شَطْرٌ

Full Definition

شَطْرٌ The half of a thing; as also شَطِيرٌ : pl. [of pauc.] أَشْطُرٌ and [of mult.] شُطُورٌ. It is said in a prov., اُحْلُبْ حَلَبًا لَكَ شَطْرُهُ [Milk thou a milking of which half shall be for thee]. And one says شَعَرٌ شَطْرَانِ Hair [half] black and [half] white. Accord. to Ibráheem El-Harbee, the saying of the Prophet, مَنْ مَنَعَ صَدَقَةً فَإِنَّا آخِذُوهَا وَشَطْرَ مَالِهِ [Whoso refuses to render a poor-rate, verily we take it from him, and half of his property], thus related by Bahz, is a mistake, and the right wording is, وَشُطِرَ مَالُهُ, meaning and his property shall be divided into two halves, and the collector of the poor-rate shall have the option given him and shall take that rate from out of the better of the two halves, as a punishment for the man's refusal of the rate; but it is said that this law was afterwards abrogated: Esh-Sháfi'ee, however, says that, in the old time, when one refused the poor-rate of his property, it was taken from him, and half of his property was taken as a punishment for his refusal; and he adduces this trad. as evidence thereof; but says that in recent times, only the poor-rate was taken from him, and this trad. was asserted to be abrogated.
2 It occurs in two trads. as meaning Half a مَكُّوك [q. v.], or half a وَسْق [q. v.], of barley.
3 [In prosody, Half a verse.]
4 Also A part, or portion, or somewhat, of a thing; and so شَطِيرٌ . In the trad. of the night-journey, فَوَضَعَ شَطْرَهَا means [And He remitted] part, or somewhat, thereof; i. e., of the prayer. And similar is the saying in another trad., الطَّهُورُ شَطْرُ الإِيمَانِ [Purification is part of faith].
5 Either the fore pair or the hind pair of the teats of a she-camel: she has two pairs of teats, a fore pair and a hind pair, and each pair is thus called: and either of the two teats of a ewe or she-goat: pl. أَشْطُرٌ. Hence the saying, فُلَانٌ حَلَبَ الدَّهْرَ أَشْطُرَهُ Such a one has known, or tried, varieties of fortune: has experienced the good and evil of fortune; its straitness and its ampleness: being likened to one who has milked all the teats of a camel, that which yields plenty of milk and that which does not; the fore pair being the good; and the hind pair, the evil: or, as some say, أَشْطُر means streams, or flows, of milk: and [in like manner] one says, حَلَبَ الدَّهْرَ شَطْرَيْهِ. And, as is said in the “ Kámil ” of Mbr, one says of a man experienced in affairs, فُلَانٌ قَدْ حَلَبَ أَشْطُرَهُ Such a one has endured the difficulties and [enjoyed] the ampleness of fortune, and managed his affairs in poverty and in wealth: lit., has milked his pairs of teats, one pair after another.
6 Also A direction in which one looks or goes or the like. One says, قَصَدَ شَطْرَهُ He went in his, or its, direction; towards him, or it. And it is said in the Kur [ii. 139 and 144 and 145], فَوَلِّ وَجْهَكَ شَطْرَ ٱلْمَسْجِدِ ٱلْحَرَامِ Then turn thou thy face in the direction of the Sacred Mosque. The noun in this sense has no verb belonging to it: or one says, شَطَرَ شَطْرَهُ [expl. above: see 1].
7 Also Distance, or remoteness.

Lane's Lexicon — The most scholarly Arabic-English dictionary available

The product of over thirty years of unrelenting labor. A work of such unique greatness that to this day it remains supreme in the field of Arabic lexicography.

✓ Full text search • ✓ Root-based navigation
✓ Advanced filters • ✓ Mobile access

Trusted by 1000+ researchers worldwide
Featured on Fons Vitae • Used by universities globally

Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon

Full Definition

Related Words from the Same Root

Verbs

Nouns