Sharh Qatr an-Nada by Ibn Hisham (شرح قطر الندى وبل الصدى) — Page 230

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

هَبَاءً مُنبَثًّا ، وَكُنتُمْ أَزْوَاجاً ثَلَاثَةٌ ، فَأَصْبَحْتُمْ بِنِعْمَتِهِ إِخْوَانًا ، ظَلَّ وَجْهُهُ مُسْوَدًا ، وَقَالَ الشَّاعِرُ : أَمْسَتْ خَلَاءً ، وَأَمْسَى أَهْلُهَا احْتَمَلُوا ، أَخْنَى عَلَيْهَا الَّذِي أَخْنَى عَلَى لُبَدِ

Scattered dust; you were three groups, then by His grace you became brothers. His face remained darkened. The poet said: It grew desolate, its people departed, and the one who destroyed Lubad destroyed it.

صِفَتُهُ الَّتِي كَانَ عَلَيْهَا إِلَى الصِّفَةِ الَّتِي يَدُلُّ عَلَيْهَا خَبَرُهَا ، نَحْوَ قَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى فَكَانَتْ هَبَاءً لَهُ فَإِنَّ الْمَعْنَى وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ أَنَّهَا تَحَوَّلَتْ مِنْ صِفَةِ الثَّبَاتِ إِلَى صِفَةِ الْهَبَائِيَّةِ ، وَمِثْلُ ذَلِكَ قَوْلُكَ صَارَ زَيْدٌ غَنِيًّا ، أَلَا تَرَى أَنَّ الْمَعْنَى أَنَّهُ تَحَوَّلَ مِنْ صِفَةٍ عَارِضَةٍ هِيَ الْفَقْرُ إِلَى صِفَةٍ أُخْرَى عَارِضَةٍ أَيْضًا هِيَ الْغِنَى ، وَمِنْ أَمْثِلَةِ ذَلِكَ قَوْلُهُمْ صَارَ الطِّينُ إِبْرِيقًا

It shifts from the state it was in to the state indicated by its predicate, as in the Almighty's words: 'So it became scattered dust.' The meaning, and God knows best, is that it transformed from a state of stability to a state of dust-like dispersion. Similar to this is saying 'Zayd became rich.' Do you not see that the meaning is he shifted from one transient state, poverty, to another, wealth? Another example is the saying 'The clay became a pitcher.'

الْأَمْرُ الثَّانِي : أَنَّ جَارَ اللَّهِ الزَّمَخْشَرِي��َ ذَهَبَ إِلَى أَنَّ بَاتَ أَيْضًا تَأْتِي بِمَعْنَى صَارَ ، وَمَثَّلَ لِذَلِكَ بِقَوْلِهِ فَإِنَّهُ لَا يُدْرَى أَيْنَ بَاتَتْ يَدُهُ وَالَّذِي دَعَاهُ إِلَى هَذَا أَنَّ النَّوْمَ قَدْ يَكُونُ لَيْلًا وَقَدْ يَكُونُ نَهَارًا ، فَإِذَا بَقِيَ بَاتَ عَلَى مَعْنَاهُ الْأَصْلِيِّ وَهُوَ تَخْصِيصُ ثُبُوتِ اسْمِهَا لِخَبَرِهَا بِوَقْتِ الْبَيَاتِ لَمْ يُفِدِ الْكَلَامُ أَنَّ الْحُكْمَ يَسْرِي عَلَى مَنْ نَامَ نَهَارًا ، وَلَيْسَ هَذَا الْكَلَامُ بِسَدِيدٍ ؛ فَإِنَّ هَذَا التَّعْبِيرَ جَرَى عَلَى مَا هُوَ الْغَالِبُ فِي النَّوْمِ وَهُوَ كَوْنُهُ لَيْلًا ، وَالنَّوْمُ فِي النَّهَارِ قَلِيلٌ

Second: Jar Allah al-Zamakhshari held that 'bata' also carries the meaning of 'to become.' He illustrated this with the phrase 'It is not known where his hand spent the night.' What led him to this is that sleep occurs both night and day. If 'bata' were restricted to its original meaning—limiting the predicate to the noun during the night—the statement would not apply to someone sleeping during the day. This reasoning is flawed, however, as the expression is based on the common convention that sleep happens at night, while daytime sleep is rare.

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Vocabulary · المفردات (29 verbs · 54 nouns)

• بَثَّ — to scatter
• كَانَ — to be
• أَصْبَحَ — to become
• هَبَاءٌ — dust
• زَوْجٌ — pair
• ثَلَاثَةٌ — three