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أَنَّ الشَّأْنَ ذ ]: (Mughnee, K: *) and in the phrase, بَلَغَنِى أَنْ قَدْ كَانَ كَذَا وكَذَا [It has come to my knowledge, or been related to me, or been told to me, or it came to my knowledge, &c., that (the case is this:) such and such things have been]; a phrase of this kind, in which أَنْ occurs with a verb, not being approved without قَدْ, unless you say, بَلَغَنِى أَنَّهُ كَانَ كَذَا وَكَذَا: (Lth, T:) [for] when the contracted أَنْ has for its predicate a verbal proposition, of which the verb is neither imperfectly inflected, like لَيْسَ and عَسَى, nor expressive of a prayer or an imprecation, it is separated from the verb, according to the more approved usage, by قَدْ, or the prefix سَ, or سَوْفَ, or a negative, as لَا &c., or لَوْ: (I 'Ak pp. 100 and 101:) but when its predicate is a nominal proposition, it requires not a separation; so that you say, عَلِمْتُ أَنْ زَِيْدٌ قَائِمٌ [I knew that (the case was this:) Zeyd was standing]; (I 'Ak p. 100;) and بَلَغَنِى أَنْ زَيدٌ خَارِجٌ [It has come to my knowledge, or been related to me, or been told to me, &c., that (the case is this:) Zeyd is going, or coming, out, or forth]; (TA;) except in the case of a negation, as in the saying in the Kur [xi. 17], وأَنْ لَا إِِلهَ إِِلَّا هُوَ [And that (the case is this:) there is no deity but He]. (I 'Ak p. 100.) Thus used, it is originally triliteral, and is also what is termed مَصْدَرِيَّة; [عَلِمَ أَنْ, in the first of the exs. above, for instance, meaning عَلِمَ أَنَّهُ, i. e. عَلِمَ أَنَّ الشَّأْنَ, which is equivalent to عَلِمَ كَوْنَ الشَّأْنِ;] and governs the subject in the accus. case, and the predicate in the nom. case: and its subject must be a pronoun, suppressed, [as in the exs. given above, where it means الشَّأْنِ, and in a verse cited before, commencing أَنْ تَقْرَآنِ, accord. to A'boo-'Alee,] or expressed; the latter, accord. to the more correct opinion, being allowable only by poetic license: and its predicate must be a proposition, unless the subject is expressed, in which case it may be either a single word or a proposition; both of which kinds occur in the following saying [of a poet]: “ بِأَنْكَ رَبِيعٌ وغَيْثٌ مَرِيعٌ
وَأَنْكَ هُنَاكَ تَكُونَ الثِّمَالَا
” [he is speaking of persons coming as guests to him whom he addresses, when their provisions are exhausted, and the horizon is dust-coloured, and the north wind is blowing, (as is shown by the citation of the verse immediately preceding, in the T,) and he says, They know that thou art like rain that produces spring-herbage, and like plenteous rain, and that thou, there, art the aider and the manager of the affairs of people]. (Mughnee. [In the T, for رَبِيعٌ, I find الَّربِيعُ; and for وَأَنْكَ, I there find وَقِدْمًا: but the reading in the Mughnee is that which is the more known.]) [J says,] أَنْ is sometimes a contraction of أَنَّ and does not govern [anything]: you say, بَلَغَنِى أَنٌ زَيْدٌ خَارِجٌ [explained above]; and it is said in the Kur [vii. 41], وَنُودُوا أَنْ تِلْكُمُ الجَنَّةُ [And it shall be proclaimed to them that (the case is this:) that is Paradise]: (S:) [here, however, أَنة is regarded by some as an explicative, as will be seen below:] but in saying this, J means that it does not govern as to the letter; for virtually it does govern; its subject being meant to be understood; the virtual meaning being أَنَّهُ تِلْكُمُ الجَنَّةُ. (IB.) [In another place, J says,] You may make the contracted أَنْ to govern or not, as you please. (S.) Aboo-Tálib the Grammarian mentions an assertion that the Arabs make it to govern; as in the saying [of a poet, describing a beautiful bosom], “ كَأَنْ ثَذْيَيْهِ حُقَّانِ
