نعمmany branches, all returning to one root denoting comfort, a pleasant life and well-being. (root nm)

Naʿima yanʿamu niʿmatan (نعم ينعم نعمة), so he is naʿim (نعم), nāʿim (ناعم), between manʿam (منعم). He [the poet] said: 'This is my cup and yours — ... comfort (naʿīm) is never lasting, however.' Al-naʿmāʾ (النعماء) is the [verbal-noun] name of al-niʿmah (النعمة). Al-naʿīm (النعيم) is ease and comfort. Al-niʿmah (النعمة) is a good/generous hand [act of kindness], and one says 'anʿama Allāhu ʿalayhi (أنعم الله عليه)' [God bestowed favor upon him]. A girl is nāʿimah (ناعمة) [and] munaʿʿamah (منعمة). 'Anʿama Allāhu bika ʿaynan (أنعم الله بك عينا)' and 'naʿʿama bika ʿaynan (نعم بك عينا)' mean 'may He cool the eye of the one who loves you.' You also say: niʿmat ʿayn (نعمة عين), naʿmāʾ ʿayn (نعماء عين), and naʿām ʿayn (نعام عين). Al-niʿmah (النعمة) [also] means joy/gladness. 'Naʿima al-rajulu Fulān (نعم الرجل فلان)' [is used], and one says 'innahu la-niʿmā (إنه لنعما)' and 'innahu la-naʿīm (إنه لنعيم).' Naʿam (نعم) is like your saying 'balā (بلى)' [yes/certainly], except that naʿam (نعم) is [used] in answer to an affirmative [statement]. Al-naʿāmā (النعامى) is the name of the south wind. He [the poet] said: 'The south winds moved him, and he did not recognize — ... unlike al-naʿāmā (النعامى) from Syria, a [different] wind.' Al-naʿām (النعام) [in the singular] is the male, which is al-ẓalīm (الظليم). Al-naʿāmah (النعامة) is the crossbeam set over the two side-posts of a well, upon which the pulley (al-bakrah) is hung; the two of them [the posts] are called naʿāmatān (نعامتان). They claim that 'ibn al-naʿāmah (ابن النعامة)' among roads/paths is so called as though it were 'the mount of the ostrich.' He [the poet] said: 'And your mount will be the riding-camel and its saddle... and ibn al-naʿāmah [my feet] will be my mount at that time.' It is said that ibn al-naʿāmah (ابن النعامة) here does not mean the road, but rather the front/sole of the foot — though it also [can] mean the road. One says: 'khāfat naʿāmatuhum (خفت نعامتهم),' meaning their journey continued/hastened on. Al-naʿam (النعم) is camels when numerous. The exegetes have claimed that al-naʿam (النعم) [in the Qurʾān] means both sheep and camels, in the words of God, Mighty and Exalted: 'and of the cattle (al-anʿām), some for burden and some for slaughter/spreading [on the ground]' [Q. 6:142]. Al-naʿāʾim (النعائم) are among the lunar mansions (manāzil al-qamar). Al-Anʿumān (الأنعمان) are two valleys. You say: 'daqaqtuhu daqqan naʿiman (دققته دقا نعما),' meaning 'I pounded/pulverized it further, beyond [ordinary] pounding.' 'Aḥsana wa-anʿama (أحسن وأنعم)' means he exceeded [mere] kindness/excellence.

