نبء

Root entry · 19 derived lemmas

This root primarily concerns the concept of news, information, and reporting, especially significant or divine messages. It extends to the idea of rising, appearing, or emerging, and also covers the claim or possession of prophecy.

Derived headwords

النَّبَأُ مُحَرَّكَةًnoun

1.
news, important informationboth
Significant news or information that brings great benefit and certainty, often implying knowledge or strong presumption. It is not applied to ordinary news.

أَنْبَأَverb

1.
to inform, to tellboth
To inform someone of something, often implying conveying knowledge.
2.
to report, to announceboth
To report or announce news, especially significant information.

أنبأته بكذا — I informed him of such and such.

أنبأته كذا — I informed him of such and such (implying knowledge).

نَبَّأَverb

1.
to inform, to reportboth
To inform or report, often used interchangeably with 'anba'a', but sometimes considered more emphatic.

نبأني العليم الخبير — The All-Knowing, the All-Aware informed me.

أَنْبَاءnoun

1.
news, reportsboth
Plural of 'nabā'', referring to news or reports.

اسْتَنْبَأَverb

1.
to seek news, to inquireclassical
To search for or inquire about news.

استنبأ النبأ — He sought the news.

نَابَأَهُverb

1.
to inform each otherclassical
For each of them to inform the other.

نابأته أنبؤة وأنـأـأته أي أنبأ كل منهما صاحبه — He informed him, and he informed him, meaning each informed his companion.

النَّبِيءُnoun

1.
prophet (with hamza)classical
A prophet, one who is informed by God. This form uses a hamza and is considered less common or a specific dialectal variant.

النَّبِيُّnoun

1.
prophetboth
A prophet, one who is informed by God. This is the standard and preferred form, without the hamza.

أَنْبِيَاءnoun

1.
prophetsboth
Plural of 'nabī'', referring to prophets.

نُبَآءnoun

1.
prophetsclassical
A plural form of 'nabī'', used poetically.

يا خاتم النبآء إنك مرسل — O seal of the prophets, indeed you are a messenger.

النُّبُوَّةُnoun

1.
prophethood, prophecyboth
The state or office of being a prophet; the divine message or revelation.

تَنَبَّأَverb

1.
to claim prophethoodclassical
To falsely claim to be a prophet.
2.
to prophesyboth
To foretell future events, often in a divine context.

تنبأ مسيلمة الكذاب — Musaylimah the Liar claimed prophethood.

المُتَنَبِّئُname

1.
Al-Mutanabbi (the poet)both
A title given to the famous Arab poet Ahmad ibn Al-Husayn, who claimed prophethood.

نَبَأَverb

1.
to rise, to ascendclassical
To rise or ascend from the ground; to be elevated.
2.
to emerge, to appearclassical
To emerge or appear, to come forth.

نبأ عن أرض إلى أرض — He emerged from one land to another.

نَبَأًnoun

1.
rising, emergenceclassical
The act of rising, ascending, or emerging.

نَبَأَ عَلَيْهِمْverb

1.
to descend upon, to appear suddenlyclassical
To descend upon or appear suddenly before a group of people.

نبأ عليهم نبأ إذا اطلعت عليهم — He descended upon them, meaning he appeared before them.

النَّابِىءُnoun

1.
one who emerges, a strangerclassical
An ox that emerges from one land to another; a stranger or newcomer.
2.
a rising placeclassical
A high or elevated place.

بالنابىء المخراق — By the emerging, wandering ox.

النَّبْأَةُnoun

1.
faint sound, rustleclassical
A faint or light sound, a rustle.
2.
barking of dogsclassical
The sound of dogs barking.

بنبأة الصوت ما في سمعه كذب — With a faint sound, there was no falsehood in his hearing.

سمعنا نبأة مستنبح — We heard the barking of a dog.

نَبَأَ (الكلب)verb

1.
to barkclassical
The sound a dog makes when barking.

Parallel reading

النبأ محركة الخبر وهما مترادفان

Al-Naba' (vowelized) is news, and they are synonyms.

النبأ: خبر ذو فائدة عظيمة، يحصل به علم أو غلبة ظن

Al-Naba': news of great benefit, by which knowledge or strong presumption is obtained.

ولا يقال للخبر في الأصل نبأ حتى يتضمن هذه الأشياء الثلاثة ويكون صادقا

And news is not called 'nabā'' in origin until it includes these three things and is true.

