Mashrabaمشربة

نفسA single aṣl: the outflow of breeze or breath, of whatever kind. (root nfs)

النون والفاء والسين أصل واحد يدل على خروج النسيم كيف كان من ريح أو غيرها وإليه يرجع فروعه منه التنفس خروج النسيم من …

Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-lugha · English rendering

نفس
Patterns computed · our data

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

40 words6 verbs8 verbal nouns7 participles4 intensives and elatives5 other nouns7 plurals3 relatives and abstracts

  • نَفْسthe soul
  • أَنفُسplural of the soul
  • نُفُوسplural of the soul
  • نَفَسbreath
  • أَنْفَاسplural of breath
The whole family7 groups, by pattern; tap a pattern to see what it does
Verbs6نَفُسَ · تَنَفَّسَ · تَنَافَسَ

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: فَعُلَ يَفْعُلُ (u – u; the imperfect from Lane's “aor.”)

Verbal nouns8نَفْس · نَفَس · تَنْفِيس

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

Participles7مَنْفُوس · مُتَنَفَّس · مُتَنَافَس

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

  • مَنْفُوسbrought forthLanepassive, Form ILaneIbn Fāris
  • مُتَنَفَّسplace of passage of the breathLanepassive, Form Vlibrary ×1Lane
  • مُتَنَافَسpassive, Form VILane
  • مُتَنَفِّسbreathingLaneactive, Form VLane
Intensives, qualities and the elative4نَفِيس · أَنْفَس · نَفُوس

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

  • نَفِيسthing high in estimationLanequality (faʿīl)library ×1LaneIbn Fāris
  • أَنْفَسelative or colour adjective (afʿal)Lane
  • نَفُوسenvious manLaneintensive (faʿūl)Lane
  • نَفْسَانintensive (faʿlān)Lane
Other nouns5نَفِيسَة · نَفْساء · نُفَسَاء

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

  • نَفِيسَةobject of values; gemsautonounlibrary ×3
  • نَفْساءnounlibrary ×1Ibn Fāris
  • نُفَسَاءwoman in the state following childbirthLanenounLaneIbn Fāris
  • نَفْسِيnounLane
  • نُفْسَةdelayLanenounLane
Plurals7أَنفُس · نُفُوس · أَنْفَاس

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

  • أَنفُسplural of the soulfrom the singularbroken plural of نَفْسQurʾān ×153Lane
  • نُفُوسplural of the soulfrom the singularbroken plural of نَفْسQurʾān ×2library ×31
  • أَنْفَاسplural of breathfrom the singularbroken plural of نَفَسlibrary ×9Lane
  • نَفائِسbroken plural of نَفِيسَةlibrary ×3
Relative and abstract3نَفْسِيّ · نَفْسانِيَّة · نَفْسَانِيّ

-iyy relates a thing to its source; -iyya makes an abstract noun.grammar →

  • نَفْسِيّmental; spiritualautorelative adjective (-iyy)library ×4
  • نَفْسانِيَّةpsychologyautoabstract noun (-iyya)library ×3
  • نَفْسَانِيّmental; psychologicalautorelative adjective (-iyy)library ×1Lane
Why this shape?What each of the 21 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.

مَفْعَلَةن ف سمَنْفَسَة

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-nafs (النفس), plural nufūs (النفوس), has [several] meanings.

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

    Al-nafs (النفس), plural nufūs (النفوس), has [several] meanings. Al-nafs: the spirit by which the body has life; every human being is a nafs, even Adam (peace be upon him), male and female alike. And 'everything itself' is called nafs. A man who 'has nafs' (له نفس) means he has good character, endurance, and generosity. Al-nafs also means tanaffus (التنفس), i.e. the emission of breath from within. One says 'I drank the water in one breath (bi-nafas)', and 'three breaths (anfās)'. Anything that brings relief is called a nafas. A thing that is nafīs (نفيس) is something competed for. 'Nafistu bihi ʿalayya nafsan wa-nafāsatan (نفست به علي نفسا ونفاسة)' means [I was stingy/grudging]. 'Nafusa al-shayʾu nafāsatan (نفس الشيء نفاسة)' means it became precious. 'This place is anfas (أنفس) than that' means it is somewhat farther. Al-nifās (النفاس): a woman's giving birth; once she has given birth she is nufasāʾ (نفساء) until she becomes ritually pure. 'Nufisat (نفست)' — she [gave birth], so she is manfūsa (منفوسة), and the extreme limit of her nifās is forty days. Al-nāfis (النافس) is the fifth of the gambling arrows.

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    النفس، وجمعها النفوس: لها معان. النفس: الروح الذي به حياة الجسد، وكل إنسان نفس حتى آدم عليه السلام، الذكر والأنثى سواء. وكل شيء بعينه نفس. ورجل له نفس، أي: خلق وجلادة وسخاء. والنفس: التنفس، أي: خروج النسيم من الجوف. وشربت الماء بنفس، وثلاثة أنفاس. وكل مستراح منه نفس. وشيء نفيس: متنافس فيه. ونفست به علي نفسا ونفاسة: [ضننت] . ونفس الشيء نفاسة، أي: صار نفيسا. وهذا المكان أنفس من ذاك، أي: أبعد شيئا. والنفاس: ولادة المرأة، فإذا وضعت كانت نفساء حتى تطهر. ونفست فهي منفوسة، وغاية نفاسها: أربعون يوما. والنافس: الخامس من القداح.

  • al-Jawharī · 393Al-nafs (النفس): the spirit (rūḥ).

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

    Al-nafs (النفس): the spirit (rūḥ). One says 'his nafs went out' [he died]. Abū Khirāsh said: 'Sālim was saved, and the nafs (soul) left him by his cheek-strap, and nothing was saved but a sword-sheath and a waist-wrap' — i.e. by a sword-sheath and a waist-wrap. Al-nafs also means blood; one says 'his nafs flowed' [he bled]. In the ḥadīth: 'Whatever has no flowing nafs (blood) does not make water impure if it dies in it.' Al-nafs also means the body. The poet said: 'I was informed that the Banū Suḥaym brought into their tents the tāmūr of al-Mundhir's nafs (body)' — and al-tāmūr means blood. As for their saying 'three anfus (أنفس)' [persons], they use this because they mean by it 'human being.' Al-nafs also means the eye [evil eye]. One says 'so-and-so was struck by a nafs', and 'nafastuhu bi-nafs (نفسته بنفس)' means I afflicted him with an evil eye. Al-nāfis (النافس) is one who casts the evil eye. Al-nāfis is also the fifth of the arrows of maysir [gambling], though it is said to be the fourth. 'Nafs al-shayʾ (نفس الشيء)' means the thing's very self, used for emphasis; one says 'I saw so-and-so himself (nafsahu)' and 'he came to me himself.' Al-nafs is also a measure of tanning material used to tan a hide, such as sumac or the like; one says 'give me a nafas (نفسا) of tanning material.' Al-Aṣmaʿī said: An Arab woman sent her daughter to her neighbor, and she said to her: 'My mother says to you: give me a nafas or two nafass so I may work my hide with it, for I am in a hurry' — meaning she has no leisure to prepare tanning material, out of haste. Al-nafas (النفس), with fatḥa on the fāʾ [i.e. vocalized differently], is the singular of anfās (أنفاس, breaths). One says 'the man tanaffasa (تنفس)' [breathed] and 'tanaffasa al-ṣuʿadāʾ (تنفس الصعداء)' [sighed deeply]. Every creature with a lung is mutanaffis (breathing); water creatures have no lungs [and do not breathe in this sense]. 'Tanaffasa al-ṣubḥ (تنفس الصبح)' means dawn broke. 'Tanaffasat al-qaws (تنفست القوس)' means the bow cracked. One says of the day, when it lengthens: 'tanaffasa (تنفس)' [it stretched out], and likewise of waves when they cast up water. The poet's saying: 'O my eyes, weep tears, breath by breath (anfāsan)' means moment after moment. Al-nafas is also a mouthful/draught; one says 'take a nafas or two nafass from the vessel', i.e. a gulp or two gulps, and do not exceed that. Its plural is anfās, like sabab/asbāb. Jarīr said: 'She distracts her hungry children with draughts (anfās) of cool, pure [water/milk].' One also says: 'You are in a nafas (سعة) regarding your affair', meaning you have latitude. A thing that is nafīs (نفيس) is one that is competed for and desired. 'This is the anfas (أنفس) of my possessions' means I love and esteem it most. 'Anfasanī fulānun fī kadhā (أنفسني فلان في كذا)' means he made me desire it. 'Fulān has manfas (منفس) and nafīs (نفيس)' means abundant wealth; one says 'I would not be pleased with this matter for any manfas or nafīs [amount of wealth].' 'Nafisa bihi (نفس به)', with kasra, means he was stingy/grudging with it. One says 'nafistu ʿalayhi al-shayʾa nafāsatan (نفست عليه الشيء نفاسة)' when you do not consider him worthy of it. 'Nafistu ʿalayhi bi-khayrin qalīlin (نفست عليه بخير قليل)' means I envied him [even a little good]. 'Nafisa al-... [entry continues]

