النص المفهرس

AN
ARABIC-ENGLISH
LEXICON

AN
ARABIC-ENGLISH
LEXICON
BY
EDWARD WILLIAM LANE
IN EIGHT PARTS
PART 1
ث - ا
LIBRAIRIE DU LIBAN
Riad el - Solh Square
BEIRUT - LEBANON
1968

كَلمَّ النَاشير
يَشْمْلُ الكِتابُ الأوّلُ مِنْ ((مَدِّ القَامُوس» للدكتور ادوَرْد لينْ جميعَ
الألفاظِ القِيَاسَّة وَمُشْتَّتِهَا وَأَساليبَ اسْتِعِمَالاتِها ، وَيَقَع في ثَانِيَةٍ مُجِلَّاتٍ ؛
وَقَدِ اسْتَغَرَقَ تأليفُهُ نَتَّفاً وَثَلاثينَ سَنَّة .
أمّا الكِتابُ الثَّاني الذي كَانَ الدّكتُر لين يُزْمِعُ إِصِدَارَهُ، وَهو يَثْمُلُ
الألفاظَ وَالأوابدّ اللّغويّةَ النَادِرَةَ، فَقَدَ حَالَتْ وَفَاة المؤلِفِ عَام ١٨٧٦ دُون
إكمالِهِ فَلَم يَصدرْ قَطْ".
وَقَد قالَ الدّكتور ج.ب. بادجَر في تعريفٍ لَهَ بمعجم لين: ((إِنّ هُذَا العَمَلَ
الرَائِعَ في شمولهِ وَغناه ، في بحثهِ العَمِيقِ وَدِقْتَهِ ، وَفِي بَسَاطةِ تَرَتِيبِهِ، لَيَقْوق إِىَ
حَدٍّ بَعِيدٍ أَيَّ مُعُجَمَ كَان ، في أيّةٌ لِغَةٍ فِي العَم .»
PUBLISHER'S NOTE
Edward William Lane's ARABIC - ENGLISH LEXICON
Book I contains all the classical words, their derivatives,
and their usages. It appears in eight separate volumes
and took the author more than thirty years to compile.
Book II, which Dr. Lane contemplated and which was
to contain rare words and explanations, was incomplete
at the time of his death in 1876 and therefore never
appeared.
In describing Lane's Lexicon, Dr. G. P. Badger wrote,
"This marvellous work in its fullness and richness, its
deep research, correctness and simplicity of arrangement
far transcends the Lexicon of any language ever pre-
sented to the world. »
Printed in Lebanon by OFFSET CONROGRAVURE

◌َالقَ مُوسُّاتٌ
AN
ARABIC-ENGLISH
LEXICON,
DERIVED FROM THE BEST AND THE MOST COPIOUS EASTERN SOURCES:
COMPRISING A VERY LARGE COLLECTION
OF WORDS AND SIGNIFICATIONS OMITTED IN THE KAMOOS,
WITH SUPPLEMENTS TO ITS ABRIDGED AND DEFECTIVE EXPLANATIONS,
AMPLE GRAMMATICAL AND CRITICAL COMMENTS,
AND EXAMPLES IN PROSE AND VERSE:
COMPOSED BY MEANS OF THE MUNIFICENCE OF THE MOST NOBLE
ALGERNON,
DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND, K. G.,
ETC. ETC. ETC.,
AND THE BOUNTY OF
THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT:
BY EDWARD WILLIAM LANE.
IN TWO BOOKS:
THE FIRST CONTAINING ALL THE CLASSICAL WORDS AND SIGNIFICATIONS COMMONLY KNOWN
TO THE LEARNED AMONG THE ARABS :
THE SECOND, THOSE THAT ARE OF RARE OCCURRENCE AND NOT COMMONLY KNOWN.
BOOK I .- PART 1.
ث - ا
WILLIAMS AND NORGATE,
14, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON;
AND 20, SOUTH FREDERICK STREET, EDINBURGH.
1863.

TO
THE MOST NOBLE
ALGERNON,
DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND, K. G.,
ETC. ETC. ETC.,
THE ORIGINATOR OF THIS WORK,
AND ITS CONSTANT AND MAIN SUPPORTER,
THE AUTHOR DEDICATES IT,
WITH
PROFOUND RESPECT
AND
GRATITUDE.

PREFACE.
IN the year 1842, a most generous offer made to me by the present Duke of Northumberland (then Lord Prudhoe) enabled me
to undertake the composition of this work; and to His Grace's princely aid I have ever since been mainly indebted for
the means of accomplishing the project thus originated.
The object proposed was not to do in English little more than what Golius and others had already done in Latin, by
translating and composing from a few Arabic lexicons of the class of epitomes or abstracts or manuals; but to draw chicfly
from the most copious Eastern sources; one of which, comprising in about one seventh part of its contents the whole of the
celebrated Kamoos, I knew to exist in Cairo. There, also, I had reason to believe that I might find other sources unknown in
Europe, and obtain more aid in the prosecution of my design than I could elsewhere; and thither, therefore, I betook myself
for this purpose.
On my arrival at Cairo, I first had rccourse, for help in making my preparations, to an accomplished Arabic Scholar,
the late M. Fulgence Fresnel, with whom, during a former residence in Egypt, I had contracted an intimate friendship.
Previously informed by me of my project, he had tested the qualifications of several learned natives for the task of assisting
me in collecting, transcribing, and collating, the materials from which my lexicon was to be composed ; and he recommended
to me, as the person whom he esteemed the most fit, the sheykh Ibraheem (surnamed 'Abd-el-Ghaffar) Ed-Dasookec. To have
engaged as my coadjutor a sheykh respected for his character and learning, and to have been disappointed in him, and obliged
to dismiss him, might have made him my enemy, and enabled and induced him to baffle my scheme; but my experience led
me to believe that a person better qualified for the services that I required of him, than the shicykl Ibraheem Ed-Dasookec,
could not have been found by me in Cairo; and I had no occasion to employ any other assistant, except, occasionally,
transcribers, under his supervision.
The assistance that I received from my friend M. Fresnel was not limited to the favour mentioned above. With a
generosity rarely cqualled, he insisted upon transferring to me the most valuable of his Arabie manuscripts, to remain with me
during the whole period of the composition of my lexicon, and in case of his death during that period to become my absolute
property. Most deeply do I deplore his not having lived to see how greatly those precious manuscripts have contributed to
the accuracy and value of my work, and to have them restored to him. They consist of two copies of the Sihah and a copy
of the Kamoos. One of the copics of the former lexicon is a manuscript of extraordinary excellence : it was finished in the
ycar of the Flight 676 (A.D. 1277) ; and forms a large quarto-volume. The other copy of the same lexicon is in three
volumes : thic second volume surpasses in accuracy every other copy of the same work that I have seen, and is enriched with
numerous important extracts, in its margins, from the celebrated Annotations of Ibn-Barree and El-Bustee : the first volume
is similarly enriched, and little inferior to the second in accuracy : the third is of the ordinary quality. The copy of the
Kámoos, which is written in a very small and compact hand, and forms a single octavo-volume, I believe to be unique: it
contains, in its margins, (with other annotations and with various readings,) copious extracts from the great work which is
the main source of my own lexicon; and its text, of which the transcription was finished in the year of the Flight 1120
(A.D. 1708-9), has been carefully collated. These valuable acquisitions I made almost immediately after my arrival at Cairo.
It was indispensable, I believe, to the success of my undertaking, that I should most carefully avoid whatever might
draw down disrespect from the 'Ulama of Cairo, or others of the Muslim inhabitants, either upon myself or upon the sheykh
Bk. I.

