كَافِرٌ
Root: كفر
Full Definition
كَافِرٌ
A sower: or a tiller of the ground: because he covers over the seed with earth: pl. كُفَّارٌ. The pl. is said by some to be thus used in the Kur lvii. 19.
2 Dark clouds, or a dark cloud; because it conceals what is beneath it.
3 Night: or intensely black night; because it conceals everything by its darkness.
4 The darkness; because it covers what is beneath it; as also كَفْرَةٌ , accord. to the copies of the K; but in the L, كَفْرٌ, q. v.
5 The sea; for the same reason. Thaalabeh Ibn- So'eyr El-Mazinee says, describing a male and a female ostrich and their returning to their eggs at sunset,
6 Also, A great river: used in this sense by El-Mutalemmis: and a great valley.
7 [A man] staying, or abiding, [in a place,] and hiding himself. [See an ex. voce عَرْشٌ.]
8 [A man] wearing arms; covered with arms: as also مُكَفِّرٌ and مُتَكَفِّرٌ and : or this last signifies bound fast in iron; as though covered and concealed by it: pl. of the first, كُفَّارٌ. Hence the following, said by Mohammad during the pilgrimage of valediction, لَا تَرْجِعُوا بِعْدِى كُفَّارًا يَضْرِبُ بَعْضُكُمْ رِقَابَ بَعْضٍ [Do not ye become again, after me, i. e., after my death,] wearers of arms, preparing yourselves for fight, [one party of you smiting the necks of others;] as though he meant thereby to forbid war: or [do not ye become unbelievers, after me, &c.; i. e.,] do not ye call people unbelievers, and so become unbelievers [yourselves].
9 A coat of mail; because it conceals what is beneath it.
10 One who has covered his coat of mail with a garment worn over it.
11 كَافِرُ الدُّرُوعِ A garment that is worn over the coat of mail.
def.2 One who denies, or disacknowledges, the favours or benefits of God: [ungrateful; unthankful; especially to God:] one who denies, or disacknowledges, the unity [of God], and the prophetic office [of Mohammad and others], and the law of God, altogether, accord. to the common conventional acceptation: a disbeliever; an unbeliever; an infidel; a miscreant; contr. of مُؤْمِنٌ: because he conceals the favours of God: or because his heart is covered; as though it were of the measure فَاعِلٌ in the sense of the measure مَفْعُولٌ: or because كُفْر covers his heart altogether: i. e. having a covering to his heart: or because, when God invites him to acknowledge his unity, He invites him to accept his favours; and when he refuses to do so, he covers the favour of God, excluding it from him: fem. with ة: pl. masc. كَفَرَةٌ, the most common pl. of كافر in the first of the senses explained above, and كُفَّارٌ, the most common pl. of the same in the last of those senses, as contr. of مؤمن, and كِفَارٌ and كَافِرُونَ: and pl. fem. كَوَافِرُ and كَافِرَاتٌ: and رَجُلٌ كَفَّارٌ , and كَفُورٌ signify the same as كَافِرٌ: or كَفُورٌ is an intensive epithet, meaning very ungrateful, or unthankful, [&c., especially to God]: so in the Kur xxii. 65, and xliii. 14: and كَفَّارٌ has a more intensive signification than كَفُورٌ, [meaning habitually ungrateful, &c.:] os in the Kur ا 23: but sometimes it is used in the sense of كَفُورٌ; as in the Kur xiv. 37: كَفُورٌ is fem. as well as masc.; and its pl. is كُفُرٌ, also both masc. and fem.; and it has no unbroken pl.
2 Also, simply, Denying, or disacknowledging; a denier, or disacknowledger: followed byبِ before the thing denied: pl. كَافِرُونَ: so in the Kur ii. 38, and xxviii. 48.
3 [Also, Blaspheming; a blasphemer.]
def.3 See also كَافُورٌ.
