Arabic

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Root
ر ب ب (r-b-b)

Etymology

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Relative adjective (nisba) composed of رَبّ (rabb, lord; god) +‎ ـَانـ (-ān-) +‎ ـِيّ (-iyy).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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رَبَّانِيّ (rabbāniyy) (feminine رَبَّانِيَّة (rabbāniyya), masculine plural رَبَّانِيُّونَ (rabbāniyyūna), feminine plural رَبَّانِيَّات (rabbāniyyāt))

  1. divine
    Synonym: إِلٰهِيّ (ʔilāhiyy)
    • 10th–11th century CE, ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī, الفتح الرباني والفيض الرحماني [Divine Knowledge and Inflowing]:
      وَيَأْتِي ٱلْعِلْمُ ٱلرَّبَّانِيُّ ٱلْإِلٰهِيُّ فَيَصِيرُ قَمِيصًا عَلَى قَلْبِكَ وَسِرِّكَ
      wa-yaʔtī l-ʕilmu r-rabbāniyyu l-ʔilāhiyyu fa-yaṣīru qamīṣan ʕalā qalbika wa-sirrika
      Then divine knowledge settles in, and it becomes a robe around your heart and your core.
  2. (of a person) God-fearing; godly
    • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 3:79:
      مَا كَانَ لِبَشَرٍ أَنْ يُؤْتِيَهُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْكِتَابَ وَٱلْحُكْمَ وَٱلنُّبُوَّةَ ثُمَّ يَقُولَ لِلنَّاسِ كُونُوا عِبَادًا لِي مِنْ دُونِ ٱللَّهِ وَلٰكِن كُونُوا رَبَّانِيِّينَ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تُعَلِّمُونَ ٱلْكِتَابَ وَبِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَدْرُسُونَ
      mā kāna li-bašarin ʔan yuʔtiyahu l-lahu l-kitāba wa-l-ḥukma wa-n-nubuwwata ṯumma yaqūla li-n-nāsi kūnū ʕibādan lī min dūni l-lahi wa-lākin kūnū rabbāniyyīna bi-mā kuntum tuʕallimūna l-kitāba wabi-mā kuntum tadrusūna
      No man whom God gifts with scriptures, wisdom, and prophecy would say to people, "Be worshipers of me, not God," and not "Be godly, through what you have taught about the scriptures and what you have studied."

Declension

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