ROOT ا ل ل

اَلْ is a particle of determination: (Mughnee &c.:) or, accord. to some, it is a conjunct noun, and this is the correct opinion; but some say it is a conjunct particle; and some, a particle of determination: (I 'AK p. 40:) [it is equivalent to our article The;] as in الرَّجُلُ [The man]: (S and K in art. لوم, and I 'Ak p. 48:) accord. to Kh, [what is termed] the determinative is اَلْ [altogether, and therefore it is called by some “the determinative alif and lám“]; but accord. to Sb, it is the ل alone; [wherefore it is called by some, as in the S &c., “the lám of determination;”;] so that accord. to Kh, the hemzeh is a hemzeh of disjunction; but accord. to Sb, it is a hemzeh of conjunction: (I 'Ak ubi suprà:) [J says,] the ل being quiescent, the conjunctive ا is prefixed to it in order that it may commence therewith; but when it is conjoined with what precedes it, the ا is dropped, as in لِلرَّجُلِ. (S in art. لوم.) Sometimes the Arabs suppress hemzeh after it; and sometimes they also suppress the ا of the article itself: thus, for الأَحْمَرُ, they say الَحْمَرُ, and لَحْمَرُ. (Zj, cited in TA in art. ايك.) In the dial. of some of the people of El-Yemen, (TA in art. ام, q. v.,) or in the dial. of Himyer, (TA in art. امْ (,طيب is used in the sense of ال. (TA.) ― 2-b2- It is used to distinguish a noun as known [to the hearer or reader in a particular and definite sense]: (Mughnee, I 'Ak ubi suprà:) first, by its being mentioned [before]; (Mughnee;) as in [the words of the Kur lxxiii. 15 and 16,] كَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا إِلَى فِرْعَوْنَ رَسُولًا فَعَصَى فِرْعَوْنُ الرَّسُولَ [Like as we sent unto Pharaoh an apostle, and Pharaoh disobeyed the apostle]; (Mughnee, I 'Ak;) in which case, the pronoun may supply the place which it and the noun that it accompanies occupies: secondly, by its being conceived in the mind; as in [the Kur ix. 40,] إِذْ هُمَا فِى الغَارِ [When they two were in the cave]: and thirdly, by its being applied to a thing present; and accord. to Ibn-'Osfoor, this does not occur except after nouns of indication, as in جَآءَ نِى هٰذَا الرَّجُلُ [This man (lit. this, the man,) came to me]; or after أَىّ in calling, as in يَا أَيُّهَا الرَّجُلُ [O man]; or after إِذَا denoting a thing's happening suddenly, or unexpectedly, as in خَرَجْتُ فَإِذَا الأَسَدُ [I went forth, and lo, there was the lion]; or after the noun denoting the present time, as اَلْآنَ [Now]: but this requires consideration; for you say to the reviler of a man in you presence, لَا تَشْتِمِ الرَّجُلَ [Revile not thou the man]; and because that which is after إِذَا does not render determinate anything present at the time of speaking; and because that in الآن is really redundant, being inseparable, which the determinative is never known to be: the good example in this case is the saying in the Kur [v. 5 {3}], اَلْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِيْنَكُمْ [This day I have completed for you your religion]. (Mughnee.) ― 2-b3- It is also used to denote the species: first, to denote the totality of the individuals of the species; and this may have its place supplied by كُلّ used in its proper sense; (Mughnee, I 'Ak * ubi suprà;) as in [the Kur iv. 32 {28},] وَخُلِقَ الإِنْسَانُ ضَعِيفًا [For man was created weak]: secondly, to denote the totality of the properties of the individuals, or the combination of all those properties in one thing; and this may have its place supplied by كُلّ used in a tropical sense; as in زَيْدٌ الرَّجُلُ عِلْمًا [Zeyd is the man in respect of knowledge; as though he combined in himself the knowledge of all the individuals of his species]; i. e., he is the complete, or perfect, [or we would rather say, preeminent,] in knowledge; and hence, [in the Kur ii. 1 {2},] ذٰلِكَ الكِتَابُ [That is the book, or scripture; as