سَوْءٌ

Full Definition

سَوْءٌ is an Verbal.Noun of سَآءَ, intrans., and trans.: and is also used as an epithet, applied to a man, and to an action. You say رَجُلُ سَوْءٍ [A man of evil nature or doings; or] a man who does what is evil, displeasing, grievous, or vexatious: and رَجُلُ السَّوْءِ [the man of evil nature or doings &c.]: and ذِئْبُ السَّوْءِ [the wolf of evil nature &c.], as in a verse cited voce أَحَالَ, in art. حول: and عَمَلُ سَوْءٍ [a deed of evil nature]: and عَمَلُ السَّوْءِ [the deed of evil nature]: and نَعْتُ سَوْءٍ [an epithet of evil nature]: (O and K in art. سحق:) and سَعْفُ سَوْءٍ a bad commodity: (O and TA in art. سعف:) and if you make the former word determinate [by means of the article ال], you use the latter as an epithet [also], and you say الرَّجُلُ السَّوْءُ [the evil man, or the man who does what is evil &c.]: and العَمَلُ السَّوْءُ [the evil deed]: [this last phrase I hold to be correct, regarding السَّوْءُ in this case as originally an Verbal.Noun of the intrans. verb سَآءَ, and therefore capable of being used as an epithet applied to anything; though] IB says that السَّوْءُ used as an epithet is applied to a man but not to a deed: [in what here follows from the S, denying the correctness of another phrase mentioned above on the authority of lexicologists of high repute, there is, in my opinion, an obvious mistranscription, twice occurring, السَّوْءُ for السُّوْءُ, which I suppose to have passed from an early copy of that work into most other copies thereof, for I find it alike in all to which I have had access:] Akh says, one should not say الرَّجُلُ السَّوْءُ, though one says الحَقُّ اليَقِينُ as well as حَقُّ اليَقِينِ; for السَّوْءُ is not the same as الرَّجُلُ, but اليَقِينُ is the same as الحَقُّ: he says, also, nor should one say, هٰذَا رَجُلُ السُّوْءِ with damm: [here the expres- sion “ with damm ” may perhaps be meant to refer to السوء in all of the three instances above; not in the last only:] IB says, [in remarking on this passage of the S, in which he appears to have read السُّوْء, with damm, in all of the three instances,] Akh allows one's saying رَجُلُ السَّوْءِ and رَجُلُ سَوْءٍ, with fet-h to the س in both; but not رَجُلُ السُّوْءِ, with damm to the س, because السُّوْءُ is a subst., meaning “ harm, injury, hurt, mischief, or damage, ” and “ evilness of state or condition; ” and رَجُل is prefixed, as governing a gen. case, only to the Verbal.Noun: and he adds that one says, هٰذَا الرَّجُلُ السَّوْءُ, not prefixing [the former noun to the latter, but using the latter as an epithet].
2 See also the next paragraph, in six places.

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