Core sense — it may be that; may-be, perhaps; he is near to doing somethinggenerated
1.1Zeyd is near to going forth—عَسَى زَيْدٌ أَنْ يَخْرُجَ
زَيْدٌ is the agent of عَسَى, and أَنْ يَخْرُجَ is its objective complement, meaning الخُرُوجَ.
such a woman is near to going forth—عَسَتْ فُلَانَةُ أَنْ تَخْرُجَ
Some say it is one of the verbs of drawing near, implying eager desire, or hope, and fear. It is not fully inflected, for the past-tense form is applied to what occurs in the present.
This is the meaning according to what is said above, though the phrase is generally explained otherwise, as will be shown below.
I am near to doing that—عَسَيْتُ أَنْ أَفْعَلَ ذَاكَ
One says also عَسِيتُ with kesr, agreeably with the readings فَهَلْ عَسِيتُمْ and عَسَيْتُمْ with kesr and with fet-h; and to a woman one says عَسَيْتِ أَنْ تَفْعَلِى ذَاكَ, and to women عَسَيْتُنَّ; but the form يَفْعَلُ is not used of it, nor the form فَاعِلٌ, though both are mentioned as used by the author of the “Insáf”.
Or, according to Fei: عَسَى is a past-tense verb, used in the sense of the present, unchangeable, not fully inflected, one of the verbs of drawing near, implying hope and eager desire, and sometimes opinion and certainty; and it is both incomplete (non-attributive) and complete (attributive).
Zeyd is near to standing—عَسَى زَيْدٌ أَنْ يَقُومَ
The incomplete has for its predicate a muḍāriʿ made mansoob by أَنْ, as here, meaning قَارَبَ زَيْدٌ القِيَامَ, the predicate being an objective complement or having the force of one. Or, as some say, the meaning is لَعَلَّ زَيْدًا أَنْ يَقُومَ, that is, virtually though not literally, I eagerly desire, or I hope, that Zeyd may be standing.
See also عَلَّ and لَعَلَّ in art. عل, as well as what follows in this sense after the explanation of the next example.
Zeyd's standing is near to being a fact—عَسَى أَنْ يَقُومَ زَيْدٌ
The complete verb is such as occurs here: the agent is literally a phrase made up of a subject and an attribute, because أَنْ is here what is termed مَصْدَرِيَّة, so that أَنْ يَقُومَ زَيْدٌ is equivalent to قِيَامُ زَيْدٍ.
Qur’ān 47:24 approximate — somewhere between 47:4 and 47:38 Lane cites “Kur xlvii. 24”
Qur’ān 47:22 located by this root inside the range Lane’s citation allows
فَهَلْ عَسَيْتُمْ إِن تَوَلَّيْتُمْ أَن تُفْسِدُوا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَتُقَطِّعُوٓا۟ أَرْحَامَكُمْThen, is it to be expected of you, if ye were put in authority, that ye will do mischief in the land, and break your ties of kith and kin?Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur’ān (1934)
1.1.1it may be that; may-be, or perhaps—عَسَى
In the MA, PS, TK and elsewhere it is explained as meaning “It may be that”; and this, or simply may-be, or perhaps, I regard as the better rendering, since it is virtually the meaning in every case.
For عَسَى زَيْدٌ أَنْ يَقُومَ, where it is used as an incomplete verb, however it may be rendered, virtually means: it may be that Zeyd is, or will be, standing; or may-be Zeyd, and so on.
And عَسَى أَنْ يَقُومَ زَيْدٌ, where it is used as a complete verb, virtually means the same, though it is better rendered: Zeyd's standing may be a fact.
Its usages are various, and have caused much dispute about its grammatical character and its meaning or meanings, as what follows will show.