though combining in itself the excellences of all other books or scriptures; or meaning that is preeminently the book, or scripture]: and thirdly, to denote the quiddity, or essence; and this may not have its place supplied by كُلّ used either properly or tropically; as in the saying, [in the Kur xxi. 31,] وَجَعَلْنَا مِنَ ٱلمَآءِ كُلَّ شَىْءٍ حَىٍّ [And we have made of water (meaning, accord. to common opinion, sperma genitale,) everything living]; or, accord. to some, it is used in this case to distinguish a thing as known [in a particular sense] by its being conceived in the mind. (Mughnee.) ― 2-b4- It is also used to denote predominance of application; as in المَدِينَةُ [The city], meaning the city of the Apostle; and الكِتَابُ [The book], meaning the book of Seebaweyh: and in this case, it may not be suppressed, except when the noun is used vocatively, or when it is prefixed to another noun which it governs in the gen. case; and in some anomalous instances, as in هٰذَا عَيُّوقٌ طَالِعًا [This is the star Capella, rising], originally العَيُّوقُ. (I 'Ak p. 51.) [In a case of this kind, it is said in the Mughnee to be redundant; but I think it is clearly not so in any of the instances here mentioned, except the last; and this I would rather assign to a category yet to be noticed, in which ال is certainly redundant, and, by rule, inseparable.] ― 2-b5- It is also prefixed to a noun transferred from its original application to that of a proper name; it being so prefixed to convey an allusion to the original signification; and such noun being generally an epithet, as حَارِثٌ; but sometimes an inf. n., as فَضْلٌ; and sometimes a generic noun, as نُعْمَانٌ; so that in any of these cases you may prefix ال, saying الحَارِثُ and الفَضْلُ and النُّعْمَانُ, with a view to the original signification; and you may suppress it, with a view to the actual state [which is that of a proper name]: for when you mean that a name of this kind is given as one ominous of good, you prefix the ال in order to indicate this; as when you say الحَارِثُ with a view to a person's being thus named to prognosticate that he will live and be a tiller, or cultivator; but when you only consider it as a proper name, you do not prefix the ال: thus the prefix ال conveys a meaning not obtained without it; and therefore it is not redundant, as some assert it to be. (I 'Ak p. 50.) [The author of the Mughnee is one of those who consider ال redundant in this case.] ― 2-b6- It is in some cases redundant: and in some of these, it is inseparable; as in [a proper name which cannot be used with a view to an original application from which it has been transferred to that of a proper name though it may have been so transferred, such as] اللَّاتُ, which is the name of a certain idol that was at Mekkeh [so called because a man used to moisten سَوِيق with clarified butter, for the pilgrims, at the place thereof]; and, accord. to some, [as before mentioned,] in الآنِ; and in the conjunct nouns الَّذِى and its variations, accord. to those who hold that a noun of this kind is rendered determinate by its complement: in other cases, where it is redundant, it is separable; and this is when it is prefixed to a proper name by poetic licence, as in بَنَاتُ الأَوْبَرِ for بَنَاتُ أَوْبَرَ, a species of truffle; or, accord. to Mbr, this is not a proper name, and the ال is not redundant; and when it is prefixed to a specificative, as in طِبْتَ النَّفْسَ for طِبْتَ نَفْسًا, accord. to the Basrees, who hold, in opposition to the Koofees, that the specificative may only be indeterminate; (I 'Ak p. 49;) [and, in like manner, as redundant and separable,] it is irregularly prefixed [by poetic licence] in الأَمْسِ [q. v.], when it is left in its original form with kesr. (T.) ― 2-b7- Accord. to the Koofees, and some of the Basrees, and many of the later authors, it may also supply the place of the affixed pronoun; and such they hold to be the case in the saying in the Kur [lxxix. 