This text is part of:
Table of Contents:
أَمْ ذ is a conjunction, (S, M, K,) connected with what precedes it (Msb, Mughnee) so that neither what precedes it nor what follows it is independent, the one of the other. (Mughnee.) It denotes interrogation; (M, K;) or is used in a case of interrogation, (S, Msb,) corresponding to the interrogative أَ, and meaning أَىّ, (S,) or, as Z says, أَىُّ الأَمْرَيْنِ كَائِنٌ; [for an explanation of which, see what follows;] (Mughnee;) or, [in other words,] corresponding to the interrogative أَ, whereby, and by أَمْ, one seeks, or desires, particularization: (Mughnee:) it is as though it were an interrogative after an interrogative. (Lth, T.) Thus you say, أَزَيُدٌ فِى الدَّارِ أَمْ عَمْرٌو [Is Zeyd in the house, or 'Amr?]; (S, Mughnee;) i. e. which of them two (أَيُّهُمَا) is in the house? (S;) therefore what follows ام and what precedes it compose one sentence; and it is not used in commanding nor in forbidding; and what follows it must correspond to what precedes it in the quality of noun and of verb; so that you say, أَزَيْدٌ قَائِمٌ أَمع قَاعِدٌ [Is Zeyd standing, or sitting?] and أَقَامَ زَيْدٌ أَمْ قَعَدَ [Did Zeyd stand, or sit?]. (Msb.) It is not to be coupled with أَ after it: you may not say, أَعِنْدَكَ زَيْدٌ أَمْ أَعِنْدَكَ عَمْرٌو. (S.) ― -b2- As connected in like manner with what goes before, it is preceded by أَ denoting equality [by occurring after سَوَآءٌ &c.], and corresponds thereto, as in [the Kur lxiii. 6,] سَوَآءُ عَلَيْهِمْ أَسْتَغْفَرْتَ لَهُمٌ لَمٌ تَسْتَغُفِرْ لَهُمٌ [It will be equal to them whether thou beg forgiveness for them or do not beg forgiveness for them]. (Mughnee.) ― -b3- It is also unconnected with what precedes it, (S, Msb, Mughnee,) implying always digression, (Mughnee,) preceded by an enunciative, or an interrogative, (S, Msb, Mughnee,) other than أَ, (Mughnee,) or by أَ not meant [really] as an interrogative but to denote disapproval, (Mughnee,) and signifies بَلْ, (Lth, Zj, T, S, M, Mughnee, K,) or بَلْ and أَ together, (Msb,) and this is its meaning always accord. to all the Basrees, but the Koofees deny this. (Mughnee.) Thus, using it after an enunciative, you say, إِِنَّهَا لَإِِبِلٌ أَمْ شَآءٌ [Verily they are camels: nay, or nay but, they are sheep, or goats: or nay, are they sheep, or goats?]: (S Msb, Mughnee:) this being said when one looks at a bodily form, and imagines it to be a number of camels, and says what first occurs to him; then the opinion that it is a number of sheep or goats suggests itself to him, and he turns from the first idea, and says, أَمْ شَآءٌ, meaning بَلْ, because it is a digression from what precedes it; though what follows بل is [properly] a thing known certainly, and what follows ام is opined. (S, TA.) And using it after an interrogative in this case, you say, هَلْ زيْدٌ مُنْطَلِقٌ أَمْ عَمْرٌو [Is Zeyd going away? Nay rather, or, or rather, is 'Amr?]: you digress from the question respecting Zeyd's going away, and make the question to relate to 'Amr; so that ام implies indecisive opinion, and interrogation, and digression. (S.) And thus using it, you say, هَلْ زَيْدٌ قَامَ أَمْ عَمْرٌو [Did Zeyd stand? Nay rather, or or rather, did 'Amr?]