ولتضمنه معنى الخبر يقال: أنبأته بكذا

And because it includes the meaning of news, it is said: 'anba'tuhu bi-kadhā' (I informed him of such and such).

ولتضمنه معنى العلم يقال: أنبأته كذا

And because it includes the meaning of knowledge, it is said: 'anba'tuhu kadhā' (I informed him of such and such).

إن جاءكم فاسق بنبإ

If a wicked person comes to you with news.

فيه تنبيه على أن الخبر إذا كان شيئا عظيما فحقه أن يتوقف فيه

In it is a reminder that if the news is something great, it is appropriate to pause and consider it.

وقد أنباه إياه إذا تضمن معنى العلم

And He informed him of it if it included the meaning of knowledge.

وأنبأ به إذا تضمن معنى الخبر، أي أخبره، كنبأه مشددا

And he informed him of it if it included the meaning of news, meaning he told him, like 'naba'ahu' (with shadda).

أنا أنبؤك، على الإتباع

I inform you, following the pattern.

أنبأ ونبأ وأخبر، متى ضمنت معنى العلم عديت لثلاثة

'Anba'a', 'naba'a', and 'akhbara', when they imply the meaning of knowledge, they are transitive to three (objects).

قيل: نبأته أبلغ من أنبأته

It was said: 'Naba'tuhu' is more emphatic than 'anba'tuhu'.

من أنبأك هاذا قال - نبأني العليم الخبير

Who informed you of this? He said: 'The All-Knowing, the All-Aware informed me'.

استنبأ النبأ: بحث عنه

Istinba'a al-nabā': He searched for the news.

ونابأه ونابأته أنبؤة وأنـأـأته أي أنبأ كل منهما صاحبه

And he informed him, and he informed him, meaning each of them informed his companion.

زرق العيون إذا جاورتهم سرقوا ما يسرق العبد أو نابأتهم كذبوا

Blue-eyed, if you are near them, they steal what a slave steals, or if you inform each other, they lie.

النبيء بالهمز مكية، فعيل بمعنى مفعل، هو المخبر عن الله تعالى

Al-Nabī' (with hamza) is Meccan, derived from 'fa'īl' in the sense of 'maf'ūl', meaning the one informed by God Almighty.

فإن الله تعالى أخبره بتوحيده، وأطلعه على غيبه وأعلمه أنه نبيه

For God Almighty informed him of His oneness, revealed to him His unseen, and informed him that he is His prophet.

ويجوز فيه تحقيق الهمز وتخفيفه، يقال نبأ ونبأ وأنبأ

And both the full hamza and its softening are permissible; it is said 'nabā'' and 'nabba'' and 'anba''.

ليس أحد من العرب إلا ويقول تنبأ مسيلمة، بالهمز

There is no Arab who does not say 'tanabba'a' for Musaylimah, with the hamza.

إلا أهل مكة فإنهم يهمزون هذه الأحرف، ولا يهمزون في غيرها

Except the people of Mecca, for they use the hamza in these letters, and do not use it elsewhere.

والهمز في النبي لغة رديئة، أي لقلة استعمالها، لا لكون القياس يمنع ذلك

And the hamza in 'al-nabī' is a poor dialect, meaning due to its infrequent use, not because the grammatical rule prevents it.

وترك الهمز هو المختار عند العرب سوى أهل مكة

And omitting the hamza is the preferred choice among the Arabs, except for the people of Mecca.

قلت: ورسولك الذي أرسلت، فرد علي وقال (ونبيك الذي أرسلت

I said: 'And Your Messenger whom You sent,' and he replied to me and said: '(And Your Prophet whom You sent)'.

وإنما رد عليه ليختلف اللفظان ويجمع له الثناء بين معنى النبوة والرسالة

And he was corrected so that the two words would differ, and praise would encompass both the meaning of prophethood and messengership.

لأن كل رسول نبي وليس كل نبي رسولا

Because every messenger is a prophet, but not every prophet is a messenger.

لأن الهمز لما أبدل وألزم الإبدال جمع جمع ما أصل لامه حرف العلة

Because when the hamza was substituted and the substitution became obligatory, it was collected like words whose root letter is a weak letter.

يا خاتم النبآء إنك مرسل بالخير كل هدى السبيل هداكا

O seal of the prophets, indeed you are a messenger of good, all guidance of the path is your guidance.

