1Would that Zeyd were going—لَيْتَ زَيْدًا ذَاهِبٌ
A word denoting a wish: Would that —; I wish that —. It generally relates to something impossible, and only rarely to something possible.
It puts the subject in the accusative and the predicate in the nominative, like كَأَنَّ (or rather إِنَّ, according to MF) and the words of its class, because it resembles verbs in their force as words, [being composed of at least three letters, and the last having fatḥah,] in admitting most of the pronouns as affixes, and in its meanings.
Would that I had done such and such—لَيْتَنِى فَعَلْتُ كَذَا وَكَذَا
You say لَيْتِى as well as لَيْتَنِى, like لَعَلِّى and لَعَلَّنِى and إِنِّى and إِنَّنِى; but ليتنى is more common than ليتى, whereas لعلّنى is less common than لعلّى.
O, would that ——يَا لَيْتَ
The poet says: [O, would that the days of youth were returning (to us)!]
shāhidيَا لَيْتَ أَيَّامَ الصِّبَا رَوَاجِعَا
— meaning لَنَا رَوَاجِعَ.
In that verse رواجع is in the accusative as a word describing state; or it is put in the accusative by a verb understood, such as أَقْبَلَتْ or عَادَتْ or some other verb suiting the meaning — so says Sb; or ليت in that verse may be used in the manner of وَجَدْتُ, for ليت is sometimes used in the manner of وَجَدْتُ [I found], in government but not in meaning, as the grammarians relate on the authority of certain of the Arabs, so that it takes two objects and is used like verbs.
Would that Zeyd were going away—لَيْتَ زَيْدًا شَاخِصًا
This is done to give intensiveness.
Would that Zeyd were standing—لَيْتَ زَيْدًا قَائِمًا
For this purpose both the subject and the predicate are put in the accusative.
1.1
For لَيْتَمَا, see De Sacy's Grammaire Arabe, volume 2, page 63.
1.2
See also an example of ليت used as a noun under سَوْفَ.
Show Lane's original text
a word denoting a wish [signifying Would that —; I wish that —;] (S, K;) generally relating to a thing that is impossible; rarely to a thing that is possible: (IHsh, K:) governing the subject in the acc. case, and the predicate in the nom. case, (S, K,) like كَأَنَّ (or [rather] إِنَّ , MF) and its coordinates, because it resembles verbs in their force as words, [being composed of at least three letters, and the last being meftoohah,] and in their admitting most of the pronouns as affixes, and in their meanings. (S.) Ex. لَيْتَ زَيْدًا ذَاهِبٌ [Would that Zeyd were going;] (S;) and لَيْتَنِى فَعَلْتُ كَذَا وَكَذَا [Would that I had done so and so.] (TA.) You say لَيْتِى as well as لَيْتَنِى , (S, K,) like لَعَلِّى and لَعَلَّنِى , and إِنِّى and إِنَّنِى : (S:) but ليتنى is more common than ليتى ; whereas لعلّنى is less common than لعلّى . (TA.) You also say يَا لَيْتَ O, would that —;.] As to the saying of the poet, 1 meaning لَنَا رَوَاجِعَ , [O, would that the days of youth were returning (to us)!] رواجع is put in the acc. case therein as a word descriptive of state: (S:) or it is governed in the acc. case by a verb understood, as أَقْبَلَتْ , or عَادَتْ , or some other verb suitable to the meaning: so says Sb: (TA:) or ليت in the above verse may be used in the manner of وَجَدْتُ , [see below], (S,) for ليت is sometimes used in the manner of وَجَدْتُ [I found], (Fr, S, K,) in government, not in meaning, (MF,) as related by the grammarians on the authority of certain of the Arabs, so that it is doubly transitive, and used in the manner of verbs: (S:) you say, لَيْتَ زَيْدًا شَاخِصًا [Would that Zeyd were going away, &c.]: (S, K:) this is done to give intensiveness: one says, for this purpose, لَيْتَ زَيْدًا قَائِمًا (Would that Zeyd were standing) putting both the subject and the predicate in the acc. case. (Msb.) يَا لَيْتَ أَيَّامَ الصِّبَا رَوَاجِعَا لَيْتَمَا : see De Sacy's Gr. Ar. ii. 63. See also an ex. of ليت as a subst. voce سَوْفَ .