vi
PREFACE.
who was to assist me in procuring the chief materials for the composition of my work. For it was only by his means that I
could reasonably hope to obtain the use of manuscripts in the libraries of mosques ; that is, by his borrowing those manuscripts
as though for his own use: and one of the librarians showed himself to be desirous of urging any pretext in order to refuse the
loan of the work that I most needed. I therefore made my place of residence to be as far as I could from the quarters
frequented by Franks, and conformed with such of the general usages of the Muslims as did not involve a profession of
their religion. But my precautions did not suffice to secure me from every difficulty. Even the Viceroy, Mohammad 'Alee
Pasha, though almost an absolute prince, could not enable me to overcome them. Hearing of my project, I know not low,
he spontancously informed me, by liis Prime Minister, that he was desirous of showing his respect for my Patron by rendering
me any assistance within his power. I replied that his Highness would very greatly aid me by granting me authority to
demand the loan of certain manuscripts in the libraries of mosques. But it was feared that the wardens of the mosques would
in this case urge the necessity of an order from the Sultan, or abstract considerable portions from those manuscripts and so
defeat my plan. I could therefore only endeavour to obtain, according to the usual custom, through the sheykh my assistant,
a small portion at a time of each of the required manuscripts: and even this I was unable to do until after the lapse of some
wecks. In the mean time, however, I had the good fortune to acquire a large folio-volume, consisting of nearly thic whole of
the first tenth portion, of a copy of the great work to which I have alluded before as comprising in about one seventh part of
its contents the whole of the celebrated Kamoos. This work, entitled "Taj el-' Aroos" (,, at), a compilation from the best
and most copious Arabic lexicons, in thic form of a running commentary on the Kamoos, with necessary critical and other
illustrations, original, and selected from various authors of high repute, fully justified my expectation. I found, from the
portion before me, that it would of itself alone suffice to supply the means of composing an Arabic lexicon far more accurate
and perspicnous, and incomparably more copious, than any hitherto published in Europe. But I should not have been satisfied
with making use of it for such a purpose without being able to refer to several of the most important of the works from which
it was compiled.
Of these works, and others particularly deserving of notice, as well as of the Taj el-' Aroos itself, and of the principles of
Arabic lexicology, I must now endeavour to give a brief account. In doing this, I shall frequently have occasion to cite the
"Muzhir" of Es-Suyootec, a compilation of the utmost value to students in general, and more especially to lexicographers, of the
Arabic language. Its author died in the year of the Flight 911, a date to be borne in mind in perusing my extracts from it.
I possess a most excellent copy of it, (written by a learned man, the sheykh Nasr El-Hoorcence, with the exception of a
portion which, while he was suffering from an attack of ophthalmia, was written for him by one of his disciples,) transcribed
from the best that is known to exist in Cairo, (namely, that of Es-Seja'ec, in the library of the great mosque El-Azhar,) and
enriched with copious marginal notes.
What is called the classical language of Arabia, often termed by the Arabs " the language of Ma'add," and " the
language of Mudar," is a compound of many sister-dialects, very little differing among themselves, which were spoken
throughout nearly the whole of the Peninsula before the religion of Mohammad incited the nation to spread its conquering
armies over foreign countries. Before that period, feuds among the tribes, throughout the whole extent of their territory, had
prevented the blending of their dialects into one uniform language; but this effect of disunion was counteracted in a great
measure by the institution of the sacred months, in which all acts of hostility were most strictly interdicted, and by the annual
pilgrimage, which had obtained from time immemorial, and the yearly fair held at 'Okadh, at which the poets of various
tribes, during a period of about a century before the birth of Mohammad, or perhaps during a somewhat longer period,
contended for the mecd of general admiration .*
. Respecting this fair, see some extracts from the first of M. Fresnel's " Lettres sur l'Histoire des Arabes avant l'Islamisme" in Note 18 to the
first chapter of my Translation of the Thousand and One Nights.

vii
PREFACE.
" Katadch says that the tribe of Kureysh used to cull what was most excellent in the dialects of the Arabs, so that their
dialect became the most excellent of all." (Taj el-'Aroos, in article >>>>: and the like is said in the 9th Section of the Muzhir.)
This assertion, however, is not altogether correct: for many of the children of the tribe of Kureysh, in the time of Mohammad,
were sent into the desert to be there nursed in order to their acquiring the utmost chasteness of speech. Mohammad himself
was sent to be nursed among the tribe of Saad Ibn-Bekr Ibn-Hawazin, descendants of Mudar, but not in the line of Kureysh :
and he is said to have urged the facts of his being of Kureysh and having grown up among the tribe of Saad as the grounds of
his claim to be the most chaste in speech of the Arabs. It is evident, therefore, that Kureysh, in his time, were less chaste
in speech than some other tribes ; though the truth of this asserted saying of his rests, I believe, only on the authority of a
Sandce, who may have forged it in order to raise the reputation of his own tribe for purity of speech. From distant tribes,
Kurcysh probably borrowed little. The dialect of Ilimyer, confined mainly to El-Yemen, and allied much more to the Ethiopic and
the Hebrew than to the language of Ma'add, contributed to this last language little more than a small proportion of words. For
our knowledge of it, which is very scanty, we are chicfly indebted to the researches of M. Fresnel, who discovered a surviving
idiom of it, spoken chiefly in the district of Mahrch, between IIadramowt and 'Oman : hence it has been termed " Mahrce;"
and from the name of the tribe who speak it, M. Fresnel gave it the appellation of "Ehhkili," or "Ehkili." The author of
the " Mishah" (El-Fciyoomce) says, in article ", " The language of the people of Mahreh, which is a district of 'Oman, is quick,
and scarcely, or not at all, intelligible [to other Arabs], and is of the ancient Ilimyerce."
The language of Ma'add was characterized by its highest degree of perfection, copiousness, and uniformity, in the time
of Mohammad; but it soon after declined, and at length lost almost all that constituted its superiority over the other branches
of the Semitic stock in the states in which these are known to us. It is evident that all the Semitic languages diverged from
one form of speech: and the known history of the Arabic is sufficient, I think, to show that the mixture of the several
branches of the Shemites, in different degrees, with different foreign races, was the main cause, if not of the divergence, at least
of the decay, of their languages, as exemplified by the Biblical Hebrew and Chaldce, and the Christian Syriac. That their
divergence also was thus mainly caused, we cannot prove; but that this was the case I do not doubt, judging from the
differences in their vocabularies, more especially from the differences of this kind in the Hebrew and Phoenician from the other
Semitic languages. The existence of at least one language widely differing from the Semitic very long before the age of Moses
is proved by the remains of the ancient Egyptian, from the time of the Pyramids; a language predominantly Semitic in its
gramunar, but predominantly Non-Semitic in its vocabulary; and evidently a compound of two heterogeneous forms of speech.
The opinion, common among the learned of the Arabs, that the Arabic is the offspring of the Syriac, apparently suggested by.
a comparison of their vocabularies and by false notions of development, is simply absurd, unless by "the Syriac" we
understand a lost language very different from that which is known to us by this appellation." Every language without a
written literature tends to decay more than to development by reason of foreign influences ; and the history of the Arabic
exhibits an instance of decay remarkably rapid, and extraordinary in degree. An immediate consequence of the foreign
conquests achieved by the Arabs under Mohammad's first four successors was an extensive corruption of their language: for
the nations that they subdued were naturally obliged to adopt in a great measure the speech of the conquerors, a speech which
few persons have ever acquired in such a degree as to be secure from the commission of frequent errors in grammar without
learning it from infancy. These nations, therefore, and the Arabs dwelling among them, concurred in forming a simplified
dialect, chiefly by neglecting to observe those inflections and grammatical rules which constitute the greatest difficulty of the
classical Arabic: in the latter half of the first century of the Flight, this simplified dialect became generally spoken in the
foreign towns and villages inhabited by the Arabs; and it gradually became the general language throughout the deserts, as
well as the towns and villages, of Arabia itself. That such a change took place, in the language of the Arabs inhabiting
foreign towns and villages, at this period, is shown by several anecdotes interspersed in Arabic works, and amply confirmed in
. Many among the Jews, the Syrians, and the Fathers of the Christian Church, held that the Aramaic or the Syriac was the language of Adam.

