For Pacifica - random quotes on Arabic and Qur'an

[interprete]

What's فراع?

It seems to be قراع : https://www.google.com/search?channel=trow5&client=firefox-b-d&q=والعزم+الذي+يفلُّ+جموعها

So قراع = مقارعة = form 3 of قرع and according to the dictionary it does mean to engage in battle.
كتيبة is just a battalion (and the word is still common today, in regular armies as well as in jihadist groups).

Now فلّ

Now the ها issue remains, I really doubt it could refer to الأعداء so what remains is either the refer forward theory, or an implicit word (as sometimes happens in the Qur’an as far as I know, much less in later literature though). I really don’t know. I’ll ask on the Arabic-only forum.

 

[Pacifica]

It seems to be قراع

My bad. My text indeed has قراع too but I misread and mistranscribed.

Now the ها issue remains, I really doubt it could refer to الأعداء

Yet that's what would seem to make the most sense...

I’ll ask on the Arabic-only forum.

Thanks!

 

[interprete]

Yet that's what would seem to make the most sense...

And it looks like you were right! Here is the answer I got:
الأقرب أنها عائدة على الأعداء كما ذكرت، ويجوز في اللغة أن يشار للأعداء بالتأنيث لأنه جمع تكسير.

- أرشيف منتدى الفصيح - قالت العرب - المكتبة الشاملة الحديثة

- أرشيف منتدى الفصيح - قالت العرب - المكتبة الشاملة الحديثة

al-maktaba.org

This rule is definitely not applicable in MSA though.

 

[Pacifica]

والرفق الذي جَمَعَ على محبته بنات القلوب

نات القلوب = "the daughters of the hearts"? Is that an idiom meaning "feelings" or the like?

 

[interprete]

والرفق الذي جَمَعَ على محبته بنات القلوب

نات القلوب = "the daughters of the hearts"? Is that an idiom meaning "feelings" or the like?

There are several of those, the most famous being بنات الشفة = daughters of the lip(s) = words, بنات الدهر = les vicissitudes du destin, but never read that specific one before and can’t find it in my dictionary either. If it’s a ’freestyle’ one then it literally means "something typically produced by the hearts" so as you say, something like ’feelings’ with no way of being more specific.

 

[Pacifica]

There are several of those

Yeah, I saw that here.

Lovely concept.

If it’s a ’freestyle’ one then it literally means "something typically produced by the hearts" so as you say, something like ’feelings’ with no way of being more specific.

Thanks!

 

[Pacifica]

فلها العز الذي عَقَدَ تاجه على مفرق الجوزاء، والمجد الذي جَرَّ أذياله على مجرة السماء، والسعد الذي رَدَّ على الزمان غض شبابه، والعدل الذي مد على أهل الإيمان مديد أطنابه، والجود الذي قَطْر سحابه اللجين والنضار، والبأس الذي فَيْض غمامه الدم الموار، والنصر الذي تفض كتائبه الأجل، والتأييد الذي بعض غنائمه الدول، والبطش الذي سَبَقَ سيفه العذل، والأناة التي لا يمل عندها الأمل، والحزم الذي يسد على الأعداء وجوه المسارب، والعزم الذي يفلُّ جموعها قبل قراع الكتائب، والحلم الذي يجني العفو من ثمر الذنوب، والرفق الذي جَمَعَ على محبته بنات القلوب، والعلم الذي يجلو نوره دياجي المشكلات، والعمل المقيد بالإخلاص والأعمال بالنيات ​

Habet ille chalifatus potentiam quae coronam suam fronti Orionis imposuit, gloriam quae fimbriis suis Viam Lacteam contexit, felicitatem quae virorem iuventutis saeculo reddidit, aequitatem quae super fidelem populum amplitudinem tabernaculi sui tetendit, liberalitatem cuius nimborum imber argentum est et aurum, virtutem cuius nubium abundantia sanguis est profluens, victoriam cuius phalanges fatum effringunt, favorem cuius spoliorum pars civitates sunt, vim cuius gladius reprehensionem praevenit, patientiam in qua non nutat spes, firmitatem quae accessu pascuorum prohibet hostes, pertinaciam quae antequam pugna committatur turbas eorum vincit, clementiam quae ex peccatorum fructu veniam metit, benignitatem quae amore sui omnium sensus conciliavit, scientiam quae luce sua difficultatum tenebras illustrat, actum sinceritati, opera consiliis animi paria.

 

[Pacifica]

ولما كانت حضرته العلية مطمح الآمال، ومسرح هِمَم الرجال، ومحطَّ رحال الفضائل، ومثابة أمن الخائف ومُنْية السائل، توخى الزمان خدمتها ببدائع تُحَفه وروائع طُرَفه

I thought حضرته was "his majesty" but the translation says "sa résidence" and that seems possible. What do you think?

 

[interprete]

حضرة literally means presence (from the very common verb حضَر يحضُر which means to be present, or to attend, like class or a meeting, etc.). But the sentence clearly shows that "his presence" is taken as a geographical point that everyone flocks to, hence probably the translator’s choice. However it would not normally mean "résidence", at least not in MSA.

