وَيْبٌ

Full Definition

وَيْبٌ a word like وَيْلٌ and وَيْحٌ and وَيْسٌ: these four words agree in form and meaning, and have no fifth; although some of the lexicologists differ, in holding that some of them relate to what is good, and others to the falling into destruction. Accord. to what is said by Z, in the Fáïk, ويب and ويح and ويس denote compassion: but ويل is used in reviling, and imprecating destruction. IKtt says, in the Tahdheeb el-Af'ál, that the invariable verbs are nine in number: نِعْمَ and بِئْسُ and لَيْسَ and عَسَى and the verb of wonder and وَيْحَ زَيْدٍ and وَيْبَهُ and وَيْلَهُ and وَيْسَهُ; but that El-Mázinee asserts the last four to be inf. ns. You say وَيْبَكَ, and وَيْبٌ لَكَ, and وَيْبٌ لِزَيْدٍ, and وَيْبًا لَهُ, and وَيْبٍ لَهُ, with the three different vowel-terminations, both in addressing a person and in speaking of one who is absent, and وَيْبِهِ, and وَيْبِ غَيْرِهِ, [and وَيْبَ غَيْرِكَ, ] and وَيْبَ زَيْدٍ, and وَيْبِ زَيْدٍ, [and وَيْبُ زَيْدٍ, ] and وَيْبِ فُلَانٌ on the authority of IAar, who adds, except the بنو اسد, who, it appears, from his saying this, give fet-h to the ب: the meaning of all which is, May God make woe (ويل) to cleave to thee! [and
2 to Zeyd! &c.: or Woe to thee! &c.: but see what is said above.] Dhu-l-Khirak Et-Tuhawee uses ويب in the sense of ويل, addressing to a wolf the ejaculation وَيْبَ غَيْرِكَ, [which is therefore the same in meaning as وَيْبَكَ]: but accord. to what is said by Z, in the Fáïk, وَيْبَكَ and وَيْبٌ لَكَ &c. signify Mercy on thee! or the like. When ويب is put in the acc. case, it is so put as an Verbal.Noun This is the opinion generally obtaining: the opinion that وَيْبَ is a verb is extraordinary. When you use the prep. ل, you [generally say] وَيْبٌ لِزَيْدٍ (or وَيْبًا لِزَيْدٍ, L): when you use ل, it is more elegant to put ويب in the nom. case, as an inchoative, than in the acc. case: but when you use ويب as a prefixed noun, with its complement, the acc. is more elegant than the nom. case: [i. e., it is more elegant to say وَيْبَ زَيْدٍ than وَيْبُ زَيْدٍ]. Ks says, Some of the Arabs say وَيْبَكَ and وَيْبَ غَيْرِكَ; and some of them say وَيْبًا لِزَيْدٍ, like وَيْلًا لِزَيْدٍ.
3 وَيْبًا لِهَذَا الأَمْرِ i. q. عَجَبًا لَهُ, [I] wonder at, or with respect to, this thing! and so وَيْبَهُ.

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Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon

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