viii
PREFACE.
the older Arabic lexicons and other lexicological works by instances of the necessity of appeals to contemporary Arabs of the
desert, respecting points of grammar, by learned men whose parents lived in the first century of the Flight. The celebrated
lexicologist El-Asma'ee, who was born in the year of the Flight 123, and lived to the age of 92 or 93, was not a sound
grammarian. (See De Sacy's " Anthol. Gr. Ar." p. 49 of the Arabic text.) And even Seebaweyh, who was contemporary,
during the whole of his comparatively short life, with El-Asma'ee, appears to have erred in grammar. (See p. 133 of the
present work.) Ibn-Seedeh says, in the " Mohkam," in art. L,-, (voce Li,-,) that El-Asma'ee was not a grammarian: and in
art. شرب , (voce ◌ٌشُرُوب, as pl. of ◌ٌإشَارِب) he remarks that Ibn-El-Aarabee (who calls شروب pl. of شرب) was ignorant of grammar.
In short, not a single instance is known of any one's having acquired a perfect knowledge of the grammar of the classical
Arabic otherwise than by being brought up among Arabs who retained that language uncorrupted. The Khaleefeh El-Weleed
(who reigned near the close of the first century of the Flight), the son of 'Abd-El-Melik, spoke so corrupt a dialect that he
often could not make himself understood by the Arabs of the desert. A ridiculous instance of the mistakes occasioned by
his use of the simplified language which is now current is related by Abu-l-Fida. The rapid progress of the corruption of
the language among the learned is the more remarkable when it is considered that many of these, in the first and second
centuries of the Flight, were very long-lived: for in a list of the most celebrated Arabic lexicologists and grammarians,
in the 48th Section of the Muzhir, the first five whose lengths of life are defined attained the following ages: 92, 74, 93, 96
or 97 or 98 or 99, and 92 or 93: the first of these (Yoonus) was born in the year 90 of the Flight; and the last, in the year
123; this being El-Asma'ce. This series of five is broken only by one, whose length of life is not known. In some
few spots, the language of Ma'add long lingered; and it may perhaps even survive to the present day; as appears from the
following curious statement in the Kamoos (article Je): "'Akad is a certain mountain, near Zebeed, [a well-known city in
the western seaboard of El-Yemen, ] the inhabitants of which retain the chaste language:" to which is added in the Taj
el-'Aroos, that they retain this language "to the present time [the middle of the eighteenth century]: and the stranger remains
not with them more than three nights, [the period prescribed by the law for the entertainment of a stranger,] by reason of
[their] fear for [the corruption of ] their language." But instances of the corruption of the classical Arabic are related (in the
44th Section of the Muzhir) as having occurred even in the life-time of Mohammad.
Such being the case, it became a matter of the highest importance to the Arabs to preserve the knowledge of that
speech which had thus become obsolescent, and to draw a distinct line between the classical and post-classical languages.
For the former language was that of the Kur-an and of the Traditions of Mohammad, the sources of their religious, moral,
civil, criminal, and political code: and they possessed, in that language, preserved by oral tradition,-for the art of writing,
in Arabia, had been almost exclusively confined to Christians and Jews,-a large collection of poetry, consisting of odes and
shorter pieces, which they esteemed almost as much for its intrinsic merits as for its value in illustrating their law. Hence
the vast collection of lexicons and lexicological works composed by Arabs, and by Muslims naturalized among the Arabs;
which compositions, but for the rapid corruption of the language, would never have been undertaken. In the aggregate of
these works, with all the strictness that is observed in legal proceedings, as will presently be shown, the utmost care and
research have been employed to embody everything that could be preserved or recovered of the classical language; the result
being a collection of such authority, such exactness, and such copiousness, as we do not find to have been approached in the
case of any other language after its corruption or decay.
The classical language they called, by reason of its incomparable excellence, "el-loghah," or " the language:" and the
line between this and the post-classical was easily drawn, on account of the almost sudden commencement, and rapid progress,
of the corruption. It was decided by common consent, that no poet, nor any other person, should be taken as an absolute and
unquestionable authority with respect to the words or their significations, the grammar, or the prosody, of the classical
language, unless he were one who had died before the promulgation of El-Islam, or who had lived partly before and partly
after that event; or, as they term it, unless he were a "Jahilec" or a " Mukhadram," or (as some pronounce it) "Mukhadrim,"

PREFACE.
or "Muhadram," or " Muhadrim." A poet of the class next after the Mukhadrams is termed an "Islamee:" and as the
corruption of the language had become considerable in his time, even among those who aimed at chasteness of speech, he is not
cited as an authority absolutely and unquestionably like the two preceding classes. A poet of the next class, which is the last,
is termed a "Muwelled :" he is absolutely post-classical; and is cited as an unquestionable authority with respect only to the
rhetorical sciences. The commencement of the period of the Muwelleds is not distinctly stated: but it must have preceded
the middle of the second century of the Flight ; for the classical age may be correctly defined as having nearly ended
with the first century, when very few persons born before the establishment of El-Islam through Arabia were living. Thus
the best of the Islamee poets may be regarded, and are generally regarded, as holding classical rank, though not as being
absolute authorities with respect to the words and the significations, the grammar, and the prosody, of the classical language.
The highest of all authorities, however, on such points, prosody of course excepted, is held by the Arabs to be the Kur-án.
The Traditions of Mohammad are also generally held to be absolute authorities with respect to everything relating to the prose
of the classical language; but they are excluded by some from the class of absolute authorities, because traditions may be
corrupted in language, and interpolated, and even forged. Women are often cited as authorities of equal rank with men: and
in like manner, slaves reared among the Arabs of classical times are cited as authorities equally with such Arabs. (See the
(مُوَلَّدْ and إِسْلامِىٌّ and مُخَضْرَمْ and جَاهِلِىٌّ in the present work; and see also شَاهِدْ word
The poetry of the Jahilees and Mukhadrams consists, first, of odes (termed Las, plural of sus), which were regarded
as complete poems, and which were all designed to be chanted or sung : secondly, of shorter compositions, termed pieces
(¿'s, plural of ashes); many of which were also designed to be chanted or sung: and thirdly, of couplets, or single verses. In
the first of these classes are usually included all poems of more than fifteen verses : but few odes consist of much less than fifty
verses or inuch more than a hundred. Of such poems, none has been transmitted, and none is believed to have existed, of an
age more than a few generations (probably not more than three or four or five) anterior to that of Mohammad. It is said in
the 49th Section of the Muzhir, on the authority of Mohammad Ibn-Selam El-Jumahee, that "the pristine Arabs had no
poetry except the few verses which a man would utter in his need : and odes (kaseedehs) were composed, and poetry made
long, only [for the first time] in the age of 'Abd-El-Muttalib [Mohammad's grandfather], or Hashim Ibn-'Abd-Menaf [his
great-grandfather]." And shortly after, in the same Section of that work, it is said, on the same authority, that "the first
who composed poems of this kind was El-Muhelhil Ibn-Rabec'ah Et-Teghlibee, on the subject of the slaughter of his brother
Kuleyb:" "he was maternal uncle of Imra-el-Keys* Ibn-Hojr El-Kindee." "Or, according to 'Omar Ibn-Shebbeh, each tribe
claimed priority for its own poet; and not merely as the author of two or three verses, for such they called not a poem : the
Yemanees claimed for Imra-el-Keys; and Benoo-Asad, for 'Abeed Ibn-El-Abras; and Teghlib, for [El-] Muhelhil; and Bekr,
for 'Amr Ibn-Kamec-ah and El-Murakkish El-Akbar; and Iyad, for Aboo-Du-ad : and some assert that El-Afwah El-Azdce
was older than these, and was the first who composed kaseedehs: but these for whom priority in poetry was claimed were
nearly contemporary; the oldest of them probably not preceding the Flight by a hundred years, or thereabout. Thaalab says,
in his 'Amalee,' El-Asma'ee says that the first of the poets of whom is related a poem extending to thirty verses is [El-]
Muhelhil: then, Dhu-eyb Ibn-Kaab Ibn-'Amr Ibn-Temeem Ibn-Damreh, a man of Benoo-Kinaneh; and El-Adbat Ibn-Ķureya:
and he says, Between these and El-Islam was four hundred years: and Imra-el-Keys was long after these." But this is
inconsistent with the assertion of Ibn-Selam mentioned above, made also by En-Nawawee in his " Tahdheeb el-Asma," p. 163,
that El-Muhelhil was maternal uncle of Imra-el-Keys: and as the majority refer El-Muhelhil to a period of about a century
before the Flight, we have a double reason for holding this period (not that of four hundred years) to be the more probably
. This name is generally pronounced thus, or " Imr-el-Keys," by the
learned among the Arabs in the present day; for most of them regard it as
pedantic to pronounce proper names in the classical manner. The classical
pronunciation is "Imrau-l-Keys" and "Imruu-l-Keys" and Imru-l-
Keys;" in the last instance without hemzeh, because (as is said in the
Tahdheeb and the Taj el-'Aroos on the authority of El-Kisa-ee and El-
Farrà) this letter is often dropped.

