عسى

1 عَسَى ذ is [said by some to be] one of the verbs of appropinquation, implying eager desire, or hope, and fear, and not perfectly inflected, for it is applied in the form of the preterite to that which occurs in the present: one says عَسَى زَيْدٌ أَنْ يَخْرُجَ [meaning, accord. to what has been said above, Zeyd is near to going forth, though generally otherwise expl., as will be shown in what follows], and عَسَتْ فُلَانَةُ أَنْ تَخْرُجَ [ Such a woman is near to going forth ]; زَيْدٌ being the agent of عَسَى, and أَنْ يَخْرُجَ being its objective complement and meaning الخُرُوجَ: and one says also, عَسَيْتُ أَنْ أَفْعَلَ ذَاكَ [as meaning, accord. to what here precedes, I am near to doing that ], and عَسِيتُ, with kesr, agreeably with readings [in the Kur xlvii. 24], فَهَلْ عَسِيتُمْ and عَسَيْتُمْ, with kesr and fet-h; and one says to a woman, عَسَيْتِ أَنْ تَفْعَلِى ذَاكَ; and [to women,] عَسَيْتُنَّ; but one does not use the form يَفْعَلُ thereof, nor the form فَاعِلٌ; (S;) both of which [however] are memtioned [as used] by the author of the “ Insáf: ” (I 'Ak p. 88:) [or, accord. to Fei,] عَسَى is a preterite verb, [used in the sense of the present,] aplastic, not perfectly inflected, of the verbs of appropinquation, implying hope, and eager desire, and sometimes opinion, and certainty; and it is incomplete [i. e. non-attributive], and complete [i. e. attributive]: the incomplete has for its predicate an aor. mansoob by means of أَنْ, as in the saying, عَسَى زَيْدٌ أَنْ يَقُومَ, meaning قَارَبَ زَيْدٌ القِيَامَ [ Zeyd is near to standing ], the predicate being an objective complement or having the meaning of an objective complement: or, as some say, the meaning is لَعَلَّ زَيْدًا أَنْ يَقُومَ, i. e. [virtually, but not literally,] I eagerly desire, or I hope, that Zeyd may be performing the act of standing: [but see عَلَّ and لَعَلَّ in art. عل, as well as what follows in this paragraph after the explanation of the next ex.:] the complete is such as occurs in the saying, عَسَى أَنْ يَقُومَ زَيْدٌ [meaning, accord. to what is said above, Zeyd's standing is near to being a fact ]; the agent being literally a phrase composed of a subject and an attribute because أَنْ is here what is termed مَصْدَرِيَّة [so that أَنْ يَقُومَ زَيْدٌ is equivalent to قِيَامُ زَيْدٍ]: (Msb:) ― -b2- [in the MA and PS and TK &c., عَسَى is expl. as meaning It may be that; and this, or simply may-be, or may-hap, or perhaps, I regard as the preferable rendering; as being virtually the meaning in all cases: for عَسَى زَيْدٌ أَنْ يَقُومَ, in which it is used as an incomplete verb, however it may be rendered, virtually means It may be that Zeyd is, or will be, standing; or may-be Zeyd &c.: and عَسَى أَنْ يَقُومَ زَيْدٌ, in which it is used as a complete verb, virtually means the same, though more properly rendered Zeyd's standing may be a fact: its usages are various, and have occasioned much dispute respecting its grammatical character and its meaning or meanings; as will be shown by what here follows:] ― -b3- it is [said to be] a verb unrestrictedly, or a particle unrestrictedly: (K:) [but this statement seems to have originated from a mistranscription: IHsh says,] it is a verb unrestrictedly: not a particle unrestrictedly, contrary to the opinion of Ibn-Ks-Sarráj and Th; nor when it has an affixed pronoun, as in عَسَاكَ, contrary to an opinion of Sb, ascribed to him by Seer: (Mughnee:) it denotes hope in the case of that which is liked, and fear in the case of that which is disliked; as in the saying in the Kur [ii. 213], وَعَسَى أَنْ تَكْرَهُوا شَيْئًا وَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ وَعَسَى أَنْ تُحِبُّوا شَيْئًا وَهُوَ شَرٌّ لَكُمْ [ But it may be that ye dislike a thing when it is good for you, and it may be that ye like a thing when it is evil for you ]: (Mughnee, K: *) ― -b4- it is used in various ways; one of which is the saying, عَسَى زَيْدٌ أَنْ يَقُومَ [mentioned above], respecting the analysis of which there are different opinions: that of the generality is, that it is like كَانَ زَيْدٌ يَقُومُ [inasmuch as عسى is here an incomplete verb]; but this is deemed dubious, because the predicate [أَنْ يَقُومَ] is rendered by an inf. n., and the subject [زَيْدٌ] is a substance; to which several replies have been made; one being that a prefixed noun is meant to be understood, either before the subject, so that the meaning is, عَسَى أَمْرُ زَيْدٍ القِيَامُ [ It may be that the case of Zeyd is, or will be, the performing of the act of standing ], or before the predicate, so that the meaning is عَسَى زَيْدٌ صَاحِبُ القِيَامِ [ It may be that Zeyd is, or will be, the performer of the act of standing ]; and another reply is, that it is of the class of زَيْدٌ عَدْلٌ and صَوْمٌ [meaning عَادِلٌ and صَائِمٌ, for أَنْ يَقُومَ is equivalent to an inf. n., and an inf. n. may be used in the sense of an act. part. n.]; and another is, that أَنْ is here redundant, which reply is [ said to be] nought, because ان has rendered the aormansoob, and because it seldom falls out [from the phrase, though it should be remarked that لَعَلَّ, which is said in the Mughnee to be like عَسَى in meaning, is generally followed by a simple aor. and sometimes by أَنْ and an aor.]: another opinion respecting the analysis of the phrase is, that عَسَى is a trans. verb, like قَارَبَ in meaning and in government, [agreeably with the explanations mentioned above from the S and Msb,] or intrans. like قَرُبَ مِنْ with the preposition suppressed; and this is the opinion of Sb and Mbr: the opinion of the generality is, that it is an incomplete verb [like كَانَ in the phrase كَانَ زَيْدٌ يَقُومُ, mentioned above], and that أَنْ and the verb following it compose a substitute of implication supplying what is wanting in the two preceding portions of the sentence: ― -b5- the second way of using it is, the making it to have أَنْ and the verb following this for its object, [as in عَسَى أَنْ يَقُومَ زَيْدٌ, mentioned above], so that it is a complete verb: ― -b6- the [...]