خَلِيفَةٌ

Full Definition

خَلِيفَةٌ A successor: and a vice-agent, vice- gerent, lieutenant, substitute, proxy, or deputy: one who has been made, or appointed, to take the place of him who has been before him: an act. part. n. of خَلَفَهُ, Verbal.Noun خَلَفٌ and خِلَافَةٌ; as also خَلِيفٌ : or it may have the meaning of an act. part. n. or that of a pass. part. n.: and so in the sense next following: the supreme, or greatest, ruler or sovereign, who supplies the place of him who has been before him; [particularly the successor of the Prophet; whence “ Caliph, ” commonly used by English writers for “ Khaleefeh; ”] as also خَلِيفٌ , which is the original form, without ة; disapproved by some, but mentioned by AHát and Ibn-' Abbád and IB, and occurring in a verse of Ows Ibn-Hajar cited by IB: the ة in the former is to denote intensiveness of signification, as in عَلَّامَةٌ and نَسَّابَةٌ: or, as some say, لِلنَّقْلِ [i. e. for the transference of the word from the category of epithets to that of substs.]: it is also said that the word may be an epithet of which the subst. qualified thereby is suppressed, for نَفْسٌ خَلِيفَةٌ; but this requires consideration: it is an epithet applied to a man peculiarly: some make it fem.; saying هٰذَا خَلِيفَةٌ أُخْرَى [This is another Khaleefeh]; though the proper way is to make it masc.: a poet says, أَبُوكَ خَلِيفَةٌ وَلَدَتْهُ أُخْرَى وَأَنْتَ خَلِيفَةٌ ذَاكَ الكَمَالُ [Thy father was a Khaleefeh, whom another Khaleefeh begat; and thou art a Khaleefeh: that is perfection]: the pl. is خَلَائِفُ [generally applied to any people that have succeeded others, and supplied their places, as in the Kur x. 15], like as كَرَائِمُ is pl. of كَرِيمَةٌ; and خُلَفَآءُ [generally applied to successors of the Prophet], because, as it applies only to the male, and has ة added, the ة is dropped in forming the pl., which is thus like ظُرَفَآءُ as pl. of ظَرِيفٌ: thus says ISk, and the like is said in the O: but what AHát and Ibn-'Abbád say requires not this straining: [i. e.] خَلَائِفُ is pl. of خَلِيفَةٌ; and خُلَفَآءُ, of خَلِيفٌ : or some, having regard to the original, make the pl. to be خُلَفَآءُ, like as شُرَفَآءُ is pl. of شَرِيفٌ; and this pl. is masc. only, so that you say ثَلَاثَةٌ خُلَفَآءَ: and some, having regard to the word itself [in its altered and used state], make the pl. to be خَلَائِفُ; and this pl. may have prefixed to it either a masc. or a fem. n. of number, so that you say ثَلَاثَةٌ خَلَائِفَ and ثَلَاثُ خَلَائِفَ; both of which are chaste. You say, كَانَ ٱللّٰهُ خَلِيفَةَ وَالِدِكَ عَلَيْكَ [May God be to thee a supplier of the place of thy father]: and in like manner you say, to a person, of any one whom he has lost by death, and who cannot be replaced; as the paternal uncle; or the mother. Some say that the application of the title خَلِيفَةُ ٱللّٰهِ [The Vicegerent of God] is not allowable, except to Adam and David because there is express authority in these instances [in the Kur ii. 28 and xxxviii. 25]; but others allow it in other cases, like سُلْطَانُ ٱللّٰهِ and جُنُودُ ٱللّٰهِ and حِزْبُ ٱللّٰهِ and خَيْلُ ٱللّٰهِ; all of which have been heard: and Zj says that it is allowable to say of the Imáms that they are خُلَفَآءُ ٱللّٰهِ فِى أَرْضِهِ [The Vicegerents of God in his earth].

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