x
PREFACE.
correct. According to Ibn-Kuteybeh, the time of Imra-el-Keys was forty years before that of Mohammad ; as is stated in the
Calcutta edition of the Mo'allakat. M. Fresnel contends that the honour commonly ascribed to El-Muhelhil is due to Zuheyr
Ibn-Jenab El-Kelbee, of whose poetry at least seventy-nine verses have been preserved, fragments of different poems, including
a piece of fifteen verses, of which the first hemistich of the first verse rhymes with the second hemistiel, according to rulo.
But this Zuheyr, during a portion of his life, is related to have been contemporary with El-Muhelhil. In a fragment ascribed
to him, he represents himself (if the fragment be gemine) to have lived two hundred years : and one tradition assigns to him
a life of two hundred and fifty years ; another, four hundred years ; and another, four hundred and fifty years!"-Upon the
whole, then, it seems that we may with probability refer the first kaseedel to a period within a century and a half, at the
utmost, before the Flight.
Mohammad said, on being asked, " Who is the best of the poets ?" "Inira-el-Keys will be the leader of the poets to
Hell." And in the general estimation of the Arabs, he is the most excellent of all their poets. Ilis Mo'allakah is most
especially admired by them. Of the pagan and unbelieving poets who flourished before and during the time of Mohammad, El-
Beydawce sarcastically remarks (on chap. xxvi. verses 224 and 225 of the Kur-an, in which, and in the verse that next follows,
they are censured as seducers, bewildered by amorous desire, and vain boasters, ) " Most of their themes are unreal fancies, and
their words chiefly relate to the description of the charnis of women under covert, and amorous dallianec, and false arrogations
or professions, and the rending of reputations, and the impugning of the legitimacy of parentages, and false threatening, and
vain boasting, and the praise of such as do not deserve it, with extravagance therein." The like is also said in the Keshshaf,
(on the same passage of the Kur-an, ) and in too large a degree we must admit it to be just ; but it is very far from being
unexceptionable. The classical poetry is predominantly objective, sensuous, and passionate ; with little imagination, or fancy,
except in relation to phantonis, or spectres, and to jinn, or genii, and other fabulous beings ; and much less artificial than
most of the later poetry, many of the authors of which, lacking the rude spirit of the Bedawees, aimed chiefly at mere
elegancies of diction, and plays upon words. Generally speaking, in the classical poetry, the descriptions of nature, of the life
of the desert, of night-journeyings and day-journeyings, with their various incidents, of hunting, and stalking, and hirking for
game, of the tending of camels, of the gathering of wild honey, and similar occupations, are most admirable. And very curious
and interesting, as will be shown by many citations in the present work, are its frequent notices (mostly by early Muslim
poets) of tho superstitions that characterized, in the pagan times, the religion most generally prevailing throughout Arabia ;
in which, with the belief in a Supreme Deity, with strange notions of a future state, and with angelolatry, astrolatry, and
idolatry, was combined the lowest kind of fetishism, chiefly the worship of rocks and stones and trees, probably learned from
Negroes, of whom the Arabs have always had great numbers as slaves, and with whom they have largely intermixed.
Sententious language consisting of parallel clauses, like that of the so-called " poetical books" of the Bible, was probably often
employed by tho Arabs of every agc. It seems to be almost natural to their race wlien excited to eloquence. But the
addition of rhyme in this style of language appears to have become common in the later times. Mohammad Ibu-Et-Țeiyib
El-Fasee says (in article od of his Annotations on the Kamoos) that the oration termed af2, in the Pagan and the carly
Muslim ages, was, in most instances, not in rhyming prose. The remains of classical prose are often used as authorities ; but
being more liable to corruption, they are regarded as less worthy of reliance than the poetry.t
. See the first and second and third of M. Fresnel's "Lettres sur
l'Histoire des Arabes avant l'Islamisme:" the second and third in the
" Journal Asiatique," 3rd Series, vols. 3 and 5.
+ Those who desire to pursue the study of the history of the classical
Arabie beyond the limits to which I have here confined my remarks,
together with that of its sister-languages, will find much learned and
valuable information in M. Renan's " Histoire Générale et Système
Comparé des Langues Sémitiques;" though his scepticism in relation to
questions merely philological (as well as to sacred matters) is often, in
my opinion, ill-grounded and unreasonable. I must particularly remark
upon his erroneous assertion that the poems of the age anterior to El-
Islam make no allusion to the ancient religions of Arabia, and hence
appear to have been expurgated by Muslims, so as to efface all traces of
paganism. Many of such allusions, by pagan pocts, might be adduced
from loxicons, grammars, and scholia ; and some examples of them will
be found in the present work, in articles >>> and je and 19% &c .; the

xi
PREFACE.
Such are the principal original sources from which the Arabic lexicons and lexicological works have been derived.
Another source consisted of phrases and single words transmitted from the Arabs of classical times, or from those later Arabs
of the desert who were believed (though they were not regarded as unquestionable authorities) to have retained the pure
language of their ancestors. The carlier of these are often called, by the lexicologists, at &s; as in the 1st Section of the
Muzhir, where it is said that the transmission (JEEn) should be " from such as ayla" JI, like [the descendants of ] Kahtan
and Ma'add and 'Adnan ; not from those after them; after the corruption of their language, and the varying of the
Muwelleds." El-Jowharee, as will presently be seen, applies the appellation aball JI even to desert-Arabs of his own time ;
but in doing so, lie deviates from the general usage of the lexicologists. As is said in the 6th Section of the Muzhir, the
transmitter must be a trustworthy person ; but may be a woman, and may be a slave, as we have before stated. The degrees
of credit to which the phrases and words thus transmitted are entitled are distinguished by ranging them in the following
classes: 1st, (as is stated in the 3rd Section of the Muzhir,) the term jis is applied to that which has been transmitted by
such a number of persons as cannot be supposed to have agreed to a falsehood: 2ndly, Su (plural of if), to what have been
transmitted by some of the lexicologists, but are wanting in that which is required to justify the application, thereto, of the
former term; and what is thins transmitted is also termed 3,5% .: 3rdly, (as is said in the 5th Section,) ;if (plural of ;"}), to
what have been transmitted by only one of the lexicologists; and what is thus transmitted, if the transmitter is a person of
exactness, as Aboo-Zeyd and El-Khalcel and others, is admitted : 4thly, (as is said in the 15th Section,) Su (plural of
,"), to words known to be spoken only by one Arab. It was only when all other sources failed to supply what was wanted,
that recourse was had, by the writers of lexicons and lexicological works, to contemporary Arabs of the desert; and I do not
find that much reliance was often placed upon these after the end of the third century of the Flight. El-Jowharce, who died
near the close of the next century, states, in the short preface to his "Silahı," that what he had collected in El-'Irak for his
lexicon le "rehearsed by lip to [those whom he terms] aun 's in their abodes in the desert ('(1):" but this he seems to
have done rather to satisfy any doubts that he may have had, and to obtain illustrations, than with the view of taking such
persons as authorities for words or phrases or significations. It is related of Aboo-Zeyd, in the 7th Section of the Muzhir, that
he said, " I do not say ' the Arabs say' unless I have heard it from these: Bekr Ibn-Hawazin and Benoo-Kilab and Benoo-
Hilal; or from [the people of ] the higher portion of the lower region, or [of] the lower of the higher :"" and that Yoonus used
the expression " the Trustworthy (afs1) told me from the Arabs;" that being asked, " Who is the Trustworthy ?" he answered,
" Aboo-Zeyd;" and being asked, " And wherefore dost thou not name him ?" he answered, "He is a tribe, so I do not
name him."t
Most of the contents of the best Arabic lexicons was committed to writing, or to the memories of students, in the latter
half of the second century of the Flight, or in the former half of the next century. Among the most celebrated lexicological
first of these from the Mo'allakah of Imra-cl-Keys. It would have been
strange, indeed, if this had not been the case : for, except the Kur-an,
nothing was so highly prized by the lexicologists as the pagan poetry :
every fragment of it was most valuable in their estimation, and most
carefully sought after and preserved ; and the intentional corruption of it
they regarded as almost a crime.
. " Aboo-'Amr said, "The most chaste in speech, of men, are the
bigher [in respect of territory] of [the tribe of] Temeem, and the lower of
[the tribe of] Keys:' and Aboo-Zcyd said, ' The most chaste in speech, of
men, arc [the people of] the lower portion of the higher region, and the
higher of the lower,' meaning the rear of [the tribe of] Hawazin; the
people of the higher region being the people of El-Medeeneh, and those
around it, and those next it, and those near it, whose dialect he held to be
not the same as that [of Hawazin]." (Muzhir, 49th Section.) According
to the Kamoos, the higher region (ZUJI) is " what is above Nejd, to the
land of Tihameh, to the part behind Mekkeh; and certain towns, or
villages, outside El-Medeenel."
+ The exclusion of post-classical words and significations in the best
Arabic lexicons, or their specification as such when they occur therein, is
of very great importance to us in the use that we are often obliged to
make of those lexicons in interpreting the Hebrew Scriptures. Thus the
triumph of El-Islam, by occasioning the corruption of the Arabic language
and the composition of such lexicons, has rendered us a most signal
service. I have seldom noticed correspondences between the Arabic on
the one side and the Hebrew and other Semitic languages on the other,
because, though these are often illustrated by means of the incomparable
copiousness of the Arabic, the Arabic is rarely illustrated by them, and
because we have no such authorities for the interpretation of those
languages as we have for the interpretation of the Arabic.

