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سفا

Root entry · 27 derived lemmas

The root سفا (s-f-w/y) primarily denotes lightness, swiftness, and sometimes foolishness or ignorance. It extends to physical lightness in hair, speed in movement, and the action of wind scattering dust. It can also refer to a type of thorny plant and, metaphorically, to a lack of sense.

Derived headwords

سَفَاnoun
  1. 1.
    lightnessboth

    Lightness in all things, encompassing both physical lightness and a lack of substance.

  2. 2.
    ignoranceboth

    Ignorance or foolishness, a lack of sound judgment.

سَفَاnoun
  1. 1.
    light forelock hairclassical

    Lightness and sparseness of the hair on the forelock, especially in horses, considered undesirable.

ناصية فيها سفا — A forelock with sparse hair.
أسْفَىadjective
  1. 1.
    light forelock (horse)classical

    A horse with a light or sparse forelock.

  2. 2.
    swift (mule/donkey)classical

    A swift mule or donkey, particularly a female one (بغلة سفواء).

فرس أسفى — A horse with a sparse forelock.
سَفَاءnoun
  1. 1.
    lightness of mindclassical

    Lightness or lack of sense in one's mind, akin to foolishness.

  2. 2.
    lightness of hairclassical

    Lightness and sparseness of hair, particularly on the forelock.

  3. 3.
    flightinessboth

    Flightiness, recklessness, or rashness.

  4. 4.
    interruption of milkclassical

    The interruption or cessation of a she-camel's milk.

قلائص في ألبانهن سفاء — Female camels whose milk is light (or whose minds are light).
سَفَاverb
  1. 1.
    to be light-headedclassical

    To be light-headed, foolish, or weak in intellect.

  2. 2.
    to be light of spiritclassical

    To be light of spirit or cheerful.

  3. 3.
    to be humbleclassical

    To be humble, devout, or submissive to God.

  4. 4.
    to have sparse hairclassical

    To have sparse or thinning hair, or to become bald.

سَفَاverb
  1. 1.
    to speedboth

    To move swiftly in walking or flying.

سفا في مشيه وطيرانه يسفو سفوا — He sped in his walking and flying.
سَفَتْverb
  1. 1.
    to blow (wind)both

    The wind blew and scattered dust.

سفت الريح التراب تسفيه سفيا — The wind blew and scattered the dust.
سَفِيَverb
  1. 1.
    to be foolishclassical

    To be foolish or senseless, similar to سفه.

سفي الرجل سفى — The man was foolish.
أسْفَتْverb
  1. 1.
    to scatter dustclassical

    The wind scattered dust.

  2. 2.
    to cause foolishnessclassical

    To cause someone to be foolish or reckless.

  3. 3.
    to harmclassical

    To do harm or act badly towards someone.

أسفى الرجل بصاحبه — The man harmed his companion.
سَافَهَverb
  1. 1.
    to act foolishly towardsclassical

    To act foolishly or rashly towards someone.

سافاه مسافاة وسفاء — He acted foolishly towards him.
سَافِيَةnoun
  1. 1.
    dust-carrying windclassical

    A wind that carries a large amount of dust across the ground, overwhelming people.

ونؤي أضر به السافياء — And a tomb that the dust-carrying wind damaged.
سُفْيَانname
  1. 1.
    male given nameboth

    A male given name, with variations in pronunciation.

سَفْوَانname
  1. 1.
    place nameclassical

    A place name, specifically a location near Basra.

جارية بسفوان دارها — A maiden in Safwan, her home.
سَفَىnoun
  1. 1.
    thorns of plantsclassical

    The thorns of plants like the bahma grass or ears of grain, or anything with thorns.

  2. 2.
    grave dirtclassical

    Dirt or soil, particularly the soil of a grave or well.

وحال السفى بيني وبينك والعدا — And the grave dirt separated me from you and the enemies.
سَفَاةnoun
  1. 1.
    clump of thornsclassical

    A single thorn from plants like bahma grass, or a single unit of grave dirt.

  2. 2.
    foolish personclassical

    A foolish or senseless person.

سَافٍadjective
  1. 1.
    scattered by windboth

    Dust that has been scattered by the wind; also used metaphorically for a foolish person.

وتراب ساف — And scattered dust.
سَوَافٍadjective
  1. 1.
    dust-scattering (wind)classical

    Winds that scatter dust.

والسوافي من الرياح: اللواتي يسفين التراب — And the 'sawafi' winds are those that scatter dust.
سَفِيّadjective
  1. 1.
    foolishboth

    Foolish, senseless, or light-minded.

والسفي: كالسفيه — And 'safi' is like 'safih' (foolish).
أسْفَىverb
  1. 1.
    to become sparse (hair)classical

    For hair to become sparse or thin.

