Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

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Edited by: P.J. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs
Assisted by C. Ott, under the patronage of the International Union of Acadamies

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Glossary and Index of Terms treats the technical terms in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu and other languages or dialects of the Islamic world. As an index, it is of immeasurable importance, in particular for the many terms which are not given an entry but are discussed in the course of an article; and as glossary it is an invaluable source of information for both non-specialist, who is given an insight into the varied and rich vocabulary of Islam, and the specialist, who may discover surprising new contexts in which a term is used.

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naʿām

(71 words)

naʿām (A, P us̲h̲turmug̲h̲, T devekus̲h̲u, both ‘camel-bird’) : in zoology, a collective noun denoting the ostrich ( S…
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nabʿ

(25 words)

nabʿ (A) : in botany, Grewia tenax, a wood from which the pre-Islamic Arabs made their bows, still used to…
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nāb

(21 words)

nāb (A, pl. niyāb) : in anatomy, the canine tooth. Imāla; Mak̲h̲ārid̲j̲ al-Ḥurūf In Persian, a measuring rod. D̲h…
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nabaʾ

(28 words)

nabaʾ (A) : a Qurʾānic term for ‘news, announcement’, which meaning ~ has retained until today; also…
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nabaʿ

(10 words)

nabaʿ (A) : a shallow water source. Abīward
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nabāt

(19 words)

nabāt (A) : plants. Naʿām; and Sukkar nabātī a strong yellow-coloured paper preferred by Cairo printers. Kāg̲h̲ad
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nabaṭī

(18 words)

nabaṭī (A) : in literature, the name given to the popular vernacular poetry of Arabia. Nabaṭ
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nabaz

(24 words)

nabaz (A, pl. anbāz) : in onomastics, an unpleasant sobriquet, Laḳab, such as that of Marwān I ( al-ḥimār ‘the ass’). …
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nabbāl

(4 words)

nabbāl Aḳūnīṭun
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nabbās̲h̲

(32 words)

nabbās̲h̲ (A) : lit. burrower, excavator; in mediaeval Islam, a category of thieves, said to be well…
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nabī

(33 words)

nabī (A, pl. nabiyyūn) : prophet. When used in the Qurʾān, ~ seems to occur only in Medinan passages an…
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nabīd̲h̲

(72 words)

nabīd̲h̲ (A) : intoxicating drinks, several kinds of which were produced in early Arabia, such as mizr (from barley;…
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nābita

(28 words)

nābita (A) : a term of classical Arabic meaning ‘rising generation’, but one which today has acquire…
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nabḳ

(14 words)

nabḳ (A) : in botany, the fruit of the Sidr tree. Sidr
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nabl

(30 words)

nabl (A) : in archery, a wooden or Arab arrow, one of the three main words denoting the arrow, the others being Sahm and nus…
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nāḍḍ

(4 words)

nāḍḍ At̲h̲mān
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nad̲h̲īr

(59 words)

nad̲h̲īr (A, pl. nud̲h̲ur) : ‘warner’; a Qurʾānic term, whose opposite is bas̲h̲īr, mubas̲h̲s̲h̲ir. Both ~ and bas̲h̲…
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nad̲h̲r

(132 words)

nad̲h̲r (A, pl. nud̲h̲ūr) : ‘vow’, a procedure which was taken over into Islam from the pre-Islamic Ara…
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nadīm

(54 words)

nadīm (A, pl. nidām, nudamāʾ, nudmān) : drinking companion, and, by extension, friend, courtier (or confi…
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nādira

(62 words)

nādira (A), pl. nawādir : lit. rare thing, rarity; a pleasing anecdote containing wit, humour, joculari…
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

naʿd̲j̲a

(9 words)

naʿd̲j̲a (A) : a reproductive ewe. G̲h̲anam
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nad̲j̲ama

(4 words)

nad̲j̲ama It̲h̲t̲h̲ag̲h̲ara
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nad̲j̲āsāt

(4 words)

nad̲j̲āsāt Nad̲j̲is
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nad̲j̲d̲j̲ār

