Core sense — the people of a place; a man's family or wife; one worthy of somethinggenerated
1
[The people of a house or dwelling, and of a town or village, and of a country; and the family of a man.] Er-Rāghib: a man's fellow-dwellers in one dwelling or place of abode, and of one town or country. Er-Rāghib: the word was afterwards applied to a man's fellow-members of one family or race, of one religion, and of one craft or art or the like.
Or, as some say, relations, whether they have followers or dependents or not, while آلٌ means relations together with their followers or dependents; or it originally means relations, and is sometimes applied to followers or dependents.
It also means the أَهْل [that is, the people, or inhabitants, or family] of a house or tent; or a man's nearer, or nearest, relations by descent from the same father or ancestor; his kinsfolk, his relations.
According to [the Imám] Moḥammad, a man's wife or wives and his children and household whom he supports; and so any brother and sister, or paternal uncle and son of a paternal uncle, or unrelated or distantly related child, whom a man feeds or maintains in his house.
El-Ghooree: the most particular, or most special, dependents of a man.
[J indicates some of these meanings merely by saying that it means] the أَهْل of a man, and the أَهْل of a house; and so أَهْلَةٌ [see also آلٌ, in the explanations of which some distinctions between it and أَهْلٌ will be found].
The plural is أَهْلُونَ [like أَرْضُونَ, a form sometimes used for أَرَضُونَ], and أَهَالٍ with an additional ى [implied by the tenween, and expressed in the accusative case, and when the word is determinate, as in الأَهَالِى], contrary to rule, like لَيَالٍ, plural of لَيْلٌ, [and like أَرَاض, respecting which and ليَالٍ and أَهَالٍ see أَرْضٌ]; and آهَالٌ, a plural of paucity sometimes occurring in poetry [like آرَاضٌ]; and أَهْلَاتٌ and أَهَلَاتٌ [as though plurals of أَهْلَةٌ].
1.1the people, or inhabitants, or family, of the house or tent—أَهْلُ البَيْتِ
he left by will, of his property, to the children of his father, or his kindred on the father's side, and not to any relation on the mother's side—أَوْصَى لأَهْلِ بَيْتِهِ
This word means the same as اوصى لِجِنْسِهِ.
[See also أَهْلُ الرَّجُلِ below.]
1.2the people, or inhabitants, of the towns or villages—أَهْلَ القُرَى
the settled, or constant, inhabitants of the country or town—أَهْلُ البَلَدِ
the people of the region, or regions, of cities, towns, or villages, and of cultivated land—أَهْلُ الحَضَرِ
the people of the towns or villages; the inhabitants of the buildings, and of the tents, or deserts—أَهْلُ المَدَرِ وَ الوَبَرِ
(S in art. مدر and elsewhere; TA in art. وبر.)
1.3the people of the graves—أَهْلُ القُبُورِ
the people of the places of graves, that is, those buried there—المَقَابِرِ
1.4the people of Paradise—أَهْلُ الجَنَّةِ
1.5the people of the fire, that is, of Hell—أَهْلُ النَّارِ
1.7kinsfolk are quicker to incline to kinsfolk than the torrent to the plain—الأَهْلُ إِلَى الأَهْلِ أَسْرَعُ مِنَ السِّيلِ إِلَى السَّهْلِ
The following are examples of اهل as explained above in the first sentence, on the authority of the K.
A proverb. So too a saying of a poet cited under خَفْضٌ.
go early to your family, and beware of the night and its darkness—أَهْلَكَ وَاللَّيْلَ
A proverb meaning بَادِر أَهْلَكَ وَٱحْذَرِ اللَّيْلَ وَ ظُلْمَتَهُ.
you have come to an ample, roomy place, and to people like your own kinsfolk—مَرْحَبًا وَأَهْلًا
So be cheerful and sociable, not sad or shy; or: you have found an ample, roomy place, and kinsfolk, not strangers.
you have come to a people who are like kinsfolk, and to a place that is level, not rugged, and roomy—أَهْلًا وَ سَهْلًا وَمَرْحَبًا
So rejoice, and do not be sad or shy.
