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رفح

Root entry · 4 derived lemmas

The root 'رفح' primarily relates to a specific physical characteristic of cattle horns, describing their shape and position relative to the ears. It also appears in a less common usage related to well-wishing for newlyweds, possibly as a dialectal or phonetic variation of another root.

Derived headwords

الأرفحadjective
  1. 1.
    wide-horned (cattle)classical

    Describing cattle whose horns extend outwards and forwards, further than their ears.

الأرفىadjective
  1. 1.
    ears covering horns (cattle)classical

    Describing cattle whose ears extend to cover their horns.

رفحverb
  1. 1.
    to wish well (to a newlywed)classical

    To offer good wishes or blessings to someone who has just married, possibly a phonetic substitution for 'رفأ'.

رفحnoun
  1. 1.
    well-wishingclassical

    The act of offering good wishes or blessings, particularly to a newly married person.

Parallel reading

من قرون البقر الأرفح، وهو الذي يذهب قرناه قبل أذنيه في تباعد ما بينهما
Among the horns of cattle is the 'al-arfaḥ', which is one whose horns go forward of its ears with a wide separation between them.
والأرفى الذي تأتي أذناه على قرنيه
And 'al-arfā' is one whose ears come over its horns.
وفي الحديث: كان إذا رفح إنسانا قال: بارك الله عليك ؛ أراد رفأ، أي دعا له بالرفاء، فأبدل الهمزة حاء
And in the hadith: When he 'rafḥa' a person, he would say: 'May God bless you'; he intended 'rafā' (to wish well), meaning he prayed for his well-being, and substituted the hamza with a ḥā'.
وفي حديث عمر، رضي الله عنه، لما تزوج أم كلثوم بنت علي، رضي الله عنهما، قال: رفحوني ؛ أي قولوا لي ما يقال للمتزوج
And in the hadith of 'Umar, may God be pleased with him, when he married Umm Kulthūm bint 'Alī, may God be pleased with them both, he said: 'Rafḥūnī'; meaning, 'Say to me what is said to the newly married.'