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    النفس: الروح. يقال: خرجت نفسه. قال أبو خراش: نجا سالم والنفس منه بشدقه * ولم ينج إلا جفن سيف ومئزرا * أي بجفن سيف ومئزر. والنفس: الدم. يقال: سالت نفسه. وفي الحديث: " ما ليس له نفس سائلة فإنه لا ينجس الماء إذا مات فيه ". والنفس أيضا: الجسد. قال الشاعر (1) : نبئت أن بني سحيم أدخلوا * أبياتهم تامور نفس المنذر (2) * والتامور: الدم. وأما قولهم: ثلاثة أنفس، فيذكرونه لأنهم يريدون به الإنسان. والنفس: العين. يقال: أصابت فلانا نفس. ونفسته بنفس، إذا أصبته بعين. والنافس: العائن. والنافس: الخامس من سهام الميسر، ويقال هو الرابع. ونفس الشئ: عينه يؤكد به. يقال: رأيت فلانا نفسه، وجاءني بنفسه. والنفس: أيضا قدر دبغة مما يدبغ به الأديم من القرظ وغيره. يقال: هب لي نفسا من دباغ. قال الاصمعي. بعثت امرأة من العرب بنتا لها إلى جارتها فقالت لها: تقول لك أمي: أعطيني نفسا أو نفسين أمعس به منيئتى فإنى أفدة. أي مستعجلة لا أتفرغ لاتخاذ الدباغ، من السرعة. والنفس بالتحريك: واحد الأنفاس. وقد تنفس الرجل، وتنفس الصعداء. وكل ذي رئة متنفس. ودواب الماء لا رئات لها. وتنفس الصبح، أي تبلج. وتنفست القوس، أي تصدعت. ويقال للنهار إذا زاد: تنفس، وكذلك الموج إذا نضح الماء. وقول الشاعر: عيني جودا عبرة أنفاسا * أي ساعة بعد ساعة. والنفس أيضا: الجرعة. يقال اكرع في الإناء نفسا أو نفسين، أي جرعة أو جرعتين، ولا تزد عليه. والجمع أنفاس، مثل سبب وأسباب. قال جرير: تعلل وهي ساغبة بنيها * بأنفاس من الشبم القراح * ويقال أيضا: أنت في نفس من أمرك، أي في سعة. وشئ نفيس، أي يتنافس فيه ويرغب. وهذا أنفس مالي، أي أحبه وأكرمه عندي. وأنفسني فلان في كذا، أي رغبني فيه. ولفلان منفس ونفيس، أي مال كثير. يقال: ما يسرني بهذا الأمر منفس ونفيس. ونفس به بالكسر، أي ضن به. يقال: نفست عليه الشئ نفاسة إذا لم تره يستأهله. ونفست علي بخير قليل، أي حسدت. ونفس الشئ بالضم نفاسة، أي صار نفيسا مرغوبا فيه. ونافست في الشئ منافسة ونفاسا، إذا رغبت فيه على وجه المباراة في الكرم وتنافسوا فيه، أي رغبوا. وقولهم: لك في هذا الأمر نفسة، أي مهلة. ونفست عنه تنفيسا، أي رفهت. يقال: نفس الله عنه كربته، أي فرجها. والنفاس: ولاد المرأة إذا وضعت، فهي نفساء ونسوة نقاس. وليس في الكلام فعلاء يجمع على فعال غير نفساء وعشراء. ويجمع أيضا على نفساوات وعشراوات، وامرأتان نفساوان وعشراوان، أبدلوا من همزة التأنيث واوا. وقد نفست المرأة بالكسر نفاسا ونفاسة. ويقال أيضا: نفست المرأة غلاما، على ما لم يسم فاعله، والولد منفوس. وفي الحديث: " ما من نفس منفوسة إلا وقد كتب مكانها من الجنة والنار ". وقولهم: ورث فلان قبل أن ينفس فلان، أي قبل أن يولد. قال الشاعر (1) : لنا صرخة ثم إسكاتة * كما طرقت بنفاس بكر * أي بولد *.

  • Ibn Fāris · 395The nūn, fāʾ, and sīn (ن ف س) is a single root indicating the emission of a breeze/breath (nasīm), whatever it may be, whether wind or something else, and to it its branches return.

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

    The nūn, fāʾ, and sīn (ن ف س) is a single root indicating the emission of a breeze/breath (nasīm), whatever it may be, whether wind or something else, and to it its branches return. From it: tanaffus (التنفس) — the going out of breath from within, and 'nafassa Allāhu (نفس الله) his distress' [i.e. relieved it], since in the going out of breath there is relief and ease. And nafas (النفس) is anything by which one is relieved of distress. In the ḥadīth: 'Do not curse the wind, for it is of the nafas (نفس) of the Merciful' — meaning it is a breath/relief by which the distressed are relieved. And it is reported concerning the Anṣār: 'I find the nafas (نفس) of your Lord coming from the direction of Yemen' — meaning that through the Anṣār there was relief for those believers who had been persecuted in Mecca. The evil eye is also called nafs (نفس), and one says 'so-and-so was struck by a nafs (نفس)' [i.e. the evil eye]. Nafs (النفس) also means blood, and this is sound [as an explanation], because when blood is lost from a person's body, his nafs (نفس, life/self) is lost. The menstruating woman is called nufasāʾ (النفساء) because of the emission of her blood, and nifās (النفاس) is a woman's giving birth; when she gives birth she is nufasāʾ. One says: 'I inherited this before so-and-so was nufisa (ينفس)', i.e. born. The newborn child is manfūs (منفوس). Nifās (النفاس) is also the plural of nufasāʾ. One says: 'He took a gulp (نفسا) or two gulps (نفسين) from the vessel.' Water too is called nafas (نفس), this being a case of naming a thing by the name of something else, and because the sustenance of the nafs (self/life) is through it, and the nafs's endurance is by breath (نفس). The poet said: 'The three black [waterskins] spend the night couched, resting on a draught (نفس) of Māwiyya's sweet water...' Metaphorically, 'the bow tanaffasat (تنفست)' means it cracked. A thing that is nafīs (نفيس) is one that has 'worth/desirability' (نفس) and value such that it is competed for (yatanāfasu bihi). Tanāfus (التنافس) is when each of two contestants displays the strength of his own self (نفس). Their saying regarding tanning, 'nafas (نفس) of this [tanning material]' is according to analogy — meaning a small amount, just enough to tan a hide once, likened in its scantiness to a breath one exhales. The analogical pattern in this chapter and what resembles it is uniform.

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    النون والفاء والسين أصل واحد يدل على خروج النسيم كيف كان من ريح أو غيرها وإليه يرجع فروعه منه التنفس خروج النسيم من الجوف ونفس الله كربته وذلك أن في خروج النسيم روحا وراحة والنفس كل شيء يفرج به عن مكروب وفي الحديث لا تسبوا الريح فإنها من نفس الرحمن يعني أنها روح ينفس به عن المكروبين وجاء في ذكر الأنصار أجد نفس ربكم من قبل اليمن يراد أن بالأنصار نفس عن الذين كانوا يؤذون من المؤمنين بمكة ويقال للعين نفس وأصابت فلانا نفس والنفس الدم وهو صحيح وذلك أنه إذا فقد الدم من بدن الإنسان فقد نفسه والحائض تسمى النفساء لخروج دمها والنفاس ولاد المرأة فإذا وضعت فهي نفساء ويقال ورثت هذا قبل أن ينفس فلان أي يولد والولد منفوس والنفاس أيضا جمع نفساء ويقال كرع في الإناء نفسا أو نفسين ويقال للماء نفس وهذا على تسميته الشيء باسم غيره ولأن قوام النفس به والنفس قوامها بالنفس قال — تبيت الثلاث السود وهي مناخة … على نفس من ماء ماوية العذب … ومن الاستعارة تنفست القوس انشقت وشيء نفيس أي ذو نفس وخطر يتنافس به والتنافس أن يبرز كل واحد من المتبارزين قوة نفسه وقولهم في الدباغ نفس هذا هو القياس أي يسير منه قدر ما يدبغ به الإهاب مرة شبهة في قلته بنفس يتنفس وقياس الباب في هذا وما في معناه واحد

  • al-Rāghib · 502Al-nafs (النفس): the spirit, as in His saying, Exalted is He: 'Take out your own souls (anfusakum)' [al-Anʿām 6:93].

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

    Al-nafs (النفس): the spirit, as in His saying, Exalted is He: 'Take out your own souls (anfusakum)' [al-Anʿām 6:93]. He said: 'And know that Allah knows what is within yourselves (anfusikum), so beware of Him' [al-Baqara 2:235]. And His saying: 'You know what is in my nafs (self), and I do not know what is in Your nafs' [al-Māʾida 5:116]. And His saying: 'Allah warns you of Himself (nafsahu)' [Āl ʿImrān 3:30] — so 'His nafs' here means His very Essence (dhāt). This, although grammatically it involves an annexed noun (muḍāf) and an annexed-to noun (muḍāf ilayhi) which linguistically implies otherness, and the establishing of two separate things from the standpoint of expression — yet there is nothing, from the standpoint of meaning, other than Him, Exalted is He above dualism in every respect. Some people have said: the ascription of nafs to Him, Exalted, is an ascription of possession/dominion, and by 'His nafs' He means our own souls that command to evil, ascribed to Him in the sense of ownership. Al-munāfasa (المنافسة): the self's striving to resemble the excellent and to attain their level, without inflicting harm on another. He, Exalted, said: 'and for that let the competitors compete (fal-yatanāfasi al-mutanāfisūn)' [al-Muṭaffifīn 83:26] — this is like His saying: 'race to forgiveness from your Lord' [al-Ḥadīd 57:21]. Al-nafas (النفس, breath): the air entering and leaving the body through the mouth and nostrils, which is like nourishment for the nafs (self); with its cessation, the self ceases to be. Al-nafas is also said of relief/release (al-faraj); from this comes what is reported: 'Indeed I find the nafas of your Lord coming from the direction of Yemen.' And his saying, peace and blessings be upon him: 'Do not curse the wind, for it is of the nafas of the Merciful' — meaning it is that by which distress is relieved. One says: 'O Allah, nafis (نفس) [relieve] me', meaning relieve my distress. 'Tanaffasat al-rīḥ (تنفست الريح)' means the wind blew pleasantly; the poet said [entry continues]

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    النفس: الروح في قوله تعالى: أخرجوا أنفسكم [الأنعام/ 93] قال: واعلموا أن الله يعلم ما في أنفسكم فاحذروه [البقرة/ 235] ، وقوله: تعلم ما في نفسي ولا أعلم ما في نفسك [المائدة/ 116] ، وقوله: ويحذركم الله نفسه [آل عمران/ 30] فنفسه: ذاته، وهذا- وإن كان قد حصل من حيث اللفظ مضاف ومضاف إليه يقتضي المغايرة، وإثبات شيئين من حيث العبارة- فلا شيء من حيث المعنى سواه تعالى عن الاثنوية من كل وجه. وقال بعض الناس: إن إضافة النفس إليه تعالى إضافة الملك، ويعني بنفسه نفوسنا الأمارة بالسوء، وأضاف إليه على سبيل الملك. والمنافسة: مجاهدة النفس للتشبه بالأفاضل، واللحوق بهم من غير إدخال ضرر على غيره. قال تعالى: وفي ذلك فليتنافس المتنافسون [المطففين/ 26] وهذا كقوله: سابقوا إلى مغفرة من ربكم [الحديد/ 21] والنفس: الريح الداخل والخارج في البدن من الفم والمنخر، وهو كالغذاء للنفس، وبانقطاعه بطلانها ويقال للفرج: نفس، ومنه ما روي: «إني لأجد نفس ربكم من قبل اليمن» » وقوله عليه الصلاة والسلام: «لا تسبوا الريح فإنها من نفس الرحمن» «4» أي: مما يفرج بها الكرب. يقال: اللهم نفس عني، أي: فرج عني. وتنفست الريح: إذا هبت طيبة، قال الشاعر:

  • Lisān · 711Al-nafs (النفس): the spirit (rūḥ).

    Ibn Manẓūr (d. 711/1311), Lisān al-ʿArab. The great compendium of the earlier dictionaries (entry shortened).

