رَبٌّ
Root: رب
Full Definition
رَبٌّ
A lord, a possessor, an owner, or a proprietor, syn. مَالِكٌ, of a thing, of anything, or of an irrational thing; a person who has a right, or just title or claim, to the possession of anything; or its صَاحِب [which is syn. with مَالِك]; رَبٌّ and مَالِكٌ and صَاحِبٌ all signifying in Pers. خُدَاوَنْد: and a lord, master, or chief; or a lord, master, or chief, to whom obedience is paid: and a lord, ruler, governor, regulator, or disposer; an orderer, a rectifier, or a reformer: a rearer, fosterer, bringer-up, feeder, or nourisher: and a completer, or an accomplisher: it is an epithet, like نَمٌّ from نَمَّ: or an Verbal.Noun used as an intensive epithet; like عَدْلٌ; originally signifying the “ bringing to a state of completion by degrees;” then used in the sense of مَالِكٌ: the pl. [of pauc.] is أَرْبَابٌ and [of mult.] رُبُوبٌ, and accord. to Sh, رِبَابٌ also, signifying أَصْحَابٌ, and
رَبُوبٌ is app. a quasi-pl. n.: the fem. is
رَبَّةٌ ; of which the pl. is رَبَّاتٌ. Whoever possesses a thing is its رَبّ: you say, هُوَ رَبُّ الدَّابَّةِ [He is the possessor, or owner, or master, of the beast], and الدَّارِ [of the house], and المَالِ [of the property, or cattle]; and هِىَ البَيْتِ [She is the owner, or mistress, of the house or tent]. With the article ال, it is [properly] applied only to God: He is رَبُّ الأَرْبَابِ [The Lord of lords]. (T. [Thus the pl. with the article ال is applied to created beings.]) To any other being it is not [properly] applied but as a prefixed noun governing another noun as its complement in the gen. case [or in a similar manner]. The pagan Arabs, however, sometimes applied it to A king, or to a lord as meaning a master or chief: El- Hárith says, i. e. Ibn-Hillizeh,
2 Without the article ال, as some say, it is sometimes written and pronounced رَبٌ , without teshdeed; as in the following verse, cited by El-Mufaddal,
i. e. And he was the king [or lord] and witness of our fighting on the day of El-Hiyárán , and the trial was a hard trial. (EM, p. 285: [in which الحَيَارَيْنِ is erroneously put for الحِيَارَيْنِ.]) Some forbid that a man should be called the رَبّ of his slave: it is said in a trad. that the slave shall not say to his master, رَبّى, because it is like attributing a partner to God: but رَبّ is sometimes used in the sense of lord as meaning master or chief prefixed to a noun signifying a rational being governed by it in the gen. case: thus in the saying of the Prophet, حَتَّى تَلِدَ الأَمَةُ رَبَّهَا [So that the female slave shall bring forth him who will become her master], or [her mistress], accord. to different transmitters; relating to the signs of the hour of resurrection: i. e., the female slave shall bring forth to her master a child that shall be as a master [or mistress] to her because like his [or her] father in rank: meaning that captives and concubines shall be numerous. As to the phrase in the Kur [xii. 42], اُذْكُرْنِى عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ [Mention thou me in the presence of thy lord], Joseph thus addressed his fellow-prisoner agreeably with the acceptation in which he [the latter] understood the words. A similar instance also occurs in the same chapter, in the verse immediately preceding. In another verse, [23 of the same ch.,] إِنَّهُ رَبِّى [Verily he is my lord] may refer to Joseph's master or to God. The words of the Kur [lxxxix. 28 and 29], اِرْجِعِى إِلَى رَبِّكِ رَاضِيَةً مَرْضِيَّةً فَٱدْخُلِى فِى عَبْدىِ, as some read, [instead of عِبَادِى,] may mean Return to thine owner, [approving, approved,] and enter into my servant.وَهُوَ الرَّبُّ وَالشَّهِيدُ عَلَى يُوْ مِ الحِيَارَيْنِ وَالبَلَآءُ بَلَآءُ
2 Without the article ال, as some say, it is sometimes written and pronounced رَبٌ , without teshdeed; as in the following verse, cited by El-Mufaddal,
[And the peoples have known that there is not above him a lord beside Him who gives the portions of mankind and of others and grants the means of subsistence]. And Ahmad Ibn-Yahyà [i. e. Th] mentions the phrase لَا وَرَبِيكَ لَا أَفْعَلُ, for لَا وَرَبِّكَ [i. e. No, by thy Lord, I will not do such a thing]; the [latter] ب being changed into ى because of the reduplication. (M, K: * in the CK رَبْيِكَ.)وَقَدْ عَلِمَ الأَقْوَامُ أَنْ لَيْسَ فَوْقَهُ رَبٌ غَيْرُ مَنْ يَعْطِى الحُظُوظَ وَيَرْزُقُ
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