1.1.2but it may be that you dislike a thing when it is good for you, and it may be that you like a thing when it is evil for you—وَعَسَى أَنْ تَكْرَهُوا شَيْئًا وَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ وَعَسَى أَنْ تُحِبُّوا شَيْئًا وَهُوَ شَرٌّ لَكُمْ
It is said to be a verb without restriction, or a particle without restriction; but this statement seems to have come from a miscopying. IHsh says: it is a verb without restriction, not a particle without restriction, contrary to the opinion of Ibn-Es-Sarráj and Th; nor is it a particle when it has an affixed pronoun, as in عَسَاكَ, contrary to an opinion of Sb ascribed to him by Seer.
It denotes hope in the case of what is liked, and fear in the case of what is disliked, as in this saying in the Kur 2:213.
1.1.3it may be that Zeyd will stand—عَسَى زَيْدٌ أَنْ يَقُومَ
It is used in various ways, one of which is the saying mentioned above; and there are different opinions about how it is to be analysed.
Most hold that it is like كَانَ زَيْدٌ يَقُومُ, عسى being here an incomplete verb; but this is thought doubtful, because the predicate أَنْ يَقُومَ is expressed by a maṣdar while the subject زَيْدٌ is a substance.
Several replies have been made to this. One is that a prefixed noun is to be understood, either before the subject, so that the meaning is عَسَى أَمْرُ زَيْدٍ القِيَامُ (it may be that the case of Zeyd is, or will be, the performing of the act of standing), or before the predicate, so that the meaning is عَسَى زَيْدٌ صَاحِبُ القِيَامِ (it may be that Zeyd is, or will be, the performer of the act of standing).
Another reply is that it is of the class of زَيْدٌ عَدْلٌ and صَوْمٌ, meaning عَادِلٌ and صَائِمٌ, for أَنْ يَقُومَ is equivalent to a maṣdar, and a maṣdar may be used in the sense of an ism fāʿil.
Another is that أَنْ is here redundant; and this reply is said to be worthless, because ان has made the muḍāriʿ mansoob, and because it seldom drops out of the phrase — though لَعَلَّ, which the Mughnee says is like عَسَى in meaning, is generally followed by a simple muḍāriʿ and sometimes by أَنْ and a muḍāriʿ.
Another opinion is that عَسَى is a transitive verb, like قَارَبَ in meaning and in government, agreeably with the explanations mentioned above, or intransitive like قَرُبَ مِنْ with the preposition suppressed; this is the opinion of Sb and Mbr.
The opinion of most is that it is an incomplete verb, like كَانَ in the phrase كَانَ زَيْدٌ يَقُومُ mentioned above, and that أَنْ and the verb following it form a substitute of implication supplying what is wanting in the two preceding parts of the sentence.
1.1.4Zeyd's standing may be a fact—عَسَى أَنْ يَقُومَ زَيْدٌ
The second way of using it is to make أَنْ and the verb following it its object, as here, so that it is a complete verb.
1.1.5it may be that Zeyd stands, or will stand—عَسَى زَيْدٌ يَقُومُ
The third, fourth and fifth ways are when it is followed by a simple muḍāriʿ, being in this case likened to كَادَ, or by a muḍāriʿ with س prefixed, or by a single noun.
Of the first of these there are few examples, such as this saying: [It may be that the state of anxiety in which you have come to be is such that after it will be a near removal of it]
shāhid 1عَسَى الكَرْبُ الَّذِى أَمْسَيْتَ فِيهِيَكُونُ وَرَآءَهُ فَرَجٌ قَرِيبُ
. Some relate it with أَمْسَيْتُ, that is, I have come to be.
it may be that Zeyd will stand—عَسَى زَيْدٌ سَيَقُومُ
As to the second of the three ways of using عَسَى just mentioned, with س prefixed to the muḍāriʿ, it is very irregular.
it may be that Zeyd is standing—عَسَى زَيْدٌ قَائِمٌ
Of the third there are fewer examples, and the S says it is not allowable; such as this saying: [You have been profuse in censuring, persisting constantly: do not be profuse; it may be that I am, or shall be, abstaining]
shāhid 2أَكْثَرْتَ فِى العَذْلِ مُلِحًّا دَائِمَالَا تُكْثِرَنْ إِنِّى عَسِيتُ صَائِمَا
. Some relate it with عَسَيْتُ, which is more common.
