إشفى

• إِشْفَاء (ʔišfāʔ)

Borrowed from an unattested Aramaic word, though formally possibly identical to Classical Syriac ܫܦܳܝܳܐ (šp̄āyā, “stake, splinter”), akin to Classical Arabic سَفًا (safan, “scanty hair; thorns, prickles, awns”); the formation from the same root with the closest attested sense is Classical Syriac ܡܰܫܦܺܝܬܳܐ (mašpīṯā, “major needle, spit; file”).

• IPA^(key): /ʔiʃ.faː/

إِشْفَى • (ʔišfā) m (plural أَشَافٍ (ʔašāfin)) (rare)

1. awl (pointed instrument)

   Synonyms: مِخْرَز (miḵraz), مِخْرَاز (miḵrāz), مِخْصَف (miḵṣaf), مِثْقَب (miṯqab), مِثْقَاب (miṯqāb)

   • a. 814, Abū Nuwās, edited by Prof. Ali Faour, عند سابا, 4th edition, Beirut: Dar Al-Kotob Al-Ilmiyah, published 2017, →ISBN, page 214:

     فشَكّ بإشْفاءٍ لهُ بَطْنَ مُسْنَدٍ، فسالتْ تحاكي في تلألؤها البَدْرَا

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

     also discussed in Asst. Prof. Ali Mitʕib Jassim, Asst. Ins. Hussein Umran Mohammad (2015) “تداوليّة الحدث الكالمي– ًشعر ابي نواس أنموذجا [The Pragmatics of Speech Act: Abu Nu'as's Poetry as an Example]”, in Diyala Journal of Human Research‎^[1] (in Arabic), number 67, pages 387–401

   • a. 1111, Abū Ḥāmid al-Ġazālīy, “الباب الخامس في شفقة التاجر على دينه فيما يخضه ويعم آخرته”, in كتاب آداب الكسب والمعاش [The Revival of Religious Sciences]:

     فَكَانَ أَحَدُهُمْ إِذَا رَفَعَ ٱلْمِطْرَقَةَ أَوْ غَرَزَ ٱلْإِشْفَى فَسَمِعَ ٱلْأَذَانَ لَمْ يُخْرِجِ ٱلْإِشْفَى مِنَ ٱلْمِخْرَزِ وَلَمْ يُوقِعِ ٱلْمِطْرَقَةَ وَرَمَى بِهَا وَقَامَ إِلَى ٱلصَّلَاةِ.

     fakāna ʔaḥaduhum ʔiḏā rafaʕa l-miṭraqata ʔaw ḡaraza l-ʔišfā fasamiʕa l-ʔaḏāna lam yuḵriji l-ʔišfā mina l-miḵrazi walam yūqiʕi l-miṭraqata waramā bihā waqāma ʔilā ṣ-ṣalāti.

     And there was one of them when he raised the hammer or planted the awl and heard the adhan he did not put the awl out of the other awl and did not put the hammer back but threw them and stood up and went to prayer.

   • a. 1113, أبو المظفر الأبيوردي, خطوبٌ لِلْقلوبِ بِها وَجيبُ:

     وَنَخْضَعُ رَاغِبِينَ لَهَا ٱضْطِرَارًا — وَكَيْفَ يُلَاطِمُ ٱلْإِشْفَى لَبِيبُ؟

     wanaḵḍaʕu rāḡibīna lahā ḍṭirāran — wakayfa yulāṭimu l-ʔišfā labību?

     And we submit desirous to them and by compulsion — but how does the intellect hit the awl?

   • a. 1229, Yāqūt al-Ḥamawīy, edited by Ferdinand Wüstenfeld, كتاب معجم البلدان [kitāb muʿjam al-buldān]‎^[2], volume 1, Leipzig: F.A. Brockhaus, published 1866, page 291 line 20:

• “špy³”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
• “mšpy²”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
• “إشفى” in Almaany
• Corriente, Federico, Pereira, Christophe, Vicente, Angeles, editors (2017), “išfah”, in Dictionnaire du faisceau dialectal arabe andalou. Perspectives phraséologiques et étymologiques (in French), Berlin: De Gruyter, →ISBN, page 716
• Dozy, Reinhart Pieter Anne (1881) “إشفى”, in Supplément aux dictionnaires arabes‎^[3] (in French), volume 1, Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 25a
• Fraenkel, Siegmund (1886) Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 256
• Freytag, Georg (1830) “إشفى”, in Lexicon arabico-latinum praesertim ex Djeuharii Firuzabadiique et aliorum Arabum operibus adhibitis Golii quoque et aliorum libris confectum‎^[4] (in Latin), volume 1, Halle: C. A. Schwetschke, page 38b
• Lane, Edward William (1863-1893) “إشفى”, in Arabic-English Lexicon, London: Williams & Norgate, page 62b.