ف alphabetical letter ف
The twentieth letter of the alphabet: called فَآءٌ
[and فَا]. (
TA.) It is one of the letters termed مَهْمُوسَة [or non-vocal, i. e. pronounced with the breath only, without the voice], and of those termed شَفَوِيَّة [or labial]: (
TA:) it is a radical letter, and not augmentative: (
TA in باب الالف الليّنة:) sometimes it is substituted for ث; thus
in the
conjunction ثُمَّ, as in the saying جَآءَ زَيْدٌ فُمَّ
عَمْرٌو [“ Zeyd came, then 'Amr ”]; and in الثُّومُ, “ the well-known herb so called [?],” for which they say الفُومُ; and in الجَدَثُ, “the grave,” or “ sepulchre,” for which they say الجَدَفُ, but using for the
pl. أَجْدَاثٌ, and not أَجْدَافٌ,
accord. to
IJ, (
MF,
TA,) [unless,
app., by poetic license, for] the latter
pl. is used by Ru-beh. (
R and
TA in art. جدف.)
A2: فَ is a
particle having no government: (
Mughnee, *
K, *
TA:) or it governs a mansoob
aor. ; as in the saying, مَا
تَأْتِينَا فَتُحَدِّثَنَا [Thou dost not come to us, that thou mayest talk to us]; (
Mughnee,
K,
TA;)
accord. to some of the Koofees; (
Mughnee;) but the truth is, that the
aor. is here mansoob by أَنْ, meant to be understood, (
Mughnee,
TA,) as is said by
MF, and the like is said by
J, (
TA,) though the أَنْ in this case is necessarily suppressed: (
I'Ak p. 295:) and it is said (
Mughnee,
K,
TA) by
Mbr (
Mughnee) to govern the
gen. case in the saying [of Imra-el-Keys], فَمِثْلِكِ حُبْلَى قَدْ طَرَقْتُ وَمُرْضِعٍ
[Many a one like thee, even such as was pregnant, have I visited by night, and such as was suckling]; but the truth is, that what here governs the
gen. case is رُبَّ, meant to be understood; (
Mughnee,
TA;) like as it often is in the case of وَ, as is said in the Lubáb. (
TA.)
b2: It occurs used in three manners; in one whereof it is an adjunctive to an antecedent, and denotes three things:
b3: one of these is order; and this is of two sorts; relating to the meaning, as in قَامَ زَيْدٌ فَعَمْرٌو [Zeyd came, and after him 'Amr]; and relating to a verbal statement, which is an adjoining of an explicit clause to an implicit antecedent, as in the saying [in the
Kur ii. 34]
فَأَزَلَّهُمَا الشَّيْطَانُ عَنْهَا فَأَخْرَجَهُمَا مِمَّا كَانَا فِيهِ [and the Devil caused them both to slip, or fall, from it (i. e. from Paradise), and ejected them from that state of enjoyment in which they were]: (
Mughnee,
K: *)
b4: the second thing that it denotes when used as an adjunctive to an antecedent is proximate sequence, and this is in everything [i. e. in every case] according to the estimate thereof; (
Mughnee,
K; *) [meaning, according to the relative, or comparative, estimate of the time implied; for, as is said in an explanation of the words thus rendered, in a marginal note in my copy of the
Mughnee, “the long period is sometimes esteemed short by comparison; ” or it may be defined as a
particle denoting sequence in a case in which is an uninterrupted connection between two events;] one says تَزَوَّجَ فُلَانٌ فَوُلِدَ لَهُ [Such a one took a wife, and, in uninterrupted connection with his doing so, a child was born to him,] when there did not intervene between the two events aught save the period of gestation, (
Mughnee,
K, *) and so if it were a period protracted [beyond the usual length]; and you say دَخَلْتُ البَصْرَةَ فَـ
ـبَغْدَادَ [I entered El-Basrah, and, in uninterrupted connection with my doing so, Baghdád,] when you did not stay in El-Basrah nor between the two towns: and this sequence is not necessarily implied by the ف that denotes causality; as is shown by the correctness of one's saying إِنْ
يُسْلِمْ فَهُوَ يَدْخُلُ الجَنَّةَ [If he become a Muslim, he will consequently enter Paradise]; the delay between the two events [by death &c.] being well known: (
Mughnee:)
b5: [or,
accord. to
J,] the adjunctive ف occurs in three cases, in the first of which it denotes order and proximate sequence with association; you say, ضَرَبْتُ زَيْدًا فَعَمْرًا [I beat Zeyd, and next 'Amr]: (
S: [the second and third of these cases will be mentioned in the course of this art:])
b6: and it is said to occur sometimes in the sense of ثُمَّ, (