As to the proverb عَسَى الغُوَيْرُ أَبْؤُسًا, explained in art. بأس — the K says that the verb in it is used in the manner of كَانَ, and the S that the phrase is irregular, that ابؤسا is there put in the place of the predicate, and that proverbs sometimes contain what occurs nowhere else — the right opinion is that يَكُونُ is suppressed before ابؤسا, and likewise that أَكُونُ is suppressed before صائما, because in this way the primary usage is preserved, and because what is hoped for is the person's being an abstainer, not the abstainer himself.
1.1.6
The sixth way of using it is the saying عَسَانِى, and عَسَاكَ, and عَسَاهُ, which is rare.
In this case, according to Sb, it is used in the manner of لَعَلَّ, governing the subject in the accusative case and the predicate in the nominative.
The predicate is sometimes expressed, in the nominative case, as in this saying: [And I said, May-be it is the fire of Ka-s, (for I suppose that كأس is here a proper name, that of a woman, daughter of El-Kelhabeh El-'Oranee,) and perhaps she has a complaint, تَشَكَّى being for تَبَشَكَّى, so I will come towards her, and visit her]
shāhidفَقُلْتُ عَسَاهَا نَارُ كَأْسٍ وَعَلَّهَاتَشَكَّى فَآتِى نَحْوَهَا فَأَعُودُهَا
.
1.1.7it may be that the case is this: Zeyd is standing—عَسَى زَيْدٌ قَائِمٌ
The seventh way of using it, mentioned by Th.
It is to be explained on the ground that عسى is here an incomplete verb and that its subject is the ضَمِيرُ الشَّأْنِ, إِنَّهُ being suppressed; the nominal proposition is the predicate.
Several other statements in the Mughnee about عَسَى I have left out, as being refuted there, or as being of little or no importance.
1.1.8
It also denotes opinion, or doubt, and certainty. Certainty is meant in this saying of Ibn-Mukbil: [My opinion of them is like an expression of certainty while they, in a desert destitute of water and herbage, are contending in reciting current proverbs instead of attending to the wants of themselves and their camels]
shāhidظَنِّى بِهِمْ كَعَسَى وَهُمْ بِتَنُوفَةٍيَتَنَازَعُونَ جَوَائِزَ الأَمْثَالِ
.
1.1.9it may be that his Lord, if he divorce you, will give him in exchange wives better than you—عَسَى رَبُّهُ إِنْ طّلَّقَكُنَّ أَنْ يُبْدِلَهُ أَزْوَاجًا خَيْرًا مِنْكُنَّ
As uttered by God, it expresses an event that must necessarily happen, throughout the Kur-án, except in this saying, in 66:5.
1.1.10are you near to fleeing?—هَلْ عَسَيْتُمْ
With what follows it, in the Kur 2:247, this is virtually the meaning. Some read thus, and some read عَسِيتُمْ.
1.2
عَسِىَ النَّبَاتُ, written wrongly in the CK as عَسَى: see the first sentence in art. عسو.
Qur’ānic occurrences Form 1 5 shown of 28
4:99
فَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ عَسَى ٱللَّهُ أَن يَعْفُوَ عَنْهُمْ ۚ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ عَفُوًّا غَفُورًاFor these, there is hope that Allah will forgive: For Allah doth blot out (sins) and forgive again and again.
27:72
قُلْ عَسَىٰٓ أَن يَكُونَ رَدِفَ لَكُم بَعْضُ ٱلَّذِى تَسْتَعْجِلُونَSay: "It may be that some of the events which ye wish to hasten on may be (close) in your pursuit!"
28:22
وَلَمَّا تَوَجَّهَ تِلْقَآءَ مَدْيَنَ قَالَ عَسَىٰ رَبِّىٓ أَن يَهْدِيَنِى سَوَآءَ ٱلسَّبِيلِThen, when he turned his face towards (the land of) Madyan, he said: "I do hope that my Lord will show me the smooth and straight Path."
