Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon

سَرَى

Root: سرى

Form: 1

Full Definition

سَرَىI , or سَرَى اللَّيْلَ and بِاللَّيْلِ, Present.T يَسْرِى, Verbal.Noun سُرًى and مَسْرًى and سَرْيَةٌ and سُرْيَةٌ and سِرَايَةٌ; the first of a form rare among inf. ns., because it is one of the forms of pls., as is shown by the fact that some of the Arabs make it and هُدًى fem., namely, Benoo-Asad, supposing them to be pls. of سُرْيَةٌ and هُدْيَةٌ, and Lh knew not سُرًى but as a fem. noun; or the Verbal.Noun is سَرْىٌ, and سُرْيَةٌ and سَرْيَةٌ are more special [in meaning, as will be shown below, voce سَرْيَةٌ], and سُرًى is pl. of سُرْيَةٌ; or سَرْيَةٌ is an Verbal.Noun un., and سُرْيَةٌ is a simple subst., and so is سُرًى, and so is سِرَايَةٌ also, as some say; He journeyed, or travelled, by night, or in the night, in a general sense; accord. to AZ, in the first part part of the night, and in the middle thereof, and in the last part thereof; and اسرى signifies the same in the dial. of El-Hijáz, Verbal.Noun إِسْرَآءٌ; as also استرى ; and perhaps تسرّى likewise. [See also سُرًى and سَرْيَةٌ below.] It is said in a prov., ذَهَبُوا قُنْفُذٍ [They went away in the manner of a hedge-hog's night-travelling; meaning they went away by night]; because the قنفذ goes all the night, not sleeping.
2 [Hence, as denoting unseen progress,] it is said also of the root of a tree, meaning It crept along beneath the ground; Present.T as above, Verbal.Noun سَرْىٌ.
3 And it is said of ideal things, as being likened to corporeal things; tropically, and by extension of the signification; or metaphorically; [as, for instance,] of calamities, and wars, and anxieties: and the predominant inf. ns. [in these cases] are سِرَايَةٌ and سَرَيَانٌ. One says, سَرَى عِرْقُ السُّوْءِ فِى الإِنْسَانِ [The root, or strain, of evil crept in the man]. And سَرَى فِيهِ السَّمُّ [The poison crept in him, or pervaded him]; and similarly one says of wine; and of the like of these two things. (El-Fárábee, Msb, TA. [See also دَبَّ.]) And the lawyers say, سَرَى الجُرْحُ إِلَى النَّفْسِ [The wound extended to the soul], meaning that the pain of the wound continued until death ensued in consequence thereof: and قُطِعَ كَفُّهُ فَسَرَى إِلَى سَاعِدِهِ [His hand was cut off, and it extended to his upper arm], meaning that the effect of the wound passed by transmission: and سَرَى التَّحْرِيمُ, and العِتْقُ, The prohibition, and the emancipation, [extended, or] passed by transmission: phrases current among the lawyers, but not mentioned in books of repute, though agreeable with others here preceding and following. One says also, سَرَى عَلَيْهِ الهَمُّ Anxiety came to him [or upon him] by night: and سَرَى هَمُّهُ His anxiety went away. And similar to these is the phrase in the Kur [lxxxix. 3], وَٱللَّيْلِ إِذَا يَسْرِ And by the night when it goes away: or, as some say, when one journeys in it; like as one says لَيْلٌ نَائِمٌ meaning “ night in which one sleeps: ” the [final] ى [of the verb] is elided because it terminates a verse.
4 It is made trans. by means of ب: one says, سَرَى بِهِ [He made him to journey, or travel, or he transported him, by night, or in the night; or it may be rendered he journeyed, or travelled, with him, by night, or in the night]; and in like manner, [and more commonly,] أَسْرَى بِهِ; and ; like as one says, أَخَذَ بِالخِطَامِ as well as اخذ الخِطَامَ. As to the saying in the Kur [xvii. 1], سُبْحَانَ ٱلَّذِى أَسْرَى بِعَبْدِهِ لَيْلًا [Extolled be the glory of Him who transported his servant by night!], it is an instance of corroboration, like the saying, سِرْتُ أَمْسِ نَهَارًا and البَارِحَةَ لَيْلًا: or the meaning is [simply] سَيَّرَهُ: accord. to 'Alam-ed-Deen Es-Sakháwee, لَيْلًا is added, although الإِسْرَآء is not otherwise than by night, because the space over which he was transported is not to be traversed in less than forty days, but was traversed by him in one night; as though the meaning [intended] were, فِى لَيْلٍ وَاحِدٍ; and it denotes wonder: لَيْلًا is here used instead of لَيْلَةً because when they say سَرَى لَيْلَةً the meaning generally is he occupied the whole of the night in journeying: Er-Rághib holds the verb in this instance to be from سَرَاةٌ signifying “ a wide tract of land, ” to belong to art. سرو, and to be like أَجْبَلَ and أَتْهَمَ; the meaning being, who transported his servant over a wide tract of land: but this is strange.

def.2 سَرَى مَتَاعَهُ, Present.T يَسْرِى, Verbal.Noun سَرْىٌ, He threw his goods, or utensils and furniture, upon the back of his beast.
2 And سَرَى عَنِّى الثَّوْبَ, Verbal.Noun سَرْىٌ, He removed from over me the garment: but و is more approved [as the final radical: see 1 in art, سرو]. You say, سَرَيْتُ الثَّوْبَ and I pulled off the garment: and عَنْهُ It was removed from over him, and removed from its place: the teshdeed denotes intensiveness.


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