أشهل

See also: اشهل‎, أسهل‎, and اسهل‎

Arabic

FWOTD – 13 June 2020

Alternative forms

اسهل‎ – rasm

Etymology 1

Color or defect adjective from the root ش ه ل‎ (š-h-l).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ʔaʃ.hal/

Adjective

أَشْهَل • (ʾašhal) (feminine شَهْلَاء‎ (šahlāʾ), common plural شُهْل‎ (šuhl))

(obsolete; said of eyes; also used in reference to mountains and wolves with the meaning "dust-coloured inclining to whiteness"[1]) The meaning of this term is uncertain. Possibilities include:
1. glaucous[2][3] or subglaucous;[3]
2. having "a mixture of colours" (usually blue or red with black),[1][4] variegated[5] (likely from a confusion with أَشْكَل‎ (ʾaškal) although Abu Mansur al-Azhari considered them to be synonyms):[1][6]
  1. reddish-brown, dark-brown;[7]
  2. bluish-black, deep blue;[8]
3. of "lighter shades of brown"[9] or amber,[3] tawny,[3] or fawn[10] (likely from a confusion with أَشْعَل‎ (ʾašʿal)).[3]
  - c. 748 CE – 823 CE, Muslim ibn al-Walid, Diwan 45.19:
    كَسَاهَا الخَلَا الرَسْمِيُّ مِنْ كُلِّ جَانِبٍ ‖ طَرَائِقَ حَتَّى سُودُ حَوْزَاتِهَا شُهْلُ‎
    kasāhā l-ḵalā r-rasmiyyu min kulli jānibin ‖ ṭarāʾiqa ḥattā sūdu ḥawzātihā šuhlu
    Translation by Arthur Wormhoudt[11]
    The rain dresses the yard on every side
    Paths until the black of nature is blue
  - 988 CE, Ibn al-Nadim, Al-Fihrist :
    احد الاسباب فى ذلك ان المأمون رأى فى منامه كان رجلا ابيض اللون مشربا حمرة واسع الجبهة مقرون الحاجب اجلح الرأس اشهل العينين حسن الشمائل جالس على سريره
    Translation by Clifford Edmund Bosworth[12]
    One of the reasons for that was that al-Ma'mun had a dream. He saw a man white in complexion but with a reddish tinge, a high forehead, close-together eyebrows, bald, with grey eyes and pleasant features, sitting on his throne.
  - 997 CE – 1062, Ibn Mutarrif al-Tarafi, The Stories of the Prophets :
    ‫ وكانت صفة أيوب صلی الله عليه وسلم أحمر أشهل ناتی الوجنتين غليظ الخلق
    Translation by Roberto Tottoli[13]
    Job [peace be upon him] was a man of a reddish complexion, blue eyes, protuberant cheeks and bulky constitution.
  - 1025, Avicenna, The Canon of Medicine 3:
    و لهذا السبب تكون عيون الاطفال زرقاء، و شهلاء، و هذه زرقة تكون عن رطوبة بالغة
    Translation by Christopher T. Leffler, Wasim A. Samara, Tamer H. Hadi, Ali Salman, Faraaz A. Khan[14]
    In this manner, the eyes of children are glaucous (zarqaa) and variegated (shahlaa), and this type of glaucous hue (zurqa) is due to the humour completely.
  - 1126, Cairo Geniza T-S Ar. 51.110.lines 2–5, (original in rasm):
    هذا ما استاجر عمر بن موسى الزيات وهو يومئذ رجل معتدل القامة
    اسمر اللون رقيق السمرة تعلوه حمرا واضح الجبهة صلتها ابلج ما بين الحاجبين
    ازجهما ابخض اشهل اخثم الانف غليظه موجن مستدير اللحية
    ابنة اسمعيل المعروف والدها بالكوهان اليهودية [...]‎
    Translation by Geoffrey Khan[15]
    This is what ‘Umar ibn Mūsā, the dealer in oil, who on this day is a man of average stature,
    pure reddy-brown in complexion, with a smooth broad forehead, with fine eyebrows separated in the middle,
    with fleshy eye-lids, dark brown eyes, a wide, thick, nose, prominent cheekbones and a round beard, leased from Ya’’āsa (?)
    ibnat ’Isma‘īl, whose father is known as al-Kohen, the Jewess. […]

Declension

Declension of adjective أَشْهَل (ʾašhal)

