Full Definition
مَيْسِرٌ
The game, or play, with unfeathered and headless arrows; the game of hazard which the Arabs play with such arrows; a game of the Arabs, played [by ten men,] with ten unfeathered and headless arrows: they first slaughtered a camel, [bought on credit, ] and divided it into ten portions, or, as some say, [agreeably with what follows,] into twenty-eight: the first arrow was called الفَذُّ, and had [one notch and] one portion of the slaughtered camel: the second, التَّوْءَمُ, and had [two notches and] two portions: the third, الرَّقِيبُ, and had [three notches and] three portions: the fourth, الحِلْسُ, and had [four notches and] four portions: the fifth, النَّافِسُ, and had [five notches and] five portions; or, as some say, this was the fourth: the sixth, المُسْبِلُ, and had [six notches and] six portions: the seventh, المُعَلَّى, which was the highest of them, having [seven notches and] seven portions: the eighth and ninth and tenth were called السَّفِيحُ and المَنِيحُ and الوَغْدُ; and these three had no portions: [the players to whom these three fell had to pay for the slaughtered camel: (see المُسْبِلُ:) whence it appears, that if the camel was divided into ten portions, (see رَيْمٌ,) the game must have continued after all these were won, until it was seen whose were the eighth and ninth and tenth arrows; and it seems to be the general opinion that this was the case:] the camel being slaughtered, they collected together the ten arrows, and put them into the رِبَابَة, a thing resembling a quiver (كِنَانَة), and turned them round about or shuffled them (أَجَالُوهَا): [or they employed a person, whom they called حُرْضَة, to do this:] then they put them into the hand of the judge (الحَكَم), who took them forth one after another in the name of one after another of the party; [or they commissioned the حُرْضَه to do so;] and each took of the portions of the slaughtered camel according to his arrow; but those to whose lots fell the arrows without portions were obliged to pay the price of the slaughtered camel: with the flesh of which they afterwards fed the poor; and him who would not engage with them in the game they reproached, and called a بَرَم: [see also رَقِيبٌ, and ضَرِيبٌ, and عَشْرٌ:] or any game of hazard; or play for stakes, or wagers: so that even the game of children with walnuts is included under this name by Mujáhid in his explanation of verse 216 of chap. ii. of the Kur.: or anything in which is risk, or hazard: or the game of tricktrack, backgammon, or tables; syn. نَرْدٌ: and chess was called by 'Alee the مَيْسِر of the Persians, or foreigners: or the slaughtered camel for which they played: for when they desired to play, they bought on credit a camel for slaughter, and slaughtered it, and divided it into twentyeight portions, or ten portions; and when one [of the arrows] after another came forth [from the رِبَابَة] in the name of one man after another, the gain of him for whom came forth those to which belonged portions appeared, and the fine of him for whom came forth [any of the arrows called] the غُفْل: so called as though it were a place of division: and so used by the poet Lebeed, who speaks of a fat مَيْسِر.
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