” [As though its two breasts were two small round boxes]: but [the reading commonly known is “ كَأَنْ ثَدْيَاهُ حُقَّانِ
” (this latter reading is given in De Sacy's Anthol. Gram. Ar. p. 104 of the Ar. text; and both are given in the S;) كَأَنْ here meaning كَأَنَّهُ; and] Fr says, We have not heard the Arabs use the contracted form and make it to govern except with a pronoun, in which case the desinential syntax is not apparent. (T.) The author of the K says in the B that you say, عَلِمْتُ أَنْ زيْدًا لَمُنْطَلِقٌ [I knew that Zeyd was indeed going away], with ل when it is made to govern; and عَلِمْتُ أَنْ زَيْدٌ مُنْطَلِقٌ [I knew that (the case was this:) Zeyd was going away], without ل when it is made to have no government. (TA. [But in the latter ex. it governs the subject, which is understood, as in other exs. before given.]) [See an ex. in a verse ending with the phrase وَكَأَنْ قَدِ cited voce قَد, where كَأَنْ is for كَأَنَّهُ, meaning كَأَنَّ الشّأنَ, and a verb is understood after قد. And see also أَنَّ, below.]― -b2- Thirdly, it is an explicative, (Mughnee, K,) meaning أَيْ (S, M, and so in some copies of the K,) or [rather] used in the manner of أَيْ; (Mughnee, and so in some copies of the K;) [meaning قَائِلًا, or قَائِلِينَ; or يَقُولُ, or يَقُولُونَ; or some other form of the verb قَالَ; i. e. Saying ; &c.;] as in the saying [in the Kur xxiii. 27], فَأَوْحَيْنَا إِِلَيْهِ أَنِ اصْنَعِ الْقُلْكَ [And we revealed, or spake by revelation, unto him, saying, Make thou the ark]; (Mughnee, K) and [in the Kur vii. 41,]وَنُودُوا أَنْ تِلْكُمُ الْجَنَّةُ [And it shall be proclaimed to them, being said, That is Paradise]; or in these two instances it may be regarded as what is termed مَصْدَرِيَّة, by supposing the preposition [بِ] understood before it, so that in the former instance it is the biliteral, because it is put before the imperative, and in the second it is the contraction of أَنَّ because it is put before a nominal proposition; (Mughnee;) and [in the Kur xxxviii. 5,] وَانْطَلَقَ الْمَلَأُ مِنْهُمْ أَنِ امْشُوا(S, M, Mughnee) i. e. [And the chief persons of them] broke forth, or launched forth, with their tongues, or in speech, [saying,] Go ye on, or continue ye, in your course of action &c. (Mughnee.) For this usage of أَنْ certain conditions are requisite : first, that it be preceded by a proposition : secondly, that it be followed by a proposition; so that you may not say, ذَكَرْتُ عَسْجَدًا أَنْ ذَهَبًا, but you must say أَىٌ in this case, or must omit the explicative : thirdly, that the preceding proposition convey the meaning of القَوْلُ, as in the exs. above; in the last of which, انطلق has the meaning assigned to it above; not that of walking or going away : fourthly, that there be not in the preceding proposition the letters of القَوْلُ; so that one may not say, قُلْتُ لَهُ أَنِ افْعَلْ; or, if there be in it those letters, that the word which they compose shall be interpreted by another word; as in the saying, in the Kur [v, 117], مَا قُلْتُ لَهُمْ إِِلَّا مَا أَمَرْتَنِى بِهِ أَنِ اعْبُدُوا اللّٰهَ which may mean, as Z says, I have not commanded them [aught save that which Thou commandedst me, saying, Worship ye God]; (Mughnee;) in which instance Fr says that it is an explicative : (T :) fifthly, that there be not a preposition immediately before it; for if you say, كَتَبْتُ إِِلَيْهِ بِأَنِ افْعَلْ كَذَا, it is what is termed مَصْدَرِيَّة [as we have before shown]. (Mughnee.) When it may be regarded as an explicative and is followed by an aor. with لا as in أَشَرْتُ إِِلَيْهِ أَنْ لَا تَفْعَل كَذَا, it may be marfooa, [namely, the aor.,] on the supposition that لا is a negative ; or mejzoom, on the supposition that it is a prohibitive; and in both cases ان is an explicative ; [so that the meaning is, I made a sign to him, as though saying, Thou wilt not do such a thing, in the former case ; or, in the latter, Do not thou such a thing ;] or mansoob, on the supposition that لا is a negative and that ان is what is termed مَصْدَرِيَّة: but if لا is wanting, it may not be mejzoom, but may be marfooa [if we use ان as an explicative] or mansoob [if ان be what is termed مَصْدَرِيَّة]. (Mughnee.)