Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon

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سَلَفٌ

Root: سلف

Full Definition

سَلَفٌ Such as have gone before, or preceded; [i. e. the preceding generations;] as also سَلِيفٌ and سُلْفَةٌ and سَلُوفٌ ; all quasipl. ns.; of which the sing. is سَالِفٌ : or such as have gone before, or preceded, of a man's ancestors and of his relations, that are above him in age and in excellence; [but this addition is not always agreeable with usage;] one of whom is termed سَالِفٌ : the pl. of سَلَفٌ is أَسْلَافٌ and سُلَّافٌ, [the former a pl. of pauc. and the latter of mult.,] or the latter is pl. of سَالِفٌ , and so is سَلَفٌ [said to be, though this is more properly termed, as it is in the M, a quasi-pl. n.]: and, accord. to Zj, سُلُفٌ is pl. of سَلِيفٌ , and سُلَفٌ is pl. of سُلْفَةٌ , which means a company (عُصْبَةٌ) that has passed away: or سَالِفٌ and سَلِيفٌ signify the same; going before; preceding; syn. مُتَقَدِّمٌ. [Accord. to Abu-lMahásin, السَّلَفُ is particularly applied to 'Áïsheh the wife of Mohammad, the three Khaleefehs Aboo-Bekr and 'Omar and 'Othmán, Talhah and Ez-Zubeyr, the Khaleefeh Mo'áwiyeh, and 'Amr Ibn-El-Ás. ] And السَّلَفُ الصَّالِحُ is applied to the first chief persons of the Tábi'ees. And السَّلَفُ المُقَدَّمُ is an appellation of the prophet Mohammad. [Hence, مَذَاهِبُ السَّلَفِ The tenets of the early Muslims.]
2 Also A people, or party, going before, or preceding, in journeying.
3 And [simply] A company of men; as in the saying, جَآءَنِى سَلَفٌ مِنَ النَّاسِ [A company of men came to me].
4 And Any good, or righteous, deed, that one has done beforehand [by way of preparing a future reward]: or any فَرَط [i. e. cause of reward, or recompense, in the world to come, such as a child dying in infancy], that [as it were] goes before one.
5 And i. q. سَلَمٌ; i. e. Any money, or property, paid in advance, or beforehand, as the price of a commodity for which the seller has become responsible and which one has bought on description: or payment for a commodity to be delivered at a certain [future] period with something additional to [the equivalent of] the current price at the time of such payment; this [transaction] being a cause of profit to him who makes such payment; and سَلَمٌ also has this meaning: or a sort of sale in which the price is paid in advance, and the commodity is withheld, on the condition of description, to a certain [future] period: it is a subst. from الإِسْلَافُ.
6 And A loan (قَرْضٌ) in which is no profit to the lender except recompense [in the world to come] and thanks, and which it is incumbent on the recipient thereof to return as he received it: thus the Arabs term it: and in this sense also the word is a subst. from الإِسْلَافُ.

def.2 Also A stallion-camel.

def.3 Also, or سُلْفَةٌ , The prepuce of a boy; so says Lth; and سَلِفٌ and سِلْفٌ signify the same; for this is meant by الجِلْدُ as an explanation of السَّلِفُ and السِّلْفُ in the K, in some copies of which الخُلْدُ is erroneously put for الجِلْدُ.
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