1.8the family, or the wives and daughters, of the Prophet, and his son-in-law ʿAlee—أَهْلُ النَّبِىِّ
Or his women; and, as some say, the men who are his آل, including the grandchildren and other progeny.
So too أَهْلُ البَيْتِ as used in the Kur 33:33, which occurs in a like sense also in 11:76.
Er-Rāghib: الأَهْلُ is conventionally applied to the nearer, or nearest, kinsfolk of the Prophet.
Qur’ān 33:34 approximate — somewhere between 33:1 and 33:49 Lane cites “Kur xxxiii. 33”
1.9the people to whom any prophet is sent; and those who follow his religion—أَهْلُ كُلِّ نَبِىٍّ
1.10the friends, and the helpers, of God and of His apostle—آلٌ ٱللّٰهِ وَرَسُولِهِ
That is, أَوْلِيَآء.
In this phrase the first word is originally أَهْل.
1.11the readers, or reciters, of the Kur-án—أَهْلُ ٱللّٰهِ
This was an appellation that used to be applied to them.
1.12figurative · مجازthe man's wife; also his wife and children—أَهْلُ الرَّجُلِ
[So too in the present day, أَهْلُ بَيْتِ الرَّجُلِ.] And so too أَهْلَتُهُ.
Hence the phrase بَنَى عَلَي أَهْلِهِ [see art. بنىِ]; and دَخَلَ بِأَهْلِهِ and دَخَلَ عَلَى أَهْلِهِ [see art. دخل].
1.13the people of, or those who follow and believe, a certain persuasion, or body of tenets—أَهْلُ مَذْهَبٍ
those who conform to the institutes of Moḥammad—أَهْلُ السُّنَةِ
the people of erroneous opinions—أَهْلُ الأَهْوَآءِ
Those whose belief is not that of the class termed أَهْلُ السُّنَّةِ, but who have the same قِبْلَة.
those who follow the religion of El-Islám—أَهْلُ الإِسْلَامِ
those who read, or recite, the Kur-án, and perform the duties it enjoins—أَهْلُ القُرْآنِ
the people of the Scripture, or Bible; the readers, or reciters, of the Mosaic Law and of the Gospel—أَهْلُ الكِتَابِ
1.14the people of knowledge, or science; those marked by knowledge—أَهْلُ العِلْمِ
1.15the possessors of command; those who manage the affairs of others—أَهْلُ الأَمْرِ
Like أُلُوالأَمرِ.
1.16the people of exalted stations, posts of honour, or dignities—أَهْلُ المَرَاتِبِ
1.17those persons, of the unbelievers, [namely, Christians, Jews, and Sabians, but no others,] who have a compact, or covenant, with the Muslims, paying a poll-tax—أَهْلُ الذِّمَّةِ
By the poll-tax they are secure in their property and blood; or the Muslims are answerable for their security [and freedom and toleration] as long as they act in keeping with the compact.
the same—أَهْلُ العَهْدِ
1.18the possessors, or owners, of property—أَهْلٌ
As in the Kur 4:61.
Qur’ān 4:58 approximate — somewhere between 4:43 and 4:64 Lane cites “Kur iv. 61”
Qur’ān 4:58 the verse Lane’s citation points to, and it uses this root
إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَأْمُرُكُمْ أَن تُؤَدُّوا۟ ٱلْأَمَـٰنَـٰتِ إِلَىٰٓ أَهْلِهَا وَإِذَا حَكَمْتُم بَيْنَ ٱلنَّاسِ أَن تَحْكُمُوا۟ بِٱلْعَدْلِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ نِعِمَّا يَعِظُكُم بِهِۦٓ ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ سَمِيعًۢا بَصِيرًاAllah doth command you to render back your Trusts to those to whom they are due; And when ye judge between man and man, that ye judge with justice: Verily how excellent is the teaching which He giveth you! For Allah is He Who heareth and seeth all things.Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur’ān (1934)
1.19a person, or persons, having a right, or just title, to such a thing; entitled to it; worthy, or deserving, of it; fit for it—أَهْلٌ لِكَذَا
It is used both as a singular and as a plural.