xii
PREFACE.
works, general and special, of this period, are the "'Eyn," commonly ascribed to El-Khaleel, who died in the year of the Flight
160 or 170 or 175 (aged 74); the " Nawadir" of El-Kisa-ce, who died in 182 or 183 or 189 or 192; the "Jeem" and the
" Nawndir" and the work entitled " El-Ghareeb el-Musannaf" of Aboo-'Amr Esh-Sheybance, who died in 205 or 206 or 213
(aged 110 or 111 or 118); the " Nawadir" and the " Loghat" of El-Farra, who died in 207 (aged 67); the "Loghat" of
Aboo-'Obeydeli, who died in 208 or 209 or 210 or 211 (aged 96 or 97 or 98 or 99); the "Nawadir" and the "Loghat"
of Aboo-Zeyd, who died in 214 or 215 or 216 (aged 93); the " Ajnas " of El-Asına'ec, who died in 215 or 216 (aged 92 or
93) ; the work entitled " El-Gharceb el-Musannaf" of Aboo-'Obeyd, who died in 223 or 224 or 230 (aged 67); and the
".Nawadir" of. Ibn-El-Aarabce, who died in 231 or 233 (aged 81 or 83): all mentioned near the close of the 1st Section of
the Muzhir. From these and similar works, either immediately or through the medium of others in which they are cited, and
from oral tradition, and, as long as it could be done with confidence, by collecting information from Arabs of the desert, were
composed all the best lexicons, and commentaries on the classical poets &c. The most authoritative of such works are the
lexicons; and the most authoritative of these are, of course, generally speaking, the later, because every succeeding
lexicographier profited by the critical research of his predecessors, and thus avoided or corrected errors committed by earlier
authors. The commentaries on the poets and on the Traditions have contributed largely to the lexicons. They often present
explanations that have been disallowed or questioned by eminent lexicographers; and therefore their statements, when uncon-
firmned by other authorities, must be received with caution: but in many cases their explanations are unquestionably accurate,
and they afford valuable aid by giving examples of words and phrases of doubtful meanings. The danger of relying upon a
single early authority, however high that authority may be, in any matter of Arabic lexicology, will be shown by inmunerable
instances in the present work. I here speak of errors of judgment. In addition to these, we have mistranscriptions. A
word once mistranscribed is repeated in copy after copy ; and at length, from its having been found in several copies, is
confidently regarded as correct .* The value of the larger and later and more estcemed lexieons cannot, therefore, be too
highly ratcd.
The first of the general lexicons is that which is commonly ascribed to El-Khaleel, entitled the "'Eyn" ( Es);
and this has served in a great measure as the basis of many others. In it the words are mentioned according to their
radical letters, as in all the best lexicons; but the letters are arranged, with the exception of t and s, which are classed with ,
for obvious reasons, nearly in the order of their places of utterance, as follows ; commencing with s (whence the title) :
ع ح ٥ خ غ ق ك ج ش ض ص س زط د ت ظ لا ث رل ن ف ب هـ وا ى
Under each of these letters, in the foregoing order, except the last three which are necessarily classed together, are mentioned
all the words of which the roots contain that letter without any letter of those preceding it in this arrangement : first, the
biliteral-radical words : then, the triliteral-radical ; of which are placed first the sound ; secondly the unsound in one letter ;
and thirdly the unsound in two letters : next, the quadriliteral-radical : and lastly, the quinqueliteral-radical. Thus, under
the letter e are mentioned all the words of which the roots contain that letter: . under ~, all the words of which the roots contain
that letter without . : under ., all of which the roots coutain that letter without & or ~ : and so on. For instance, in the
section of the letter J, we find, in the first division, first, w; then, J and Ji; and so on: and in the second division, first, Jus
. For instance, M. Fresnel quoted (in the second of his "Lettres
sur l'Histoire des. Arabes avant l'Islamisme," in the "Journal Asiatique,"
3rd Series, vol. iii. pp. 330 et seq.,) an extract from the " Kitab cl-
ما حملت واحدا منهم تصعا ولا Aghince," as containing, in the phrases
JJ,, two words supposed by him, and by his and my learned friend
the sheykh Mohammad 'Eiyad Et-Tantawee, (scc pp. 324 ct seq. of that
letter,) to be wanting in all the Arabie dictionaries. One of these words
is written buch, as above, in one of M. Fresnel's copies of the " Kitáb el-
Aglance," three in number; in another copy, was; and in the third
copy, las : the other is in all the- copies Las, as above: and they are
explained in that work, on the authority of Abu-l-Yakdlhun El-Jonfee,
.ان تخرج رجلاه قبل رأسه and فى دُبُر الطَّهْر وُقُبل الحَيْض as meaning
The former word is correctly L'as or Ges, both infinitive nouns of
Eis,. The other word is a mistranscription for G. My lamented
friend M. Fresnel was always glad to receive and admit a correction of
any of his own rare mistakes ; and in his " Fourth Letter" he announced
that the sheykh Mohammad had afterwards rectified these two errors.
· كَفَى المَرْءَ تُبْلًّا أَنْ تُعَدَّ مَعَايِبُهْ ·

xii
PREFACE.
and &u; then, wy and ju; and so on : all the combinations of the same radical letters being arranged consecutively; and
the same order of letters being observed in all cases. Respecting the question of its authorship, which is involved in
much uncertainty, I have gatlicred from the 1st Section of the Muzhir what here follows. Es-Scerafce says that El-
Khalcel composed the first part of the 'Eyn. But most men deny [absolutely] its being his composition. Some say
that it is by Leythi [or El-Lcytli] Ibn-Nasr Ibn-Seiyar El-Khurasanec. El-Azherce says that El-Leyth composed it, and
ascribed it to El-Khalcel in order that it might become in much request. Some say that El-Khalccl composed the
portion from the beginning to the end of the letter &, and El-Leyth completed it; and therefore it is that the first part
does not resemble the rest. Ibn-El-Moatczz relates, on the authority of the " Moajam cl-Udabà" of Yákoot El-
Hamawec, that El-Khalcel made himself solely and peculiarly an associate of El-Leyth; and when he composed the
'Eyn, assigned it to him : that El-Leyth licld it in very great estimation, and gave him a hundred thousand [dirlicms];
and committed the half of it to memory :" but it happened that he purchased a highly-prized female slave, who, bc-
coming jealous of the daughter of his paternal uncle [i. c. of his wife], and desiring to enrage him, which she could not
do with respect to money as he would not care for her doing this, burned that book : and as no one else possessed a copy
of it, and El-Khalcel had then died, El-Leyth dictated the half that he retained in his memory, and employed persons
to complete it uniformly with that half: and they made this composition which is in the hands of men. To account for
the mistakes occurring in the 'Eyn, Thaalab says, " El-Khalcel sketched it out, but did not fill it up; and had lic filled
it up, lic had spared nothing in it; for El-Khalcel was a man of whom the like has not been seen : certain learned men
filled it up, on whose authority nothing has been related." It is also said that El-Khalccl composed, of this book, only
the section of the letter s, and liis companion El-Leyth composed the rest, and named himself " El-Khaleel " [i. c. "the
friend "]; and that when he says, in the book, "El-Khalcel Ibn-Ahmad says," it is El-Khalcel; and when he says,
absolutely, " El-Khalcel says," lic speaks of himself : and that every flaw in the book is from him; not from El-Khalccl.
En-Nawawee says that [according to some of the learned] the'Eyn ascribed to El-Khaleel is only what El-Leyth collected
from El-Khalcel.t The mistakes in the'Eyn are numerous ; and there are many interpolations in copies thereof. Several
authors have applied themselves to point out and correct these faults : some, in works specially devoted to this object :
some, in abridgments of the'Eyn or in other lexicons. But in general the mistakes are confined to matters of inficc-
tion and derivation; not extending to the insertion of false or unknown words : and such mistakes arc of light account .;
The following notices of other celebrated lexicons, composed after the 'Eyn, so far as to include thic
Kamoos, I borrow chicfly from the same section of the Muzhir; distinguishing my own additions by enclosing
them within square brackets,
Among the celebrated lexicons composed after the model of the 'Eyn, is the "Jemharah" of Ibn-Durcyd,
[who is said to have died in the year of the Flight 321, and to have lived 93 years.] Some say that it is one of the
best of lexicons ; and it has been taken as an authority by Aboo-'Alee El-Fariseo and Aboo-'Alce El-Kalee and Es-
Scerafec and other eminent authors. Ibn-Jinnco disparages it for faults similar to those of the 'Eyn : and Niftaweyh,
whom Ibn-Durcyd had satirized, pronounced it to be untrustworthy ; but without justice.
. Many of the Arabs have been remarkable for a tenacity of memory
almost miraculous. Several of them are related to have composed and
dictated from nicmory large works, including even lexicons. At school,
they generally learn the whole of the Kur-an by heart, aided to do so by
its being composed in rhyming prose : and many students, among them,
when unable to purchase works necessary to them, borrow such works, a
portion at a time, from the libraries of the mosques, and commit their
entire contents to memory. Hence, in numerous instances, the variations
in copics of the same Arabic work ; copics being often written from the
dictation of persons who have learned a work by heart.
t En-Nawawee also saya, (see the printed edition of his Biographical
İk. I.
Dictionary, page 231,) that, according to some of the learned, "much of
what El-Azheree has transcribed in the Tahdheeb el-Logliah from the
'Eyn is of the mistakes of Leyth :" but this is inconsistent with the
estimation in which the Tahdheeb is held by lexicographers of the highest
repute, El-Azheree often points out what he terms mistakes of El-
Leyth, and corrects them,
# In the present work, whatever is given as on the authority of El-
Leyth is from the 'Eyn ; I believe, through the medium of the Tahdheeb
of El-Azheree, except, perhaps, in a very few instances : and from the
'Eyn also is generally derived (probably in almost every instance) what
is given as on the authority of El-Khaleel.