  2. 2.
    to become swiftclassical

    To become swift or fast.

أسْفَاهُverb
  1. 1.
    to make foolishclassical

    To make someone foolish, reckless, or rash.

يا رب من أسفاه أحلامه — O Lord, whose dreams have made him foolish.
سَفَاءnoun
  1. 1.
    rashnessboth

    Rashness, recklessness, or flightiness.

سَفَىnoun
  1. 1.
    cloudsclassical

    Clouds.

سَفِيٌّadjective
  1. 1.
    foolishboth

    Foolish, senseless, or light-minded.

أسْفَىadjective
  1. 1.
    white-hairedclassical

    Having white hairs, especially on a dark coat (horse).

أسْفَىverb
  1. 1.
    to gather thornsclassical

    To gather the thorns of plants.

  2. 2.
    to gather dustclassical

    To gather or move dust.

أسْفَىverb
  1. 1.
    to become foolishclassical

    To become foolish or senseless.

أسْفَىverb
  1. 1.
    to roughen (grain)classical

    For the tips of grain stalks to become rough.

Parallel reading

السفا: الخفة في كل شيء، وهو الجهل.
Al-safa: lightness in everything, and it is ignorance.
والسفا، مقصور: خفة شعر الناصية، زاد الجوهري: في الخيل، وليس بمحمود، وقيل: قصرها وقلتها.
And al-safa, shortened: lightness of the forelock hair, Jawhari added: in horses, and it is not praiseworthy, and it was said: its shortness and scarcity.
يقال: ناصية فيها سفا.
It is said: a forelock with sparse hair.
وفرس أسفى إذا كان خفيف الناصية؛
And a horse is asfa if it has a light forelock;
والأنثى سفواء.
And the female is safwaa.
وقال ثعلب: هو السفاء، ممدود؛ وأنشد: قلائص في ألبانهن سفاء أي في عقولهن خفة، استعاره للبن أي فيه خفة.
And Tha'lab said: it is al-safaa', lengthened; and he recited: Female camels whose milk is light (safaa') meaning lightness in their minds, he metaphorically used it for milk meaning it has lightness.
ابن الأعرابي: سفا إذا ضعف عقله، وسفا إذا خف روحه، وسفا إذا تعبد وتواضع لله، وسفا إذا رق شعره وجلح، لغة طيء.
Ibn al-A'rabi: Sufa if his intellect weakened, and sufa if his spirit became light, and sufa if he worshipped and humbled himself to God, and sufa if his hair thinned and he became bald, a dialect of Tayy.
الأسفى من الخيل القليل الناصية، والأسفى من البغال السريع؛
Al-asfa of horses is the one with a sparse forelock, and al-asfa of mules is the swift one;
والسفواء في البغال: السريعة، ولا يقال للذكر أسفى.
And al-safwaa' in mules: the swift one, and it is not said for the male asfa.
بغلة سفواء: خفيفة سريعة مقتدرة الخلق ملززة الظهر، وكذلك الأتان الوحشية؛
A safwaa' mule: light, swift, strong of creation, firm of back, and so is the wild female donkey;
قال أبو عبيدة في قوله سفواء في البيت: إنها الخفيفة الناصية، وذلك مما تمدح به البغال، وأنكر هذا الأصمعي وقال: سفواء هنا بمعنى سريعة لا غير،
Abu Ubaidah said about his saying 'safwaa' in the verse: it is the light-forelocked one, and that is something praised in mules, but Al-Asma'i denied this and said: 'safwaa' here means swift and nothing else,
ويستحب السفا في البغال ويكره في الخيل.
And lightness (of forelock) is preferred in mules and disliked in horses.
والأسفى: الذي تنزعه شعرة بيضاء كميتا كان أو غير ذلك؛ عن ابن الأعرابي،
And al-asfa: that which is marked by a white hair, whether it is a dark bay or otherwise; from Ibn al-A'rabi,
سفا في مشيه وطيرانه يسفو سفوا: أسرع.
Safa in his walking and flying yusfu sufwan: he sped.
وسفت الريح التراب تسفيه سفيا: ذرته، وقيل: حملته فهو سفي، وتسفي الورق اليبس سفيا.
And the wind blew and scattered the dust yusaffihi sufiyyan: it blew it away, and it was said: it carried it, so it is safi, and it blows dry leaves sufiyyan.
وتراب ساف: مسفي، على النسب أو يكون فاعلا في معنى مفعول.
And saf dust: scattered dust, by attribution or it is an active participle in the passive sense.
والسافياء: الريح التي تحمل ترابا كثيرا على وجه الأرض تهجمه على الناس؛
And al-safiya: the wind that carries a lot of dust across the face of the earth, overwhelming people;
والسفى هو اسم كل ما سفت الريح من كل ما ذكرت.