    Al-nafs (النفس): the spirit (rūḥ). Ibn Sīda said: there is a distinction between [nafs and rūḥ] that is not the purpose of this book to explain. Abū Isḥāq said: al-nafs in the speech of the Arabs runs on two patterns: one of them is your saying 'so-and-so's nafs went out (kharajat nafsu fulān)', meaning his spirit; and 'it is in so-and-so's nafs (fī nafsi fulān) to do such-and-such', meaning in his mind/conscience (rawʿ). The other pattern: the meaning of nafs in it means the totality and reality of the thing; you say 'so-and-so killed his own nafs' and 'destroyed his own nafs', meaning he inflicted destruction upon his entire self and reality. The plural in both cases is anfus and nufūs. Abū Khirāsh said, in the sense of nafs as spirit: 'Sālim was saved, and his nafs (spirit) left him by his cheek-strap, and nothing was saved but a sword-sheath and a waist-wrap.' Ibn Barrī said: this verse belongs to Ḥudhayfa ibn Anas al-Hudhalī, not to Abū Khirāsh as al-Jawharī claimed. His saying 'najā Sālimun' [Sālim was saved] and 'lam yanju' [and was not saved] is like their saying 'so-and-so escaped, and yet did not escape', when his safety does not count as true safety; the meaning is: Sālim was not saved except [together with] his sword-sheath and waist-wrap — the accusative of 'jafn' being an exceptive of the disjoined type (istithnāʾ munqaṭiʿ), i.e. Sālim was not saved except [along with] a sword-sheath, and a sword's sheath is disjoined from it [i.e., a separate part]. Here nafs is the spirit, as mentioned; from this comes their saying 'fāẓat nafsuhu (فاظت نفسه)' [his soul departed = he died]; the poet said: 'His nafs nearly departed over him, when he lay [dead], his body wrapped in a fine cloak and shrouds.' Ibn Khālawayh said: al-nafs is the spirit; al-nafs is that by which discernment occurs; al-nafs is blood; al-nafs is 'brother'; al-nafs [is used] in the sense of 'with/at' (ʿinda); and al-nafs is a measure of tanning material. Ibn Barrī said: as for nafs meaning spirit and nafs meaning that by which discernment occurs, their evidence is His saying, Glory be to Him: 'Allah takes the souls (al-anfus) at the time of their death' — the first nafs here is that which ceases with the cessation of life, and the second nafs is that which ceases with the cessation of reason (during sleep). As for nafs meaning blood, its evidence is al-Samawʾal's saying: 'Our lives' blood (nufūsunā) flows upon the edges of the blades, and it flows on nothing but the blades' — blood is called nafs because the nafs [life] departs with its departure. As for nafs meaning 'brother', its evidence is His saying, Glory be to Him: 'so when you enter houses, greet one another (ʿalā anfusikum, lit. upon your own selves/brethren)'. As for the meaning 'with/at [someone]' (ʿinda), its evidence is His saying, Exalted is He, narrating from ʿĪsā, upon our Prophet and upon him be peace: 'You know what is in my nafs, and I do not know what is in Your nafs' — meaning: You know what is with (ʿinda) me, and I do not know what is with You. The better view on this is that of Ibn al-Anbārī: that nafs here means 'the unseen' (al-ghayb), i.e. 'You know my unseen', because since the nafs is hidden/unseen, the term was applied to the unseen [in general]; and what confirms the correctness of his view is the end of the verse: 'Indeed You are the Knower of the unseen (al-ghuyūb)' — as if it meant 'You know my unseen, O Knower of the unseen.' The Arabs sometimes make the nafs by which discernment occurs into two nafses, because the nafs may command a thing and [also] forbid it, and that is... [entry continues]

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    النفس: الروح، قال ابن سيده: وبينهما فرق ليس من غرض هذا الكتاب، قال أبو إسحق: النفس في كلام العرب يجري على ضربين: أحدهما قولك خرجت نفس فلان أي روحه، وفي نفس فلان أن يفعل كذا وكذا أي في روعه، والضرب الآخر معنى النفس فيه معنى جملة الشيء وحقيقته، تقول: قتل فلان نفسه وأهلك نفسه أي أوقع الإهلاك بذاته كلها وحقيقته، والجمع من كل ذلك أنفس ونفوس؛ قال أبو خراش في معنى النفس الروح: نجا سالم والنفس منه بشدقه، ... ولم ينج إلا جفن سيف ومئزرا قال ابن بري: الشعر لحذيفة بن أنس الهذلي وليس لأبي خراش كما زعم الجوهري، وقوله نجا سالم ولم ينج كقولهم أفلت فلان ولم يفلت إذا لم تعد سلامته سلامة، والمعنى فيه لم ينج سالم إلا بجفن سيفه ومئزره وانتصاب الجفن على الاستثناء المنقطع أي لم ينج سالم إلا جفن سيف، وجفن السيف منقطع منه، والنفس هاهنا الروح كما ذكر؛ ومنه قولهم: فاظت نفسه؛ وقال الشاعر: كادت النفس أن تفيظ عليه، ... إذ ثوى حشو ريطة وبرود قال ابن خالويه: النفس الروح، والنفس ما يكون به التمييز، والنفس الدم، والنفس الأخ، والنفس بمعنى عند، والنفس قدر دبغة. قال ابن بري: أما النفس الروح والنفس ما يكون به التمييز فشاهدهما قوله سبحانه: الله يتوفى الأنفس حين موتها ، فالنفس الأولى هي التي تزول بزوال الحياة، والنفس الثانية التي تزول بزوال العقل؛ وأما النفس الدم فشاهده قول السموأل: تسيل على حد الظبات نفوسنا، ... وليست على غير الظبات تسيل وإنما سمي الدم نفسا لأن النفس تخرج بخروجه، وأما النفس بمعنى الأخ فشاهده قوله سبحانه: فإذا دخلتم بيوتا فسلموا على أنفسكم ، وأما التي بمعنى عند فشاهده قوله تعالى حكاية عن عيسى، على نبينا محمد وعليه الصلاة والسلام: تعلم ما في نفسي ولا أعلم ما في نفسك ؛ أي تعلم ما عندي ولا أعلم ما عندك، والأجود في ذلك قول ابن الأنباري: إن النفس هنا الغيب، أي تعلم غيبي لأن النفس لما كانت غائبة أوقعت على الغيب، ويشهد بصحة قوله في آخر الآية قوله: إنك أنت علام الغيوب، كأنه قال: تعلم غيبي يا علام الغيوب. والعرب قد تجعل النفس التي يكون بها التمييز نفسين، وذلك أن النفس قد تأمره بالشيء وتنهى عنه، وذلك عند الإقدام على أمر مكروه، فجعلوا التي تأمره نفسا وجعلوا التي تنهاه كأنها نفس أخرى؛ وعلى ذلك قول الشاعر: يؤامر نفسيه، وفي العيش فسحة، ... أيسترجع الذؤبان أم لا يطورها؟ وأنشد الطوسي: لم تدر ما لا؛ ولست قائلها، ... عمرك ما عشت آخر الأبد ولم تؤامر نفسيك ممتريا ... فيها وفي أختها، ولم تكد وقال آخر: فنفساي نفس قالت: ائت ابن بحدل، ... تجد فرجا من كل غمى تهابها ونفس تقول: اجهد نجاءك، لا تكن ... كخاضبة لم يغن عنها خضابها والنفس يعبر بها عن الإنسان جميعه كقولهم: عندي ثلاثة أنفس. وكقوله تعالى: أن تقول نفس يا حسرتى على ما فرطت في جنب الله ؛ قال ابن سيده: وقوله تعالى: تعلم ما في نفسي ولا أعلم ما في نفسك ؛ أي تعلم ما أضمر ولا أعلم ما في نفسك أي لا أعلم ما حقيقتك ولا ما عندك علمه، فالتأويل تعلم ما أعلم ولا أعلم ما تعلم. وقوله تعالى: ويحذركم الله نفسه* ؛ أي يحذركم إياه، وقوله تعالى: الله يتوفى الأنفس حين موتها ؛ روي عن ابن عباس أنه قال: لكل إنسان نفسان: إحداهما نفس العقل الذي يكون به التمييز، والأخرى نفس الروح الذي به الحياة. وقال أبو بكر بن الأنباري: من اللغويين من سوى النفس والروح وقال هما شيء واحد إلا أن النفس مؤنثة والروح مذكر، قال: وقال غيره الروح هو الذي به الحياة، والنفس هي التي بها العقل، فإذا نام النائم قبض الله نفسه ولم يقبض روحه، ولا يقبض الروح إلا عند الموت، قال: وسميت النفس نفسا لتولد النفس منها واتصاله بها، كما سموا الروح روحا لأن الروح موجود به، وقال الزجاج: لكل إنسان نفسان: إحداهما نفس التمييز وهي التي تفارقه إذا نام فلا يعقل بها يتوفاها الله كما قال الله تعالى، والأخرى نفس الحياة وإذا زالت زال معها النفس، والنائم يتنفس، قال: وهذا الفرق بين توفي نفس النائم في النوم وتوفي نفس الحي؛ قال: ونفس الحياة هي الروح وحركة الإنسان ونموه يكون به، والنفس الدم؛ وفي الحديث: ما ليس له نفس سائلة فإنه لا ينجس الماء إذا مات فيه ، وروي عن النخعي أنه قال: كل شيء له نفس سائلة فمات في الإناء فإنه ينجسه ، أراد كل شيء له دم سائل، وفي النهاية عنه: كل شيء ليست له نفس سائلة فإنه لا ينجس الماء إذا سقط فيه أي دم سائل. والنفس: الجسد؛ قال أوس بن حجر يحرض عمرو بن هند على بني حنيفة وهم قتلة أبيه المنذر بن ماء السماء يوم عين أباغ ويزعم أن عمرو بن شمر «2» الحنفي قتله: نبئت أن بني سحيم أدخلوا ... أبياتهم تامور نفس المنذر فلبئس ما كسب ابن عمرو رهطه ... شمر وكان بمسمع وبمنظر والتامور: الدم، أي حملوا دمه إلى أبياتهم ويروى بدل رهطه قومه ونفسه. اللحياني: العرب تقول رأيت نفسا واحدة فتؤنث وكذلك رأيت نفسين …

  • Lane · 1876English, synthesising the classical dictionaries.