Mughnee,
K, *
TA, *) denoting
conjunction in an absolute manner, with delay; (
TA;) as in the saying [in the
Kur xxiii. 14] ثُمَّ خَلَقْنَا النُّطْفَةَ عَلَقَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْعَلَقَةَ مُضْغَةً
فَخَلَقْنَا الْمُضْغَةَ عِظَامًا فَكَسَوْنَا الْعِظَامَ لَحْمًا [Then we made the sperm a lump of clotted blood, then we made the lump of clotted blood a bit of flesh, then we made the bit of flesh bones, then we clothed the bones with flesh]: (
Mughnee,
K,
TA:)
b7: and sometimes in the sense of وَ, (
Mughnee,
K, *
TA, *) denoting
conjunction in an absolute manner, without order; (
TA;) as in the saying (of Imra-el-Keys,
TA), بَيْنَ الدَّخُولِ
فَحَوْمَلِ [as though meaning Between Ed-Dakhool and Howmal]; (
Mughnee,
K,
TA;) the right reading of which is asserted by
As to be with وَ; but it is replied that the implied meaning is بَيْنَ مَوَاضِعِ الدَّخُولِ فَمَوَاضِعِ حَوْمَلِ [amidst the places of, or pertaining to, Ed-Dakhool, and the places of, or pertaining to, Howmal; the former places and the latter being contiguous; and we may therefore understand these words as relating to an antecedent command to pause]; this phrase being allowable like the saying جَلَسْتُ بَيْنَ العُلَمَآءِ فَالزُّهَّادِ [I sat amidst the learned men and the devotees]: it has been said that مَا is here suppressed before بَيْنَ, and that فَ is used in the place of إِلَى; but this usage of فَ is strange: (
Mughnee:)
b8: the third thing that it denotes when used as an adjunctive to an antecedent is relation to a cause: (
Mughnee,
K, *
TA: *) this is the second of the three cases mentioned by
J, who says, (
TA,) it is when what precedes it is a cause of what follows it; and it denotes adjunction and proximate sequence without association; as in the sayings ضَرَبَهُ فَبَكَى [He beat him, and he consequently wept,] and ضَرَبَهُ فَأَوْجَعَهُ [He beat him, and consequently pained him,] when the beating is the cause of the weeping and of the pain: (
S,
TA:) used in this manner, i. e. to denote relation to a cause, it is generally such as adjoins a proposition, as in [the saying in the
Kur xxviii. 14]
فَوَكَزَهُ مُوسَى فَقَضَى عَلَيْهِ [And Moses struck him with his fist, and consequently killed him]; or a qualificative, as in [the saying in the
Kur lvi.
52-54] لَآكِلُونَ مِنْ شَجَرٍ مِنْ زَقُّومٍ فَمَالِئُونَ مِنْهَا
الْبُطُونَ فَشَارِبُونَ عَلَيْهِ مِنَ الْحَمِيمِ [Shall surely be eating from trees of Zakkoom, and consequently filling therefrom the bellies, and drinking thereon of hot water]. (
Mughnee,
K.)
b9: Another manner in which it is used [the second of the three manners before mentioned (
Mughnee)] is as a connective of an apodosis, i. e., of the complement of a conditional clause, (
Mughnee, *
K, *
TA,) when this is of a kind not fit to be itself conditional, i. e., to be a protasis. (
Mughnee.)
It is thus used when the complement is a nominal proposition; as in [the saying in the
Kur vi. 17] وَإِنْ يَمْسَسْكَ بِخَيْرٍ فَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَىْءٍ
قَدِيرٌ [And if He cause good to betide thee, He is able to do everything]: (
Mughnee,
K,
TA:) this is the third of the three cases mentioned by
J, who says, (
TA,) this is when it is used for the purpose of inception, in the complement of a conditional clause; as in the saying إِنْ تَزُرْنِى
فَأَنْتَ مُحْسِنٌ [If thou visit me, thou wilt be a welldoer]; in which what follows فَ is a new proposition, grammatically independent of what precedes it, one part thereof governing another; for أَنْتَ is an
inchoative, and مُحْسِنٌ is its
enunciative; and the proposition has become a complement by means of the ف: (
S,
TA:)
b10: or, (
K,) secondly, (
Mughnee,) the complement may be a verbal proposition, like the nominal, and it is one of which the verb is
aplastic; as in [the saying in the
Kur xviii. 37 and 38] إِنْ تَرَنِ أَنَا
أَقَلَّ مِنْكَ مَالًا وَوَلَدًا فَعَسَى رَبِّى أَنْ يُؤْتِيَنِ [If thou seest me to be possessing less than thou in respect of wealth and children, it may be that my Lord may give me]; and [the saying in the
Kur ii.
