س

The twelfth letter of the alphabet; called

سِينٌ. It is one of the letters termed مَهْمُوسَة [or non-vocal, i. e. pronounced with the breath only, without the voice]; and of the letters termed أَسَلِيَّة, as also ص and ز, because proceeding from the tip of the tongue: its place of utterance is between that of ص and that of ز: and Az says hat it is never conjoined with either of these two letters in any Arabic word: (TA:) it is a sibilant letter; and is distinguished from ص by the raising of the tongue to the palate [in the utterance of the latter], and from ز by the suppression of the voice [in the utterance of the former]. (K in art. سين.) It is one of the letters of augmentation [occurring in the form اِسْتَفْعَلَ and its derivatives]. (S and L in art. سين.) [See also سِينٌ in art. سين. It is sometimes substituted for ص; as in سَقْرٌ, for صَقْرٌ: and for ش, as in سِطْرَنْجٌ, for شِطْرَنْجٌ: (see De Sacy's Chrest. Arabe, sec.

ed., ii. 230-233: and iii. 530-532:)] and Az says that some of the Arabs substitute for it ت, (S and L and K * in art. سين,) as in the saying (S and L in art. سين) of 'Alyà Ibn-Arkam, (L ib.,) يَا قَبَحَ اللّٰهُ بَنِى السِّعْلَاتِ

عَمْرَو بْنَ يَرْبُوعٍ شِرَارَ النَّاتِ

لَيْسُوا أَعفَّآءَ وَلَا أَكْيَاتِ

[O, may God remove far from good, or from prosperity, the sons of the Sialáh, 'Amr Ibn-Yarbooa, the worst of mankind: they are not chaste, nor sharp in intellect]: he means النَّاسِ and بِأَكْيَاسِ: (S and L ib.:) and in like manner one says طَسْتٌ for طَسٌّ. (TA in art. كيت.)

b2: يٰس in the Kur [commencing ch. xxxvi.] is like آلم and حٰم at the commencement of chapters of the same; and is said by 'Ikrimeh to mean يَا إِنْسَانُ [O man]; because it is followed by the words إِنَّكَ لَمِنَ المُرْسَلِينَ: (S and L in art. سين:) or it means either thus, or يَا سَيِّدُ [O man of dignity]. (K in art. سين.)

A2: سَ is a particle peculiarly prefixed to the aor. , rendering it clearly denotative of the future, (Mughnee, and S * and L * in art. سين,) as in سَيَفْعَلُ [He will do such a thing], (S and L ib.,) and considered as forming a part thereof, for which reason it does not exercise any government upon it: it is not contracted from سَوْفَ, contrary to what the Koofees hold: nor is the extent of the future with it shorter than it is with سَوْفَ, contrary to what the Basrees hold: the analytical grammarians term it حَرْفُ تَنْفِيسٍ, by which is meant a particle of amplification; because it changes the aor. from the strait time, which is the present, to the ample time, which is the future: but plainer that their expression is the saying of Z and others, [that it is] a particle denoting the future. (Mughnee.)

Kh asserts that it corresponds [as an affirmative]

to [the negative] لَنْ. (S and L in art. سين.)

Some assert that it sometimes denotes continuance, not futurity: this is mentioned in relation to the saying in the Kur [iv. 93], سَتَجِدُونَ آخَرِينَ [as though meaning Ye continually find others]; and they adduce as an evidence thereof the saying in the same [ii. 136], سَيَقُولُ السَّفَهَآءُ مِنَ النَّاسِ مَا

وَلَّاهُمْ عَنْ قِبْلَتِهِمْ [as meaning The light-witted of the people continually say, What hath turned them away, or back, from their kibleh?]; affirming

that this was revealed after their saying مَا وَلَّاهُمْ: but this the grammarians know not; and that this verse was revealed after their saying ما ولّاهم is not a fact agreed upon: moreover, if it be conceded, still continuance is inferred from the aor. ; like as when you say, فُلَانٌ يَقْرِى الضَّيْفَ and يَصْنَعُ الجَمِيلَ, you mean that it is his custom to do thus. (Mughnee.) Z asserts that when it is prefixed to a verb signifying what is liked or disliked, it denotes that the event will inevitably happen: i. e., when it is prefixed to a verb signifying a promise or a threat, it corroborates and confirms its meaning. (Mughnee.)

A3: [As a numeral, س denotes Sixty.]