(8 words)

nad̲j̲d̲j̲ār (A) : a carpenter. Sūḳ
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nad̲j̲is

(44 words)

nad̲j̲is (A) : impure (ant. ṭāhir). In law, nad̲j̲āsāt are things impure in themselves and cannot be purified; mutanad…
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nad̲j̲l

(7 words)

nad̲j̲l (A) : progeny. al-Ṣag̲h̲ānī
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nad̲j̲m

(51 words)

nad̲j̲m (A, pl. nud̲j̲ūm) : star (syn. kawkab, also ‘planet’); an alternative name for the Pleiades, otherw…
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nad̲j̲r

(4 words)

nad̲j̲r Layṭ
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nad̲j̲s̲h̲

(13 words)

nad̲j̲s̲h̲ (A) : the raising of prices, condemmed by Tradition. Tid̲j̲āra
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nad̲j̲wā

(37 words)

nad̲j̲wā (A) : under the Fāṭimids, a tax which had to be paid by those who were present at the Ismāʿ…
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nad̲j̲wa

(4 words)

nad̲j̲wa Fas̲h̲t
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nadra

(18 words)

nadra (A) : in minerology, a pure or virtually pure piece of gold and silver. K̲h̲ums
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nafād̲h̲

(16 words)

nafād̲h̲ (A) : in prosody, the vowel of the hāʾ serving as waṣl. Ḳāfiya
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nafaḳa

(31 words)

nafaḳa (A) : in law, maintenance, i.e. of the necessities of life, consisting of food, clothing and …
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nafal

(30 words)

nafal (A, pl. anfāl) : in early Islam, a bonus share given to those warriors who distinguished themselv…
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

naffād̲h̲

(32 words)

naffād̲h̲ (A) : a seller of amulets and images, listed by the 8th/14th-century poet Ṣafī al-Dīn al-Ḥ…
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

naffās̲h̲

(21 words)

naffās̲h̲ (A) : in botany, the Seville orange ( Citrus aurantium amara or vulgaris or bigaradia), also called Nāran…
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

naffāṭ, naffāṭa

(6 words)

naffāṭ, naffāṭa Nafṭ
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nāfid̲h̲

(16 words)

nāfid̲h̲ (A), or sālik : through-way, e.g. s̲h̲āriʿ nāfid̲h̲ or g̲h̲ayr nāfid̲h̲ ‘cul-de-sac’. S̲h̲arḥ
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nāfiḳāʾ

(17 words)

nāfiḳāʾ (A, pl. nawāfīḳ) : the burrow of the jerboa (syn. ḳuṣʿa and variants). Yarbūʿ
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nāfila

(57 words)

nāfila (A, pl. nawāfil) : in theology, supererogatory work; those works which are supererogatory in the…
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nafīr

(4 words)

nafīr Nefīr
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nafs

(98 words)

nafs (A, pl. anfus, nufūs) : soul; self, person. Nafīsī, Saʿīd; and Rūḥ In divination, ~ is a term of geomancy, b…
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nafṭ

(91 words)

nafṭ (A, P naft) : the purest form of Mesopotamian bitumen. Barṣīṣā; a generic, vague appellation for a…
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nafūd

(27 words)

nafūd (A) : a sandy area, in the north of the Arabian peninsula; in the south it is called a ramla. Ḏj̲azīrat al-ʿArab; …
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nafūr

(17 words)

nafūr (A) : in the terminology of horse-riding, a horse that swerves and shies. Furūsiyya
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nafy

(14 words)

nafy (A) : in grammar, negation (ant. īd̲j̲āb ‘affirmation’). al-Nafūsī; and Nefy
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

naga

(22 words)

naga (J) : a Hindu serpent guardian spirit, which sculpture frequently graces the entrance to a sain…
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nag̲h̲ma

(4 words)

nag̲h̲ma Laḥn
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms

nahār

(50 words)

nahār (A) : a day, which extends from sunrise to sunset. Lawn; the ~ begins at the moment that the u…
Source: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Glossary and Index of Terms
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