41], فَإِنَّ ٱلْجَنَّةَ هِىَ ٱلْمَأْوَى [Verily Paradise, it shall be his place of abode]; and in مَرَرْتُ بِرَجُلٍ حَسَنٍ الوَجْهُ [I passed by a man beautiful in his face]; and ضُرِبَ زَيْدٌ الظَّهْرُ وَالبَطْنُ [Zeyd was beaten, his back and his belly]; when الوجه and الظهر and البطن are thus in the nom. case: but those who deny its being used in this manner hold that لَهُ is to be understood in the verse of the Kur, and مِنْهُ in the other examples: and Ibn-Málik restricts the licence to cases not including the صِلَة [or complement of ال used in the manner which is here next to be explained]. (Mughnee.) ― 2-b8- It is also a conjunct noun in the sense of الَّذِى and its variations; and as such is prefixed to an act. part. n., and to a pass. part. n., and, as some say, to a simple epithet; (Mughnee, and I' Ak p. 43;) as الضَّارِبُ [which is equivalent to الَّذِى يَضْرِبُ], and المَضْرُوبُ [which is equivalent to الَّذِى ضُرِبَ], and الحَسَنُ الوَجْهِ: (I 'Ak:) but this last not to be regarded, as it cannot be rendered by means of a verb. (Mughnee.) As such, also, it is sometimes prefixed to an adverbial noun, (Mughnee and I 'Ak,) extraordinarily; (I 'Ak;) as in the saying, مَنْ لَا يَزَالُ شَاكِرًا عَلَى ٱلْمَعَهْ فَهْوَ حَرٍ بِعِيشَةٍ ذَاتِ سَعَهْ [Whoso ceases not to be grateful, or thankful, for what is with him, or what he has, he is worthy of a state of life such as is attended with plenty.] (Mughnee and I 'Ak.) As such it is also sometimes prefixed to a nominal proposition; as in the saying, مَنَ القَوْمِ الرَّسُولُ ٱللّٰهِ مِنْهُمْ لَهُمْ دَانَتْ رِقَابُ بِنَى مَعَدِّ [Of the people of whom is the apostle of God, of those to whom the necks of the sons of Ma' add have become abased]. (Mughnee and I 'Ak.) And as such it is also sometimes prefixed to a verbal proposition, of which the verb is an aor.; which shows that it is not [in this case] a particle of determination; (Mughnee;) as in the phrase, صَوْتُ الحِمَارِ اليُجَدَّعُ [The voice of the ass that has his ear, or ears, cut off]. (T and Mughnee.) But all these three cases are peculiar to poetry; contrary to the opinion of Akh, and, with respect to the last case, to that of Ibn-Málik. (Mughnee.) [Respecting the last instance, see also art. جدع.] Another instance of its usage prefixed in this sense to an aor. is the saying, مَا أَنْتَ بِالْحَكَمِ التُرْضَى حُكُومَتُهُ [Thou art not the judge whose judgment is approved]; (IAmb, T, I 'Ak) a saying of ElFarezdak: (IAmb, T:) it is an extraordinary case; (I 'Ak;) and is [said to be] an instance of a bad poetic license, the like of which in prose would be an error by common consent. (Expos. of the Shudhoor edh-Dhahab.) In like manner, one says, accord. to AZ, هٰذَا اليَضْرِبُكَ, meaning This is he who beats thee; and رَأَيْتُ اليَضْرِبُكَ I saw him who beats thee; and هٰذَا الوُضِعَ لِلشِّعْرِ This is what is appropriated to poetry. (T: [in which this last ex. is perhaps intended to intimate that the prefixing of ال in this manner to a verb is allowable only in poetry.]) ― 2-b9- The Arabs also say, هَوَ الحَصِينُ أَنْ يُرَامَ وَهُوَ العَزِيزُ أَنْ يُضَامَ, meaning أَحْصَنُ مِنْ أَنْ يُرَام وَأَعَزُّ مِنْ أَنْ يُضَام [He is more strongly fortified, or protected against attack, than that he will be sought, or desired, and he is more mighty than that he will be injured; i. e., too strongly fortified, or protected against attack, to be sought, or desired, and too mighty to be injured: see مِن.] (TA in art. لوم. [But الحِصْنُ is there erroneously put for الحَصِينُ.]) ＝ 1-A2- Among strange usages, is that of أَلْ as an interrogative, mentioned by Ktr; as in أَلْ فَعَلْتَ in the sense of هَلْ فَعَلْتَ [Didst thou do? or hast thou done?]. (Mughnee.)