Singular	Masculine		Feminine
	basic singular diptote		basic singular diptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Informal	أَشْهَل ʾašhal	الْأَشْهَل‎ al-ʾašhal	شَهْلَاء‎ šahlāʾ	الشَّهْلَاء‎ aš-šahlāʾ
Nominative	أَشْهَلُ ʾašhalu	الْأَشْهَلُ‎ al-ʾašhalu	شَهْلَاءُ‎ šahlāʾu	الشَّهْلَاءُ‎ aš-šahlāʾu
Accusative	أَشْهَلَ ʾašhala	الْأَشْهَلَ‎ al-ʾašhala	شَهْلَاءَ‎ šahlāʾa	الشَّهْلَاءَ‎ aš-šahlāʾa
Genitive	أَشْهَلَ ʾašhala	الْأَشْهَلِ‎ al-ʾašhali	شَهْلَاءَ‎ šahlāʾa	الشَّهْلَاءِ‎ aš-šahlāʾi
Dual	Masculine		Feminine
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Informal	أَشْهَلَيْن‎ ʾašhalayn	الْأَشْهَلَيْن‎ al-ʾašhalayn	شَهْلَاوَيْن‎ šahlāwayn	الشَّهْلَاوَيْن‎ aš-šahlāwayn
Nominative	أَشْهَلَانِ‎ ʾašhalāni	الْأَشْهَلَانِ‎ al-ʾašhalāni	شَهْلَاوَانِ‎ šahlāwāni	الشَّهْلَاوَانِ‎ aš-šahlāwāni
Accusative	أَشْهَلَيْنِ‎ ʾašhalayni	الْأَشْهَلَيْنِ‎ al-ʾašhalayni	شَهْلَاوَيْنِ‎ šahlāwayni	الشَّهْلَاوَيْنِ‎ aš-šahlāwayni
Genitive	أَشْهَلَيْنِ‎ ʾašhalayni	الْأَشْهَلَيْنِ‎ al-ʾašhalayni	شَهْلَاوَيْنِ‎ šahlāwayni	الشَّهْلَاوَيْنِ‎ aš-šahlāwayni
Plural	Masculine		Feminine
	basic broken plural triptote		basic broken plural triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Informal	شُهْل‎ šuhl	الشُّهْل‎ aš-šuhl	شُهْل‎ šuhl	الشُّهْل‎ aš-šuhl
Nominative	شُهْلٌ‎ šuhlun	الشُّهْلُ‎ aš-šuhlu	شُهْلٌ‎ šuhlun	الشُّهْلُ‎ aš-šuhlu
Accusative	شُهْلًا‎ šuhlan	الشُّهْلَ‎ aš-šuhla	شُهْلًا‎ šuhlan	الشُّهْلَ‎ aš-šuhla
Genitive	شُهْلٍ‎ šuhlin	الشُّهْلِ‎ aš-šuhli	شُهْلٍ‎ šuhlin	الشُّهْلِ‎ aš-šuhli

Derived terms

الْأَشْهَل‎ (al-ʾašhal)
- أَشْهَلِيّ‎ (ʾašhaliyy)

Related terms

اِشْهَلَّ‎ (išhalla)
شَهِلَ‎ (šahila)
شُهْلَة‎ (šuhla)

Descendants

(via feminine form شَهْلَاء‎ (šahlāʾ)):

→ Azerbaijani: şəhla
→ Chagatai: شهلا‎
- Uyghur: شەھلا‎ (shehla)
- Uzbek: shahlo
→ Kazakh: шәһла (şähla)
→ Mogholi: شهلا
→ Ottoman Turkish: شهلا‎
- Turkish: şehla
→ Pashto: شهلا‎
→ Persian: شهلا‎
→ Tajik: шаҳло (šahlo)
→ Urdu: شہلا‎