Al-niʿmah (النعمة) is a [benevolent] hand, a beneficent act, a favor, and whatever is bestowed as a blessing upon you [by God]. Likewise al-nuʿmā (النعمى). If you open the nūn and lengthen [the word], you say al-naʿmāʾ (النعماء). Al-naʿīm (النعيم) is similar [in meaning]. So-and-so is 'wāsiʿ al-niʿmah (واسع النعمة)' [ample in blessing], meaning ample in wealth. Their saying 'in faʿalta dhāka fa-bihā wa-niʿmat (إن فعلت ذاك فبها ونعمت)' — they mean 'niʿmat al-khaṣlah (نعمت الخصلة)' [it is an excellent trait]. The tāʾ [feminine marker] is retained in pause, as Dhū al-Rummah said: 'Or a fine, long-necked she-camel, broad-chested, with strong chest-supports — an excellent (naʿimat) [creature for] the boat of the settlement.' Naʿima (نعم) and biʾsa (بئس) are past-tense verbs that do not conjugate/inflect like other verbs, because they are used [with] present-tense meaning despite being in the past-tense form. Naʿima (نعم) [expresses] praise, and biʾsa (بئس) [expresses] blame. There are four dialectal variants for them: naʿima (نعم) with the first letter open [fatḥah] and the second broken [kasrah]; then you say naʿima (نعم), letting one kasrah follow another [kasrah]; then you drop the second kasrah and say naʿm (نعْم) with kasrah on the nūn and sukūn on the ʿayn; or you may drop the kasrah from the second [letter] and leave the first open, saying naʿm (نَعْم) with fatḥah on the nūn and sukūn on the ʿayn. You say 'naʿima al-rajulu Zaydun (نعم الرجل زيد)' and 'niʿmat al-marʾatu Hindun (نعمت المرأة هند),' or, if you wish, you say 'niʿmati al-marʾatu Hindun (نعمت المرأة هند).' Al-rajul (الرجل) is the subject (fāʿil) of naʿima (نعم), and Zayd is raised [to nominative] in one of two ways: either it is a topic (mubtadaʾ) whose predicate (khabar) has been placed before it, or it is the predicate of an omitted topic — meaning that when you say 'naʿima al-rajulu (نعم الرجل)' [how excellent is the man], you would be asked 'who is he?' or it is assumed you were asked this, and you say 'huwa Zaydun (هو زيد)' [he is Zayd], omitting 'huwa (هو)' following the Arabs' custom of omitting the topic and predicate when the omitted element is known to be Zayd. If you say 'niʿma rajulan (نعم رجلا)' [what an excellent man], you have implied within naʿima al-rajul (نعم الرجل) [the phrase] with the definite article, raised [to nominative], and then explained it by your saying 'rajulan (رجلا)' [as a man], because the subject of naʿima (نعم) and biʾsa (بئس) can only be definite by the definite article, or [something] annexed to something bearing the definite article — intending thereby definiteness of genus/kind, not definiteness of specific reference — or an indefinite noun in the accusative; neither a proper noun nor anything else may directly follow them [without this structure], nor may a pronoun be attached to them. You cannot say 'niʿma Zaydun (نعم زيد)' nor 'al-Zaydūna niʿmū (الزيدون نعموا).' And if you attach 'mā (ما)' to naʿima (نعم), you say [as in the Qurʾān]: '(niʿimmā yaʿiẓukum bihi) نعما يعظكم به' [Q. 4:58], combining two consecutive sukūns; or, if you wish, you vowel the ʿayn with kasrah; or, if you wish, you open the nūn with fatḥah while keeping the ʿayn with kasrah. You say 'ghasaltu ghaslan niʿman (غسلت غسلا نعما)' — you make do with what accompanies naʿima (نعم) without [an explicit] complement, meaning 'niʿma mā ghasaltuhu (نعم ما غسلته)' [an excellent washing I gave it]. Al-naʿm (النعم), with ḍammah, is the opposite of al-buʾs (البؤس) [misfortune]; one says 'yawm naʿm (يوم نعم)' and 'yawm yuʾs (يوم يؤس),' with the plural anʿum (أنعم) and abʾus (أبؤس). 'Naʿuma al-shayʾu (نعم الشيء),' with ḍammah, [yields the verbal noun] nuʿūmah (نعومة), meaning it became soft (nāʿim) and gentle. Likewise 'naʿima yanʿamu (نعم ينعم),' like ḥadhira yaḥdharu (حذر يحذر) [in pattern].

