It is for negating foulness in something whose genus is known for foulness. It thus indicates that the thing is pure while its genus is foul; foulness being like sins and the like.

فهي لتزويل الخبث.

It is for removing foulness.

فهي إشارة إلى الذات وما احتوت عليه، وفي بعض الأحيان قد يكون معها التقليل.

It is an indication of the self and what it contains; at times it may carry a sense of diminution.

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

ت

فهي اسم للخير الكثير العظيم.

It is a name for abundant, great good.

فهي اسم للقليل البارز.

It is a name for the small, protruding/manifest thing.

فهي اسم لما صنع وأبرز.

It is a name for what has been made and brought forth.

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

ح

فهي تدل على الإحاطة والشمول للجميع.

It denotes encompassing and inclusion of everything.

فهي العدد الكثير الخارج عن بني آدم كالنجوم.

It is a great number external to the children of Adam, such as the stars.

فهي العدد الداخل في الذات أو للذات عليه ولاية كملكية العبيد والدنانير والدراهم وغير ذلك.

It is a number contained within the self, or over which the self has authority, such as ownership of slaves, dinars, dirhams and the like.

al-Dabbāgh (d. 1132/1719), al-Ibrīz, ch. 2 §15, compiled by al-Lamaṭī
Two-letter nucleus4 roots in Ibn Fāris’s chapterف ت

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 24676 ↗

  • فتحالفاء والتاء والحاء أصل صحيح يدل على خلاف الإغلاقQ 38 · L24677
  • فتخالفاء والتاء والخاء أصل صحيح يدل على لين في الشيء فالفتخ لين في جناح الطائر وعقاب فتخاء إذا انكسر جناحها في طيرانها وفتخ أصابع رجله في جلوسه إذا لينهاL24683
  • فتشالفاء والتاء والشين كلمة واحدة تدل على بحث عن شيء تقول فتشت فتشا وفتشت تفتيشاL24695
  • فتنالفاء والتاء والنون أصل صحيح يدل على ابتلاء واختبارQ 60 · L24714
In the sister scriptsHebrew פ ת חSyriac ܦ ܬ ܚ
Arabicف ت ح
Hebrewפ ת ח
Syriacܦ ܬ ܚ
Ancient South Arabian (musnad)𐩰 𐩩 𐩢
Phoenician𐤐 𐤕 𐤇

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.

  • Classical lexiconAl-Khalīl gives fatḥ as the opposite of ighlāq, then extends it outward to futūḥ dār al-ḥarb ('conquest'), to the sense 'give a legal judgment between disputants' (citing Q7:89, 'rabbanā ftaḥ baynanā'), to fatḥ as 'victory/support' (Q61:13), and to mafātiḥ as the keys/treasuries of the unseen (Q6:59).well attested

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

    Al-Khalīl gives fatḥ as the opposite of ighlāq, then extends it outward to futūḥ dār al-ḥarb ('conquest'), to the sense 'give a legal judgment between disputants' (citing Q7:89, 'rabbanā ftaḥ baynanā'), to fatḥ as 'victory/support' (Q61:13), and to mafātiḥ as the keys/treasuries of the unseen (Q6:59). Al-Jawharī keeps the literal opening of doors and locks, adds bāb fatḥ ('a wide-open door') and qārūra fatḥ ('a wide-mouthed, stopperless flask,' per al-Kisāʾī), and confirms fattāḥ as 'judge.' Ibn Fāris consolidates these as one coherent nucleus — closing's opposite — from which judgment (God as al-Fātiḥ, the Judge), the flowing of a spring, victory, and the fawātiḥ (opening letters) of Quranic sūras all radiate. Al-Rāghib then divides fatḥ into the perceptible (opening a door, a lock, Q12:65, Q15:14) and the intelligible (removing distress, opening of the heart), and further subdivides worldly 'openings' as at Q6:44, 'fataḥnā ʿalayhim abwāba kulli shayʾ' — an opening/expansion of abundance. Lane's entry (Ibn Manẓūr's Lisān is not given here) confirms fataḥa/fattaḥa/iftataḥa/istaftaḥa as near-synonyms, all built on 'opposite of aghlaqa.'

    Draws on: cayn · sihah · Ibn Fāris · mufradat · Lane

    • Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-Lugha, ftḥ
    • al-Rāghib, Mufradāt, ftḥ
    • Lane, Lexicon, ftḥ
  • Letters & soundFāʾ is glossed in the Akbarian source as 'the angels,' and by al-Dabbāgh as negating foulness within a genus known for foulness — marking a thing as pure though its kind is not.speculative

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

    Fāʾ is glossed in the Akbarian source as 'the angels,' and by al-Dabbāgh as negating foulness within a genus known for foulness — marking a thing as pure though its kind is not. Tāʾ has no Akbarian gloss given, but al-Dabbāgh reads it as a name for abundant, great good. Ḥāʾ is glossed as 'the dust-like (habābī) substance,' and by al-Dabbāgh as denoting encompassing and total inclusion. A symbolic reading of f-t-ḥ might thus see purification (fāʾ) yielding abundant good (tāʾ) through total encompassing (ḥāʾ) — apt to the semantic range from 'opening' to 'victory' and 'abundance,' but this remains speculative sound-symbolism; mainstream linguistics assigns individual Arabic letters no independent meaning.