References

Lane, Edward William (1863), “أشهل”, in Arabic-English Lexicon, London: Williams & Norgate
Sabra, A. I. (1989) The Optics of Ibn al-Haytham: Books I-III: on Direct Vision‎, II, page 41: “It was frequently used as equivalent to the Greek glaukos, grey, blue-grey, blue-green, light blue, etc. (LSJ). In the Optics it is mentioned as a colour of the eye (or iris) distinguished from blue (azraq). [...] / Kamāl al-Dīn, in Tanqīḥ, 1, p. 106, lists al-shuhla (from ashhal) among four colours of the iris, the other three being dark blue or blue-black (al-kaḥal), blue (azraq) and al-shuʿla; al-shuhla, he says, is closer to al-kaḥal while al-shuʿla is closer to blue. This would seem to make ashhal something like blush grey, but Kamāl al-Dīn appears to be propounding a theory rather than a description of actual usage.”
Maxwell-Stuart, P. G. (1981) Studies in Greek Colour Terminology: Charopos‎, Brill, page 174
Maxwell-Stuart, P. G. (1981) op. cit., page 175
Leffler, Christopher T.; Samara, Wasim A.; Hadi, Tamer H.; Salman, Ali; Khan, Faraaz A. (2020), “Glaucoma in the Medieval Arab World”, in The History of Glaucoma‎, Wayenborgh Publishing, page 56
Fischer, Wolfdietrich (1965), “Heller Farbbereich:Rot und Blau”, in Farb- und Formbezeichnung in der Sprache der altarabischen Dichtung‎ (in German), page 353: “Nach den arab. Lexika sind beide etwa synonym. Hinsichtlich der primären Bedeutung von aškal 'unbestimmt, verschiedenartig gefärbt' scheint dies ungefähr zutreffend zu sein und wird durch einen Lis. III 475 = 2. 635a, 14—15 zitierten V. bestätigt:
mutawaḍḍiḥu l-aqrābi fīhi šuhlatun * šaniǧu l-yadaini taḫāluhū maškūlā
'(ein Kamel ?) an den Flanken hell gefärbt, doch mit Mischfarbigkeit getrübt, an den Vorderbeinen runzelig, so daß man es für ein undeutlich (gefärbtes Tier) hält'.
[…] Es wird, wie die Belege zeigen, als Gegensatz zu adʿaǧ 'schwarzäugig gebraucht', so daß die arab. Lexikographen im unklaren sind, ob bräunliche (d. h. rötliche) oder bläuliche (d. h. schillernde) Augen gemeint sind.”
Khan, Geoffrey (1993) Arabic Legal and Administrative Documents in the Cambridge Genizah collections, Cambridge University Press, page 17
Wehr, Hans (1979), “أشهل”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN
Maxwell-Stuart, P. G. (1981) op. cit., page 71
Aigle, Denise (2014) The Mongol-Empire Between Myth and Reality‎, Brill, page 127
The Diwan of Muslim ibn al-Walid, called Sariʻ al Gawani, translated and commented on by Arthur Wormhoudt‎, William Penn College, 1981
Bosworth, C. E. (1963) Medieval Arabic Culture and Administration‎, page xv
Tottoli, Roberto (1998), “The Qiṣaṣ al-anbiyāʾ of Ibn Muṭarrif al-Ṭarafī (d. 454/1062)”, in Al-Qantara‎, volume 19, issue 1, page 153
Leffler, Christopher T.; Samara, Wasim A.; Hadi, Tamer H.; Salman, Ali; Khan, Faraaz A. (2020) op. cit., pages 55–56
Khan, Geoffrey (1993) op. cit., page 169

Verb

أَشْهَلُ • (ʾašhalu) (form I)

first-person singular non-past active indicative of شَهِلَ‎ (šahila)

Verb

أَشْهَلَ • (ʾašhala) (form I)

first-person singular non-past active subjunctive of شَهِلَ‎ (šahila)

Verb

أَشْهَلْ • (ʾašhal) (form I)

first-person singular non-past active jussive of شَهِلَ‎ (šahila)

Verb

أَشَهِّلُ • (ʾašahhilu) (form II)

first-person singular non-past active indicative of شَهَّلَ‎ (šahhala)

Verb

أَشَهِّلَ • (ʾašahhila) (form II)

first-person singular non-past active subjunctive of شَهَّلَ‎ (šahhala)

Verb

أَشَهِّلْ • (ʾašahhil) (form II)

first-person singular non-past active jussive of شَهَّلَ‎ (šahhala)

Verb

أَشَهَّلُ • (ʾašahhalu) (form II)

first-person singular non-past passive indicative of شَهَّلَ‎ (šahhala)

Verb

أَشَهَّلَ • (ʾašahhala) (form II)

first-person singular non-past passive subjunctive of شَهَّلَ‎ (šahhala)

Verb

أَشَهَّلْ • (ʾašahhal) (form II)

first-person singular non-past passive jussive of شَهَّلَ‎ (šahhala)