xiv
PREFACE.
The "Tahdheeb " of El-Azheree, [who was born in the year of the Flight 282, and died in the year 370 or 371.
This is a very excellent lexicon, and one from which I have largely drawn, immediately and through the medium of
the Lisan el-'Arab and of the Taj-el-'Aroos. Its arrangement is the same as that of the 'Eyn, which it calls " the book
of El-Leyth," and from which its contents are in a great measure derived. I possess a large portion of this work in a
volume of the "Tahdhecb et-Tahdhecb ;" and a small portion, consisting of 193 pages, of a copy in large 8vo., cor-
responding to a part of the former.]
The " Moheet " of the Sahib Ibn-'Abbad. [Ibn-Khillikan* states that he was born in the year of the Flight
326, and died in 385: and describes this work as " in seven volumes; arranged in the order of the letters of the
alphabet; copious in words, but having few confirmatory examples :" thus resembling the Kamoos. Much has been
drawn from it in my own lexicon.]
The " Mujmal" of Ibn-Faris, [who died in the year of the Flight 300 or 395.] IIc restricted himself, in his
lexicon, to the mention of genuine words ; excluding the unfamiliar and ignored; on the authority of oral tradition,
and from books of good repute; aiming, as he says, at abridgment and conciseness. [His work is highly esteemed.
The arrangement is that of the usual order of the letters of the alphabet.]
The "Sihah," or, as some call it, " Sahal," of El-Jowharee, [commonly, now, pronounced "El-Joharce," wlio
dicd, according to Abu-l-Fida, in the year of the Flight 308, and " was from Farab, a city of the country of the Turks,
beyond the river," that is, beyond the Seyhoon : or, according to Ibn-Esh-Shilinchi, he died in the year 397, as I, find
in two copies of his history in my possession : or, according to Hajjec Khalcefeh, in 393.] Et-Tebreczec says that it is
commonly known by the title of the lo, which is pl. of .; but that some call it the L'o, which is synonymous
with 6. As its title imports, the author restricted himself to the mention of genuine words, like Ibn-Faris, his
contemporary. [But his lexicon is far more comprehensive, and more excellent in every respect, than that of Ibn-
Fáris.] As he says in his preface, he composed it in an order which nonc had before pursued, [mentioning cach word
according to the place of the last letter of the root, and then the first and second, in the usual order of the alphabet,]
after collecting the contents in El-'Irak, and rehearsing them by lip [as I have before mentioned] to [those whom he
terms] العَرَّب العَارِيَة in their abodes in the desert (البادية). Eth-Tha'alibec says that he was one of the wonders of the agc.
His lexicon, however, is not free from instances of inadvertence or mistakes, like all great books ; and such as cannot
be attributed to the copyists. Yakoot says, in the "Moajam el-Udaba," that tlic cause of the mistranscriptions in it
was this : when he had composed it, it was read to him as far as [the section of ] the letter Je, and an cvil suggestion
occurred to his mind, in consequence of which he cast himself from a housetop, and died : so the rest of the book
remained a rough draught, not pruned, or trimmed, nor fairly copied out ; and his disciple Ibraheem Ibn-Salih El-
Warrak made a fair copy of it, and committed mistakes in some places in it. Ibn-Barrce wrote a commentary, or
series of annotations, (A-, plural of ast,) on the Sihah, [an extremely valuable work] in which he reached the
middle [of the section] of the letter ; and the sheykh 'Abd-Allah Ibn-Mohammad El-Bustec completed it. [But I
have invariably found passages from every part of it cited as the sayings of Ibn-Barree.] And Es-Saghanec, or, as
he is called by some, Es-Sághance, wrote a Tckmileh (zi,, i. e. Supplement) to the Siháh ; exceeding it in bulk. [Some
further remarks on the Sihan (my own copies of which have been already described) will be found in my account of the
Kámoos. The abridgment entitled " Mukhtar es-Siháh " is well known : it is too scanty to be of much use except to
those who desire to commit to memory the most usual words and significations. A very superior abridgment is the
"Jami' " of the seyyid Mohammad Ibn-es-seyyid-Hasan, which was finished, according to Hajjee Khalecfch, in the
year of the Flight 854. It is copious, well digested, and enriched with additions from the Mughrib of El-Mutarrizee,
the Faik of Ez-Zamakhsheree, the Nihayeh of Ibn-El-Atheer, &e. Of this work I possess a very good copy.]
. I have the express authority of the Taj el-' Aroos (in art. JUa) for thus writing the name of this author.

Xv
PREFACE.
The "Jami'" of El-Kazzaz, [who died in the year of the Flight 412. Hajjee Khalcefeh mentions it as "an esteemed
book, but rare." It is not unfrequently cited in the Taj el-'Aroos.]
The " Moo'ab" (thus, with fet-h to the a,) of Aboo-Ghalib Ibn-Temam, [or, according to Ibn-Khillikan, Aboo-Ghalib
Temam,] known by the appellation of Ibn-Et-Teiyanee, [who died in the year of the Flight 436;] a work of very great utility,
consisting of what is correct of the contents of the 'Eyn, not omitting anything of the confirmatory examples from the Kur-an
and the Traditions and the genuine poems of the Arabs, but rejecting what it contains of examples respecting which there is
disagreement, and of mistranscribed words, and faulty formations ; and adding what Ibn-Dureyd has added in the Jemharah.
It is rarcly found; for people have not persevered in transcribing it, but have rather inclined to the Jemharah of Ibn-Dureyd
and the Mohkam of Ibn-Secdeh and the Jami' of El-Kazzaz and the Sihah &c.
The " Mohkam" of Ibn-Seedeh the Andalusian, who was blind, [as was also his father; and who died in the year of the
l'light 458, aged about 60 years.] This is the greatest of the lexicological books [i. c. of thic lexicons] composed since the age
of the Silah [to the time of the author of the Muzhir, of those known to him. It follows the arrangement of the 'Eyu; and
it is held in very high estimation for its copiousness, its accuracy, its critical remarks, and its numerous examples from
classical pocts. In copiousness and in some other respects, it is superior, and in others hardly (if at all) inferior, to the Siháh.
It is one of the two chief sources of the Kamoos; the other being the 'Obab of Es-Saghanec : and I have drawn from it very
largely, both immediately and through the medium of the Lisan el-'Arub and of the Taj cl-'Aroos, for my own lexicon. I
possess the last fifth part of it in a volume of the "Tahdliceb et-Talidheeb ;" and another large portion, and a smaller portion,
of a most admirable copy which has been dispersed, written in the year of the Flight 675, for the library of a Sultan,
apparently the celebrated Beybars.]
[The " Asus " of Ez-Zamakhsheree, who was born in the year of the Flight 467, and died in 538. This lexicon is a
very excellent repertory of choice and chaste words and phrases; and especially and peculiarly valuable as comprising a very
large collection of tropical significations, distinguished as such, which has greatly contributed, by indirectly illustrating proper
significations as well as otherwise, to the value of my own lexicon, as my numerous citations of it will show, although I have
generally been obliged to draw from it through the medium of the Taj el-'Aroos, which often does not name it in quoting it.
Its order is the same as that of the Mujmal, apparently in most copies : but some, which are said to be abridged, follow the
order of the Sihab.]
[The " Mughrib" of El-Mutarrizee, who was born in Khuwarezm, in the year of the Flight 536, and died in 610.
This is a lexicon of select words and phrases, and particularly of such as occur in books of Traditions, and other works relating
to the law. It forms a very valuable companion and supplement to the other lexicons; and I have constantly consulted it and
drawn from it in composing the present work. Its arrangement of the roots is that of the usual order of the alphabet, with
respect to the first, sccond, and third letters of each. I possess a very excellent copy of it, written in the year of the Flight
977, presented to me by the Rev. J. R. T. Licder, late of the English Church-Mission in Cairo.]
The "'Obab" of Es-Saghanec, or Es-Saghance, [who was born in the year of the Flight 577, and died in 660, according to
the Muzhir (48th Section), or, as is said in the Taj el-' Aroos (art. gio), in 635, on the authority of one who attended his funeral. ]
This, after the Molkam, is the greatest of the lexicological works composed since the age of the Sihah [to the time of the
author of the Muzhir, of those known to him. It was left unfinished. If, as I believe is the case, it follow the order of
the Sihal, the portion completed was somewhat more than three fourths; for] the author reached, in it, to the section of:
which occasioned the saying,
• إِنَّ الصَّغَانِّ الَّذِى• حَازَ الْعُلُومَ وَآلْحِكَمْ" كَانَ تُصَارَى أَمْرِهِ. أَنِ أَنْتَهَى إِلَى بَكَمْ.

