فقرa sound root denoting an opening or gap in a limb or other thing, as in the notches and … (root fqr)

Al-fiqār (الفقار) is [the vertebrae] strung one upon another from the coccyx (al-ʿajb) to the base of the skull (qiḥfat al-raʾs). Al-faqr (الفقر) is 'need/poverty'; iftaqara fulān (افتقر فلان), 'so-and-so became poor,' and afqarahu Allāh (أفقره الله), '[when] God made him poor'; he is al-faqīr (الفقير). Al-fuqr (الفقر) [with ḍamma] is a weak/inferior dialectal variant. Aghnā Allāhu mafāqirahu (أغنى الله مفاقره) means 'God enriched him,' i.e., the avenues of his poverty. Al-faqārah (الفقارة) and al-faqrah (الفقرة) - both are pluralized as al-fiqār (الفقار) and al-fuqar (الفقر), while the counted form with the feminine ending is faqarāt (فقرات). Al-faqrah (الفقرة) is 'a pit that a person digs (yafqiruhā tafqīran) for planting a palm-shoot.' Arḍun mutafaqqirah (أرض متفقرة) is 'land having many pits.' Al-fāqirah (الفاقرة) is 'the calamity that breaks the vertebrae of the back.' Afqarathu dābbatun (أفقرته دابة) means 'a riding-animal was lent to him,' i.e., lent for carrying loads and riding. In archery-contest usage it is said: urāmīka min adnā faqratin wa-min abʿadi faqratin (أراميك من أدنى فقرة ومن أبعد فقرة), 'I will shoot against you from the nearest mark and from the farthest mark,' i.e., from the farthest landmark used, such as a hillock, a target, or a pit, and the like. Al-tafqīr (التفقير) is 'whiteness in the legs of animals, mixed with [the coloring of] the lower legs up to the knees'; hence shātun mufaqqarah (شاة مفقرة) and farasun mufaqqar (فرس مفقر) [animals so marked]. One says hādhā mafqūr al-ẓahr (هذا مفقور الظهر) and faqīr al-ẓahr (فقير الظهر) ['this one has a broken back']. Labīd said: 'When he saw the vultures scattering in flight, ... he raised his primary wing-feathers like [the wings of] one with a broken back and without support (al-faqīr al-aʿzal).'

Al-faqārah (الفقارة), with fatḥah: 'one [vertebra] of the vertebrae of the back.' Dhū al-Faqār (ذو الفقار) is also the name of the sword of the Prophet, peace be upon him. Al-faqrah (الفقرة), with kasrah, is like al-faqārah, its plural being faqarāt (فقرات), faqrāt (فقرات), and fiqar (فقر). The best verse in a poem is called faqrah (فقرة), by comparison to a vertebra of the back. A man [described as] faqir (فقر) [adjective] is 'one who complains of [pain in] his vertebrae.' Al-fāqirah (الفاقرة) is 'the calamity.' One says faqaratuhu al-fāqirah (فقرته الفاقرة), meaning 'the calamity broke the vertebrae of his back.' Faqartu anfa al-baʿīr (فقرت أنف البعير) means 'I notched the camel's nose' with an iron [tool], then placed at the site of the notch the jarīr (nose-rope), with a twisted cord upon it, to subdue and train it thereby. From this comes their saying qad ʿumila bihi al-fāqirah (قد عمل به الفاقرة) ['the calamity has been done to him']. A man [described as] faqīr min al-māl (فقير من المال) is 'poor in wealth.' Ibn al-Sikkīt said: al-faqīr (الفقير) is 'one who has [just enough] to subsist on (bulghah min al-ʿaysh).' Al-Rāʿī said, praising ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān and complaining to him about his tax-collectors: 'As for the poor man (al-faqīr) whose milk-yielding animal was [just] sufficient for his family, leaving him no surplus (sabad)' He said: and al-miskīn (المسكين) is 'one who has nothing.' Al-Aṣmaʿī said: al-miskīn is in a better condition than al-faqīr. Yūnus said: al-faqīr is in a better condition than al-miskīn. He said: I said to a Bedouin, 'Are you faqīr?' He replied: 'No, by God, rather miskīn.' Ibn al-Aʿrābī said: al-faqīr is 'one who has nothing,' and al-miskīn is the same. Al-fuqr (الفقر) [with ḍamma] is a dialectal variant of al-faqr, like ḍuʿf and ḍaʿf. Al-faqīr [also] means 'the outlet of water from an underground channel (qanāh).' As for the rajaz-poet's saying: 'The night of al-Faqīr is naught but a devil' - this is a specific well-known well (rakiyy). Al-faqīr [also] is 'a pit dug around a palm-shoot when it is planted'; hence faqartu lil-wadiyyah tafqīran (فقرت للودية تفقيرا). Faqartu al-kharaz (فقرت الخرز) also means 'I pierced the beads.' Al-faqīr [also] means 'one whose spinal vertebrae are broken.' Labīd said: 'When he saw the vultures scattering in flight, ... he raised his primary wing-feathers like [the wings of] one with a broken back and without support (al-faqīr al-aʿzal).' Al-mifqar (المفقر) is 'a sword that has notches along its spine/back.' Their saying afqaraka aṣ-ṣaydu (أفقرك الصيد) means 'it enabled you [to reach] its vertebrae,' i.e., 'so shoot it!' Afqartu fulānan nāqatī (أفقرت فلانا ناقتي) means 'I lent so-and-so my she-camel,' i.e., I lent him its back for him to ride. The noun [for this loan] is al-fuqrā (الفقرى). The poet said: 'He has a loan (faqrah) that has made forbidden the unburdening of its back, so there is in it neither the loan-right (al-fuqrā) nor can the pilgrimage (ḥajj) be claimed' Afqarahu Allāhu (أفقره الله) means 'God made him poor,' from al-faqr, whence fa-ftaqara ['so he became poor']. It is said: sadda Allāhu mafāqirahu (سد الله مفاقره), meaning 'He enriched him,' closing up the avenues of his poverty. Their saying fulānun mā afqarahu wa-mā aghnāhu (فلان ما أفقره وما أغناه) is anomalous, because for both of these verbs one says iftaqara and istaghnā [in reflexive form], so a [regular] exclamatory construction cannot properly be formed from them.