The vulgar say مُسْتَأْهِلٌ, which is not allowable; or this claim of J's counts for nothing.
he is entitled to be, or worthy of being, treated with honour—هُو أَهْلٌ لِإِكْرَامِ
he is entitled to, or worthy of, all that is good—هُوَ أَهْلَةٌ لِكُّلِ خَيْر
he who is, or they who are, entitled to, or worthy of, love, or affection—أَهلَةٌ وُدٍّ
He is the Being entitled to be regarded with pious fear, and the Being entitled to forgive those who so regard Him—هُوَ أَهْلُ التَّقْوَى وَأَهْلُ المَغْفِرَةِ
[O Being entitled to praise and glory]—أهْلَ الثَنَآءِ وَالمَجْدِ
(Ibn-ʿAbbád.)
In the Kur [74, last verse].
This occurs in a form of prayer; the first word is manṣoob as a vocative, and it may be marfooʿ, as the khabar of a suppressed mubtadaʾ, that is, أَنْتَ أَهْلُ [You are the Being entitled to it, and so on].
1.20the author, or, more commonly, the authors, of a thing—أَهْلٌ
[This use is frequent.] Like صَاحِبٌ and أَصْحَابٌ.
the author, or authors, of innovations—أَهْلُ البِدَعِ
the author, or authors, of wrong—أَهْلُ الظُّلْمِ
Qur’ānic occurrences أَهْل 5 shown of 120
20:29
وَٱجْعَل لِّى وَزِيرًا مِّنْ أَهْلِى"And give me a Minister from my family,
26:169
رَبِّ نَجِّنِى وَأَهْلِى مِمَّا يَعْمَلُونَ"O my Lord! deliver me and my family from such things as they do!"
26:170
فَنَجَّيْنَـٰهُ وَأَهْلَهُۥٓ أَجْمَعِينَSo We delivered him and his family,- all
84:9
وَيَنقَلِبُ إِلَىٰٓ أَهْلِهِۦ مَسْرُورًاAnd he will turn to his people, rejoicing!
84:13
إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ فِىٓ أَهْلِهِۦ مَسْرُورًاTruly, did he go about among his people, rejoicing!
Occurrences of this form in the Qur’ān, not Lane’s choice of verse. They show the word in use; they do not say which sense above applies. Where more occur than are shown, the shortest āyāt are chosen.
Show Lane's original text
[The people of a house or dwelling, and of a town or village, and of a country: and the family of a man:] a man's cohabitants of one dwelling or place of abode, (Er-Rághib, Kull p. 84,) and of one town or country: (Er-Rághib:) afterwards applied to a man's fellow-members of one family or race, and of one religion, and of one craft or art or the like: (Er-Rághib, Kull:) or, as some say, relations, whether they have followers or dependents, or not; whereas آلٌ signifies relations with their followers or dependents: (Kull:) or it originally signifies relations: and sometimes is applied to followers or dependents: and signifies also the أَهْل [i. e. people, or inhabitants, or family,] of a house or tent: (Msb:) or a man's nearer, or nearest, relations by descent from the same father or ancestor; or his kinsfolk; his relations: (K:) or, accord. to [the Imám] Mohammad, a man's wife [or wives] and his children and household who are the objects of his expenditure; and thus, any brother and sister, or paternal uncle and son of a paternal uncle, or strange or distantly-related child, whom a man feeds or sustains in his abode: the most particular, or most special, dependents, or the like, of a man: on the authority of El-Ghooree: (Mgh:) [J indicates some of these meanings merely by saying that it signifies] the أَهْل of a man, and the أَهْل of a house; as also أَهْلَةٌ : (S:) [see also آلٌ ; in the explanations of which, certain distinctions between it and أَهْلٌ will be found mentioned:] the pl. is أَهْلُونَ , [like أَرْضُونَ , a form sometimes used for أَرَضُونَ ] (Mgh, Msb, K,) and