    Draws on: akbari198 · dabbagh_fatha

    • al-Dabbāgh, letter-meanings (fatḥa series)
  • Root structureIbn Fāris places ftḥ beside ftkh ('pliancy,' as in a bird's slack wing or loosened toes when sitting), ftsh ('to search, investigate'), and ftl ('to twist').uncertain

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

    Ibn Fāris places ftḥ beside ftkh ('pliancy,' as in a bird's slack wing or loosened toes when sitting), ftsh ('to search, investigate'), and ftl ('to twist'). Among the permutations, tfḥ is unattested as a verb but is the single fixed word tuffāḥ ('apple'), and ḥtf ('death, fate') is likewise a fixed noun admitting no derived verb — Ibn Fāris notes explicitly that no verb is built from it. A reader inclined to Ibn Jinnī's greater derivation might note the bare inversion of fatḥ ('opening,' toward life and disclosure) and ḥatf ('death,' the ultimate closing) as the same three letters read in opposite order — a suggestive juxtaposition, not an etymological claim Ibn Fāris himself makes.

    Draws on: maqayis-nucleusSiblings · maqayis-permutations

    • Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-Lugha, ftḥ and neighboring chapters
  • Semitic kin & loanwordsF-t-ḥ is a Common Semitic root, not a loan into Arabic.well attested

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

    F-t-ḥ is a Common Semitic root, not a loan into Arabic. Hebrew pātaḥ (פָּתַח) 'to open' and Aramaic/Syriac pətaḥ (ܦܬܚ) share the same sense and the same consonantal skeleton, and Akkadian petû 'to open' is a recognized cognate with the expected sound correspondence. The Arabic verb's semantic range — literal opening, judicial decision, victory/conquest — largely parallels the Hebrew and Aramaic uses, supporting inheritance from a common ancestor rather than borrowing.

  • Quranic exegesisExegetes read fatḥ across a spread from the literal (opening a door, a container) to the judicial (Q7:89's ftaḥ baynanā, 'judge between us,' behind the divine name al-Fattāḥ) to the eschatological (the opening of heaven's gates for the righteous or as a portent, Q7:40, 54:11) to the historical-political (fatḥ as conquest, most fully in Sūrat al-Fatḥ).well attested

    How the classical exegetes read the word in the Quran.

    Exegetes read fatḥ across a spread from the literal (opening a door, a container) to the judicial (Q7:89's ftaḥ baynanā, 'judge between us,' behind the divine name al-Fattāḥ) to the eschatological (the opening of heaven's gates for the righteous or as a portent, Q7:40, 54:11) to the historical-political (fatḥ as conquest, most fully in Sūrat al-Fatḥ). At Q6:44, 'fataḥnā ʿalayhim abwāba kulli shayʾ,' al-Ṭabarī and al-Rāzī read the 'opening' of worldly abundance upon those who had forgotten the warning as istidrāj — a gradual, deceptive granting of prosperity leading to ruin, not a mercy; al-Rāghib's own division of fatḥ into sensory and intelligible types (given above) underwrites this reading, since a worldly 'opening' can mask an intelligible closing (of the heart). Al-Zamakhsharī and al-Rāzī likewise treat the istiftāḥ of Q2:89's disbelievers (seeking fatḥ/victory against the pagans before the Prophet's coming) as ironic, since the very fatḥ they sought became evidence against them once they rejected the Prophet.

    Draws on: quran-sample · cayn · Ibn Fāris · mufradat

  • Akbarian readingIbn ʿArabī's own Iṣṭilāḥ distinguishes three futūḥ (openings/disclosures granted to the traveler on the path): futūḥ al-ʿibāra fī l-ẓāhir, the opening of eloquent expression outwardly;well attested

    The word in Ibn ʿArabī's text and terminology.

    Ibn ʿArabī's own Iṣṭilāḥ distinguishes three futūḥ (openings/disclosures granted to the traveler on the path): futūḥ al-ʿibāra fī l-ẓāhir, the opening of eloquent expression outwardly; futūḥ al-ḥalāwa fī l-bāṭin, the opening of sweetness inwardly; and futūḥ al-mukāshafa, the opening of unveiling — a graded technical taxonomy of what is commonly called al-futūḥāt al-ilāhiyya, the title-concept of his major work. In Faṣṣ Ādam, the image of the king's seal (khatm) guarding treasuries turns on fatḥ in its ordinary sense: no one dares to 'open' (fatḥ) what the seal protects without the sealholder's permission, a figure for how prophecy/sainthood preserves the cosmos's hidden treasuries. The same faṣṣ uses iftitāḥ al-wujūd ʿan ʿadam, 'the opening/inception of existence out of nonexistence,' to mark the very threshold that cannot be attributed to God despite His being al-Awwal — God's priority is not an iftitāḥ, since iftitāḥ presupposes a prior closed/non-existent state that only contingent being possesses.

    Draws on: ibnArabiDefinitions · inFassAdam

    • Ibn ʿArabī, Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam, Faṣṣ Ādam
Neighbouring rootsThe roots that share letters with this one, as a map you can open out