وَيْحٌ

Full Definition

وَيْحٌ a word denoting compassion, or pity: وَيْلٌ denotes [an imprecation of] punishment; or [of] removal from good, or from prosperity: or [of] destruction: and وَيْسٌ denotes the same as ويح; or less than ويح: or ويح and ويس denote compassion, or pity, and admiration of one's beauty; as when you say of a child, وَيْحَهُ مَا أَمْلَحَهُ, and وَيْسَهُ ما املحه, [Mercy on him! or the like: how beautiful is he!] or, accord. to most of the lexicologists, ويل is a word said to, or of, any one who falls into destruction or trial, or misfortune, and on whom one does not wish God's mercy: and ويح is said to, or of, any one who falls into trial or misfortune, and for whom one wishes God's mercy, and his escape therefrom: the former word being so used in the Kur-án, and the latter by the Prophet: or ويل is said to, or of, him who falls into destruction: and ويح is a word by which one chides him who is at the point of falling into destruction: or ويح and ويل are syn., and ويس signifies the same: or ويح is a little softer, or more gentle, than ويل: [if so, وَيْحَهُ signifies woe to him: in the same, or in a milder, manner than وَيْلَهُ:] or the original of ويح is وَيْ; sometimes ح being added to this latter word, and sometimes ل and sometimes ب, and sometimes س; so that it becomes ويح and ويل and ويب and ويس. [See ويل and ويب and ويس and وي.] You say وَيْحٌ لِزَيْدٍ [Mercy on Zeyd! or woe to Zeyd!]; putting ويح in the nom. case as an inchoative; and in like manner, وَيْلٌ لِزَيْدٍ: and also وَيْحًا لِزَيْدٍ; putting ويح in the acc. case because of a verb understood; as though you said أَلْزَمَهُ ٱللّٰهُ وَيْحًا [May God make mercy, or woe, to attend him constantly!]; and in like manner, وَيْلًا لِزَيْدٍ: or [it is put in the acc. case as an absolute complement of a verb understood, i. e., as an Verbal.Noun, and] the meaning is أَتَرَحَّمُهُ تَرَحُّمًا. [I say, May God have mercy on him! emphatically]: you also say وَيْحَكَ, and وَيْحَ زَيْدٍ; making ويح a prefixed n.; and putting it in the acc. case again because of a verb understood; and in like manner, وَيْلَكَ, and وَيْلَ زَيْدٍ: and also وَيْحَمَا زَيْدٍ in the same sense.

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Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon

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