The letters fāʾ, qāf, and rāʾ form a sound root indicating a separation or gap in something, whether in a bodily part or otherwise. From this comes al-fiqār (الفقار) 'the vertebrae' of the back, the singular of which is faqārah (فقارة), so named for the notches and joints between them. Al-faqīr (الفقير) [in this sense] is 'one whose spinal vertebrae are broken,' and the scholars of language say that the word faqīr (فقير) 'poor person' is derived from this, as if he were one whose back-vertebrae were broken, on account of his humiliation and destitution. From this too comes their saying faqarat-hum al-fāqirah (فقرتهم الفاقرة) - al-fāqirah (الفاقرة) being 'the calamity,' as though it were something that breaks the vertebrae of the back. Some scholars say that al-faqīr is one who has [just] enough to subsist on, citing the line: 'As for the poor man (al-faqīr) whose milk-animal was... sufficient for his family, leaving him no surplus' - he says: so he was given a milk-animal, and it was made sufficient provision for his family, i.e., mere sustenance without excess. As for al-faqīr [in another sense], it is 'the outlet of water from an underground channel (qanāh),' and its derivation is sound, because it is dug and broken into the ground. As for their saying afqaraka aṣ-ṣaydu (أفقرك الصيد), its meaning is that the game enabled you [to get at] its vertebrae, so that you might shoot it. It is said faqartu al-baʿīr (فقرت البعير), 'I notched the camel's nose,' when you make a notch in its nose, then place at the site of the notch the jarīr (nose-rope) to subdue and train it thereby. And afqartuka nāqatī (أفقرتك ناقتي) means 'I lent you my she-camel,' i.e., I lent you its back to ride it. The poet's saying: 'The night of al-Faqīr is naught but a devil...' - here al-Faqīr is a specific well-known well (rakiyy). It is said faqartu lil-fasīl (فقرت للفسيل), 'I dug for the palm-shoot,' when you dig for it at the time of planting. Faqartu al-kharaz (فقرت الخرز) means 'I pierced the beads.' Sadda Allāhu mafāqirahu (سد الله مفاقره) means 'God made him wealthy' and closed up the avenues of his poverty, as the poet said: 'And indeed the one who drove wealth to Ibn ʿĀmir - / is indeed the one I hope will close up my avenues of poverty (mafāqirī).'