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

    نَفُسَ

    1. نَفُسَ, aor. نَفُسَ , inf. n. نَفَاسَةٌ (S, M, A, Msb, K) and نِفَاسٌ and نَفسٌ (K) and نُفُوسٌ; (TA;) and أَنْفَسَ, (M, A, Msb,) inf. n. إِنْفَاسٌ; (A, Msb;) It was, or became, high in estimation, of high account, or excellent; (M, Msb, TA;) [highly prized; precious, or valuable;] and therefore, (TA,) was desired with emulation, or in much request: (S, K, TA:) and the ↓latter verb, said of property, it was, or became, loved, and highly esteemed. (TA.) نَفِسَ بِهِ, (S, M, Msb, K,) aor. نَفَسَ , (K,) inf. n. نَفَسٌ (M) [and app. نَفْسٌ as will be shown below] and نَفَاسَةٌ and نَفَاسِيَةٌ, which last is extr., (M, TA,) He was, or became avaricious, tenacious, or niggardly, of it, (S, M, Msb, K,) because of its being in high estimation, or excellent. (Msb.) Hence the saying in the Kur, [xlvii. 40,] فَإِنَّمَا يَبْخَلُ عَنْ نَفْسِهِ [app. meaning He is only avaricious from his avarice.] (TA.) You say, نَفِسَ عَلَيْهِ بِالشَّىْءِ, (M,) or عَنْهُ [in the place of عليه], (TA,) He was, or became, avaricious, &c., of the thing, towards him, or withholding it from him. (M, TA.) And نَفِسَ عَلَيْهِ الشَّىْءَ, (S, M, K, TA,) and بِالشَّىْءِ, (M,) inf. n. نَفَاسَةٌ. (S, K, TA,) He was, or became, avaricious, &c., of the thing, towards him, and thought him not worthy of it, and was not pleased at its coming to him: (TA:) or [simply] he thought him not worthy of it: (S, M, K;) as also فِيهِ نافسهُ; of which last verb we have an ex. in the phrase تُنَافِسُ دُنْيَا, used by a poet in speaking of the tribe of Kureysh, meaning either تُنَافِسُ فِى دُنْبَا [they think others not worthy of worldly good]. or تُنَافسُ أَهْلَ دُنْيَا [they think the possessors of worldly good unworthy thereof]. (M.) [See also 3, below.] You say also, نَفِسْتَ عَلَىَّ بِخَيْرٍ, (A, K,) or بِخَيْرٍ قَلِيل, (S,) and نَفِسْتَ عَلَىَّ خَيْرًا كَثِيرًا, (A,) inf. n. نَفْسٌ and نَفَاسَةٌ, (A,) Thou enviedst me (S, A, K) good, (A, K,) or a little good, (S,) and much good, (A.) and didst not consider me worthy of it. (A.) And فُلَانٌ مَا يَتَنَغَّسُ عَلَيْنَا الغَنِيمَةَ وَالظَّفَرَ [app. meaning Such a one does not envy us the spoil and the victory.] (A, in continuation of what here immediately precedes.) And مَا هٰذَا النَّفَسُ What is this envying? (A, TA.) نُفِسَتْ; (S, M, A, Msb, K;) and نَفِسَتْ, (S, M, Msb, K,) as some of the Arabs say, (Msb.) aor. , (Msb, K:) inf. n. نِفَاسٌ and نِفَاسةٌ (S, M) and نَفَسٌ, (M, TA,) or the first of these ns. is a simple subst.; (Msb;) (tropical:) She (a woman) brought forth; (S, M, K;) and نُفِسَتْ وَلَدًا [she brought forth a child]: (Th, M:) and نُفِسَتْ بِوَلَدِهَا [she brought forth her child]. (A.) You say also, وَرِث فُلَانٌ هٰذَا قَبْلَ أَنْ يَنْفَسَ فُلَانٌ, meaning, Such a one inherited this before such a one was born. (S.) Also, both these verbs, (Msb, K,) or the latter, نَفِسَتْ, only, (Az, Mgh, TA,) or the latter is the more common, (K.) the former, which is related on the authority of As, not being well known, (Msb,) (tropical:) She (a woman) menstruated. (Az, Mgh, Msb, K.) [In the CK, a confusion is made by the omission of a و before the verb which explains this last signification.] This signification and that next preceding it are from نَفْسٌ meaning “ blood. ” (Mgh.) نَفَسْتُهُ بِنَفْسِ (tropical:) I smote him with an [evil or envious] eye. (S, K, TA.)

    نفّسهُ فِيهِ

    2. نفّسهُ فِيهِ, or بِهِ: see 4. نفّس كُرْبَتَهُ, (A, Mgh, Msb, K, *) and نفّس عَنْهُ كُرْبَتَهُ, (S,) inf. n. تَنْفِيسٌ (S, Msb, K) and [quasi-inf. n.] نَفَسٌ, (K,) (tropical:) He (God) removed, or cleared away, his grief, or sorrow, or anxiety: (S, A, Mgh, Msb, K *:) and نفّس عَنْهُ signifies the same; (M, Mgh;) and He made his circumstances ample and easy; (M, TA;) and he (a man) eased him, or relieved him, syn. رَفَّهَ: (S, TA:) and also, this last phrase, he granted him a delay: the objective compliment being omitted: and نَفِّسْنِى is used as meaning grant thou to me a delay: or, elliptically, نَفِّسْ كَرْبِى or غَمِّى [remove thou my grief, &c.]. (Mgh.) [Hence] حَرْفُ تَنْفِيسٍ, applied to the prefix سَ [and its variants سَوْفَ &c.], meaning A particle of amplification; because changing the aor. from the strait time which is the present, to the ample time, which is the future. (Mughnee, in art. س.) نفّس القَوْسَ (tropical:) He cracked the bow: (Kr. M:) [see 5:] accord. to ISh, he put (حَطَّ) its string [upon the bow]. (TA.)

    نافس فِى الشَّىْءِ

    3. نافس فِى الشَّىْءِ, (S, K. *) inf. n. مُنَافَسَةٌ and نِفَاسٌ, (S,) He desired the thing, [or aspired to it.] with generous emulation; (S, K;) as also تنافس: (K:) and نافس صَاحِبَهُ فِيهِ [he vied with his companion in desire for it]: (A:) or فيه تنافسوا signifies they desired it [or aspired to it]: (S:) or they vied, one with another, in desiring it: or they desired it with emulation; syn. فَراغَبَوا: (A, TA:) [and يُنَنَافسُ فيه it is emulously desired, or in request; or in great request:] or مُنَافَسَهٌ and تَنَافُسٌ signify the desiring to have a thing, and to have it for himself exclusively of any other person; from نَفِيسٌ, signifying a thing “ good, or goodly, or excellent, in its kind: ” (TA:) and تَنَافَسْنَا ذٰلِكَ الأَمْرَ and تنافسنا فيه we envied one another for that thing, and strove for priority in attaining it. (M.) See also تَفِسَ عَلَيْهِ الشَّىْءَ, with which نَافَسَهُ فِيهِ is syn. (M.)

    انفس

    4. انفس: see نَفُسَ, in two places. انفسهُ It (a thing, TA) pleased him, (K, TA,) and made him desirous of it: (TA:) or became highly esteemed by him. (IKtt.) أَنْفَسَنى فِيهِ He made me desirous of it; (S, M, A, K:) as also تَفَّسَنِى فيه, (IAar, M, TA,) or بِهِ. (So in my copy of the A.) مَا أَنْفَسَهُ How powerful is his evil, or envious, eye! (Lh, M.)

    تنفّس

    5. تنفّس [He breathed] is said of a man and of every animal having lungs: (S:) [or it signifies] he drew (اِسْتَمَدَّ) breath: (M:) or [he respired, i. e.] he drew breath with the air-passages in his nose; to his inside, and emitted it. (Msb.) You say also, تنفّس الصُّعَدَآءَ [He sighed: see also art. صعد]. (S.) (tropical:) He (a man) emitted wind from beneath him. (TA.) Also, (TA,) or تنفّس فِى الإِنَآءِ, (K,) (tropical:) He drank (K, TA) from the vessel (TA) with three restings between draughts, and separated the vessel from his mouth at every such resting: (K, TA.) and, contr., the latter phrase, (assumed tropical:) he drank [from the vessel] without separating it from his mouth: (K, TA:) which latter mode of drinking is disapproved. (TA.) Also تنفّس (assumed tropical:) He lengthened in speech; he spoke long; for when a speaker takes breath, it is easy to him to lengthen his speech; and تنفس فِى الكَلَامِ signifies the same. (TA.) (tropical:) It (said of the day, M, A, and of the dawn, A, and of other things, M) became extended; (M;) it became long; (M, A;) or, said of the day, accord. to Lh, it advanced so that it became noon: (M:) or it increased: (S:) and it extended far: and hence it is said of life, meaning either it became protracted, and extended far, or it became ample: (M:) and, said of the dawn, it shone forth, (Akh, S, K, TA,) and extended so that it became clear day: (Fr, TA:) or it broke, so that things became plain in consequence of it: (TA:) or it rose: (Mujáhid:) or its dusty hue shone at the approach of a gentle wind. (Bd, lxxxi. 18.) You say also, تنفّس بِهِ العُمُرُ (tropical:) [Life became long, or protracted, &c., with him]. (A.) And تنفّست دِجْلَةُ (assumed tropical:) The water of the Tigris increased. (TA.) تنفّس المَوْجُ (tropical:) The waves sprinkled the water. (S, K.) تنفّست القَوْسُ (tropical:) The bow cracked. (S, M, K.) It is only the stick that is not split in twain that does so; and this is the best of bows. And تنفّس in the same sense is said of an arrow. (M.) [تنفّس عَلَيْهِ الشَّىْءَ app. signifies the same as نَفِسَ عليه الشىء, q. v.]

    تَنَاْفَسَ

    6: see 3, throughout.

