Word of the Week, Issue #012

Early Forenoon = ضُحًى

ضُحًى is the early forenoon. It may be masculine or feminine. It is often compared to ضَحْوَةٌ , which most lexicographers said was a synonym, but some say that ضُحًى is after the ضَحْوَةٌ time, the former beginning when the sun has risen, and the latter when it begins to shine brightly. ضَحْوَةٌ should not be confused with the term الضَّحْوَةُ الْكُبْرَى (literally the greatest ضَحْوَةٌ ) in Islamic Law, which is the midpoint between true dawn, when the time for Fajr prayer starts, and sunset, when the Maghrib prayer starts, (according to the Hanafi school of Islamic Law, the intention to fast is valid if made at any point before this time); linguistically, however, this time would certainly fall within what the Arabic called ضُحًى . When used as an adverb of time, it is used withou t the tanwīn to indicate today's forenoon (e.g. مَاتَ ضُحَى he died this forenoon), and with the tanwīn to indicate that time of the day, without specifying any particular day (e.g. مَاتَ ضُحًى he died at forenoon).