حُبَارَى

Full Definition

حُبَارَى [a word respecting which J says,] its alif [written ى] is not the fem. alif nor the alif of quasi-coordination; [as F says of the alif of قَبَعْثَرًى, though he finds fault with J for saying thus of the alif of حُبَارَى; (see أَلِفُ التَّكْثِيرِ, in art. ا)] the name [says J] being only composed with it, so that it is as it were a part of the word itself, which is imperfectly decl. when determinate and when indeterminate; i. e., without tenween: but its alif is the fem. alif; for were it not so, it would be perfectly decl.; and J says that it is imperfectly decl.: and his saying that the alif is [as it were] a part of the word itself is a strange expression, for which it would be difficult to give an answer, and which therefore requires not exorbitance: but “ it is sufficient excellence for a man that his faults may be counted: ” [A species of bustard;] a certain bird, well known, of the form of the goose, with a dustcolour upon its head and belly, and the back and wings of which are for the most part of the colour of the quail; or it is a long-necked bird, of an ash-colour, of the form of the goose, with a beak somewhat long, and that is preyed upon, but does not itself prey: Az says that it does not drink water, and that it lays its eggs in distant sands: [the truth is, that it drinks seldom: the male bird has a pouch, extending from beneath the tongue to the breast, said to be large enough to contain seven quarts of water; and it has been supposed by some that he fills this with water for the supply of himself and his mate:] and Az further says, We used, when we journeyed, to proceed in the mountains of EdDahnà, and sometimes we picked up in one day between four and eight of its eggs: it lays four eggs, of a bluish colour, more delicious in taste than those of the domestic hen and than those of the ostrich: and others say that it brings its food from a greater distance than any other bird; sometimes from a distance of many days' journey: also, that it is constantly provided with a thin excrement, or dung, which it voids upon the hawk when pursued by the latter; thus saving itself, by preventing the hawk from continuing its flight, and, as some say, causing its feathers to drop off: whence the prov., أَسْلَحُ مِنْ حُبَارَى: [see art. سلح:] حُبَارَى is applied alike to the male and the female, and used as sing. and pl.: but it has pl. forms, namely, حُبَارَيَاتٌ and حُبَارَاتٌ: accord. to Sb, it has not حَبَارٍ, [in the TA incorrectly written حَبَارِى, as though it had the article ال prefixed to it, or were prefixed to another noun,] nor حَبَائِرُ, [though both of these are mentioned as pls. of it in several of the grammars of the Arabs,] in order to distinguish between حُبَارَى and nouns of the measures فَعْلَآءُ and فِعَالَةٌ and the like. It is said in a prov., وَكُلُّ شَىْءٍ قَدْ يُحِبُّ وَلَدَهْ حَتَّى الحُبَارَى وَتَطِيرُ عَنَدَهُ [And everything certainly loves its offspring: even the bustard; and it flies by its side]: [in the TA, وَيَدِفُّ عَنَدَهْ:] it flies by the side of its young one to teach it to fly before its wings have grown, because of its stupidity: the حبارى is thus specially mentioned because it is proverbial for stupidity, and, notwithstanding its stupidity, loves its offspring, and teaches it to fly. Another prov. is, فُلَانٌ مَيِّتْ كَمَدَ الحُبَارَى [Such a one is dying with the concealed grief of the bustard]: because the حبارى moults with other birds, but its new feathers are slow in coming: so when the other birds fly, it is unable to do so, and dies of concealed grief. [See also حُبْرُورٌ, and يَحْبُورٌ.]

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Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon

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