    نَفْسٌ

    نَفْسٌ The soul; the spirit; the vital principle; syn. رُوحٌ: (S, M, A, Msb, K:) but between these two words is a difference [which must be fully explained hereafter, though ISd says, that it is not of the purpose of his book, the M, to explain it]: (M:) in this sense it is fem.: (Msb:) pl. [of pauc.] أَنْفُسٌ and [of mult.] نُفُوسٌ. (M, Msb.) You say, خَرَجَتْ نَفْسُهُ [His soul, or spirit, went forth]; (Aboo-Is-hák, S, M, Msb, K;) and so جَادَتْ نَفْسُهُ. (Msb.) And a poet says, not Aboo-Khirásh as in the S, but Hudheyfeh Ibn-Anas, (IB,) i. e., [Sálim escaped when the soul was in the side of his mouth; but he escaped not save] with the scabbard of a sword and with a waist-wrapper. (S.) In the same sense the word is used in the saying. فِى نَفْسِ فُلَانٍ أَنْ يَفْعَلَ كَذَا وَكَذَا [but this seems rather to mean, It is in the mind of such a one to do so and so]. (Aboo-Is-hák, M.) Some of the lexicologists assert the نَفْس and the رُوح to be one and the same, except that the former is fem., and the latter [generally or often] masc.: others say, that the latter is that whereby is life; and the former, that whereby is intellect, or reason; so that when one sleeps, God takes away his نفس, but not his روح, which is not taken save at death: and the نَفْس is thus called because of its connexion with the نَفَس [or breath]. (IAmb.) Or every man has نَفْسَانِ [two souls]: (I'Ab, Zj:) نَفْسُ العَقْلِ [the soul of intellect, or reason, also called النَّفْسُ النَّاطِقَةُ (see رُوحٌ)], whereby one discriminates, [i. e., the mind,] (I'Ab,) or نَفْسُ التَّمْيِيزِ [the soul of discrimination], which quits him when he sleeps, so that he does not understand thereby, God taking it away: (Zj:) and نَفْسُ الرُّوحِ [the soul of the breath], whereby one lives, (I'Ab,) or نَفْسُ الحَيَاةِ [the soul of life], and when this quits him, the breath quits with it; whereas the sleeper breathes: and this is the difference between the taking away of the نفس of the sleeper in sleep and the taking away of the نفس of the living [at death.] (Zj.) Much has been said respecting the نَفْس and the رُوح; whether they be one, or different: but the truth is, that there is a difference between them, since they are not always interchangeable: for it is said in the Kur, [xv. 29 and xxxviii. 72,] وَنَفَخْتُ فِيهِ مِنْ رُوحِى [And I have blown into him of my spirit.]; not مِنْ نَفْسِى: and [v. 116,] تَعْلَمُ مَا فِى نَفْسِى [to be explained hereafter]; not فِى رُوحِى, nor would this expression be well except from Jesus: and [lviii. 9,] وَيَقُولُونَ فِى أَنْفُسِهِمْ [And they say in their souls, or within themselves]: for which it would not be well to say فِى أَرْوَاحِهِمْ: and [xxxix. 57,] أَنْ تَقُولَ نَفْسٌ [That a soul shall say]; for which no Arab would say أَنْ تَقُولَ رُوحٌ: hence, the difference between them depends upon the considerations of relation: and this is indicated by a trad., in which it is said that God created Adam, and put into him a نَفْس and a رُوح; and that from the latter was his quality of abstaining from unlawful and indecorous things, and his understanding, and his clemency, or forbearance, and his liberality, and his fidelity; and from the former, [which is also called النَّفْسُ الأَمَّارَةُ, q. v., in art. أمر,] his appetence, and his unsteadiness, and his hastiness of disposition, and his anger: therefore one should not say that نَفْسٌ is the same as رُوحٌ absolutely, without restriction, nor رُوحٌ the same as نَفْس. (R.) The Arabs also make the discriminative نَفْس to be two; because it sometimes commands the man to do a thing or forbids him to do it; and this is on the occasion of setting about an affair that is disliked: therefore they make that which commands him to be a نفس, and that which forbids him to be as though it were another نفس: and hence the saying, mentioned by Z, فُلَانٌ يُؤَامِرُ نَفْسَيْهِ (tropical:) [Such a one consults his two souls, or minds]; said of a man when two opinions occur to him. (TA.) [بِنَفْسِى فُلَانٌ is an elliptical phrase sometimes used, for بِنَفْسِى فُلَانٌ مَفْدِىٌّ, which see in art. فدى.] (assumed tropical:) A thing's self; (S, M, A, K, TA;) used as a corroborative; (S, TA;) its whole, (Aboo-Is-hák, M, TA,) and essential constituent: (Aboo-Is-hák, M, A, K, TA:) pl. as above, أَنْفُسٌ and نُفُوسٌ. (M.) You say, رَأَيْتُ فُلَانًا نَفْسَهُ (assumed tropical:) I saw such a one himself, (S,) and جَآءَنِى بِنَفْسِهِ [or, more properly, حَآءَنِى هُوَ بِنَفْسِهِ (see, under the head of بِ, a remark on that preposition when used in a case of this kind, redundantly,)] He came to me himself. (S, K.) And وَلِىَ الأَمْرَ بِنَفْسِهِ [He superintended, managed, or conducted, the affair in his own person]. (K, in art. بشر, &c.) And حَدَّثَ نَفْسَهُ [He talked to himself; soliloquized]. (Msb, in art. بلو; &c.) And قَتَلَ فُلَانٌ نَفْسَهُ (assumed tropical:) [Such a one killed himself]: and أَهْلَكَ نَفْسَهُ (assumed tropical:) made his whole self to fall into destruction. (Aboo-Is-hák, M.) And hence, (TA,) from نَفْسُ الشَّىْءِ signifying ذَاتُهُ, (M,) the saying mentioned by Sb, نَزَلْتُ بِنَفْسِ الجَبَلِ (assumed tropical:) [I alighted in the mountain itself]: and نَفْسُ الجَبَلِ مُقَابِلِى (assumed tropical:) [The mountain itself is facing me]. (M, TA.) [Hence also the phrase] فِى نَفْسِ الأَمْرِ [meaning (assumed tropical:) in reality; in the thing itself]: as in the saying, قَلَّلَهُ فِى نَفْسِهِ وَإِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ قَلِيلًا فِى نَفْسِ الأَمْرِ (assumed tropical:) [He held it to be little in his mind though it was not little in reality]. (Msb, art. قل.) The words of the Kur, [v. 116,] تَعْلَمُ مَا فِى نَفْسِى وَلَا أَعْلَمُ مَا فِى نَفْسِكَ mean (assumed tropical:) Thou knowest what is in myself, or in my essence, and I know not what is in thyself, or in thine essence: (Bd, K:) or Thou knowest what I conceal (M, Bd, Jel) in my نفس [or mind], (Bd, Jel,) and I know not what is in thyself, or in thine essence, nor that whereof Thou hast the knowledge, (M.) or what Thou concealest of the things which Thou knowest; (Bd, Jel;) so that the interpretation is, Thou knowest what I know, and I know not what Thou knowest: (M:) or نفس is here syn. with عِنْد; and the meaning is, تَعْلَمُ مَا عِنْدِى وَلَا أَعْلَمُ مَا عِنْدَكَ; (K, * TA;) [i. e., Thou knowest what is in my particular place of being, and I know not what is in thy particular place of being; for] the adverbiality in this instance is that of مَكَانَة, not of مَكَان: (TA:) but the best explanation is that of IAmb, who says that نفس is here syn. with غَيْب; so that the meaning is, Thou knowest غَيْبِى [my hidden things, or what is hidden from me, and I know not thy hidden things, or what Thou hidest]; and the correctness of this is testified by the concluding words of the verse, إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ عَلَّامُ الغُيُوبِ [for Thou art he who well knoweth the hidden things]: (TA:) [and here it must be remarked that] العَيْبُ, which occurs afterwards in the K as one of the significations of النَّفْسُ, is a mistake for الغَيْبُ, the word used by IAmb in explaining the above verse. (TA.) (assumed tropical:) A person; a being; an individual; syn. شَخْصٌ; (Msb;) a man, (Sb, S, M, TA,) altogether, his soul and his body; (TA;) a living being, altogether. (Mgh, Msb.) In this sense of شخص it is masc.: (Msb:) or, accord to Lh, the Arabs said, رَأَيْتُ نَفْسًا وَاحِدَةً (assumed tropical:) [I saw one person], making it fem.; and in like manner, رَأَيْتُ نَفْسَيْنِ ثِنْتَيْنِ (assumed tropical:) [I saw two persons]; but they said, رَأَيْتُ ثَلَاثَةَ أَنْفُسٍ (assumed tropical:) [I saw three persons], and so all the succeeding numbers, making it masc.: but, he says, it is allowable to make it masc. in the sing. and dual., and fem. in the pl.: and all this, he says, is related on the authority of Ks: (M:) Sb says, (M.) they said ثَلَاثَةُ أَنْفُسٍ, (S, M,) making it masc., (S,) because they mean by نفس “ a man, ” (S, M,) as is shown also by their saying نَفْسٌ وَاحِدٌ: (M:) but Yoo asserts of Ru-beh, that he said ثَلَاثُ أَنْفُسٍ, making نفس fem., like as you say ثَلَاثُ أَعْيُنٍ, meaning, of men; and ثَلَاثَةُ أَشْخُصٍ, meaning, of women: and it is said in the Kur, [iv. l, &c.,] اَلَّذِى خَلَقَكُمْ مِنْ نَفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ (assumed tropical:) [who created you from one man], meaning, Adam. (M.) You also say, مَا رَأَيْتُ ثَمَّ نَفْسًا (assumed tropical:) I saw not there any one. (TA.) (assumed tropical:) A brother: (IKh, IB:) a copartner in religion and relationship: (Bd, xxiv. 61:) a copartner in faith and religion. (Ibn-'Arafeh.) (assumed tropical:) It is said in the Kur, [xxiv. 61,] فَإِذَا دَخَلْتُمْ بُيُوتًا فَسَلِّمُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِكُمْ And when ye enter houses, salute ye your brethren: (IB:) or your copartners in religion and relationship. (Bd.) And in verse 12 of the same chapter. بِأَنْفُسِهِمْ means (assumed tropical:) Of their copartners in faith and religion. (Ibn-'Arafeh.) (tropical:) Blood: (S, M, A, Mgh, Msb, K:) [or the life-blood: in this sense, fem.:] pl. [of pauc. أَنْفُسٌ and of mult.] نُفُوسٌ: (IB:) so called [because the animal soul was believed by the Arabs, as it was by many others in ancient times, (see Gen. ix. 4, and Aristotle, De Anim. i. 2, and Virgil's Æn. ix. 349.) to diffuse itself throughout the body by means of the arteries: or] because the نَفْس [in its proper sense, i. e. the soul,] goes forth with it: (TA:) or because it sustains the whole animal. (Mgh, Msb.) You say, سَالَتْ نَفْسُهُ (tropical:) [His blood flowed]. (S.) And نَفْسٌ سَائِلَةٌ (tropical:) [Flowing blood]. (S, A, Mgh.) And دَفَقَ نَفْسَهُ (tropical:) He shed his blood. (A, TA.) (tropical:) The body. (S, A, K.) (assumed tropical:) [Sometimes it seems to signify The stomach. So in the present day. You say, لَعِبَتْ نَفْسُهُ, meaning He was sick in the stomach. See غَثَتْ نَفْسُهُ, in art. غثى; and مَذِرَتْ مَعِدَتُهُ and نَفْسُهُ, in art. مذر.] (assumed tropical:) [The pudendum: so in the present day: in the K, art. حشو, applied to a woman's vulva.] [From the primary signification are derived several others, of attributes of the rational and animal souls; and such are most of the signification here following.] (assumed tropical:) Knowledge. (A.) [See, above, an explanation of the words cited from ch. v. verse 116 of the Kur-án.] (assumed tropical:) Pride: (A, K, TA:) and self-magnification; syn. عِزَّةٌ. (A, K.) (assumed tropical:) Disdain, or scorn. (A, K.) (assumed tropical:) Purpose, or intention: or strong determination: syn. هِمَّةٌ. (A, K.) (assumed tropical:) Will, wish, or desire. (A, K.) [Copulation: see 3, art رود.] [(assumed tropical:) Stomach, or appetite.] (tropical:) An [evil or envious] eye, (S, M, A, K, TA,) that smites the person or thing at which it is cast: pl. أَنْفُسٌ. (TA.) [See 1, last signification.] So in a trad., in which it is said, that the نَمْلَة and the حُمَة and the نَفْس are the only things for which a charm is allowable. (TA.) You say, أَصَابَتْ فُلَانًا نَفْسٌ (tropical:) [An evil or envious eye smote such a one]. (S.) And Mohammad said, of a piece of green fat that he threw away, كَانَ فِيهَا سَبْعَةُ أَنْفُسٍ, meaning, (tropical:) There were upon it seven [evil or envious] eyes. (TA.) (assumed tropical:) Strength of make, and hardiness, of a man: and (assumed tropical:) closeness of texture, and strength, of a garment or piece of cloth. (M.) Punishment. (A, K.) Ex. وَيُحَذِّرُكُم ٱللّٰهُ نَفْسَهُ, (K,) in the Kur, [iii. 27 and 28, meaning, And God maketh you to fear his punishment]; accord. to F; but others say that the meaning is, Himself. (TA.) A quantity (S, M, K,) of قَرَظ, and of other things, with which hides are tanned, (S, K,) sufficient for one tanning: (S, M, K:) or enough for two tannings: (TA:) or a handful thereof: (M:) pl. أَنَفُسٌ. (M.) You say, هَبْ لِى نفْسًا مِنْ دِبَاغٍ [Give thou to me a quantity of material for tanning sufficient for one tanning, or for two tannings, &c.]. (S.)

