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1 كَانَ ذ He or it was. A verb of the class called incomplete, (نَاقِصٌ) because, with the agent which it comprises, or to which it relates, it cannot constitute a complete proposition; i. e., non-attributive. The other verbs of this class are, ظَلَّ أَضْحَى أَمْسَى أَصْبَحَ صَارَ, مَا دَامَ مَاا@نْفَكَّ مَا فَتِئَ مَابَرِحَ مَا زَالَ بَاتَ, and لَيْسَ. Each of these governs its noun, or subject, in the nom. case, and its enunciative, or predicate, in the acc. case; as, كَانَ زَيْدٌ قَائِمًا Zeyd was standing. ― -b2- (The ن in يَكُنْ and the like is often irregularly elided.) ― -b3- كَانَ, divested of all signification of time. is often used as a copula. (See De Sacy 's Gr. Ar. i. 196.) So too is كَائِنٌ; for هٰذَا زَيْدٌ and هٰذَا كَائِنٌ زَيْدًا signify the same. (Mughnee, voce أَنَّ.) ― -b4- كَانَ as a complete, i. e., an attributive, verb, see حَصَلَ. in three places.
An Arabic-English Lexicon. London. Williams and Norgate. 1863.
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