― -b3- Fourthly, it is redundant, as a corroborative, (Mughnee, K,) like whatever else is redundant : and thus it is in four cases : one of these, which is the most common, being when it occurs after لَمَّا denoting time; [and this is mentioned in the M ; ] as in the saying [in the Kur xxix. 32], وَلمَّا أَنْ جَآءَ تْ رُسُلُنَا لُوطًا [And when our apostles came to Lot]: (Mughnee:) [or,] accord. to J, (TA,) it is sometimes a connective to لَمَّا; as in the saying in the Kur [xii. 96], فَلَمَّا أَنْ جَآءَ الْبَشِيرُ [And when that (like as we say, " now that,") the announcer of good tidings came] : and sometimes it is redundant ; as in the saying in the Kur [viii. 34], وَمَا لَهُمْ أَنْ لَا يُعَذِبَهُمُ اللّٰهُ [as though it might be rendered But what reason have they, God should not punish them?] : (S, TA:) but IB says that the connective is redundant ; and [that ان is not redundant in the latter instance, for] if it were redundant in this verse of the Kur it would not render the [aor.] verb mansoob. (TA. [The author of the Mughnee, like IB, disallows that ان is redundant in a case of this kind, which Kh asserts it to be ; and says that فِى is under- stood before it.]) The second case is when it occurs between لَوٌ and a verb signifying swearing, the latter being expressed; as in this verse: “ فَأُقْسِمُ أَنْ لَوِ ا@لْتَقَيْنَا وَأَنْتُمُ
لَكَانَ لَنَا يَوْمٌ مِنَ الشَّرِّ مُظْلِمُ
” [And I swear, had we and you met, there had been to us a dark day of evil]: and when that verb is omitted; as in the following ex.: “ أَمَا وَا@للّٰهِ أَنْ لَوْ كُنْتَ حُرِّا
وَمَا بِا@لْحُِرِأَنْتَ وَلَا العَتِيقِ
” [Verily, or now surely, by God, if thou wert freeborn; but thou art not the freeborn nor the emancipated]: so say Sb and others: Ibn-'Os- foor holds it to be a particle employed to connect the complement of the oath with the oath; but this is rendered improbable by the fact that it is in most cases omitted, and such particles are not. (Mughnee.) The third case, which is extr., is when it occurs between the ك [of comparison] and the noun governed by it in the genitive case; as in the saying, “ وَيَوْمًا تُوَافِينَا بِوَجْهٍ مُقَسَّمٍ
كَأَنٌ ظَبْيَةٍ تَعْطُو إِِلَى وَارِقِ السَّلَمْ
” [And on a day thou comest to us with a beautiful face, like a doe-gazelle raising her head towards the goodly green-leaved tree of the selem kind], accord. to the reading of him who makes طبيةْ to be governed in the genitive case [instead of the accus. or the nom.; for if we read it in the accus. or the nom., أَنْ is a contraction of أَنَّ; in the former case, ظبية being its subject, and its predicate being suppressed; and in the latter case, the meaning being كَأَنَّهَا ظَبْيَةٌ, so that the subject of ان is suppressed]. (Mughnee.) The fourth case is when it occurs after إِِذَا; as in the following ex.: “ فَأُمْهلُهُ حَتَّى إِذَا أَنْ كَأَنَّهُ
مُعَاطِى يَدٍ فِي لُجَّةِ المَآءِ غَامِرُ
