نسب'one word' whose analogy is the connection of one thing to another; lineage is so named … (root nsb)

Al-nasab (النسب) pertains to kinship. So-and-so is nasībī (نسيبي, 'my kinsman'), and these are ansibāʾī (أنسبائي, 'my kinsmen'). A man who is nasīb (نسيب), manṣūb (منسوب), is one of noble descent and lineage. Al-nisba (النسبة) is the verbal noun of al-intisāb (الانتساب); al-nisba is also [used for] 'the name.' Al-nasab (النسب) in poetry is that which is nasīb (love-poetry). Poetry that is manṣūb (منسوب) — plural manāsīb (مناسيب) — is poetry about women... 'How fine is his nasīb (نسيبه)!' means 'how fine is his speech about women!' Al-Kumayt said: "Since you are languid-eyed, from your poems comes the nasīb (النسب)..." [entry continues] Al-naysab and al-naysabān (النيسب والنيسبان) [both denote] the narrow, distinct track — like the path of ants or of a snake, and the single path of wild asses going to the watering-place.

Al-nasab (النسب) is one of al-ansāb (الأنساب, 'lineages'). Al-nisba and al-nisba (النسبة) [with differing vocalization] are the same. Intasaba ilā abīhi (انتسب إلى أبيه) means he claimed [descent from] his father — iʿtarā (اعترى). Tanassaba (تنسب) means he claimed to be your nasīb (kinsman). The proverb says: "The near one is he who draws near [in deed], not he who claims kinship" (القريب من تقرب لا من تنسب). A man called nassāba (نسابة) is one learned in genealogies; the tāʾ is for emphasis in praise, as though they mean by it 'a formidable authority' or 'one who has reached the utmost limit.' You say: 'I have three nassābāt (نسابات) and ʿallāmāt (علامات)' meaning three men, and you use nassābāt as a description for them [though feminine in form]. So-and-so yunāsibu (يناسب) so-and-so, and he is his nasīb (نسيبه), i.e., his relative. You say: 'There is no munāsaba (مناسبة) between them,' meaning no resemblance. Nasabtu al-rajula ansubuhu (نسبت الرجل أنسبه), with ḍamma, nisba and nasab, means I mentioned his lineage. Nasaba al-shāʿiru bi-l-marʾati yansibu (نسب الشاعر بالمرأة ينسب), with kasra, nasīban (نسيبا), means he composed love-poetry about her. Al-naysab (النيسب) is what you see like a track made by ants themselves; it is of the pattern fayʿal. And he said: "Two eyes through which people are seen [as if] toward it as a track (nayasaban)."

Nūn, sīn, and bāʾ (نسب) is one root with a single underlying sense: the connection of one thing to another. From it comes nasab (النسب, 'lineage'), so named because of its connective nature and because it links [people to one another]; one says nasabtu, ansubu (نسبتُ أنسُبُ), and he is nasīb (نسيب) of so-and-so. From it also comes al-nasīb (النسيب) in poetry addressed to a woman, as though it were a mention that attaches itself to her — and this occurs only with respect to women; one says from it nasabtu, ansubu. And al-nasīb (النسيب) also means the straight road, because its parts are connected one to another.

Al-nasab and al-nisba (النسب والنسبة) [both mean] a shared bond through one of the two parents, and this is of two kinds: nasab by lineal descent (bi-l-ṭūl), like the shared bond between fathers and sons; and nasab by collateral relation (bi-l-ʿarḍ), like the relation between the sons of brothers and the sons of paternal uncles. God, exalted is He, said: "and He made it [related by] nasab and ṣihr [marriage-kinship]" (Sūrat al-Furqān 25:54). It is also said: 'So-and-so is the nasīb (نسيب) of so-and-so,' meaning his relative. Al-nisba is [also] used for two comparable quantities, each somewhat similar to the other, each being specifically related to the other; from this comes al-nasīb (النسيب), which is the attribution in poetry to a woman through the mention of [erotic] love — one says: nasaba al-shāʿiru bi-l-marʾati (نسب الشاعر بالمرأة), nasaban and nasīban.