xvi
PREFACE.
[" Verily Es-Saghance, who mastered the sciences and the doctrines of philosophy, the utmost of his case was that he reached
to "," which signifies "dumbness," &c .- Though a man of extensive learning, he was opiniative, and addicted to unjust
criticism of his superiors. A copy of the 'Obab, and a copy of the same author's Supplement to the Siluih, before mentioned,
used by the author of the Taj el-' Aroos, belonged to the library of the mosque of the Emeer Sarghatmish, in Cairo ; but on my
causing an inquiry to be made for them, the librarian declared that they were no longer found there. They have probably
been stolen ; or had not been returned by the author of the Taj el-'Aroos when he died ; on which occasion, it is said, his house
was plundered of the books &c. that he left.]
[The " Lisan el-' Arab" of Ibn-Mukarram, who was born in the year of the Flight 630, and died in 711. In the copy
of his lexicon in the library of the collegiate mosque called the " Ashirafeeyeli," in Cairo, consisting of twenty-eight quarto-
volumes, he is styled " Jemal-ed-Deen Mohammad Ibn-csh-sheykh-cl-imam-el-marhoom-Jelal-ed-Deen-Abi-1-'Izz-Mukarram Ibn-
esh-sheykh-Nejeeb-cd-Deen-Abi-1-Hasan-El-Ansaree :" but in the Taj el-'Aroos, he is almost always called Ibn-Mandhoor
(4 ). I shall give an account of this great work in describing the Taj el-'Aroos. ]
[The " Talidheeb et-Talidhech" of Mahmood Et-Tanookhee, who died in the year of the Flight 723. It is a combination
of the contents of the Molkam and Tahdhech (the former occupying the first place in cach article) with a few additions from other
sources. Tlus it forms one of the best and most comprehensive of the Arabie lexicons, without any exceptions known to me but
the Lisan el-'Arab and the Taj el-' Aroos. Of the original autograph copy of this work, in five full-paged, large quarto-volumes,
I possess the last volume, consisting of 501 pages. I made a diligent search for the other volumes, but without success. ]
[The " Misbih" of El-Feiyoonice ( Alunad Ibu-Mohammad Ibn-'Alec El-Mukri). Its full title is " El-Misbah cl-Muneer
fee Charech esh-Sharh el-Kebeer." This is a lexicon similar to the Mughrib, above mentioned1; but much more comprehensive;
forming a most valuable companion and supplement to the larger lexicons. Notwithstanding its title, it comprises a very large
collection of classical words and phrases and significations of frequent occurrence ; in many instances with more clear and full
explanations than I have found elsewhere. I have therefore constantly drawn from it in composing my own lexicon ; possessing
a very accurate copy of it, a full-paged quarto-volume of 742 pages. Its author states in it that he finished its composition in
the year of the Flight 734.]
[The " Mughnec," as it is commonly called, or " Mughini-1-Lebecb," of the celebrated grammarian Ibn-Hisham, who was
born in the year of the Flight 708, and died in 761 or the following year. A large work, whereof a little more than one half
consists of an elaborate lexicon of the particles and similar words, for which it is my chief authority, as it was, also, that of the
author of the Kamoos, whose explanations of the particles are, however, very meagre and unsatisfactory. I am fortunate in
possessing a most excellent copy of it, a quarto-volume of 600 pages.]
The " Kamoos" of El-Feyroozabadee, [or, as some pronounce it, El-Feceroozabadec, (from the city of Ferozabad, or
Fcerozabad, pronounced by the Arabs Feyroozabad, or Fecroozábad,) who was born in the year of the Flight 729, and died in
816."] This, after the Monkam and the 'Obab, is the greatest of the lexicological works composed since the age of the Siháh
[to the time of the author of the Muzliir, of those known to hiim]: but none of these three [he adds] has attained to be as
much used as the Sibah ; nor has the rank of the Sihali, nor its celebrity, been diminished by the existence of tliese; because
it is restricted to what is genuine, so that it is, among the books of lexicology, like the Saheeh of El-Bukharce among the books
. It is stated at the end of article de, in the Taj el-'Aroos that the
nuthor of the Kamoos wrote at the end of the first . voluine of the second
copy of that work made by his own hand, which volume ended with the
article above mentioned, that he finished the transcription of ibat volume
in Dhu-1-Hijjeh 708.

xvii
PREFACE.
of traditions ; for the point upon which turns the title to reliance is not the copiousness of the collection, but the condition of
genuineness, or correctness. [The judgment thus expressed, as to the rank and celebrity of the Sihah, in comparison with the
Kamoos, I have found to agree with the opinion of the most learned men among the Arabs with whom I have been acquainted.
But to insinuate that the words and significations added in the latter of these lexicons to those of the former are generally less
genuine, or less correct, is not just : they may be truly said to be generally less chaste, inasmuch as they are less usual : but
their collector has undoubtedly rendered a great service to the students of Arabic by these additions, which have of late years
caused the copies of his lexicon to become much more numerous than those of the Silah. The value of the Silah consists in
its presenting a very judicious collection of the most chaste words, with critical illustrations from the best of the lexicologists,
and examples from the best of the classical pocts. The Kamoos is little more than what may be termed an encrmous
vocabulary; a collection of words and significations from preceding lexicons and similar works, (for otherwise, according to the
principles of Arabic lexicology as universally taught, they would be of no anthority,) mainly from the Molikam and the 'Obab;
with very few critical observations, many of which are false," and scarcely any examples from the poets. Thus it resembles
the Mohicet of Ibn-' Abbad, before mentioned. In order to make room for his numerous additions, desiring that the bulk of his
book should be nearly the same as that of the Silah, the author has often abridged his explanations in such a manner as to
render them unintelligible to the most learned of the Arabs, and has omitted much of what is most valuable of the contents of
the latter work. But he has frequently deviated from this his usual practice for the purpose of inserting criticisms of others,
without acknowledgment, and apparently somne few of his own, upon points in the Silah in which its author is asserted to have
erred; and this he has often done so as to lead to the belief that the author of the Silah has affirmed what he has merely
quoted from another. Many of these criticisms I have found to have been borrowed from the Annotations on the Sibuli by
Ibn-Barree and El-Bustec, or from the Supplement to the Sihah by Es-Sagliance: generally when they are false, (which is
often the case, ) though sometimes when they are correct, from the latter of these works. I have felt it to be my duty to make
these remarks in defence of El-Jowharce, and for the sake of truth. Abundant proofs of their correctness will be found in my
win lexicon. They may surprise many, who have not known the fact that the Kamoos is very little more than an abridged
compilation from other works: and another fact, to be mentioned in the next paragraph, which will be in a measure
supplementary to this brief account of the Kamoos, will probably surprise then more .- This is the latest of the lexicons
noticed in the Muzhir: therefore I have no further occasion for the use of the square brackets to distinguish my own statements
or opinions from those of the author of that work, which has thus far afforded me so much aid in my account of the
principles of Arabic lexicology, and of the most celebrated Arabic lexicons, as well as in my remarks on the history of the
language. My own, most valuable, manuscript-copy of the Kamoos, which I have already described, has been of very great
use to me, though its text is generally most correctly given in the Taj el-'Aroos. I have also constantly had before me the
edition printed at Calcutta. This is certainly more accurate than most of the manuscript-copies; but it contains countless
false readings, which show that, in many instances, the editor, notwithstanding his unquestionable learning and his possession
of cleven copies, did not understand what he edited. It seems that he must often have given the worst of the readings of his
originals, from neglecting to study the passages in which they occur. I have not thought it necessary to mention all of the
false readings in his edition ; but I have mentioned many of them.]
The "Lami' " of El-Feyroozabadee. Its full title is " El-Lani' el-Moalam el-'Ojab el-Jami' beyn el-Molikam wa-l-
'Obub." From some words in the preface to the Kamoos, it has been inferred that the author of that work had composed a
lexicon in sixty volumes, bearing the foregoing title, from which, chiefly, he composed, or abridged, the Kamoos, in two
volumes. But in a very learned work, of Annotations on the Kamoos, by Mohammad Ibn-Et-Teiyib El-Fasec, it is clearly
* The judgment and memory of its author are often in fault: for
instance, in article بيض he disallows the expression الأيام البيض, and in
art. co, he uses it; and in article quo he disallows Ce as syn. with
, and in article and he authorizes it : and many similar instances
might be mentioned.

