بَنَان

banaAnN bnAn The fingers; syn. A^aSaAbiEu : (M, Msb, K:) but whether it means peculiarly the ASAbE of the hand, or those of the foot also, [i. e. the toes, ] is disputed: (TA:) or the ends, or extremities, thereof: (S, M, Msb, K:) said to be so called because by their means are ordered those circumstances whereby man continues in existence; from A^aban~a biAlomakaAni : (Msb:) mentioned in the Kur viii. 12 because therewith one fights, and defends himself: (Er-Rághib, TA:) or it there signifies all the limbs, or members, of the body: (Aboo-Is-hák, M:) or the fingers, or toes, and any other parts of all the limbs, or members: (Zj, TA:) or it means in the Kur the $awaY ; (Lth, T, TA;) so in lxxv. 4; (M;) i. e. the arms or hands and the legs or feet: (Lth, T, TA:) accord. to El-Fárisee the meaning of the words in the Kur lxxv. 4 is, we are able to make their extremities like those of the camel, so that they should not profit by them in handicraft: (M, TA:) the n. un. is with p ; (Lth, T, S, M, K;) meaning, accord. to Lth, a single A_iSobaE [i. e. finger, or toe ]; or, accord. to AHeyth, the whole ASbE ; or, as some say, the highest Euqodap [or joint ] of the ASbE : (T:) the pl. of pauc. is banaAnaAtN ; but a pl. of mult. is sometimes used as one of pauc.; and hence the saying of the rájiz, xamosa banaAnK qaAniy^i AlA^aZofaAri [ Five fingers, or ends of fingers, intensely red from the dye of hinnà in the nails ], meaning xamosFA mina AlbanaAni : and one says, banaAnN muxaD~abN [ Fingers, or ends of fingers, dyed, or much dyed, with hinnà]; for every pl. [or rather coll. gen. n.] between which and its sing., or n. un., there is no difference but p [added in the latter] may be treated as sing. and masc. (S.) Lth cites as an ex. of the n. un., layosa liHaY~K fawoqahumo banaAnaho laAhum~a A^akoramota baniY kinaAnah meaning [ O God, Thou hast honoured the sons of Kináneh: there belongs not to any tribe ] excel-lence of the measure of a finger above them. (T, TA.)