2 Dark clouds, or a dark cloud; because it conceals what is beneath it.
3 Night: or intensely black night; because it conceals everything by its darkness.
4 The darkness; because it covers what is beneath it; as also كَفْرَةٌ , accord. to the copies of the K; but in the L, كَفْرٌ, q. v.
5 The sea; for the same reason. Thaalabeh Ibn- So'eyr El-Mazinee says, describing a male and a female ostrich and their returning to their eggs at sunset,
[And they remembered goods placed side by side, after the sun had cast its right side into a sea]; i. e., the sun had begun to set: or the poet may mean [by كافر] night: but Sgh says, that the right reading is تَذَكَّرَتْ; the pronoun referring to the female ostrich.فَتَذَكَّرَا ثَقَلًا رَثِيدًا بَعْدَمَا أَلْقَتْ ذُكَآءُ يَمِينَهَا فِى كَافِرِ
6 Also, A great river: used in this sense by El-Mutalemmis: and a great valley.
7 [A man] staying, or abiding, [in a place,] and hiding himself. [See an ex. voce عَرْشٌ.]
8 [A man] wearing arms; covered with arms: as also مُكَفِّرٌ and مُتَكَفِّرٌ and : or this last signifies bound fast in iron; as though covered and concealed by it: pl. of the first, كُفَّارٌ. Hence the following, said by Mohammad during the pilgrimage of valediction, لَا تَرْجِعُوا بِعْدِى كُفَّارًا يَضْرِبُ بَعْضُكُمْ رِقَابَ بَعْضٍ [Do not ye become again, after me, i. e., after my death,] wearers of arms, preparing yourselves for fight, [one party of you smiting the necks of others;] as though he meant thereby to forbid war: or [do not ye become unbelievers, after me, &c.; i. e.,] do not ye call people unbelievers, and so become unbelievers [yourselves].
9 A coat of mail; because it conceals what is beneath it.
10 One who has covered his coat of mail with a garment worn over it.
11 كَافِرُ الدُّرُوعِ A garment that is worn over the coat of mail.
def.2 One who denies, or disacknowledges, the favours or benefits of God: [ungrateful; unthankful; especially to God:] one who denies, or disacknowledges, the unity [of God], and the prophetic office [of Mohammad and others], and the law of God, altogether, accord. to the common conventional acceptation: a disbeliever; an unbeliever; an infidel; a miscreant; contr. of مُؤْمِنٌ: because he conceals the favours of God: or because his heart is covered; as though it were of the measure فَاعِلٌ in the sense of the measure مَفْعُولٌ: or because كُفْر covers his heart altogether: i. e. having a covering to his heart: or because, when God invites him to acknowledge his unity, He invites him to accept his favours; and when he refuses to do so, he covers the favour of God, excluding it from him: fem. with ة: pl. masc. كَفَرَةٌ, the most common pl. of كافر in the first of the senses explained above, and كُفَّارٌ, the most common pl. of the same in the last of those senses, as contr. of مؤمن, and كِفَارٌ and كَافِرُونَ: and pl. fem. كَوَافِرُ and كَافِرَاتٌ: and رَجُلٌ كَفَّارٌ , and كَفُورٌ signify the same as كَافِرٌ: or كَفُورٌ is an intensive epithet, meaning very ungrateful, or unthankful, [&c., especially to God]: so in the Kur xxii. 65, and xliii. 14: and كَفَّارٌ has a more intensive signification than كَفُورٌ, [meaning habitually ungrateful, &c.:] os in the Kur ا 23: but sometimes it is used in the sense of كَفُورٌ; as in the Kur xiv. 37: كَفُورٌ is fem. as well as masc.; and its pl. is كُفُرٌ, also both masc. and fem.; and it has no unbroken pl.
2 Also, simply, Denying, or disacknowledging; a denier, or disacknowledger: followed byبِ before the thing denied: pl. كَافِرُونَ: so in the Kur ii. 38, and xxviii. 48.
3 [Also, Blaspheming; a blasphemer.]
def.3 See also كَافُورٌ.
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