Al-nasab (النسب) is the lineage of kinship-relations, one of al-ansāb (الأنساب). Ibn Sīda: al-nisba, al-nisba, and al-nasab (النسبة والنسبة والنسب) [mean] kinship (al-qarāba); it is said that it applies specifically to relation through fathers; it is said that al-nisba is the verbal noun of al-intisāb, while al-nisba [also means] 'the name.' Al-Tahdhīb: al-nasab occurs through fathers, in relation to countries, and in relation to craft. A poet, under poetic necessity, made the sīn quiescent; Ibn al-Aʿrābī cited: "O ʿAmr, O son of the most noble in lineage (nasaban), Glory has bound itself to you by a solemn vow (naḥban)." Al-naḥb here means 'the vow,' 'the wager,' 'the risk' — i.e., [glory] will never part from you, for it will never discharge that vow. The plural of nasab is ansāb. Intasaba and istansaba (انتسب واستنسب) mean he stated his lineage. Abū Zayd: it is said to a man asked about his lineage: 'istansib lanā' (استنسب لنا), i.e., 'state your lineage to us that we may know you.' Nasabahu yansubuhu wa-yansibuhu (نسبه ينسبه وينسبه), nasaban, means he attributed him [to his lineage]; nasabahu [also] means he asked him to state his lineage. Nasabtu fulānan ilā abīhi ansubuhu wa-ansibuhu (نسبت فلانا إلى أبيه أنسبه وأنسبه), nasaban, means I traced him in lineage up to his remotest ancestor. Al-Jawharī: nasabtu al-rajula ansubuhu (نسبت الرجل أنسبه), with ḍamma, nisba and nasab, means I mentioned his lineage; intasaba ilā abīhi (انتسب إلى أبيه) means he claimed [descent from] him — iʿtazā (اعتزى). In a report: "She traced our lineage (nasabatnā), so we stated our lineage to her (fa-ntasabnā lahā)," narrated by Ibn al-Aʿrābī. Nāsabahu (ناسبه) means he shared with him in his lineage. Al-nasīb (النسيب) is al-munāsib (المناسب, 'the relative'), plural nusabāʾ and ansibāʾ; so-and-so yunāsibu so-and-so, and he is his nasīb, i.e., his relative. Tanassaba (تنسب) means he claimed to be your nasīb. The proverb: "The near one is he who draws near [in deed], not he who claims kinship." A man [called] nasīb manṣūb (نسيب منسوب) is one of noble descent and lineage. It is said: 'So-and-so is nasībī,' and 'they are ansibāʾī.' Al-nassāb (النساب) is one learned in genealogy, plural nassābūn; he is also called al-nassāba (النسابة); they added the tāʾ for emphasis and praise — not to indicate the feminine gender of the one so described, but to inform the hearer that this described one has reached the utmost limit and end in that quality, the feminine form of the adjective thus serving as a marker of the intended sense of 'utmost degree' and 'intensification.' This matter is treated exhaustively under [the entry] ʿallāma. You say: 'I have three nassābāt (نسابات) and ʿallāmāt (علامات),' meaning three men, using nassābāt as their description [despite its feminine form]. In the hadith of Abū Bakr, may God be pleased with him: 'and he was a man [who was] nassāba' — al-nassāba meaning the eloquent one, learned in genealogies. You say: 'There is no munāsaba between them,' meaning no resemblance. Nasaba bi-l-nisāʾ, yansubu and yansibu (نسب بالنساء يَنسُب وينسِب), nasaban, nasīban, and mansaba (منسبة), means he composed love-poetry about them and courted them poetically. 'This poem is ansabu (أنسب) than that one' means more delicate in its love-poetry (nasīb); it is as if they had said 'nasīb nāsib' for emphasis, and this [comparative form] was built from that. Shimr said: al-nasīb is delicate poetry about women; and he cited: "Is there, in diverting oneself with [thoughts of] Asmāʾ, any wrong, or in verse and the offering of love-poems (al-manāsīb)?" Ansabat al-rīḥ (أنسبت الريح): the wind grew strong, and it... [entry continues]