أَهَالٍ , (S, Mgh, Msb, K,) with an additional ى [implied by the tenween, and expressed in the accus. case, and when the word is determinate, as in الأَهَالِى ,] (S,) contr. to rule, (S, Mgh,) like لَيَالٍ , pl. of لَيْلٌ , (S,) [and like أَرَاض , respecting which and ليَالٍ and أَهَالٍ , see أَرْضٌ ,] and آهَالٌ , (S, K,) a pl. [of pauc.] sometimes occurring in poetry, (S,) [like آرَاضٌ ,] and أَهْلَاتٌ and أَهَلَاتٌ [as though pls. of أَهْلَةٌ ]. (S, K.) أَهْلُ البَيْتِ The [people or] inhabitants [or family] of the house or tent. (Mgh, K.) But أَوْصَى لأَهْلِ بَيْتِهِ means the same as اوصى لِجِنْسِهِ , i. e. He left by will, of his property, to the children of his father, [or his kindred by the father's side,] exclusively of all relations of the mother. (Mgh in art. جنس .) [See also أَهْلُ الرَّجُلِ , below.] أَهْلَ القُرَى The [people or] inhabitants of the towns or villages. (TA.) And أَهْلُ البَلَدِ The settled, or constant, inhabitants of the country or town. (Msb.) And أَهْلُ الحَضَرِ The people of the region, or regions, of cities, towns, or villages, and of cultivated land. (A in art. حضر .) And أَهْلُ المَدَرِ وَ الوَبَرِ (S in art. مدر , &c.) [The people of the towns or villages, or] the inhabitants of the buildings, and of the tents, (Kull,) or deserts. (TA in art. وبر ) [ أَهْلُ القُبُورِ , and المَقَابِرِ , The people of the graces, and of the places of graves; i. e., those buried therein.] [ أَهْلُ الجَنَّةِ The people of Paradise.] [ أَهْلُ النَّارِ The people of the fire, i. e., of Hell.] See also أَهِلَةٌ . The following is an ex. of اهل as explained above in the first sentence on the authority of the K: الأَهْلُ إِلَى الأَهْلِ أَسْرَعُ مِنَ السِّيلِ إِلَى السَّهْلِ a prov. [meaning Kinsfolk are quicker of tendency to kinsfolk than the torrent to the plain]. (TA.) So, too, a saying of a poet cited voce خَفْضٌ . (TA.) [And] أَهْلَكَ وَاللَّيْلَ a prov. meaning بَادِر أَهْلَكَ وَٱحْذَرِ اللَّيْلَ وَ ظُلْمَتَهُ [Betake thyself early to thy family, and beware of the night and its darkness]. (Har p. 175.) [And] مَرْحَبًا وَأَهْلًا (S, K) a saying meaning Thou hast come to an ample, or a spacious, or roomy, place, and to [people like thine own] kinsfolk; therefore be cheerful, or sociable, not sad, or shy: (S:) or thou hast found, or met with, [an ample, or a spacious, or roomy, place, and] kinsfolk, not strangers. (K.) [And] أَهْلًا وَ سَهْلًا وَمَرْحَبًا Thou hast come to a people who are [like] kinsfolk, and to a place that is plain, even, not rugged, and that is ample, spacious, or roomy; therefore rejoice thyself, and be not sad, or shy. (Msb.) أَهْلُ النَّبِىِّ The [family or] wives and daughters of the Prophet, and his son-in-law 'Alee: or his women; and (as some say, TA) the men who are his آل ; (K, TA;) comprising the grandchildren ( أَحْفَاد ) and [other] progeny: and so أَهْلُ البَيْتِ as used in the Kur xxxiii. 33, occurring also [in a like sense] in xi. 76: (TA:) and الأَهْلُ is conventionally applied to the nearer, or nearest, kinsfolk of the Prophet. (Er-Rághib.) أَهْلُ كُلِّ نَبِىٍّ also means The people to whom any prophet is sent; (K, TA;) and those who are of his religion. (TA.) In the phrase آلٌ ٱللّٰهِ وَرَسُولِهِ , meaning The friends, or the like, ( أَوْلِيَآء K, TA,) and the assistants, (TA,) of God and of his apostle, the first word is originally أَهْل . (K, TA.) أَهْلُ ٱللّٰهِ is also an appellation which