    نَفَسٌ

    نَفَسٌ [Breath;] what is drawn in by the airpassages in the nose, [or by the mouth,] to the inside, and emitted, (Msb;) what comes forth from a living being in the act of تَنَفُّس. (Mgh:) or the exit of wind from the nose and the mouth: (M:) pl. أَنْفَاسٌ. (S, M, A. Mgh, Msb, K.) A gentle air: pl. as above. (M, Msb.) You say also, نَفَسُ الرِّيحِ [The breath of the wind]: and نَفَسُ الرَّوْصَةِ the sweet [breath or] odour [of the meadow, or of the garden, &c.]. (TA.) [Hence, app., its application in the phrase] نَفَسَ السَّاعَةِ [The blast of the last hour; meaning,] the end of time. (Kr, M.) [Hence also, (assumed tropical:) Speech: and kind speech: (see an ex. voce أَمْلَحَ:) so in the present day.] [And (assumed tropical:) Voice, or a sweet voice, in singing: so in the present day.] A gulp. or as much as is swallowed at once in drinking: (S, L, K:) but this requires consideration; for in one نَفَس a man takes a number of gulps, more or less according to the length or shortness of his breath, so that we [sometimes] see a man drink [the contents of] a large vessel in one نَفَس, at a number of gulps: (L:) [therefore it signifies sometimes, if not always, a draught, or as much as is swallowed without taking breath:] pl. as above. (S.) You say, إِكْرَعْ فِى الإِتَآءِ نَفَسًا أَوْ نَفَسَيْنِ (tropical:) [Put thou thy mouth into the vessel and drink] a gulp, or two gulps: [or a draught, or two draughts:] and exceed not that. (S; And شَربْتُ نَفَسًا وَأَنْفَاسًا (tropical:) [I drank a gulp, and gulps: or a draught, and draughts]. (A.) And فُلَانٌ شَرِبَ الإِنَآءَ كُلَّهُ عَلَى نَفَسٍ وَاحِدٍ (tropical:) [Such a one drank the whole contents of the vessel at one gulp or at one draught]. (L.) (tropical:) Every resting between two draughts: (M, TA:) [pl. as above.] You say, شَرِبَ بِنَفَسٍ وَاحِدٍ (tropical:) [He drank with one resting between draughts]. (A.) And شَربَ بِثَلَاثَةِ أَنْفَاسٍ (tropical:) [He drank with three restings between draughts]. (A. K.) [And hence,] شَرَابٌ ذُو نَفَسِ (tropical:) Beverage in which is ampleness, [so that one pauses while drinking it, to take breath,] and which satisfies thirst. (IAar, K.) And شَرَابٌ غَيْرُ ذِى نَفَسٍ (tropical:) Beverage of disagreeable taste, (A, K, *) changed in taste and odour, (K,) in drinking which one does not take breath (A, K) when he has tasted it; (K;) taking a first draught, as much as will keep in the remains of life, and not returning to it. (TA.) [And hence it is said that] نَفَسٌ signifies (assumed tropical:) Satisfaction, or the state of being satisfied, with drink; syn. دِىَّ. (IAar, K.) [Hence also.] (tropical:) Plenty, and redundance. So in the saying إِنّ فِى المَآءِ نَفَسًا لِى وَلَكَ [Verily in the water is plenty, and redundance, for me and for thee]. (Lh, M.) (tropical:) A wide space: (TA:) (tropical:) a distance (A.) You say, بَيْنَ الفَر يقَيْن نَفَسٌ (tropical:) Between the two parties is a wide space. (TA.) And بَيْنِى وَبَيْنَهٌ نَفَسٌ (tropical:) Between me and him is a distance. (A.) (tropical:) Ample scope for action &c.; and a state in which is ample scope for action &c., syn. سعةٌ, (S, M, A, Mgh, K,) and فُسْحَةٌ, (A, K,) in an affair. (S, M, A, K.) You say, لَك فِى هٰذَا نَفَسٌ [There is ample scope for action &c. for thee in this. (Mgh.) And أَنْتَ فِى نَفِس مِنْ أَمْرِكَ (tropical:) [Thou art in a state in which is ample scope for action &c. with respect to thine affair. (S, M.) And إِعْملْ وَأَنْتَ فِى نَفَسٍ مِنْ أَمْرِكَ (tropical:) Work thou while thou art in a state in which is ample scope for action &c. (فِى فُسْحَةٍ وَسَعَة) with respect to thine affair, before extreme old age, and diseases, and calamities. (TA.) See also نُفْسَةٌ. (tropical:) Length. (M.) So in the saying زِدْنى نَفَسًا فِى أَجَلِى (tropical:) [Add thou to me length in my term of life]: (M:) or lengthen thou my term of life. (TA.) You say also, فِى عُمُرِهِ مُتَنَفَّسٌ (tropical:) [In his life is length: see 5]. (A, TA.) The pl., in the accus. case, also signifies (assumed tropical:) Time after time. So in the saying of the poet, [O my two eyes, pour forth a flow of tears time after time]. (S.) نَفَسٌ is also a subst. put in the place of the proper inf. n. of نَفَّسَ; and is so used in the two following sayings, (K, TA,) of Mohammad. (TA.) لَا تَسبُوُّا الرِّيحَ فَإِنَّهَا مِنْ نَفَسِ الرَّحْمٰنِ, i. e. (tropical:) [Revile not ye the wind, for] it is a means whereby the Compassionate removes grief, or sorrow, or anxiety, (K, TA,) and raises the clouds, (TA,) and scatters the rain, and dispels dearth, or drought. (K, TA.) And أَجِدُ نَفَسَ رَبَِّكُمْ مِنْ قِبَلِ اليَمَنِ (tropical:) I perceive your Lord's removal of grief, &c., from the direction of El-Yemen: meaning, through the aid and hospitality of the people of El-Medeeneh, who were of El-Yemen; (K, TA;) i. e., of the Ansár, who were of [the tribe of] El-Azd, from ElYemen. (TA.) It is [said by some to be] a metaphor, from نَفَسُ الهَوَآءِ, which the act of breathing draws back into the inside, so that its heat becomes cooled and moderated: or from نَفَسُ الرِّيِح, which one scents, so that thereby he refreshes himself: or from نَفَسُ الرَّوْضَةِ. (TA.) You also say, مَا لِى نَفَسٌ, meaning, (tropical:) There is not for me any removal, or clearing away, of grief. (A.) It is also used as an epithet, signifying (assumed tropical:) Long; (AZ, K;) applied to speech, (K,) and to writing, or book, or letter. (AZ, K.)

    نُفْسَةٌ

    نُفْسَةٌ, (S, Mgh, K,) with damm, (K,) [in a copy of the S, نَفْسَةٌ,] (assumed tropical:) Delay; syn. مَهْلَةٌ; (S, Mgh, K;) and ample space, syn. مُتَّسَعٌ. (TA.) Ex. لَكَ فِى هٰذَا الأَمْرِ نُفْسَةٌ (assumed tropical:) [Thou shalt have, in this affair, a delay, and ample space]. (S, Mgh, * TA.) See also نَفَسٌ.

    نَفْسِىٌ

    [نَفْسِىٌ Relating to the نَفْس, or soul, &c.: vital: and sensual; as also نَفْسَانِىٌّ.]

    نُفَسَآءُ

    نُفَسَآءُ (Th, S, M, Mgh, Msb, K, &c.) and نَفَسَآءُ and نَفْسَآءُ (M, K) (tropical:) A woman in the state following childbirth: (S, M, * Mgh, * Msb, * K:) or bringing forth: and pregnant: and menstruating: (Th, M:) and نَافِسٌ signifies the same; (Msb;) and so مَنْفُوسَةٌ: (A:) [see نُفِسَتْ:] dual نُفَسَاوَانِ; the fem. ء being changed into و as in عُشَرَاوَانِ: (S:) pl. نِفَاسٌ, (S, M, Mgh, Msb, K,) like as عِشَارٌ is pl. of عُشَرَآءُ, (S, Msb, K,) the only other instance of the kind, (S, K,) and نُفَاسٌ, (M, K,) which is also the only instance of the kind except عُشَارٌ, (K,) and نُفَّاسٌ, and نُفَّسٌ and نُفَسٌ (M) and نُفُسٌ (M, K) and نُفْسٌ (K) and نُفَسَاوَاتٌ (S, M, K) and [accord. to analogy, of نَافِسٌ,] نَوَافِسُ. (K.)

    نَفْسَانٌ

    نَفْسَانٌ, or نَفْسَانِىٌّ: see نَفُوسٌ.

    Lane, Arabic-English Lexiconread Lane's entry online ↗
Technical definitions10 · Ibn ʿArabī’s Iṣṭilāḥ, al-Jurjānī’s Taʿrīfāt
  • النفس

    روح يسلطه الله تعالى على نار القلب ليطفىء شررها.

    Al-nafs (النفس): a spirit that Allah, Exalted is He, causes to dominate the fire of the heart in order to extinguish its sparks.

    Ibn ʿArabī, Iṣṭilāḥ al-Ṣūfiyya, line 127 ↗

  • النفس

    ما كان معلوما من اوصاف العبد.

    Al-nafs (النفس): what is known of the attributes/characteristics of the servant [of God].

    Ibn ʿArabī, Iṣṭilāḥ al-Ṣūfiyya, line 144 ↗

  • العلي لنفسه

    هو الذي يكون له الكمال الذي يستغرق به جميع الأمور الوجودية، والنسب العدمية محمودة عرفا وعقلا وشرعا، أو مذمومة كذلك.