 

[interprete]

So apparently in CA it’s different and can indeed mean "place of presence" hence residence:

 

[Pacifica]

The French translator renders مطمح as "le théâtre" but the definitions I found are quite different. More literally does it say something like "the goal/object of hopes"?

 

[interprete]

The French translator renders مطمح as "le théâtre" but the definitions I found are quite different. More literally does it say something like "the goal/object of hopes"?

Sorry could you paste the entire French sentence here? I can’t access it at the moment. I’m thinking what he wanted to translate here was rather مسرح which actually is a theater (in MSA).

 

[Pacifica]

It has "le théâtre" where the Arabic has مطمح. It translates مسرح as "prairie", which is apparently also a meaning of مسرح. Now maybe the translator got a bit mixed up and translated مسرح twice, so to speak.

 

[interprete]

ولما كانت حضرته العلية مطمح الآمال، ومسرح هِمَم الرجال، ومحطَّ رحال الفضائل، ومثابة أمن الخائف ومُنْية السائل، توخى الزمان خدمتها ببدائع تُحَفه وروائع طُرَفه

I can’t access dictionaries anymore until later this evening, but here’s what I know:
مطمح never heard of it, but as you pointed out it’s clearly a مفعل "place form", and طموح means ambition (at least in MSA), so مطمح الآمال sounds slightly redundant to me but maybe a dictionary will clear this up.
مسرح همم الرجال = the theater of concerns (or interests, that’s an ambiguous word even in MSA) of men
محط رحال الفضائل = the station/place of convergence (this too is a pretty vague word, but also used in MSA) of worthy/virtuous (plural of فاضل I suppose) travellers (I’m assuming this is the plural of راحل)

مثابة أمن = no idea, the first word usually means "quality" (of being someone, as in status, or rank) or "equivalence", so I’m not sure.
مُنية I don’t know this word but the root looks like أمنية and تمنى which are related to hoping, wishing, etc. So maybe something like : (and when the Caliph ) was seen as a place of safety for the one who fears (الخائف) and of hope for the one who asks (or has a request = السائل)

توخى in MSA usually means "to be prepared for" or "anticipate" etc. with an idea of due diligence and prudence. So literally I would guess "fate (الزمان) decided to be at his service thrrough his unique wonders (بديع means innovative, but it also refers to anything astonishing/stunning, and تحفة is a wonder, or something wonderful (hence museum = متحف i.e. the place where you store wonders).
روائع probably is the plural of روعة which usually means "awesomeness" but then why "awsomenesses" I don’t know... and طرف is again a plural, logically it would be the plural of طُرْفَة but I’ve never seen such a word, however the adjective طريف is common and refers to something nice and out of the ordinary.

Sorry I can’t be more specific at the moment.

 

[Pacifica]

Sorry I can’t be more specific at the moment.

Lol, you've already said more than I asked (I was only asking about مطمح ATM, but you went ahead and anticipated any other question I might possibly have about all the other words in the sentence). Thanks.

 

[interprete]

Lol, you've already said more than I asked (I was only asking about مطمح ATM, but you went ahead an anticipated any other question I might possibly have about all the other words in the sentence). Thanks.

Haha sorry, somehow between my first and second post I ended up thinking you were asking about the entire sentence. I’m back home and able to open the dictionary which I now remember I recommended to you before, so maybe you had looked up all those words already, but I just found out the original meaning of مثابة (refuge, place where one returns, etc.) which is quite different from its usual MSA meaning. I hope the rest is clear!

 

[interprete]

That’s the one, for reference : https://ejtaal.net/aa/#
It’s actually a suite of several dictionaries, the second one from the top (Lane’s lexicon) being by far the most comprehensive for classical Arabic, but sometimes a bit clumsy to use given the number of definitions provided for each word. That’s where I get the screenshots I often post here.

 

[Pacifica]

ولما كانت حضرته العلية مطمح الآمال، ومسرح هِمَم الرجال، ومحطَّ رحال الفضائل، ومثابة أمن الخائف ومُنْية السائل، توخى الزمان خدمتها ببدائع تُحَفه وروائع طُرَفه​

Cumque in altam eius domum omnes spes tenderent; ibi hominum negotia agerentur; ibi viatores honesti stationem facerent; eo qui quippiam timebat ad salutem, qui quippiam rogabat ad desiderium suum confugeret, constituit fortuna ei singularibus donis ac rebus raris magnificisque suis inservire.

^ A more literal translation would have been very awkward.

 

[Pacifica]

Wow. Around 13:19

ليكن تراب الأرض خفيفًا عليك

Almost the same phrase was common on Roman graves: sit tibi terra levis (sometimes abbreviated STTL).

 

[Pacifica]

I want the second etymology of this goddess's name to be the right one:

al-Lat - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Also interesting:

"By the second-century AD, al-Lat in Palmyra began to be portrayed in the style of Athena, and was referred to as "Athena-Allāt", but this assimilation does not extend beyond her iconography.[27] The Palmyrene emperor Vaballathus, whose name is the Latinized form of the theophoric name Wahballāt ("Gift of al-Lat"), began to use Athenodorus as the Greek form of his name.[28]"