Verb

أَشْهَلُّ • (ʾašhallu) (form IX)

first-person singular non-past active indicative of اِشْهَلَّ‎ (išhalla)

Verb

أَشْهَلَّ • (ʾašhalla) (form IX)

first-person singular non-past active subjunctive of اِشْهَلَّ‎ (išhalla)
first-person singular non-past active jussive of اِشْهَلَّ‎ (išhalla)

Verb

أَشْهَلِّ • (ʾašhalli) (form IX)

first-person singular non-past active jussive of اِشْهَلَّ‎ (išhalla)

[Lane-1] Lane, Edward William (1863), “أشهل”, in Arabic-English Lexicon, London: Williams & Norgate

[2] Sabra, A. I. (1989) The Optics of Ibn al-Haytham: Books I-III: on Direct Vision‎, II, page 41: “It was frequently used as equivalent to the Greek glaukos, grey, blue-grey, blue-green, light blue, etc. (LSJ). In the Optics it is mentioned as a colour of the eye (or iris) distinguished from blue (azraq). [...] / Kamāl al-Dīn, in Tanqīḥ, 1, p. 106, lists al-shuhla (from ashhal) among four colours of the iris, the other three being dark blue or blue-black (al-kaḥal), blue (azraq) and al-shuʿla; al-shuhla, he says, is closer to al-kaḥal while al-shuʿla is closer to blue. This would seem to make ashhal something like blush grey, but Kamāl al-Dīn appears to be propounding a theory rather than a description of actual usage.”

[Maxwell-Stuart,_p._174-3] Maxwell-Stuart, P. G. (1981) Studies in Greek Colour Terminology: Charopos‎, Brill, page 174

[4] Maxwell-Stuart, P. G. (1981) op. cit., page 175

[5] Leffler, Christopher T.; Samara, Wasim A.; Hadi, Tamer H.; Salman, Ali; Khan, Faraaz A. (2020), “Glaucoma in the Medieval Arab World”, in The History of Glaucoma‎, Wayenborgh Publishing, page 56

[6] Fischer, Wolfdietrich (1965), “Heller Farbbereich:Rot und Blau”, in Farb- und Formbezeichnung in der Sprache der altarabischen Dichtung‎ (in German), page 353: “Nach den arab. Lexika sind beide etwa synonym. Hinsichtlich der primären Bedeutung von aškal 'unbestimmt, verschiedenartig gefärbt' scheint dies ungefähr zutreffend zu sein und wird durch einen Lis. III 475 = 2. 635a, 14—15 zitierten V. bestätigt:
mutawaḍḍiḥu l-aqrābi fīhi šuhlatun * šaniǧu l-yadaini taḫāluhū maškūlā
'(ein Kamel ?) an den Flanken hell gefärbt, doch mit Mischfarbigkeit getrübt, an den Vorderbeinen runzelig, so daß man es für ein undeutlich (gefärbtes Tier) hält'.
[…] Es wird, wie die Belege zeigen, als Gegensatz zu adʿaǧ 'schwarzäugig gebraucht', so daß die arab. Lexikographen im unklaren sind, ob bräunliche (d. h. rötliche) oder bläuliche (d. h. schillernde) Augen gemeint sind.”

[7] Khan, Geoffrey (1993) Arabic Legal and Administrative Documents in the Cambridge Genizah collections, Cambridge University Press, page 17

[8] Wehr, Hans (1979), “أشهل”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN

[9] Maxwell-Stuart, P. G. (1981) op. cit., page 71

[10] Aigle, Denise (2014) The Mongol-Empire Between Myth and Reality‎, Brill, page 127

[11] The Diwan of Muslim ibn al-Walid, called Sariʻ al Gawani, translated and commented on by Arthur Wormhoudt‎, William Penn College, 1981

[12] Bosworth, C. E. (1963) Medieval Arabic Culture and Administration‎, page xv

[13] Tottoli, Roberto (1998), “The Qiṣaṣ al-anbiyāʾ of Ibn Muṭarrif al-Ṭarafī (d. 454/1062)”, in Al-Qantara‎, volume 19, issue 1, page 153

[14] Leffler, Christopher T.; Samara, Wasim A.; Hadi, Tamer H.; Salman, Ali; Khan, Faraaz A. (2020) op. cit., pages 55–56

[15] Khan, Geoffrey (1993) op. cit., page 169