28:67
فَأَمَّا مَن تَابَ وَءَامَنَ وَعَمِلَ صَـٰلِحًا فَعَسَىٰٓ أَن يَكُونَ مِنَ ٱلْمُفْلِحِينَBut any that (in this life) had repented, believed, and worked righteousness, will have hopes to be among those who achieve salvation.
68:32
عَسَىٰ رَبُّنَآ أَن يُبْدِلَنَا خَيْرًا مِّنْهَآ إِنَّآ إِلَىٰ رَبِّنَا رَٰغِبُونَ"It may be that our Lord will give us in exchange a better (garden) than this: for we do turn to Him (in repentance)!"
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
is [said by some to be] one of the verbs of appropinquation, implying eager desire, or hope, and fear, and not perfectly inflected, for it is applied in the form of the preterite to that which occurs in the present: one says عَسَى زَيْدٌ أَنْ يَخْرُجَ [meaning, accord. to what has been said above, Zeyd is near to going forth, though generally otherwise expl., as will be shown in what follows], and عَسَتْ فُلَانَةُ أَنْ تَخْرُجَ [Such a woman is near to going forth]; زَيْدٌ being the agent of عَسَى , and أَنْ يَخْرُجَ being its objective complement and meaning الخُرُوجَ : and one says also, عَسَيْتُ أَنْ أَفْعَلَ ذَاكَ [as meaning, accord. to what here precedes, I am near to doing that], and عَسِيتُ , with kesr, agreeably with readings [in the Kur xlvii. 24], فَهَلْ عَسِيتُمْ and عَسَيْتُمْ , with kesr and fet-h; and one says to a woman, عَسَيْتِ أَنْ تَفْعَلِى ذَاكَ ; and [to women,] عَسَيْتُنَّ ; but one does not use the form يَفْعَلُ thereof, nor the form فَاعِلٌ ; (S;) both of which [however] are memtioned [as used] by the author of the “ Insáf: ” (I 'Ak p. 88:) [or, accord. to Fei,] عَسَى is a preterite verb, [used in the sense of the present,] aplastic, not perfectly inflected, of the verbs of appropinquation, implying hope, and eager desire, and sometimes opinion, and certainty; and it is incomplete [i. e. non-attributive], and complete [i. e. attributive]: the incomplete has for its predicate an aor. mansoob by means of أَنْ , as in the saying, عَسَى زَيْدٌ أَنْ يَقُومَ , meaning قَارَبَ زَيْدٌ القِيَامَ [Zeyd is near to standing], the predicate being an objective complement or having the meaning of an objective complement: or, as some say, the meaning is لَعَلَّ زَيْدًا أَنْ يَقُومَ , i. e. [virtually, but not literally,] I eagerly desire, or I hope, that Zeyd may be performing the act of standing: [but see عَلَّ and لَعَلَّ in art. عل , as well as what follows in this paragraph after the explanation of the next ex.:] the complete is such as occurs in the saying, عَسَى أَنْ يَقُومَ زَيْدٌ [meaning, accord. to what is said above, Zeyd's standing is near to being a fact]; the agent being literally a phrase composed of a subject and an attribute because أَنْ is here what is termed مَصْدَرِيَّة [so that أَنْ يَقُومَ زَيْدٌ is equivalent to قِيَامُ زَيْدٍ ]: (Msb:) [in the MA and PS and TK &c., عَسَى is expl. as meaning It may be that; and this, or simply may-be, or may-hap, or perhaps, I regard as the preferable rendering; as being virtually the meaning in all cases: for عَسَى زَيْدٌ أَنْ يَقُومَ , in which it is used as an incomplete verb, however it may be rendered, virtually means It may be that Zeyd is, or will be, standing; or may-be Zeyd &c.: and عَسَى أَنْ يَقُومَ زَيْدٌ , in which it is used as a complete verb, virtually means the same, though more properly rendered Zeyd's standing may be a fact: its usages are various, and have occasioned much dispute respecting its grammatical character and its meaning or meanings; as will be shown by what