والنبيئون جمع سلامة

And 'al-nabī'ūn' is a sound masculine plural.

القراءة المجمع عليها في النبيين والأنبياء طرح الهمز

The agreed-upon recitation in 'al-nabīyīn' and 'al-anbiyā'' is to omit the hamza.

واشتقاقه من نبأ وأنبأ، أي أخبر، قال: والأجود ترك الهمز

And its derivation is from 'nabā'' and 'anbā'', meaning to inform. He said: And the best is to omit the hamza.

والاسم النبوءة بالهمز، وقد يسهل، وقد يبدل واوا ويدغم فيها

And the noun is 'al-nubū'ah' with a hamza, which may be softened, or replaced by a 'waw' and assimilated.

النبوة: سفارة بين الله عز وجل وبين ذوي العقول الزكية لإزاحة عللها

Prophethood: is an embassy between God Almighty and those of pure intellects to remove their doubts.

تنبأ بالهمز على الاتفاق، ويقال تنبى، إذا ادعاها أي النبوة

Tanabba'a (with hamza) by agreement, and it is said 'tanabbā', if he claims it, meaning prophethood.

كما تنبى مسيلمة الكذاب وغيره من الدجالين

As Musaylimah the Liar and other impostors claimed.

وكان من حق لفظه في وضع اللغة أن يصح استعماله في النبيء إذا هو مطاوع نبأ

And it was the right of its linguistic usage to be correctly applied to 'al-nabī'' if it is the passive of 'nabā''.

لكن لما تعورف فيمن يدعي النبوة كذبا جنب استعماله في المحق ولم يستعمل إلا في المتقول في دعواه

But when it became common for those who falsely claim prophethood, its use was avoided for the truthful and only used for those who falsely claim it.

أحمد بن الحسين بن عبد الصمد الجعفي الكندي

Ahmad ibn Al-Husayn ibn Abd al-Samad Al-Ja'fi Al-Kindi.

خرج إلى بني كلب بن وبرة من قضاعة بأرض السماوة وتبعه خلق كثير

He went out to Banu Kalb ibn Wabarah of Quda'ah in the land of Al-Samawah, and many people followed him.

وادعى أولا أنه حسني النسب ثم ادعى النبوة فشهد عليه بالشأم

He first claimed to be of Hasani lineage, then he claimed prophethood, and he was testified against in Al-Sham.

وحبس دهرا بحمص حين أسره الأمير لؤلؤ نائب الإخشيد بها

And he was imprisoned for a long time in Homs when Amir Lu'lu', the deputy of Al-Ikhshid, captured him there.

ثم استتيب وكذب نفسه وأطلق من الحبس وطلب الشعر فقاله وأجاد

Then he was asked to repent, he denied his claims, was released from prison, and sought poetry, which he composed and excelled at.

وفاق أهل عصره، واتصل بسيف الدولة بن حمدان، فمدحه

He surpassed the people of his era, connected with Sayf al-Dawlah ibn Hamdan, and praised him.

ثم عاد إلى بغداد فقتل في الطريق بقرب النعمانية سنة 354

Then he returned to Baghdad and was killed on the way near Al-Nu'maniyah in the year 354.

وقيل: إنما لقب به لقوة فصاحته، وشدة بلاغته، وكمال معرفته

And it was said: He was only given this title due to the strength of his eloquence, the intensity of his rhetoric, and the completeness of his knowledge.

ولذا قيل: لزير الناس ثاني المتنبي أي ثان يرى لبكر الزمان هو في شعره نبي

And therefore it was said: People frequented Al-Mutanabbi as a second, meaning a second who sees in his poetry a prophet for the age.

ولكن ظهرت معجزاته في المعاني وكانوا يسمونه حكيم الشعراء

But his miracles appeared in the meanings, and they called him the wise poet.

والنبي هو من أنبأ عن الله، فترك همزه، فإنه من النبوة وهي الارتفاع عن الأرض

And the prophet is one who informs from God, so its hamza is omitted, as it is from 'al-nubūwah', which means rising from the earth.

أي أنه أشرف على سائر الخلق فأصله غير الهمز

Meaning he is elevated above all creation, so its origin is without the hamza.

نبأ عليهم ينبأ نبأ ونبوءا: هجم وطلع

Nabā'a 'alayhim, yanbā'u, nabā'an wa nubū'an: to descend upon and to appear.