used to be applied to The readers or reciters [of the Kur-án]. (TA.) أَهْلُ الرَّجُلِ also signifies The man's wife; (Mgh, * Msb, * K;) as well as his wife and children; (TA;) [so, too, in the present day, أَهْلُ بَيْتِ الرَّجُلِ ;] and so, too, أَهْلَتُهُ . (K.) Hence the phrase بَنَى عَلَي أَهْلِهِ [see art. بنىِ ]: (Kull:) and دَخَلَ بِأَهْلِهِ and دَخَلَ عَلَى أَهْلِهِ [see art. دخل ]. (Har p. 502; &c.) أَهْلُ مَذْهَبٍ [The people of, or] those who follow, (K, TA,) and believe, (TA,) a certain persuasion, or body of tenets. (K, TA.) [Hence,] أَهْلُ السُّنَةِ [Those who conform to the institutes of Mohammad]. (TA.) [And] أَهْلُ الأَهْوَآءِ [The people of erroneous opinions;] those whose belief is not that of the class termed أَهْلُ السُّنَّةِ , but who hare the same قِبْلَة . (TA.) [And] أَهْلُ الإِسْلَامِ Those who follow the religion of El-Islám. (Mgh.) [And] أَهْلُ القُرْآنِ Those who read, or recite, the Kur-án, and perform the duties enjoined thereby. (Mgh.) [And] أَهْلُ الكِتَابِ [The people of the Scripture, or Bible: and] the readers, or reciters, of the Mosaic Law, and of the Gospel. (TA.) أَهْلُ العِلْمِ [The people of knowledge, or science;] those who are characterized by knowledge, or science. (Msb.) أَهْلُ الأَمْرِ [The possessors of command: or] those who superintend the affairs [of others]; (K, TA;) like أُلُوالأَمرِ , q. v. (TA.) أَهْلُ المَرَاتِبِ [The people of exalted stations, posts of honour, or dignities]. (TA in art. رتب .) أَهْلُ الذِّمَّةِ (Mgh in art. ذم ) and أَهْلُ العَهْدِ (TA in art. عهد ) Those persons, (Mgh, TA,) of the unbelievers, (Mgh,) [namely, Christians, Jews, and Sabians, but no others,] who have a compact, or covenant, with the Muslims, (Mgh, TA,) paying a poll-tax, whereby they are secure of their property and blood, (Mgh,) or whereby the Muslims are responsible for their security [and freedom and toleration] as long as they act agreeably to the compact. (TA.) أَهْلٌ also signifies The possessors, or owners, of property: as in the Kur iv. 61. (TA.) أَهْلٌ لِكَذَا A person, (S, K,) and persons, for it is used as a sing. and as a pl., (K,) having a right, or just title, to such a thing; entitled thereto; worthy, or deserving, thereof; meet, or fit, for it: (S, K:) the vulgar say مُسْتَأْهِلٌ , which is not allowable: (S:) or this assertion of J's is of no account. (K: see 10.) You say, هُو أَهْلٌ لِإِكْرَامِ He is entitled to be, or worthy of being, treated with honour. (Msb.) And هُوَ أَهْلَةٌ لِكُّلِ خَيْر [He is entitled to, or worthy of, all that is good]. (Ibn- 'Abbád.) And أَهلَةٌ وُدٍّ He who is, or they who are, entitled to, or worthy of, love, or affection. (S, Sgh.) And hence, in the Kur [lxxiv. last verse], هُوَ أَهْلُ التَّقْوَى وَأَهْلُ المَغْفِرَةِ (TA) He is the Being entitled to be regarded with pious fear, and the Being entitled to forgive those who so regard Him. (Jel.) In the phrase أهْلَ الثَنَآءِ وَالمَجْدِ [0 Thou who art the Being entitled to praise and glory], occurring in a form of prayer, the first word is mansoob as a vocative: and it may be marfooa, as the enunciative of an inchoative suppressed; i. e. أَنْتَ أَهْلُ [Thou art the Being entitled &c.]. (Msb.) [Frequently, also, أَهْلٌ signifies The author, or, more commonly, authors, of a thing; like صَاحِبٌ and أَصْحَابٌ ; as in أَهْلُ البِدَعِ The author, or authors, of innovations; and أَهْلُ الظُّلْمِ The author, or authors, of wrong.]