here follows:] it is [said to be] a verb unrestrictedly, or a particle unrestrictedly: (K:) [but this statement seems to have originated from a mistranscription: IHsh says,] it is a verb unrestrictedly: not a particle unrestrictedly, contrary to the opinion of Ibn-Ks-Sarráj and Th; nor when it has an affixed pronoun, as in عَسَاكَ , contrary to an opinion of Sb, ascribed to him by Seer: (Mughnee:) it denotes hope in the case of that which is liked, and fear in the case of that which is disliked; as in the saying in the Kur [ii. 213], وَعَسَى أَنْ تَكْرَهُوا شَيْئًا وَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ وَعَسَى أَنْ تُحِبُّوا شَيْئًا وَهُوَ شَرٌّ لَكُمْ [But it may be that ye dislike a thing when it is good for you, and it may be that ye like a thing when it is evil for you]: (Mughnee, K: *) it is used in various ways; one of which is the saying, عَسَى زَيْدٌ أَنْ يَقُومَ [mentioned above], respecting the analysis of which there are different opinions: that of the generality is, that it is like كَانَ زَيْدٌ يَقُومُ [inasmuch as عسى is here an incomplete verb]; but this is deemed dubious, because the predicate [ أَنْ يَقُومَ ] is rendered by an inf. n., and the subject [ زَيْدٌ ] is a substance; to which several replies have been made; one being that a prefixed noun is meant to be understood, either before the subject, so that the meaning is, عَسَى أَمْرُ زَيْدٍ القِيَامُ [It may be that the case of Zeyd is, or will be, the performing of the act of standing], or before the predicate, so that the meaning is عَسَى زَيْدٌ صَاحِبُ القِيَامِ [It may be that Zeyd is, or will be, the performer of the act of standing]; and another reply is, that it is of the class of زَيْدٌ عَدْلٌ and صَوْمٌ [meaning عَادِلٌ and صَائِمٌ , for أَنْ يَقُومَ is equivalent to an inf. n., and an inf. n. may be used in the sense of an act. part. n.]; and another is, that أَنْ is here redundant, which reply is [said to be] nought, because ان has rendered the aormansoob, and because it seldom falls out [from the phrase, though it should be remarked that لَعَلَّ , which is said in the Mughnee to be like عَسَى in meaning, is generally followed by a simple aor. and sometimes by أَنْ and an aor.]: another opinion respecting the analysis of the phrase is, that عَسَى is a trans. verb, like قَارَبَ in meaning and in government, [agreeably with the explanations mentioned above from the S and Msb,] or intrans. like قَرُبَ مِنْ with the preposition suppressed; and this is the opinion of Sb and Mbr: the opinion of the generality is, that it is an incomplete verb [like كَانَ in the phrase كَانَ زَيْدٌ يَقُومُ , mentioned above], and that أَنْ and the verb following it compose a substitute of implication supplying what is wanting in the two preceding portions of the sentence: the second way of using it is, the making it to have أَنْ and the verb following this for its object, [as in عَسَى أَنْ يَقُومَ زَيْدٌ , mentioned above], so that it is a complete verb: the third and fourth and fifth are when it is followed by a simple aor. [being in this case likened to كَادَ , (S, K, * TA.)] or an aor. with س prefixed, or a single noun; as in عَسَى زَيْدٌ يَقُومُ [It may be that Zeyd stands, or will stand] and عَسَى زَيْدٌ سَيَقُومُ [It may be that Zeyd will stand] and عَسَى زَيْدٌ قَائِمٌ [It may be that Zeyd is standing]; the first whereof is one of which there are few exs., such as the saying, 1 [It may be that the state of anxiety in which thou hast become (or, as some