    Al-ʿAlī li-nafsihi (العلي لنفسه) [the Self-Exalted]: He is the One who possesses the perfection that encompasses all existential matters, and negative relations [ascribed to Him] are praiseworthy according to custom, reason, and revealed law, or are otherwise blameworthy in the same way.

    al-Jurjānī, al-Taʿrīfāt, line 3127 ↗

  • النفس

    هي الجوهر البخاري اللطيف الحامل لقوة الحياة والحس والحركة الإرادية، وسماها الحكيم: الروح الحيوانية، فهو جوهر مشرق للبدن فعند الموت ينقطع ضوؤه عن ظاهر البدن وباطنه. وأما في وقت النوم فينقطع عن ظاهر البدن دون باطنه، فثبت أن النوم والموت من جنس واحد؛ لأن الموت هو الانقطاع الكلي، والنوم هو الانقطاع الناقص، فثبت أن القادر الحكيم دبر تعلق جوهر النفس بالبدن على ثلاثة أضرب: الأول إن بلغ ضوء النفس إلى جميع أجزاء البدن ظاهره وباطنه، فهو اليقظة، وإن انقطع ضوؤها عن ظاهره دون باطنه، فهو النوم، أو بالكلية، فهو الموت.

    Al-nafs (النفس, the soul/self): it is the fine vaporous substance that carries the power of life, sensation, and voluntary motion, which the sage (al-ḥakīm) called 'the animal spirit' (al-rūḥ al-ḥayawāniyya); it is a substance that illuminates the body. At death, its light is cut off from the body's exterior and interior alike. As for during sleep, its light is cut off from the body's exterior but not its interior; thus it is established that sleep and death are of one genus, since death is total cessation while sleep is partial/incomplete cessation. Thus it is established that the Wise, Powerful [God] arranged the attachment of the substance of the soul to the body in three modes: First, if the light of the soul reaches all parts of the body, its exterior and interior, that is wakefulness; if its light is cut off from its exterior but not its interior, that is sleep; and if cut off entirely, that is death.

    al-Jurjānī, al-Taʿrīfāt, line 4912 ↗

  • النفس الأمارة

    هي التي تميل إلى الطبيعة البدنية، وتأمر باللذات والشهوات الحسية، وتجذب القلب إلى الجهة السفلية، فهي مأوى الشرور، ومنبع الأخلاق الذميمة.

    Al-nafs al-ammāra (النفس الأمارة, the soul commanding [to evil]): it is that which inclines toward bodily nature, commands sensory pleasures and desires, and draws the heart toward the lower direction; it is thus the abode of evils and the source of blameworthy character traits.

    al-Jurjānī, al-Taʿrīfāt, line 4921 ↗

  • النفس اللوامة

    هي التي تنورت بنور القلب قدر ما تنبهت به عن سنة الغفلة، كلما صدرت عنها سيئة، بحكم جبلتها الظلمانية، أخذت تلوم نفسها وتتوب عنها.

    Al-nafs al-lawwāma (النفس اللوامة, the reproaching soul): it is that which has been illumined by the light of the heart to the extent that it has become alert from the sleep of heedlessness; whenever an evil deed issues from it, by virtue of its dark constitution, it begins to reproach itself and repent from it.

    al-Jurjānī, al-Taʿrīfāt, line 4924 ↗

  • النفس المطمئنة

    هي التي تم تنورها بنور القلب حتى انخلعت عن صفاتها الذميمة، وتخلقت بالأخلاق الحميدة.

    Al-nafs al-muṭmaʾinna (النفس المطمئنة, the tranquil soul): it is that whose illumination by the light of the heart has become complete, such that it has divested itself of its blameworthy attributes and has become characterized by praiseworthy character traits.

    al-Jurjānī, al-Taʿrīfāt, line 4926 ↗

  • النفس النباتي

    هو كمال أول لجسم طبيعي آلي من جهة ما يتولد ويزيد ويغتذي، والمراد بالكمال: ما يكمل به النوع في ذاته، ويسمى: كمالا أول، كهيئة السيف للحديدة، أو في صفاته، ويسمى كمالا ثانيا، كسائر ما يتبع النوع من العوارض، مثل القطع للسيف، والحركة للجسم، والعلم للإنسان.

    Al-nafs al-nabātī (النفس النباتي, the vegetative soul): it is a first perfection (kamāl awwal) of a natural organic body, in respect of that by which it is generated, grows, and is nourished. What is meant by 'perfection' is that by which the species is perfected in its essence — called 'first perfection', like the form of a sword for the [raw] iron — or in its attributes — called 'second perfection', like all that follows upon the species among accidents, such as cutting for the sword, motion for body, and knowledge for man.

    al-Jurjānī, al-Taʿrīfāt, line 4928 ↗

  • النفس الحيواني

    هو كمال أول لجسم طبيعي، آلي من جهة ما يدرك الجزئيات ويتحرك بالإرادة.

    al-Jurjānī, al-Taʿrīfāt, line 4932 ↗

  • النفس الإنساني

    هو كمال أول لجسم طبيعي، آلي من جهة ما يدرك الأمور الكليات ويفعل الأفعال الفكرية.

    al-Jurjānī, al-Taʿrīfāt, line 4935 ↗

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

ن ف س

النون والفاء والسين أصل واحد يدل على خروج النسيم كيف كان من ريح أو غيرها وإليه يرجع فروعه منه التنفس خروج النسيم من الجوف ونفس الله كربته وذلك أن في خروج النسيم روحا وراحة والنفس كل شيء يفرج به عن مكروب وفي الحديث لا تسب …

N-f-s is a single root indicating the emission of breath, however it occurs, whether of wind or something else, and to this all its derivatives return, from which comes al-tanaffus, the emission of breath from within; and naffasa Allāh karbahu, this being because in the emission of breath there is relief and ease; and al-nafas is anything by which one who is distressed is relieved; and in the ḥadīth: do not curse …

Ibn Fāris ↗Lisān ↗Lane ↗al-Khalīl: used ↗Quran ×298

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.

How it is madeSībawayh and Ibn Jinnī · phonetics

English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic

ن

ومن حافة اللسان من أدناها إلى منتهى طرف اللسان ما بينها وبين ما يليها من الحنك الأعلى وما فويق الثنايا مخرج النون

From the edge of the tongue, from its nearest part to the end of its tip, between it and the upper palate next to it and what is just above the front teeth, is the place of the nūn. Sībawayh, lines 26555–26556 ↗

ومن طرف اللسان بينه وبين ما فويق الثنايا، مخرج النون

From the tip of the tongue, between it and what is just above the front teeth, is the place of the nūn. Ibn Jinnī, line 979 ↗

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 ↗

س

ومما بين طرف اللسان وفويق الثنايا مخرج الزاي، والسين، والصاد

From between the tip of the tongue and just above the front teeth is the place of the zāy, the sīn and the ṣād. Sībawayh, line 26560 ↗

ومما بين الثنايا وطرف اللسان، مخرج الصاد والزاي والسين

From between the front teeth and the tip of the tongue is the place of the ṣād, the zāy and the sīn. Ibn Jinnī, line 983 ↗

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

ن

Level of existence: السماء الرابعة · the fourth heaven

Divine Name: النور · the Light (al-Nūr)

Lunar mansion: السماك · al-Simāk

Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 64663

Spheres of its simples (ch. 2): 8 line 2571 ↗

الثمانية فحروفها حارة يابسة

The eightfold [rank]: its letters are hot and dry.

Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, line 2580

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

س

Level of existence: ما ظهر في الماء · what appears in water

Divine Name: المحيي · al-Muḥyī, the Life-Giver

Lunar mansion: النعائم · al-Naʿāʾim

Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 62110

Spheres of its simples (ch. 2): 9 line 2572 ↗

السين والشين فطبعهما الحرارة واليبوسة

Sīn and shīn: their nature is heat and dryness.

Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, line 2581
Meaning by vowelal-Dabbāgh · a visionary claim about a primordial “Syriac”, not historical Syriac

English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic

ن

فهي الخير الساكن في الذات الشاعل فيها.

It is the good that dwells in the self, kindling [al-shāʿil, as written] within it.

فهي إشارة إلى الخير الكامل أو النور الساطع.

It is an indication of perfect good or radiant light.

فهي إشارة إلى شيء يدركه المتكلم أو هو له.

It is an indication of something that the speaker perceives or that belongs to him.

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

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

س

فهي إشارة إلى الشيء المليح الذي من طبعه الرقة.

It is an indication of the comely thing whose nature is delicacy.

فهي إشارة إلى الشيء القبيح الخشن، أو إشارة إلى سواد حسا ومعنى.

It is an indication of the ugly, rough thing, or of blackness, sensible and figurative.

وبالكسر إشارة إلى الشيء الطابع وتكون الإشارة منه.

With kasra it is an indication of the impressing/stamping thing, and the indication proceeds from it.

al-Dabbāgh (d. 1132/1719), al-Ibrīz, ch. 2 §15, compiled by al-Lamaṭī
Two-letter nucleus18 roots in Ibn Fāris’s chapterن ف