273] إِنْ تُبْدُوا الصَّدَقَاتِ فَنِعِمَّا هِىَ [If ye make apparent the alms, very good, as a thing, is it, i. e. the doing so]: (
Mughnee,
K:)
b11: or, (
K,) thirdly, (
Mughnee,) the verb of the complement may be one belonging to a new proposition, grammatically independent of what precedes it, as in [the saying in the
Kur iii. 29] إِنْ كُنْتُمْ
تُحِبُّونَ اللّٰهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِى [If ye love God, follow ye me]: (
Mughnee,
K:)
b12: or, (
K,) fourthly, (
Mughnee,) the verb of the complement may be a
pret., as to the letter and as to the meaning; either properly, as in [the saying in the
Kur xii. 77] إِنْ يَسْرِقْ فَقَدْ سَرَقَ أَخٌ لَهُ مِنْ قَبْلُ [If he steal, a brother of his hath stolen before]: or tropically, as in [the saying in the
Kur xxvii. 92] وَمَنْ جَآءَ بِالسَّيِّئَةِ فَكُبَّتْ وُجُوهُمُمْ فِى النَّارِ [and whoever shall have done that which is evil, their faces are inverted in the fire of Hell], this [latter]
verb being used as though signifying what has already happened to denote the certain assurance of the event's happening: (
Mughnee,
K: *)
b13: fifthly, when the ف is coupled with a
particle relating to futurity; as in [the saying in the
Kur v. 59] مَنْ يَرْتَدَّ مِنْكُمْ عَنْ دِينِهِ فَسَوْفَ يَأْتِى اللّٰهُ
بِقَوْمٍ يُحِبُّهُمْ [Whoever of you revolteth from his religion, God will bring a people whom He loveth]; and in [the saying in the
Kur iii. 111]
وًمَا تَفْعَلُوا مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَلَنْ تُكْفَرُوهُ [And what ye do of good, ye shall not be denied the reward of it]: (
Mughnee: omitted in the
K; as is also what here next follows:)
b14: sixthly, when the ف is coupled with a
particle to which is peculiarly assigned the first place in a proposition, as in the saying, فَإِنْ أَهْلِكْ فَذِى حَنَقٍ لَظَاهُ
عَلَىَّ يَكَادُ يَلْتَهِبُ الْتِهَابَا
[a verse similar in itself, and probably in its sequel (which is not quoted), to one by Rabee'ah
Ibn-Makroom (in
Ham p. 29),
app. meaning And if I perish, many a one having rage in his bosom, whose fire kindled against me almost flames with a vehement flaming; فَذِى حَنَقٍ being for فَرُبَّ ذِى حَنَقٍ]; for رُبَّ is meant to be understood, and to it peculiarly belongs the first place in the proposition: (
Mughnee:)
b15: the ف must also be used when the complement of a conditional clause is
imperative; as in the saying إِنْ أَكْرَمَكَ زَيْدٌ فَأَكْرِمْهُ [If Zeyd treat thee with honour, treat thou him with honour]: or prohibitive; as in the saying إِنْ يُكْرِمْكَ زَيْدٌ فَلَا تُهِنْهُ [If Zeyd treat thee with honour, treat not thou him with contempt]: or negative, either by means of لَنْ [as in an
ex. above] or by means of مَا; as in the saying إِنْ أَكْرَمْتَ زَيْدًا فَمَا يَهِينُكَ [If thou treat Zeyd with honour, he does not treat thee with contempt]: (
TA:)
b16: when the verb of that complement is an
aor. , affirmative, or negative by means of لَا, the ف may be introduced or omitted: in the former case you may say إِنْ
تُكْرِمْنِى فَأُكْرِمُكَ meaning فَأَنَا أُكْرِمُكَ [i. e. If thou treat me with honour, I will treat thee with honour]; and you may say إِنْ تُكْرِمْنِى أُكْرِمْكَ
[which is the more usual] if you do not make it [i. e. اكرمك] the
enunciative of a suppressed
inchoative [i. e. of أَنَا]: and in the case of the negative by means of لا you may say إِنْ تُكْرِمْنِى
فَلَا أُهِينُكَ [If thou treat me with honour, I will not treat thee with contempt; and you may omit the ف as is more usual]: (
TA:)
b17: and sometimes the ف is suppressed in the case of necessity in verse [on account of the metre]; as in the saying, مَنْ يَفْعَلِ الْحَسَنَاتِ اللّٰهُ يَشْكُرُهَا