xviii
PREFACE.
shown that the words from which this inference has been drawn really signify th .. t the author of the Lami' commenced (not that
he completed) this work, and made it, as far as it extended, to surpass every other work of a similar kind; but that he
imagined it would be, in sixty volumes, too large for students to acquire or read ; and, being requested to compose before it a
concise lexicon, he applied himself to the composition of the Kamoos, and abridged the matter of which the Lami' was to have
consisted, so as to comprise the essence of each thirty of the intended volumes in one volume. Thus the words in question are
so far from being a proof of thic completion of the Lani', that their literal meaning indicates the very contrary of this. They
are not, however, the only evidence that we have on this point : for the same eminent scholar to whose Annotations on the
Kamoos I have referred above quotes, from the biographical memoir of the author of the Lami' in the "Tabakat en-Noluth " of
Es-Suyootee, the direct assertion that this work was never completed. He also states, as does likewise the author of the Taj
cl-'Aroos, that more than one writer has transmitted, on the authority of the handwriting of its anthor, a proof of its non-
completion : for they relate the fact of his having written upon the back of the Lami' that, if he had been able to complete it,
it would have composed a hundred volumes, [of what size he does not give the least notion, ] and that he completed five
volumes of it. This, it should be observed, is not inconsistent with what has been said before : it appears that the work would
have consisted of a hundred volumes, each of the size of one of the five volumes that were completed; or would have composed
sixty larger volumes. But I rather incline to think that its author roughly calculated, at one time, that the whole would
consist of a hundred volumes; and at another time, that it would consist of sixty; and that both estimates are greatly beyond
the truth. The non-completion of the Lami' is therefore certain; but this is not so much to be regretted as some persons
might imagine from its author's statement respecting it in his preface to the Kamoos; for the work appears, from its title, to
have been, as far as it extended, with respect to the words and significations, mainly a compilation uniting the contents of the
Molikan and the 'Obab, and neither of these lexicons has been lost to the world. From a reference to it in article &G of the
Kamoos, (in which the author asserts his having disproved an opinion respecting the signification of ast without stating
that El-Azhicree had done so more than five centuries before,) it seems that the Lami' (sceing how small a portion of it
was completed) followed the order of the 'Eyn and the Molikam ; for article as is in the third of the main divisions of these
two works, but in the last but two of those of the Kamoos. Considering this fact, and that the main divisions of the 'Eyn and
the Molikam necessarily decrease in length from first to last, I suppose that the author of the five volumes of the Lami' wrote
thiem, agreeably with a common practice, with large margins for additions, and calculated that, with these additions, each of
the five volumes would form at least three.
The " Taj el-'Aroos," the enormous extent of which I have mentioned in the second paragraph of this preface, is said to.
have been commenced, in Cairo, soon after the middle of the last century of our era, by the seyyid Murtada Ez-Zebcedec. At
the end of a copy of it in his own handwriting, he states that it occupied him fourteen years and some days. According to
the modern historian of Egypt, El-Jabartee, he was born A.D. 1732 or 1733 : came to Cairo A.D. 1753 : finished the Taj
el.' Aroos A.D. 1767 or 1768 : and died A.D. 1791 (in the year of the Flight 1205). And the same historian says that
Mohammad Bey Abu-dhi-Dhahab, for the copy of that work which is in the library of his mosque, gave him a hundred
thousand dirhiems (or drachims) of silver. It is a compilation from the best and most copious of the preceding Arabic lexicons
and other lexicological works, in the form of an interwoven commentary on the Kamvos; exhibiting fully and clearly, from the
original sources, innumerable explanations which are so abridged in the latter work as to be unintelligible to the most learned
men of the East; with copious illustrations of the meanings &c., corrections of mistakes in the Kamnoos and other lexicons, and
examples in prose and verse ; and a very large collection of additional words and significations, mentioned under the roots
to which they belong. Of the works from which it is compiled, though I believe that it was mainly derived in the first
instance from the Lisan el-'Arab, more than a hundred are enumerated by the seyyid Murtada in his preface. Among these
arc-1. The "Siluili," a copy in eight volumes, in the handwriting of Yakoot Er-Roomce, with useful marginal notes
determining the correet readings &c. by Ibn-Barree [and El-Bustec] and A boo-Zekerceya Et-Tebreezee; in the library [of the
collegiate mosque] of the Emeer Ezbck .- 2. The " Tahdheeb" of El-Azherec, a copy in sixteen volumes .- 3. The " Mol;kam"

xix
PREFACE.
of Ibn-Scedeh, a copy in eight volumes .- 4. The " Tahdhceb el-Abniych wa-l-Af al," by Ibn-El-Kattaa, in two volumes .-
5. The "Lisan el-'Arab," by the Imam Jemal-cd-Deen Mohammad Ibn-'Alee El-Ifreekee, [whose appellations I have more
fully given before, commonly called (in the Taj el-'Aroos) "Ibn-Mandhoor,"] in twenty-eight volumes, the copy transcribed
from the original draught of the author, during his life-time: [of this copy I have often made use in composing my own
lexicon; and I have found it very helpful, especially in enabling me to supply syllabical signs, which are too often omitted in
the copies of the Taj el-'Aroos:] its author followed closely, in its composition, the Sihan, the Tahdheeb, the Mohkam, the
Nihaych, the Annotations of Ibn-Barree [and El-Bustce on the Sihah], and the Jemharah of Ibn-Dureyd: [he also drew from
innumerable other sources, to which he refers in his work.]-6. The "Tahdhceb et-Tandheeb" of Abu-th-Thena Mahmood Ibn-
Abec-Bekr Ibn-Hamid Et-Tanookhec, a copy in five volumes, [of which, as I have already mentioned, I possess the last,] the
original draught of the author, who closely followed, in its composition, the Sihah, the Tahdheeb, and the Mohkam, with the
utmost accuracy : he died in the year of the Flight 723 .- 7. The " Kitab el-Gharecbeyn" of Aboo-'Obeyd El-Harawee .-
8. The "Nihayeh fee Gharceb el-Hadeeth," by Ibn-El-Athcer [ Mejd-ed-Deen ] El-Jezerce .- 9. The " Kifayet el-Mutahaffich,"
by Ibn-El-Ajdabee, with Expositions thereof .- 10. The " Fasceh" of Thaalab, with three Expositions thereof .- 11 and 12. The
" J'ikh el-Loghalı" and the work entitled " El-Mudaf wa-I-Mensoob," cach by Aboo-Mansoor Eth-Tha'alibec .- 13 and 14. The
"'Obab" and the "Tekmilch fi-s-Sihaly," cach by Er-Radce Es-Saghanec, in the library [of the mosque] of the Enieer
Sarghatmish .- 15. The " Misbah" [of El-Feiyoomce ] .- 16. The " Takreeb" of Ibn-Khateeb .- 17. The " Mukhtar es-Sihub,"
by Er-Razec .- 18, 19, and 20. The " Asas" and the "Faik" and the " Mustaksce fi-l- Amthal," all three by Ez-Zamakhisherce .-
21. The " Jemharah" of Ibn-Dureyd, in four volumes, in the library [of the mosque] of El-Mr-ciyad .- 22. The " Islah el-
Mantik" of Ibn-Es-Sikkect .- 23 and 24. The " Khasiis" of Ibn-Jinnce, and the "Sirr cs-Sina'ah" of the samo author .-
25. The " Mujmal" of Ibn-Faris .- Many other works of great value are included in the same list. And the Annotations on
the Wamoos by his preceptor, Mohammad Ibn-Et-Teiyib El-Fasce, (before mentioned, in my account of the Lamni',) must be
especially noticed as a very comprehensive and most learned work, from which the seyyid Murtada derived much valuable
matter to incorporate in the Taj cl-'Aroos. From these Annotations of Mohammad El-Fasce, which have often served to
explain to me obscure passages in the Taj cl-'Aroos, and from several others of the most celebrated of the works used by the
seyyid Murtada, I have drawn much matter which he omitted as not necessary to Eastern scholars, but which will be found to
be highly important to the Arabic students of Europe. He made very little use of a commentary on the Kamoos entitled the
" Namoos," by Mulla 'Alee el-Kari, as it is not a work held in high estimation, and he was most careful to include among his
authorities none but works of high repute. It must also be mentioned that he has bestowed great pains upon the important
task of settling the truc text of the Kamoos, according to the authorities of several celebrated copics; and that he has inserted
the various readings that he regarded as being worthy of notice. And here I may state that most of the illustrations of the
text of the Kamoos that are incorporated in the Turkish translation of that work, whenever I have examined them, which has
often been the case, I have found to be taken from the Taj el-'Aroos, of which the Translator ('Asim Efendce) is said to have
had a copy in the author's handwriting : but generally speaking, what is most precious of the contents of the latter work has
been omitted in that translation.
As the Taj el-' Aroos is the medium through which I have drawn most of the contents of my lexicon, I must more fully
state the grounds upon which I determined to make so great a use of it. Not long after I had become acquainted with this
enormous work, I found it to be asserted by some persons in Cairo that the seyyid Murtada was not its author: that it was
compiled by a certain learned man (whose name I could not ascertain) who, coming to Cairo with this work, on his way from
Western Africa to Mekkeh as a pilgrim, and fearing to lose it in the desert-journey, committed it to the seyyid Murtada to be
safcly kept until his return : that he died during his onward-journey, or during his return towards Cairo : and that the seyyid
Murtada published it as his own composition. This grave accusation brought against the reputed author of the Taj cl-'Aroos,
unsupported by the knowledge of the name of the person whom he is thus asserted to have wronged, I did not find to be
credited by any of the learned, nor do I myself believe it: but it imposed upon me the necessity of proving or disproving,