وكذلك نبه ونبع، كلاهما على البدل

And likewise 'nabaha' and 'nab'a', both are substitutions.

نبأت على القوم نبأ إذا اطلعت عليهم

I descended upon the people with a 'nabā'' if I appeared before them.

من أرض إلى أرض أخرى أي خرج منها إليها

From one land to another, meaning he emerged from it to it.

النابيء: الثور الذي ينبأ ن أرض إلى أرض، أي يخرج

Al-Nābi': The ox that emerges from one land to another, meaning it exits.

يقال: نبأ وطرأ ونشط، إذا خرج من بلد إلى بلد

It is said: 'nabā'', 'ṭara'a', and 'nashṭa', if he exits from one country to another.

وسيل نابيء: جاء من بلد آخر

A 'nābi'' flood: it came from another country.

ورجل نابيء، أي طاريء من حيث لا يدرى

And a 'nābi'' man, meaning an arrival from an unknown direction.

يا نبيء الله، بالهمز، أي الخارج من مكة إلى المدينة

O Prophet of God, with hamza, meaning the one who emerged from Mecca to Medina.

فحينئذ أنكره أي الهمز عليه على الأعرابي، لأنه ليس من لغة قريش

At that point, he disapproved of it, meaning the hamza, from the Bedouin, because it is not from the dialect of Quraysh.

يا من خرج من مكة إلى المدينة، لا لكونه لم يكن من لغته، كما توهموا

O you who emerged from Mecca to Medina, not because it was not from his dialect, as they assumed.

لا تقولوا راعنا فإنهم إنما نهوا عن ذلك لأن اليهود كانوا يقصدون استعماله من الرعونة، لا من الرعاية

Do not say 'ra'inā', for they were only forbidden from it because the Jews intended to use it to mean foolishness, not care.

فقال: إنا معشر قريش لا ننبر، ويروى: (لا تنبز باسمى)

So he said: 'We, the tribe of Quraysh, do not use 'nabr' (hamza), and it is narrated: (Do not call me by a nickname)'.

فإنما أنا نبي الله، أي بغير همز

For I am only the Prophet of God, meaning without the hamza.

ولكن نبي الله، وذلك أنه عليه الصلاة والسلام أنكر الهمز في اسمه، فرده على قائله

But the Prophet of God, and that is because he, peace be upon him, disapproved of the hamza in his name, and rejected it from the one who said it.

لأنه لم يدر بما سماه، فأشفق أن يمسك على ذلك

Because he did not know what he was named, and he feared that it would be established upon him.

يا خاتم النبآء

O seal of the prophets.

النبيء: الطريق الواضح يهمز ولا يهمز

Al-Nabī': The clear path, with or without hamza.

ومننه أخذ الرسول، لأنه الطريق الموضح الموصل إلى الله تعالى

And from it is derived 'al-rasūl', because it is the clarifying path that leads to God Almighty.

هو محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم كما في الشفا وشروحه

He is Muhammad, peace be upon him, as in Al-Shifa and its commentaries.

النبيء: الطريق، والأنبياء: طرق الهدى

Al-Nabī': The path, and 'al-anbiyā'': the paths of guidance.

النبيء: المكان المرتفع الناشز المحدودب يهمز ولا يهمز كالنابيء

Al-Nabī': The high, uneven, humped place, with or without hamza, like 'al-nābi''.

لا تصلوا على النبيء بالهمز، أي المكان المرتفع المحدودب

Do not pray over the 'nabī'' (with hamza), meaning the high, humped place.

صلوا على النبيء، ولا تصلوا على النبيء

Pray over the 'nabī'', and do not pray over the 'nabī''.

النبأة: النشز في الأرض

Al-Nab'ah: The elevation in the land.

والصوت الخفي أو الخفيف

And the faint or light sound.

وقد توجس ركزا مقفر ندس بنبأة الصوت ما في سمعه كذب

And he sensed a faint sound in a desolate place, discerning from the faint sound that there was no falsehood in his hearing.

النبأة: الصوت ليس بالشديد

Al-Nab'ah: A sound that is not loud.

آنست نبأة وأفزعها القن اص قصرا وقد دنا الإمساء

I perceived a faint sound, and it frightened the prey, as evening approached.

فسمعنا نبأة مستنبح، ثم تلتها صكة مستفتح

Then we heard the barking of a dog, followed by the sound of someone knocking.

نبأ الكلب نبأ

The dog barked, it barked.