Al-faqr (الفقر) is used in four senses. The first: the existence of essential need, which is general for man as long as he is in this worldly abode - indeed general for all created beings. To this refers His saying, Exalted is He: 'O mankind, you are those in need (al-fuqarāʾ) of Allah' [Fāṭir 35:15]. And to this poverty He alludes in describing man, saying: 'And We did not make them [as] a body that did not eat food' [al-Anbiyāʾ 21:8]. The second: the absence of possessions, mentioned in His saying: 'For the poor (al-fuqarāʾ) who have been restrained [in the cause of Allah]...' up to His saying '...from [an appearance of] begging' [al-Baqarah 2:273], and 'If they are poor (fuqarāʾ), Allah will enrich them from His bounty' [al-Nūr 24:32], and His saying: 'The charitable offerings are only for the poor (al-fuqarāʾ) and the needy (al-masākīn)' [al-Tawbah 9:60]. The third: poverty of the soul, which is greed - the sense meant by his saying, peace and blessings be upon him: 'Poverty (al-faqr) has nearly become disbelief (kufr)' - which is set against his saying: 'True richness is the richness of the soul,' and is meant by their saying: whoever lacks contentment, wealth does not bring him [true] richness. The fourth: poverty/need directed toward Allah, alluded to by his saying, peace and blessings be upon him: 'O Allah, enrich me through my need (iftiqār) for You, and do not impoverish me through independence (istighnāʾ) from You' - and this is meant by His saying, Exalted is He: 'My Lord, indeed I am, for whatever good You send down to me, in need (faqīr)' [al-Qaṣaṣ 28:24]. And to this the poet alluded, saying: [entry continues]

Al-faqr (الفقر) and al-fuqr (الفقر) [with ḍamma]: 'the opposite of richness (al-ghinā),' like ḍuʿf and ḍaʿf. Al-Layth [said]: al-fuqr is a weak/inferior dialectal variant. Ibn Sīdah [said]: the measure of this is that he has what suffices his dependents. A man [described as] faqīr min al-māl (فقير من المال) is 'poor in wealth'; one says faqura (فقر), so he is faqīr, plural fuqarāʾ (فقراء), feminine faqīrah (فقيرة), plural [of women] fuqāʾir (فقائر). Al-Liḥyānī related: nisāʾ fuqarāʾ (نساء فقراء) [using the masculine plural for women]. Ibn Sīdah said: I do not know how this is [correct]; in my view the Arab who said this did not take the feminine tāʾ into account, as if he simply pluralized the masculine faqīr - its parallel being nisāʾ fuqahāʾ (نساء فقهاء). Ibn al-Sikkīt [said]: al-faqīr is 'one who has [just enough] to subsist on.' Al-Rāʿī said, praising ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān and complaining to him about his tax-collectors: 'As for the poor man (al-faqīr) whose milk-yielding animal was [just] sufficient for his family, leaving him no surplus (sabad)' He said: and al-miskīn is 'one who has nothing.' Yūnus said: al-faqīr is in a better condition than al-miskīn. He said: I once said to a Bedouin: 'Are you faqīr?' He replied: 'No, by God, rather miskīn' - so al-miskīn is in a worse condition than al-faqīr [on this view]. Ibn al-Aʿrābī said: al-faqīr is 'one who has nothing,' and al-miskīn is the same. Al-faqr is 'need,' its verb being al-iftiqār, and the descriptive adjective is faqīr. In the Noble Revelation: 'The charitable offerings are only for the poor (al-fuqarāʾ) and the needy (al-masākīn)' [al-Tawbah 9:60]. Abū al-ʿAbbās was asked about the meanings of al-faqīr and al-miskīn, and said: Abū ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAlāʾ said, as related by Yūnus: al-faqīr is one who has something to eat, and al-miskīn is one who has nothing. Ibn Sallām related from Yūnus: al-faqīr has some of what sustains him, and al-miskīn has nothing. It is related from Khālid ibn Yazīd that he said: it is as though al-faqīr was so named due to an infirmity (zamānah) befalling him along with severe need, the infirmity preventing him from moving about to earn a living - this is the [true] al-faqīr. Al-Aṣmaʿī [said]: al-miskīn is in a better condition than al-faqīr; likewise said Aḥmad ibn ʿUbayd. Abū Bakr said: and this is correct according to us, since Allah, Exalted is He, named the owner of the boat a miskīn, saying: 'As for the ship, it belonged to needy people (masākīn) working at sea' [al-Kahf 18:79] - and it was worth a considerable sum. He said: as for what Yūnus cited, that he asked a Bedouin 'Are you faqīr?' and he replied 'No, by God, rather miskīn' - it is possible he meant 'rather I am in a better condition than al-faqīr'; and the verse cited as evidence contains no [decisive] proof, since the meaning is that this faqīr had previously had a milk-yielding animal, but at present has none. It is also said: al-faqīr is one who has nothing, and al-miskīn is one who has some of what suffices him - this is the view of al-Shāfiʿī, may Allah be pleased with him; and the reverse has also been said, held by Abū Ḥanīfah, may Allah have mercy on him. He said: and al-faqīr is built/derived from faqara [entry continues]