relate it, أَمْسَيْتُ i. e. I hare become,) is such that after it will be a near removal thereof]; and the third is one of which there are fewer exs., [and which is said in the S to be not allowable,] such as the saying, 2 [or, as some relate it, عَسَيْتُ , which is more common, i. e. Thou hast been profuse in censuring, persisting constantly: be not thou profuse: verily it may be that I am, or shall be, abstaining]; and as to the prov., عَسَى الغُوَيْرُ أَبْؤُسًا [expl. in art. بأس , and of which it is said in the K that the verb therein is used in the manner of كَانَ , and in the S that the phrase is extr., that ابؤسا is there put in the place of the predicate, and that there sometimes occurs in provs. what does not occur elsewhere], the right opinion is that يَكُونُ is suppressed before ابؤسا ; and [in the latter of the two verses cited above] أَكُونُ is suppressed before صائما ; because thus the primary usage is preserved, and because what is hoped is the person's being an abstainer, not the abstainer him- self; and as to the second of the three modes of using عَسَى last mentioned above, with س prefixed to the aor., it is very extr.: عَسَى الكَرْبُ الَّذِى أَمْسَيْتَ فِيهِ | يَكُونُ وَرَآءَهُ فَرَجٌ قَرِيبُ أَكْثَرْتَ فِى العَذْلِ مُلِحًّا دَائِمَا | لَا تُكْثِرَنْ إِنِّى عَسِيتُ صَائِمَا the sixth way of using it is the saying عَسَانِى and عَسَاكَ and عَسَاهُ , which is rare: in this case, accord. to Sb, it is used in the manner of لَعَلَّ , as governing the subject in the accus. case, and the predicate in the nom.; the predicate being sometimes expressed, in the nom. case, as in the saying, 1 [And I said, May-be it is the fire of Ka-s, (for I suppose that كأس is here a proper name, that of a woman, daughter of El-Kelhabeh El-'Oranee,) and perhaps she has a complaint, ( تَشَكَّى being for تَبَشَكَّى ,) so I will come towards her, and visit her]: فَقُلْتُ عَسَاهَا نَارُ كَأْسٍ وَعَلَّهَا | تَشَكَّى فَآتِى نَحْوَهَا فَأَعُودُهَا the seventh way is the saying, عَسَى زَيْدٌ قَائِمٌ , mentioned by Th; which is to be explained on the ground that عسى is here an incomplete verb, and that its subject is the ضَمِيرُ الشَّأْنِ [i. e. إِنَّهُ is suppressed, the meaning being, It may be that the case is this, Zeyd is standing], the nominal proposition being the predicate. (Mughnee. [Several other statements in that work, respecting عَسَى , I have omitted, as being refuted therein, or as being of little or no importance.]) It also denotes opinion, (Msb,) or doubt, (K, TA,) and certainty: (Msb, K, TA:) the last is meant in the saying of Ibn-Mukbil, 1 [My opinion of them is like an expression of certainty while they, in a desert, or in a desert destitute of water or of herbage and water, &c., are contending in reciting current proverbs instead of attending to the wants of themselves and their camels]. (S, TA.) ظَنِّى بِهِمْ كَعَسَى وَهُمْ بِتَنُوفَةٍ | يَتَنَازَعُونَ جَوَائِزَ الأَمْثَالِ As uttered by God, it is expressive of an event of necessary occurrence, (S, K,) in the whole of the Kur-án, except the saying, [in lxvi. 5,] عَسَى رَبُّهُ إِنْ طّلَّقَكُنَّ أَنْ يُبْدِلَهُ أَزْوَاجًا خَيْرًا مِنْكُنَّ [It may be that his Lord, if he divorce you, will give him in exchange wives better than you]. (S.) هَلْ عَسَيْتُمْ with what follows it, in the Kur [ii. 247], means [virtually] Are ye near to fleeing? (K:) some read thus; and some, عَسِيتُمْ . (TA.) عَسِىَ النَّبَاتُ [erroneously written in the CK عَسَى ]: see the first sentence in art. عسو .