The nūn, ʿayn, and mīm — its branches are many, but in our view, despite their multiplicity, they all go back to a single root meaning ease, pleasantness of life, and goodness. From it comes niʿmah (النعمة), that with which God Most High blesses His servant, such as wealth and a pleasant life; one says 'God has a blessing (niʿmah) upon him.' Al-niʿmah (النعمة) means favor (al-minnah), and likewise al-naʿmāʾ (النعماء). Al-niʿmah (النعمة) also means enjoyment (al-tanaʿʿum) and a pleasant life, as God Most High said: 'and a blessing (niʿmah) in which they rejoiced' [Q. 44:27]. Al-naʿāmā (النعامي) is the gentle wind. Al-naʿam (النعم) means camels, because of the good and blessing (niʿmah) in them. Al-Farrāʾ said: al-naʿam (النعم) is masculine, never feminized — one says 'this is naʿam (نعم) arriving,' and its plural is anʿām (أنعام). Al-anʿām (الأنعام) means livestock/cattle, following this same pattern. Al-naʿāmah (النعامة) [the ostrich] is well known, [named] for the softness/pleasantness of its feathers. By way of metaphor, al-naʿāmah (النعامة) is also [the name for] something like a canopy set up on a mountaintop under which one takes shade, as the poet said: 'There is nothing in its [the mountain's] slope except its naʿāmah (canopy)… some of it collapsed, some of it still standing…' They say 'niʿm ʿayn (نعم عين)' and 'nuʿmā ʿayn (نعمى عين)' and 'niʿmat ʿayn (نعمة عين),' meaning 'coolness of the eye' [i.e., delight]. Naʿima (نعم) the thing derives from al-niʿmah (النعمة); and one says 'so-and-so naʿʿama (نعّم) his children,' meaning he gave them ease and comfort. They say 'ibn al-naʿāmah (ابن النعامة)' for the front/sole of the foot, as the poet said: 'So your mount will be the riding-camel and its saddle… and ibn al-naʿāmah [the sole of the foot] will be my mount on that day…' It was so named because it is a soft, gentle (nāʿim) place/spot. Tanaʿʿama (تنعم) means 'the man walked barefoot.' A group [of people] is metaphorically referred to as al-naʿāmah (النعامة), so one says 'shālat naʿāmatuhum (شالت نعامتهم)' [their naʿāmah has risen/scattered] when they have dispersed — by way of metaphor, as though, just as an ostrich flies off, so these people have scattered. They say 'I came to the land of Banū So-and-so, and it fa-naʿʿamatnī (نعّمتني)' [suited/agreed with me], meaning it agreed with him. Naʿama (نعم) is the opposite of biʾsa (بئس) [an expression of blame]. They say, 'If you do that, fa-bihā wa-niʿmat (فبها ونعمت)' meaning 'niʿmat al-khaṣlah hiya (نعمت الخصلة هي)' [it is an excellent trait, that one]. From this root also comes their saying 'naʿam (نعم)' as an answer of affirmation, the opposite of 'lā (لا)' [no] — it too derives from al-niʿmah (النعمة). By way of metaphor, al-naʿāʾim (النعائم) is [the name of] a constellation/star. Al-naʿāʾim (النعائم) also refers to wooden posts set up over a well, upon which the vertical beam (al-qāmah) is hung when the well lacks proper supports (zarānīq). It is said that shaqāʾiq al-Nuʿmān (شقائق النعمان) [the anemone flower] was [named after] his father, Ibn ... , to whom it was attributed; but it is [also] said that al-Nuʿmān here means blood, and the first explanation is more fitting. Ibn Durayd said: 'tanaʿʿamtu Zaydan (تنعمت زيدا)' means 'I sought him out,' as though he meant 'I directed my naʿāmah (sole of the foot) toward him,' naʿāmah being the underside/sole of the foot. They say 'naʿʿama Allāhu bika ʿaynan (نعم الله بك عينا)' and 'naʿʿamaka ʿaynan (نعمك عينا)' with the same meaning.

