رُبَّ
Root: رب
Full Definition
رُبَّ
is a word of which there are seventy dial. vars., all mentioned by Zekereeyà El-Ansáree in his great Expos. of the “ Munferijeh, ” but only eighteen of which are mentioned in the K, including some that are formed with the affix ت, some with the affix مَا, and some with both these affixes together; as follows: رُبَّ and رَبَّ and رُبُّ, and
رُبَ and رَبَ and رُبُ and رُبْ and رَبْ; and
رُبَّتَ and رَبَّتَ and رُبُّتَ and رُبَّتُ and رَبَّتُ and رُبُّتُ and رُبَّتِ and رَبَّتِ and رُبُّتِ and رَبُّت
2 مَا is affixed to رُبَّ &c. in order that a verb may follow it; and the verb that follows it is generally a preterite, as to the letter and the meaning: you say, رُبَّمَا جَآءَنِى فُلَانٌ [Seldom, or often, such a one came to me, or has come to me]: sometimes the verb is a future; but only when it expresses an event of which one is certain: so in the saying in the Kur [xv. 2], رُبَّمَا يَوَدُّ ٱلَّذينَ كَفَرُوا لَوْ كَانُوا مُسْلِمِينَ, , meaning Often [will those who have disbelieved wish that they had been Muslims]; or seldom, because terrors will bereave them of their reason so that they will but seldom recover reason to wish this; for God's threat is true, as though it had come to pass, and therefore the verb here is equivalent to a preterite [which is often used in the Kur and elsewhere in this manner]. مَا is also sometimes affixed when a noun follows, or a nominal proposition, and generally restricts رُبَّ &c. from governing: thus, Aboo-Duwád says,
[And many a perishing man have I saved from perdition]. (TA. [But the reading commonly found in grammars is مِنْ عَطَبِهْ from his state of perdition.]) The following is an ex. of the use of رُبَّ to denote a small number, [or rather to denote singleness,]وَرُبَّهُ عَطِبًا أَنْقَذْتُ مِ العَطَبِ
[Now surely scarce an instance is there of anyone born not having a father, and of anyone having offspring whom two parents have not procreated]; meaning [our Lord] Jesus and Adam: (Mughnee: [but I have substituted يَلْدِهِ for يَلْدَهُ, the reading in my copy of that work: لَمْ يَلْدِهِ is for لَمْ يَلِدْهُ, for the sake of the metre; like as لِمْ أَجْدِ is for لَمْ أَجِدْ:]) and among the many exs. of its use to denote a large number, is the saying, in a trad., يَا رُبَّ كاَسِيَةٍ فِى الدُّنْيَا عَارِيَةٌ يَوْمَ القِيٰمَةِ [O, many a female having clothing in the present state of existence will be naked on the day of resurrection!]; and the saying of an Arab of the desert, after the ending of Ramadán, يَا رُبَّ صَائِمِهِ لَنْ يَعصُومَهُ وَيَا رُبَّ قَائِمِهِ لَنْ يَقُومَهُ [O, many a keeper of its fast shall not keep its fast again! and O, many a passer of its nights in prayer, or per- former of its تَرَاوِيح, shall not pass its nights in prayer, or perform its تراويح, again!]. [But in this last ex., and in others, it relates to few in comparison with others, though many abstractedly.]أَلَا رُبَّ مَوْلُودٍ وَلَيْسَ لَهُ أَبٌ وَذِى وَلَدٍ لَمْ يَلْدِهِ أَبَوَانِ
2 مَا is affixed to رُبَّ &c. in order that a verb may follow it; and the verb that follows it is generally a preterite, as to the letter and the meaning: you say, رُبَّمَا جَآءَنِى فُلَانٌ [Seldom, or often, such a one came to me, or has come to me]: sometimes the verb is a future; but only when it expresses an event of which one is certain: so in the saying in the Kur [xv. 2], رُبَّمَا يَوَدُّ ٱلَّذينَ كَفَرُوا لَوْ كَانُوا مُسْلِمِينَ, , meaning Often [will those who have disbelieved wish that they had been Muslims]; or seldom, because terrors will bereave them of their reason so that they will but seldom recover reason to wish this; for God's threat is true, as though it had come to pass, and therefore the verb here is equivalent to a preterite [which is often used in the Kur and elsewhere in this manner]. مَا is also sometimes affixed when a noun follows, or a nominal proposition, and generally restricts رُبَّ &c. from governing: thus, Aboo-Duwád says,
[Sometimes, or often, the numerous herd of camels is among them, and there are swift horses, among which are the colts]: another says, making رُبَّ, with مَا affixed, to govern,رُبَّمَا الجَامِلُ المُؤَبَّلُ فِيهِمْ وَعَنَا جِيجُ بَيْنَهُنَّ المِهَارُ
[Many a stroke with a polished sword of the forging of Busrà, and many a wide spear-wound; or, perhaps, few strokes &c.]: (Mughnee: [but I have substituted قَيْنِ for بَيْنَ, which is the reading in my copy of the Mughnee, an evident mistranscription:]) and another, cited by IAar, says,رُبَّمَا ضَرْبَةٍ بِسَيْفٍ صَقِيلٍ قَيْنِ بُصْرَى وَطَعْنَةٍ نَجْلَآءَ
[Máweeyeh, (مَاوِىَّ being an apocopated proper name of a woman, originally مَاوِيَّةُ,) O, many a raid spreading widely and dispersedly, like the burn with the branding-iron]. (T. [In the TT, as from the T, I find, here, بَلْ in the place of يا, which I find in a copy of the T, and which is the reading commonly known.])مَاوِىَّ يَا غَارَةٍ شَعْوَآءَ كَٱللَّذْعَةِ بِٱلْمِيسَمِ
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