[Whoso doth those deeds that are good, God will recompense them, i. e., the deeds], (
Mughnee,
K,) meaning فَاللّٰهُ: (
K:) or, (
Mughnee,
K,)
accord. to
Mbr, who disallows this even in verse, (
Mughnee,) the right reading is مَنْ يَفْعَلِ الخَيْرَ فَالرَّحْمٰنُ يَشْكُرُهُ
[Whoso doth that which is good, the Compassionate will recompense it]; (
Mughnee,
K;) and it is absolutely disallowable: (
K:) or it occurs in chaste prose, (
Mughnee,
K, *)
accord. to
Akh; (
Mughnee;) and hence the saying [in the
Kur ii. 176] إِنْ تَرَكَ خَيْرًا الْوَصِيَّةُ لِلْوَالِدَيْنِ وَالْأَقْرَبِينَ
[If he leave wealth, the legacy shall be to the two parents and the nearer of other relations]; and the
trad. respecting that which one has picked up, or taken, of property that has been dropped, فَإِنْ جَآءَ صَاحِبُهَا وَإِلَّا اسْتَمْتِعْ بِهَا [And if the owner thereof come, restore thou it to him; and if not, or otherwise, benefit thyself by it]: (
Mughnee,
K:)
b18: when the verb of the complement of a conditional clause is a
pret. as to the letter but future as to the meaning intended [yet not importing certainty, so that it is not like the saying in the
Kur xxvii. 92, cited above], the ف may not be prefixed to it; as in the saying إِنْ أَكْرَمْتَنِى
أَكْرَمْتُكَ [If thou treat me with honour, I will treat thee with honour]: and likewise when it is
pret. as to the [proper] signification but [an
aor. as to the letter and] future as to the meaning intended; as in the saying إِنْ أَسْلَمْتَ لَمْ تَدْخُلِ النَّارَ
[If thou become a Muslim, thou wilt not enter the fire of Hell]. (
TA.)
b19: And as the ف thus connects the apodosis with its protasis, so it connects the like of the apodosis with the like of the protasis; as in the saying اَلَّذِى يَأْتِينِى فَلَهُ دِرْهَمٌ
[Who comes, or shall come, to me, for him is, or shall be, a dirhem]: by its being introduced in this case, one understands what the speaker means, that the obligation to give the dirhem is a consequence of the coming: otherwise the saying would be ambiguous. (
Mughnee.) Thus also it occurs after a clause commencing with the conditional
particle أَمَّا,
q. v. (
Mughnee in art. أَمَّا; &c.)
b20: It also occurs in the cases here following, prefixed to an
aor. , which is mansoob by means of أَنْ, meant to be understood, (
S,
TA, and
I'Ak
p. 295,) but necessarily suppressed: (
I'Ak ibid.:)
b21: thus in the complement of a command; (
S,
TA, and
I'Ak p. 296;) as in اِئْتَنِى فَأُكْرِمَكَ
[Come thou to me, that I may treat thee with honour]: (
I'Ak ibid.:) [and] you say زُرْنِى
فَأُحْسِنَ إِلَيْكَ [Visit thou me, that I may do good to thee]; (
S,
TA;) to which
J adds, you do not make the visiting to be the cause of the doing good; what you [would] say being, it is of my way to do good always; but [there seems be an omission here in the copies of the
S, for, as]
IB
says, if you make أُحْسِن to be marfooa, [not mansoob,] saying فَأُحْسِنُ إِلَيْكَ, [the meaning is, for I will do good to thee, for] you do not make the visiting to be the cause of the doing good: (
TA:) the demand, however, in this and similar cases, must not be indicated by a
verbal noun, nor by an
enunciative; for when it is so indicated, the
aor. must be marfooa; as in صَهْ
فَأُحْسِنُ إِلَيْكَ [Be silent, then I will do thee good]; and in حَسْبُكَ الحَدِيثُ فَيَنَامُ النَّاسُ [The discourse is sufficient for thee, so the people shall sleep]: (
I'Ak p. 296:)
b22: also in the complement of a prohibition; (
S, and
I'Ak p. 296;) as in لَا تَضْرِبْ