And al-safa is the name of everything the wind has blown of all that was mentioned.
ويقال: السافياء التراب يذهب مع الريح، وقيل: السافياء الغبار فقط.
And it is said: al-safiya is the dust that goes with the wind, and it was said: al-safiya is only dust.
أبو عمرو: السفى اسم التراب وإن لم تسفه الريح، والسفاة أخص منه؛
Abu Amr: Al-sufa is the name for dust even if the wind has not blown it, and al-safah is more specific than it;
السافي: الريح التي تسفي التراب، وقيل للتراب الذي تسفيه الريح أيضا: ساف أي مسفي كماء دافق أي مدفوق،
Al-safi: the wind that blows dust, and it is also said for the dust that the wind blows: saf, meaning scattered, like flowing water meaning poured,
والماء السافي الذي ذكره هو سفوان، وهو على مرحلة من باب المربد بالبصرة.
And the safi water he mentioned is Safwan, and it is a stage from the gate of Al-Mirbad in Basra.
قال غيره: سفوان، بالتحريك، موضع قرب البصرة؛
Others said: Safwan, with vowelization, a place near Basra;
والسفى: التراب، وخص ابن الأعرابي به التراب.
And al-safa: dust, and Ibn al-A'rabi specified it for dust.
المخرج من البئر أو القبر؛ أنشد ثعلب لكثير: وحال السفى بيني وبينك والعدا، ورهن السفا غمر النقيبة ماجد
The exit from a well or a grave; Tha'lab recited for Kathir: And the grave dirt separated me from you and the enemies, and the grave dirt is a pledge for a generous, noble one
قوله: سفاها الهاء فيه للقليب، أراد أيضا تراب القبر شبهه بالإماء القواعد،
His saying: 'safaha', the 'ha' in it refers to the well, he also meant grave dirt, comparing it to resting female slaves,
ابن السكيت: السفى جمع سفاة، وهي تراب القبور والبئر.
Ibn al-Sikkit: Al-sufa is the plural of safah, which is the dirt of graves and wells.
والسفى: ما سفت الريح عليك من التراب، وفعل الريح السفي.
And al-safa: what the wind has blown on you of dust, and the action of the wind is al-safi.
والسفى: السحاب.
And al-safa: clouds.
والسفى: شوك البهمى والسنبل وكل شيء له شوك، وقال ثعلب: هي أطراف البهمى، والواحدة من كل ذلك سفاة.
And al-safa: thorns of the bahma grass, and ears of grain, and everything with thorns, and Tha'lab said: it is the tips of the bahma grass, and the singular of all that is safah.
وأسفت البهمى: سقط سفاها.
And the bahma grass shed its thorns: its thorns fell.
وسفي الرجل سفى: مثل سفه سفها وسفاء مثل سفه سفاها؛
And the man was safi safan: like he was safih safahan and safaa' like he was safih safaahan;
والسفي: كالسفيه.
And al-safi: is like al-safih.
وقال اللحياني: يقال للسفيه سفي بين السفاء، ممدود.
And Al-Lihyani said: it is said for the foolish person, 'safi' between 'safaa', lengthened.
وسافاه مسافاة وسفاء إذا سافهه؛
And he safaaha musafatahan wa safaa'an if he acted foolishly towards him;
وأسفى الزرع إذا خشن أطراف سنبله.
And the crops asfa if the tips of their stalks roughened.
والسفاء، بالمد: الطيش والخفة.
And al-safaa', lengthened: flightiness and lightness.
قال ابن الأعرابي: السفاء من السفى كالشقاء من الشقى؛
Ibn al-A'rabi said: Al-safaa' is from al-safa like al-shaqaa' is from al-shaqi;
فيocondا: في آباطهن سفاء
Female camels, in their armpits (meaning their minds) is safaa'
وأسفاه الأمر: حمله على الطيش والخفة؛
And the matter asfaahu: made him reckless and light-minded;
يا رب من أسفاه أحلامه، إن قيل يوما: إن عمرا سكور
O Lord, whose dreams have made him foolish, if it is said one day: 'Amr is reckless
أي أطاشه حلمه فغره وجرأه.
Meaning his dream made him foolish, deceived him, and emboldened him.
وأسفى الرجل بصاحبه: أساء إليه ولعله من هذا الذي هو الطيش والخفة؛
And the man asfa his companion: he wronged him, and it might be from this which is recklessness and lightness;
وقد يسفي بك العهد القديم
And the old covenant may make you act rashly
والسفاء: انقطاع لبن الناقة؛
And al-safaa': the cessation of a she-camel's milk;
وما هي إلا أن تقرب وصلها قلائص، في ألبانهن سفاء
And it is nothing but that when her union approaches, female camels, in their milk is safaa'