Al-niʿmah (النعمة) is a good/pleasant condition; the morphological pattern of niʿmah (نعمة) is that of a state/condition in which a person is, like jilsah (الجلسة) [sitting-posture] and rikbah (الركبة) [riding-posture]. Al-niʿmah (النعمة) also means enjoyment/comfort (al-tanaʿʿum), with the pattern of a single instance of the verb, like ḍarbah (الضربة) [a single strike] and shatmah (الشتمة) [a single abuse]. Al-niʿmah (النعمة) [in its generic sense] applies to the genus/kind, and is said of both little and much [of it]. God Most High said: 'And if you should count the favor (niʿmah) of God, you could not enumerate it' [Q. 16:18]; 'Remember My favor (niʿmatī) which I bestowed upon you' [Q. 2:40]; 'and [I] have completed My favor (niʿmatī) upon you' [Q. 5:3]; 'so they returned with favor (niʿmah) from God' [Q. 3:174], and other such verses. Al-inʿām (الإنعام) is conveying kindness/beneficence to another, and it is said only when the recipient is of the same kind as speaking beings [humans] — one does not say 'so-and-so anʿama (أنعم) upon his horse.' God Most High said: 'You have favored (anʿamta ʿalayhim)' [Q. 1:7], and 'and when you said to the one whom God had favored (anʿama Allāhu ʿalayhi) and you had favored (anʿamta ʿalayhi)' [Q. 33:37]. Al-naʿmāʾ (النعماء) stands opposite al-ḍarrāʾ (الضراء) [affliction]. God Most High said: 'And if We give him a taste of favor (naʿmāʾ) after hardship (ḍarrāʾ) has touched him' [Q. 11:10]. Al-nuʿmā (النعمى) is the opposite of al-buʾsā (البؤسى); He said: 'He is only a servant whom We favored (anʿamnā ʿalayhi)' [Q. 43:59]. Al-naʿīm (النعيم) is abundant blessing (niʿmah); He said: 'in Gardens of Bliss (jannāt al-naʿīm)' [Q. 10:9], and He said: 'Gardens of Bliss (jannāt al-naʿīm)' [Q. 31:8]. Tanaʿʿama (تنعم) means to partake of that in which there is niʿmah and a pleasant life; one says 'naʿʿamahu tanʿīman (نعمه تنعيما)' hence 'fa-tanaʿʿama (فتنعم)' [and so he lived in comfort], i.e., he put him into niʿmah, meaning a life of gentleness and abundance. He said: 'so honored him and gave him comfort (naʿʿamahu)' [Q. 89:15]. And [one says] 'ṭaʿām nāʿim (طعام ناعم)' [soft/fine food], and 'jāriyah nāʿimah (جارية ناعمة)' [a soft/tender girl]. [Al-naʿam (النعم) is specifically applied to camels, and its plural is anʿām (أنعام); it is so named because camels, in their view, were the greatest of blessings (niʿmah); however, al-anʿām (الأنعام) is applied to camels, cattle, and sheep [together], and is not called al-anʿām (الأنعام) unless camels are included among them.] He said: 'and He made for you of ships and cattle (al-anʿām) that which you ride' [Q. 43:12]; 'and of the cattle (al-anʿām), some for burden and some for slaughter' [Q. 6:142]; and His saying: 'so the vegetation of the earth mingled with it, of what men and cattle (al-anʿām) eat' [Q. 10:24] — here al-anʿām (الأنعام) is general, [applying] to camels and others. Al-naʿāmā (النعامى) is the south wind, gentle in its blowing. Al-naʿāmah (النعامة) [the ostrich] is so named by likening it to al-naʿam (النعم) [camel] in its physical form. Al-naʿāmah (النعامة) [also] is the canopy on a mountain, and [something set] over the mouth of a well, by likening it to the ostrich in shape, from a distance. Al-naʿāʾim (النعائم) is among the lunar mansions, likened to the ostrich. And the words of the poet: [entry continues]

