ال

اَلْ أل اـل ال ولي آل 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. طيب,) امْ is used in the sense of ال. (TA.) ― -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,] كَمَ أَرْسَلْنَا اـِلَى 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,] اـِذْ 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 جَاآءَ 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 اـِذَا denoting a thing's happening suddenly, or unexpectedly, as in خَرَجْتُ فَاـِذَا الأَسَدُ [ I went forth, and lo, there was the lion ]; or after the noun denoting the present time, as اَلْاآنَ [ 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 اـِذَا does not render determinate anything present at the time of speaking; and because that in الاآن 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], اَلْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِيْنَكُمْ [ This day I have completed for you your religion ]. (Mughnee.) ― -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,] وَخُلِقَ الاـِنْسَانُ 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,] 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 المَاآءِ 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.) ― -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 العَيُّوقٌ. (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.] ― -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 [...]