Dictionary of The Holy Quran — Page 47
ای 1130 Zaid, come. أَنْ رَبِّ : O my Lord. This particle is addressed to a near or a distant thing. اى : A particle denoting a reply meaning نَعَمْ )yes or yea) ; importing acknowledgement of the truth of an enunciation and the making a thing known to him who asks information; a promise to him who seeks or demands. قَلْ إِنْ وَرَبِّ : Saya by my Lord (10:54). It always occurs before an oath إِنْ وَاللهِ )Yea, by God( اَيُّ is a noun used in five different meanings. (a) It is used as an interrogative meaning "who", "which" and "what" أَيُّهُمْ اَخُوْكَ : Who or which of them is thy brother. فَبَأَيِّ حَدِيثٍ بَعْدَهُ يُؤْمِنُوْنَ : Then in what announcement after it will they believe )7:186( أَيُّ الْحِزْبَيْنِ أَحْصَى : Which of the two parties would preserve a better reckoning. )18:13( أَيَّ مُنْقَلَبٍ يَنْقَلِبُوْنَ : What turn their affairs shall take (26:228); (b) it denotes a condition; أَيُّهُمْ يُكْرِمْنِي أُكْرِمْهُ : Whichever of them treats me with honour, I will treat him with honour. أَيُّمَا الْأَجَلَيْن قَضَيْتُ : Whichever of the two terms I fulfil )28:29( أَيَّامًا تَدْعُوْا فَلَهُ الْأَسْمَاءُ الْحُسْنَى : By whichever name you call on Him, His are the most beautiful names (17:111); (c) It is also a conjunct noun i. e. it is sometimes used in the manner of اَلَّذِى and therefore requires a complement. ثُمَّ لَتَنْزِعَنَّ مِنْ كُلِّ شِيْعَةٍ أَيُّهُمْ أَشَدُّ عَلَى الرَّحْمَنِ عِتِيًّا : Then shall We certainly pick out, from every group, those of them who were most stubborn in rebellion against the gracious God )19:70(. )d) it also denotes perfection; زَيْدٌ رَجُلٌ أَيُّ رَجُلٍ : Zaid is a man, what a man; (e) It also has prefixed to it; then it denotes numerousness, being syn. with وَكَأَيِّنْ مِّنْ آيَةٍ فِي السَّمَواتِ كَكُمْ وَالْاَرْضِ : How many a Sign is there in the heavens and the earth )12:106( )f) It is also a connective of the vocative یا with the noun signifying the person called when this noun has the article يَأَيُّهَا الَّذِي نُزِّلَ عَلَيْهِ . (43:50) O sorcerer : يَأَيُّهَ السَّاحِرُ . prefixed to it ال الذِّكْرُ : O thou to whom this exhortation has been sent down )157( أَيَّتُهَا الْعِيْرُ : O ye men of the caravan )12:71( ايَّانَ : When at what time. أَيَّانَ يُبْعَثُونَ : When they will be raised )16:22( آية : sign, token or mark by which a person or thing is known; a message or communication sent from one person to another; the body of a man; that which one sees from a distance; a 47 ای