زَيْدًا فَيَضْرِبَكَ [Beat not thou Zeyd, for he may beat thee, or lest he beat thee]: (
I'Ak ibid.:)
b23: and in the complement of a prayer; as in رَبِّ
انْصُرْنِى فَلَا أُخْذَلَ [My Lord aid me, so that I may not be left helpless]: (
I'Ak ibid.:)
b24: and in the complement of an interrogation; (
S, and
I'Ak p. 296;) as in هَلْ تُكْرِمُ زَيْدًا فَيُكْرِمَكَ [Wilt thou treat Zeyd with honour, that he may treat thee with honour?]: (
I'Ak ibid.:)
b25: and in the complement of a petition with gentleness; (
S, and
I'Ak p. 296;) as in أَلَا تَنْزِلُ عِنْدَنَا فَتُصِيبَ
خَيْرًا [Wilt thou not alight at our place of abode, that thou mayest obtain good?]: (
I'Ak ibid.:)
b26: and in the complement of a demanding with urgency the performance of an action; as in لَوْلَا
تَأْتِينَا فَتُحَدِّثَنَا [Wherefore dost thou not come to us, that thou mayest talk to us?]: (
I'Ak p. 296:)
b27: and in the complement of an expression of wish; as in لَيْتَ لِى مَالًا فَأَتَصَدَّقَ مِنْهُ [Would that I had wealth, that I might give alms thereof]: (
I'Ak ibid.:)
b28: and in the complement of an expression of hope, in like manner as in the case next before mentioned,
accord. to the Koofees universally; as in the saying in the
Kur [xl. 38 and 39] لَعَلِّى أَبْلُغُ الْأَسْبَابَ أَسْبَابَ السَّمٰوَاتِ فَأَطَّلِعَ
[May-be I shall reach the tracts, or the gates, the tracts, or the gates, of the heavens, so that I may look],
accord. to one reading: (
I'Ak p.
298:)
b29: and in the complement of a negation, (
S, and
I'Ak p. 295,) i. e., of a simple negation; as in مَا تَأْتِينَا فَتُحَدِّثَنَا [Thou dost not come to us, that thou mayest talk to us; a saying mentioned before, in the first of the remarks on this
particle]. (
I'Ak ibid.)
b30: It is also prefixed as a
corroborative to an oath; as in فَبِعِزَّتِكَ [which may be rendered Now by thy might, or nobility, &c.], and فَوَرَبِّكَ [Now by thy Lord]. (
TA.)
b31: The third manner in which it is [said to be]
used is when it is redundant, so that its being included in a saying is like its being excluded: but this usage is not affirmed by
Sb:
Akh allows its being redundant in the enchoative, absolutely; mentioning the phrase أَخُوكَ فَوُجِدَ [as though meaning Thy brother, he has been found; but هٰذَا is
app. meant to be understood, so that the phrase should be rendered, fully, this is thy brother, and he has been found]:
Fr and ElAalam and a number of others restrict its being allowable to the cases in which the
enunciative is a command, as in the saying, وَقَائِلَةٍ خَوْلَانُ فَانْكِحْ فَتَاتَهُمْ and in the saying, أَنْتَ فَانْظُرْ لِأَىِّ ذَاكَ تَصِيرُ or a prohibition, as in the saying زَيْدٌ فَلَا تَضْرِبْةُ; but those who disallow its being so explain the first of these three exs. by saying that the implied meaning is هٰذِهِ خَوْلَانُ, [so that the saying should be rendered, fully, Many a woman is there saying, This is Khowlán (the tribe so named), therefore marry thou their young woman; and in like manner the implied meaning of the third
ex. is هٰذَا زَيْدٌ فَلَا تَضْرِبْهُ This is Zeyd, therefore do not thou beat him;] and the implied meaning of the second
ex. is اُنْظُرْ فَانْظُرْ, [so that the saying should be rendered, fully, Look thou, and look to what result thereof thou wilt eventually come,] the former انظر being suppressed, and its implied pronoun, أَنْتَ, expressed: the saying وَإِذَا هَلَكْتُ فَعِنْدَ ذٰلِكَ فَاجْزَعِى
[meaning And when I perish, on the occasion thereof manifest thou impatience, or grief, &c., the second ف being redundant,] is an instance of poetic license. (
Mughnee.)
A3: [
As a numeral, ف denotes Eighty.]
