إِىْ

Root: اى

Full Definition

إِىْ is a particle denoting a reply, meaning نَعَمْ [Yes, or yea]; importing acknowledgment of the truth of an enunciation; and the making a thing known, to him who asks information; and a promise, to him who seeks or demands; therefore it occurs after such sayings as “Zeyd stood” and “Did Zeyd stand.?” and “Beat thou Zeyd,” and the like; as does نَعَمْ: Ibn-El-Hájib asserts that it occurs only after an interrogation; as in the saying [in the Kur x. 54], وَيَسْتَنْبِؤُنَكَ أَحَقٌّ هُوَ قُلٌ إِ ىْ وَرَبِىّ [And they will ask thee to inform them, saying, Is it true? Say, Yea, by my Lord!]: but accord. to all, it does not occur otherwise than before an oath: and when one says, إِ ىْ وَٱللّٰهِ [Yea, by God!], and then drops the و the ى may be quiescent, and with fet-h, and elided; [so that you say, إِ ىْ ٱللّٰهِ, and إِ ىَ ٱللّٰهِ, and إِ ٱللّٰهِ;] in the first of which cases, two quiescent letters occur together, irregularly. Lth says, إِ ىْ is an oath, as in إ ِىْ وَرَبِّى meaning, says Zj, نَعَمْ وَرَبِّى: IAar is also related to have said the like; and this is the correct explanation. [J says,] It is a word preceding an oath, meaning بَلَى [q. v.]; as in إِ ىْ وَرَبِّى and إِ ىْ وَٱللّٰه. [ISd and F say,] It is syn. with نَعَمْ, and is conjoined with an oath: and one says also هِىْ.

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