Al-naʿīm (النعيم), al-nuʿmā (النعمى), al-naʿmāʾ (النعماء), and al-niʿmah (النعمة) all mean: ease, comfort, and wealth, and it is the opposite of al-baʾsāʾ (البأساء) and al-buʾsā (البؤسى). And His saying, Mighty and Exalted: 'And whoever exchanges the favor (niʿmah) of God after it has come to him...' [Q. 2:211] — meaning, in this context, the proofs of God indicating the [truth of the] matter of the Prophet, peace be upon him. And His saying, Exalted: 'Then you will surely be asked that Day about the pleasure (al-naʿīm)' [Q. 102:8], meaning you will be asked on the Day of Resurrection about everything you enjoyed in this world. The plural of niʿmah (نعمة) is niʿam (نعم) and anʿum (أنعم), like shiddah/ashudd (شدة/أشد); Sībawayh related this. Al-Nābighah said: 'I will never mention al-Nuʿmān except with good — for I have with him kindnesses (yadan) and favors (anʿuman).' Al-naʿm (النعم), with ḍammah, is the opposite of al-buʾs (البؤس). One says: 'yawm naʿm (يوم نعم)' and 'yawm buʾs (يوم بؤس),' plural anʿum (أنعم) and abʾus (أبؤس). 'Naʿuma al-shayʾu (نعم الشيء)' [yields the verbal noun] nuʿūmah (نعومة), meaning it became soft (nāʿim) and gentle; likewise 'naʿima yanʿamu (نعم ينعم)' like ḥadhira yaḥdharu (حذر يحذر); there is a third dialect combining the two: 'naʿima yanʿumu (نعم ينعم)' like faḍila yafḍulu (فضل يفضل); and a fourth dialect: 'naʿima yanʿimu (نعم ينعم),' with kasrah in both, which is irregular. Al-tanaʿʿum (التنعم) is living in ease/luxury, and the verbal noun is al-niʿmah (النعمة). 'Naʿima al-rajulu yanʿamu niʿmatan (نعم الرجل ينعم نعمة),' so he is naʿim (نعم), between manʿam (منعم); or it may also be 'tanaʿʿama (تنعم),' so he is nāʿim (ناعم); and [one also says] 'naʿima yanʿumu (نعم ينعم).' Ibn Jinnī said: naʿima (نعم) is originally the past tense of yanʿumu (ينعم), and yanʿimu (ينعم) is originally the present tense of naʿima (نعم); then the two dialects intermingled, so that whoever says naʿima (نعم) borrowed [the present tense] from the dialect of whoever says yanʿimu (ينعم), and thus a third dialect arose there. If you say: but shouldn't it follow, on this basis, that whoever says naʿima (نعم) would borrow the present tense of whoever says naʿima (نعم) [the other dialect], thus forming from this a third dialect, namely naʿima yanʿamu (نعم ينعم)? It is said: what prevented this is that a verb's present-tense form never varies [in pattern within one root in this way arbitrarily] — but naʿima (نعم) is not like that, for naʿima (نعم) can take either yanʿamu (ينعم) or yanʿumu (ينعم) [as present forms], thus tolerating variation in its present tense, whereas [an ordinary] verb does not tolerate variation in its present tense. If you say: why then did they put kasrah on the ʿayn of yanʿimu (ينعم) when its past tense is only naʿima (نعم) or naʿuma (نعم), and neither faʿila (فعل) nor faʿula (فعل) [pattern] normally has a share in the yafʿilu (يفعل) [present-tense pattern]? It is said: this matter follows a different path than what preceded it — either yanʿimu (ينعم), with kasrah on the ʿayn, follows [as though from] a past-tense pattern faʿila (فعل) [with kasrah] that they simply never pronounced, making do instead with naʿima (نعم) and naʿuma (نعم), just as they made do with taraka (ترك) instead of wadhara (وذر) and wadaʿa (ودع) [as its 'missing' related forms], and just as they made do with malāmiḥ (ملامح) instead of [regularly] pluralizing lamḥah (لمحة); or else faʿila (فعل) here is superimposed upon faʿula (فعل) — meaning that the ʿayn of the present tense of naʿuma (نعم) is given kasrah just as the ʿayn of the present tense of faʿula (فعل) [normally] is given ḍammah. Likewise: tanaʿʿama (تنعم), tanāʿama (تناعم), nāʿama (ناعم), naʿʿamahu (نعمه), and nāʿamahu (ناعمه). 'Naʿʿama awlādahu (نعم أولاده)' means he gave his children ease and comfort. Al-niʿmah (النعمة), with fatḥah, means enjoyment/comfort-giving (al-tanʿīm). One says: 'naʿʿamahu Allāhu (نعمه الله)' and 'nāʿamahu (ناعمه)' hence 'fa-tanaʿʿama (فتنعم).' And in the ḥadīth: 'How can I anʿamu (أنعم) [enjoy comfort] while the one who holds the Trumpet has already put it to his lips?' — meaning, how can I tanaʿʿama (أتنعم), from al-niʿmah (النعمة) with fatḥah, which means joy, gladness, and ease. And in the ḥadīth of Abū Maryam: 'I entered upon Muʿāwiyah, and he said: mā anʿamanā bika? (ما أنعمنا بك)' [What has favored/brought us the pleasure of you? / What good fortune brings you?] [entry continues]