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 32184 ↗

  • نفلالنون الفاء واللام أصل صحيح يدل على عطاء وإعطاء منه النافلة عطية الطوع من حيث لا تجب ومنه نافلة الصلاة والنوفل الرجل الكثير العطاءQ 4 · L32199
  • نفهالنون والفاء والهاء أصل واحد يدل على إعياء وضعف منه نفهت النفس أعيت وكلت وهو نافه ونفهL32208
  • نفيالنون والفاء والحرف المعتل أصيل يدل على تعرية شيء من شيء وإبعاده منه ونفيت الشيء أنفيه نفيا وانتفى هو انتفاء والنفاية الردى ينفي ونفى الريح ما تنفيه مQ 1 · L32212
  • نفتالنون والفاء والتاء يقولون نفتت القدر غلت ويبس مرقها عليهاL32220
  • نفثالنون والفاء والثاء أصل صحيح يدل على خروج شيء من فم أو غيره بأدنى جرس منه نفث الراقي ريقه وهو أقل من التفل والساحرة تنفث السم ولا بد للمصدور أن ينفث مQ 1 · L32223
  • نفجالنون والفاء والجيم أصل يدل على ثؤور شىء وارتفاع ونفج اليربوع ثار وأنفجه صائده ونفجت الفروجة من بيضها خرجت وانتفج جنبا البعير ارتفعا والنوافج مؤخرات اL32228
  • نفحالنون والفاء والحاء أصل يدل على اندفاع الشيء أو رفعه ونفحت رائحة الطيب نفحا انتشرت واندفعت ولهذا الطيب نفحة طيبة ثم قيس عليه فقيل نفح بالمال نفحا كأنهQ 1 · L32234
  • نفخالنون والفاء والخاء أصل صحيح يدل على انتفاخ وعلو منه انتفخ الشيء انتفاخا ويقال انتفخ النهار علا ونفخة الربيع إعشابه لأن الأرض تربو فيه وتنتفخ والمنفوخQ 20 · L32241
  • نفدالنون والفاء والدال أصل صحيح يدل على انقطاع شيء وفنائه ونفد الشيء ينفد نفادا وأنفدوا فني زادهم ويقال للخصم منافد وذلك أن يتخاصم الرجلان يريد كل منهما Q 5 · L32246
  • نفذالنون والفاء والذال أصل صحيح يدل على مضاء في أمر وغيره ونفذ السهم الرمية نفاذا وأنفذته أنا وهو نافذ ماض في أمرهQ 3 · L32251
  • نفرالنون والفاء والراء أصل صحيح يدل على تجاف وتباعد منه نفر الدابة وغيره نفارا وذلك تجافيه وتباعده عن مكانه ومقره ونفر جلده ورم وفي الحديث أن رجلا تخلل بQ 18 · L32254
  • نفزالنون والفاء والزاء أصيل يدل على الوثوب وشبه الوثوب ونفز الظبي وثب في عدوه والمرأة تنفز ولدها ترقصه وأنفزت السهم على ظهر يدي أدرتهL32267
  • نفسالنون والفاء والسين أصل واحد يدل على خروج النسيم كيف كان من ريح أو غيرها وإليه يرجع فروعه منه التنفس خروج النسيم من الجوف ونفس الله كربته وذلك أن في خQ 298 · L32272
  • نفشالنون والفاء والشين أصل صحيح يدل على انتشارQ 2 · L32290
  • نفصالنون والفاء والصاد كلمات يتقارب قياسها وهي تدل على إخراج شيء من البدن أو إلقائه بقوة منه أنفص فلان في ضحكه استغرب وأنفص ببوله مثل أوزع ويقال إن النفصL32294
  • نفضالنون والفاء والضاد أصل صحيح يدل على تحريك شيء لتنظيفه من غبار أو نحوه ثم يستعار ونفضت الثوب وغيره نفضا والنفض ما نفضته الشجرة من ثمرها وامرأة نفوض نفL32300
  • نفطالنون والفاء والطاء ثلاث كلمات النفط معروف مكسور النون والنفط قرح يخرج في اليد من العمل ونفط الصبي نفيطا صوت وما له عافطة ولا نافطة فالنافطة الشاة تنفL32314
  • نفعالنون والفاء والعين كلمة تدل على خلاف الضر ونفعه ينفعه نفعا ومنفعة وانتفع بكذا والله أعلم بالصوابQ 50 · L32318
In the sister scriptsHebrew נ פ ס/שSyriac ܢ ܦ ܣ/ܫ
Arabicن ف س
Hebrewנ פ ס/ש
Syriacܢ ܦ ܣ/ܫ
Ancient South Arabian (musnad)𐩬 𐩰 𐩯/𐩦
Phoenician𐤍 𐤐 𐤎/𐤔

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 lists many senses side by side.well attested

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

    Al-Khalīl lists many senses side by side. Nafs is the spirit by which the body lives and the very self of any thing; a man 'with nafs' has character, endurance and generosity. Nafas is breathing, as in 'drinking in three breaths'. He also records nafīs ('precious'), nafāsa ('grudging'), and nifās, childbirth. Al-Jawharī adds the senses blood (citing the hadith on creatures 'without flowing nafs'), body, and the evil eye (nāfis, 'one who casts it'). Ibn Fāris brings every branch back to one origin, the outflow of breath: relief (naffasa kurbatahu), the wind as 'from the breath of the All-Merciful', and blood, since losing one's blood is losing one's nafs. Al-Rāghib glosses nafs as rūḥ and reads God's nafs (3:30, 5:116) as His essence (dhāt). He notes that the annexation suggests two things in wording while there is no duality in meaning. Ibn Manẓūr reports al-Zajjāj's two senses, the departing soul and 'the totality and reality of a thing', and Ibn Barrī's correction that the verse al-Jawharī attributed to Abū Khirāsh is by Ḥudhayfa b. Anas. Lane develops nafusa, 'to be precious, desired with emulation'.

    Draws on: al-Khalīl · al-Jawharī · Ibn Fāris · al-Rāghib · Ibn Manẓūr · Lane

    • al-Khalīl, Kitāb al-ʿAyn, s.v. n-f-s
    • al-Jawharī, al-Ṣiḥāḥ, s.v. n-f-s
    • Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-lugha, s.v. n-f-s
    • al-Rāghib, Mufradāt, s.v. n-f-s
    • Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-ʿArab, s.v. n-f-s
    • Lane, Arabic-English Lexicon, s.v. نفس
  • Letters & soundIn the data supplied from Futūḥāt chapter 198, where Ibn ʿArabī maps the letters onto the levels of the Breath, fāʾ corresponds to the angels.speculative

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

    In the data supplied from Futūḥāt chapter 198, where Ibn ʿArabī maps the letters onto the levels of the Breath, fāʾ corresponds to the angels. Al-Dabbāgh reads nūn as the good dwelling and kindling within the self, fāʾ as marking purity in something whose genus is foul, and sīn as a comely thing of delicate nature. In the phonetic tradition of Sībawayh, which Ibn Jinnī draws on, fāʾ and sīn are 'breathed' (mahmūs) consonants, produced with free-flowing air. An iconic reading would therefore connect two of the root's three letters with breath. Mainstream linguistics treats such correspondences as suggestive at most.

    Draws on: Ibn ʿArabī, Futūḥāt ch. 198 · al-Dabbāgh · Sībawayh's phonetics

    • Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, ch. 198
    • al-Dabbāgh (via Ibn al-Mubārak), al-Ibrīz
    • Sībawayh, al-Kitāb, chapter on idghām
  • Root structureSeveral of Ibn Fāris's n-f siblings concern something leaving or spreading from a source.plausible

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

    Several of Ibn Fāris's n-f siblings concern something leaving or spreading from a source. N-f-th is emission from the mouth with the slightest sound, as in a healer's spitting, and gives the 'nafthiyya' wisdom of the Seth chapter. N-f-ḥ is the spreading of a scent. N-f-kh is swelling and rising. N-f-dh is passing through, and n-f-y is stripping one thing from another. Among the permutations, n-s-f (uncovering, scattering by wind) and s-f-n (removing a surface, as in peeling) share a sense of removal; s-n-f means binding. F-s-n is not attested. Ibn Jinnī's greater derivation does not produce a convincing common sense across these permutations, so the links remain juxtapositions.

    Draws on: Ibn Fāris nucleus n-f · permutations

  • Semitic kin & loanwordsThis is a secure common Semitic root.well attested

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

    This is a secure common Semitic root. Cognates include Hebrew nefeš ('breath, life, self'), Aramaic and Syriac nafšā, Ugaritic npš, Akkadian napištu ('life, throat') with the verb napāšu ('to breathe'), and Geʿez nafs ('soul'). In Sabaic and in Nabataean and other Aramaic inscriptions, nfs/npš also means a funerary monument, the 'self' of the dead. The Arabic word is inherited and is not a loanword.

    Draws on: common Semitic · BDB

  • Quranic exegesisOn 2:9 ('they deceive none but themselves'), al-Zamakhsharī explains that the harm of their deception returns upon their own selves.plausible

    How the classical exegetes read the word in the Quran.

    On 2:9 ('they deceive none but themselves'), al-Zamakhsharī explains that the harm of their deception returns upon their own selves. On 2:44 the exegetes read 'you forget yourselves' as neglecting to practise the piety one commands in others. On 81:18 ('the dawn when it breathes'), al-Zamakhsharī treats the verb as metaphor: dawn arrives with a breeze and refreshment, so its coming is called breathing, which matches Ibn Fāris's aṣl. On 83:26 al-Ṭabarī takes tanāfus as vying for something precious (nafīs), namely the delights of Paradise. Al-Rāzī elsewhere discusses the soul's Qurʾānic states: the commanding (12:53), the reproaching (75:2) and the tranquil (89:27).

    Draws on: al-Ṭabarī · al-Zamakhsharī · al-Rāzī · al-Rāghib

  • Philosophy & kalāmIn falsafa, nafs translates Greek psychē.well attested

    The word as a technical term in falsafa and theology.

    In falsafa, nafs translates Greek psychē. Following Aristotle, Avicenna defines it as the first perfection of a natural body possessing organs. He argues through the 'flying man' thought experiment that the rational soul knows itself immediately and is an immaterial, self-subsisting substance. In the Tahāfut, al-Ghazālī disputes the philosophers' claim to have demonstrated the soul's immateriality by reason alone, while he does not deny the doctrine itself. In the Iḥyāʾ he distinguishes nafs as the seat of appetite and anger from nafs as the subtle reality of the human being. Many mutakallimūn, working within atomism, identified the soul with a subtle body or with the living body and its accidents.

  • Akbarian readingIn Faṣṣ Ādam, nafs is the reflexive self at the centre of the mirror passage.well attested

    The word in Ibn ʿArabī's text and terminology.

    In Faṣṣ Ādam, nafs is the reflexive self at the centre of the mirror passage. The Real wished to see Himself in a comprehensive being, because a thing's seeing itself by itself differs from its seeing itself in another thing that serves as its mirror. Adam is the polishing of that mirror. The Iṣṭilāḥ supplies two definitions. Nafas (breath) is 'a spirit God sets over the fire of the heart to quench its sparks'. Nafs is 'what is maʿlūm of the servant's qualities'; this is probably a copyist's slip for maʿlūl, 'defective', following al-Qushayrī's definition of the nafs as the servant's blameworthy traits. In his wider teaching, the pairing nafs/nafas supports the doctrine of the Breath of the All-Merciful, in which the cosmos is articulated as divine exhalation.

    Draws on: Faṣṣ Ādam · Iṣṭilāḥ al-ṣūfiyya · nafas al-raḥmān

    • Ibn ʿArabī, Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam, Faṣṣ Ādam
    • Ibn ʿArabī, Iṣṭilāḥ al-ṣūfiyya, s.vv. nafas, nafs
    • al-Qushayrī, al-Risāla, bāb al-nafs
  • Illuminationist readingSuhrawardī recasts the rational soul as a managing light (nūr mudabbir), which in the human being he calls the isfahbad light, governing the body as a commander.plausible

    The word in Suhrawardī's philosophy of light.

    Suhrawardī recasts the rational soul as a managing light (nūr mudabbir), which in the human being he calls the isfahbad light, governing the body as a commander. His argument turns on self-awareness: because the soul is never absent from itself, it must be pure incorporeal light, 'manifest to itself'. Nafs thus becomes a grade within his hierarchy of lights, and the soul's self-knowledge is its luminosity.

    Draws on: Suhrawardī, Ḥikmat al-ishrāq

    • Suhrawardī, Ḥikmat al-ishrāq, part II
Neighbouring rootsThe roots that share letters with this one, as a map you can open out