. (Msb.) And an ex. of the same is the saying [in the Kur xiii. 17], هَلْ يَسْتَوِى الْأَعْمَى وَالْبَصِيرُ أَمْ هَلْ تَسْتَوِى الظُّلُمَاتُ وَالنُّورُ [Are the blind and the seeing equal? Or rather are darkness and light equal?]. (Mughnee.) And an ex. of it preceded by أَ used to denote disapproval is the saying [in the Kur vii. 194], أَلَهُمْ أَرْجُلٌ يَمْشُونَ بِهَا أَمْ لَهُمْ أَيْدٍ يَبْطِشُونَ بِهَا [Have they feet, to walk therewith? Or have they hands to assault therewith?]: for أَ is here equivalent to a negation. (Mughnee.) [It has been shown above that] أَمْ is sometimes introduced immediately before هَلْ: (S, K:) but IB says that this is when هل occurs in a phrase next before it; [as in the ex. from the Kur xiii. 17, cited above;] and in this case, the interrogative meaning of ام is annulled; it being introduced only to denote a digression. (TA.) ― -b4- It is also used as a simple interrogative; accord. to the assertion of AO; in the sense of هَلْ; (Mughnee;) or in the sense of the interrogative أَ; (Lth, T, K) as in the saying, أَمْ عِنْدَكَ غَدَآءِ حَاضِرٌ, meaning Hast thou a morning-meal ready? a good form of speech used by the Arabs; (Lth, T;) and allowable when preceded by another phrase. (T.) ― -b5- And sometimes it is redundant; (AZ, T, S, Mughnee, K) in the dial. of the people of El-Yemen; (T;) as in the saying, “ يَا دَهْنَ أَمْ مَا كَانَ مَشْيِى رقَصَا
بَلْ قَدْ تَكُونُ مِشْيَتِى تَوَقُّصَا
” (T, S, * [in the latter, يا هِنْدُ, and only the former hemistich is given,]) meaning O Dahnà, (the curtailed form دَهْنَ being used for دَهْنَآء,) my walking was not, as now in my age, [a feeble movement like] dancing: but in my youth, my manner of walking used to be a bounding: (T:) this is accord. to the opinion of AZ: but accord. to another opinion, ام is here [virtually] conjoined with a preceding clause which is suppressed; as though the speaker had said, يَا دَهْنَ أَكَانَ مَشْيِى رَقَصَّا أَمْ مَا كَانَ كَذلِكَ. (A 'Hát, TA.) -A2- It is also used (T, Mughnee) in the dial. of the people of El-Yemen, (T,) or of Teiyi and Himyer, (Mughnee,) in the sense of ال, (T,) to render a noun determinate. (Mughnee.) So in the trad., لَيْسَ مِنَ امْبِرّ امْصِيامُ فِى امْسَفَرِ, (T, Mughnee,) i. e. الَيْسَ مِنَ البِرِّ الصِّيَامُ فِى السَّفَرِ [Fasting in journeying is not an act of obedience to God]. (T, and M in art. بر.) So too in the trad., اَلْآنَ طَابَ امْضَرْبُ Now fighting has become lawful; as related accord. to the dial. of Himyer, for الضَّرْبُ. (TA in art. طيب.) It has been said that this form ام is only used in those cases in which the ل of the article does not become incorporated into the first letter of the noun to which it is prefixed; as in the phrase, خُذِ الرُّمْحَ وَارْكَبِ امْفَرَسَ [Take thou the spear, and mount the mare, or horse], related as heard in El-Yemen; but this usage may be peculiar to some of the people of that country; not common to all of them; as appears from what we have cited above. (Mughnee.) -A3- أَمَ for أَمَا, before an oath: see art. اما. -A4- And أَمَ اللّٰهِ and أَمُ اللّٰهِ &c.: see أَيْمُنُ اللّٰهِ, in art. يمن.
An Arabic-English Lexicon. London. Williams and Norgate. 1863.
The U.S. Department of Education, The Max Planck Society provided support for entering this text.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.
hide
Dictionary Entry Lookup
Use this tool to search for dictionary entries in all lexica.