” [And I leave him alone until when he is as though he were a giver of a hand to be laid hold upon, in the fathomless deep of the water immerged]. (Mughnee.) ― -b4- [Fifthly,] among other meanings which have been assigned to it, (Mughnee,) it has a conditional meaning, like إِِنٌ: (Mughnee, K:) so the Koofees hold; and it seems to be most probably correct, for several reasons: first, because both these forms occur, accord. to different readings, in several instances, in one passage of the Kur; as in [ii. 282,] أَنْ تَضِلٌّ إِِحْدَاهُمَا [If one of them twain (namely, women,) err]; &c.: secondly, because [the prefix] فَ often occurs after it; as in a verse commencing with أَبَا خُرَاشَةَ [as cited voce أَمَّا, accord. to some who hold that أمَّا in that verse is a compound of the conditional أَنْ and the redundant مَا; and as in the Kur ii. 282, where the words quoted above are immediately followed by فَتُذَكِّرَ إِِحْدَاهُمَا ا@لْأُخْرَى]: thirdly, because it is conjoined with إِِنٌ [which forms a part of the compound إِِكَّا] in this ex.: “ إِِمَّا أَقَمْتَ وَأَمَّا أَنْتَ مُرْتَحِلًا
فَا@للّٰهُ يَكْلَأُ مَا تَأْتِى وَمَا تَذَرُ
” [If thou remain, and if thou be going away (أَمَّا meaning أَنْ كُنْتَ, as syn. with إِِنْ كُنْتَ), may God guard thee (يَكْلَأُ being marfooa because of the ف) as long as thou doest and as long as thou leavest undone]: thus related, with kesr to the former ان [in إِِنَّا] and with fet-h to the latter [in أَمَّا]. (Mughnee.) ― -b5- [Sixthly,] it is a negative, like إِِنْ: (Mughnee, K:) so, as some say, in [the Kur iii. 66,] أَنع يُؤْتَى أَحَدٌ مِثْلَ مَا أُوتِيتُمْ [meaning accord. to them Not any one is given the like of that scripture which ye have been given]: but it is said [by others] that the meaning is, [taken with what precedes it,] And believe not ye that (بِأَنْ) any one is given the like of that scripture which ye have been given, except it be given to him who followeth your religion; and that the phrase “ say thou, Verily the direction is the direction of God, ” is parenthetic. (Mughnee.) ― -b6- [Seventhly,] it is syn. with إِِذْ, (AZ, T, Mughnee, K, [in Freytag's Lex., from the K, إِِذْ قِيلَ, but قيل in the K relates to what there follows,]) as some say, in [the Kur l. 2,] بَلْ عَجِبُوا أَنٌ جَآءَهُمْ مُنْذِرٌمِنْهُمْ [Verily they wonder because a warner from among themselves hath come unto them]; (Mughnee, K;) and in other instances; but correctly, in all these instances, ان is what is termed مَصْدَرِيَّة, and لِ denoting cause is understood before it. (Mughnee.) [See also أَمَّا and إِِمَّا.] ― -b7- [Eighthly,] it is syn. with لِئَلّا, accord. to some, in [the Kur iv. last verse,] يُبَيِّنُ ا@للّٰهُأَنْ تَضِلُّوا [God explaineth to you (the ordinances of your religion, Jel), lest ye should err, or in order that ye may not err]; (Mughnee, K;) and in the saying, “ نَزَلْتُمْ مَنْزِلَ الأَضْيَافِ مِنَّا
فَعَجَّلْنَا القِرَى أَنْ تَشْتِمُونَا
” [Ye became, or have become, in the condition of our guests; so we hastened, or have hastened, the entertainment, lest ye should revile us, or in order that ye should not revile us]: (Mughnee:) but correctly, in such a case [likewise], ان is what is termed مَصْدَرِيَّة, and the original wording is كَرَاهَةَ أَنْ تَضِلُّوا [from a motive of dislike that ye should err], (Mughnee, K,) and مَخَافَةَ أَنْ تَشْتِمُونَا [from a motive of fear that ye should revile us]: so say the Basrees: some say, extravagantly, that ل is meant to be understood before it, and الَّذِى after it. (Mughnee.) ― -b8- [Ninthly,] it occurs in the sense of الَّذِى; as in the saying, زَيْدٌ أَعْقَلُ مِنٌ أَنْ يَكْذِب [Zeyd is more reasonable than he who lies; which is equivalent to saying, Zeyd is too reasonable to lie: but respecting its usage in a phrase of this kind, and respecting the form of the aor. after it in such a case, see مِنْ]. (Kull p. 78.) ― -b9- By a peculiarity of pronunciation termed عَنْعَتَةٌ, the tribe of Temeem say عَنْ instead of أَنٌ. (M.)
An Arabic-English Lexicon. London. Williams and Norgate. 1863.
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