احسن
1.
as an intrans. v.: see 1.
2.
Also He did that which was
حَسَن [meaning good, comely, or pleasing; he acted well]; (Msb;) he did a good deed: (Er-Rághib, TA:) [for] إِحْسَانٌ is the opposite of
إِسَاءَةٌ: (K:) it differs from إِنْعَامٌ in being to oneself and to another; whereas the latter is only to another: (TA:) and it surpasses عَدْلٌ, inasmuch as it means the giving more than one owes, and taking less than is owed to one; whereas the latter means the giving what one owes, and taking what is owed to one. (Er-Rághib, TA.) You say, أَحْسَنْتُ إِلَيْهِ and بِهِ [I acted, or behaved, with goodness, well, or in a good or comely or pleasing manner, towards him; did good to him; benefited him; conferred a benefit, or benefits, upon him]: both signify the same: (S, TA:) and hence, in the Qur'an, 12:101, قَدْ أَحْسَنَ بِى
إِذَ أَخْرَجَنِى مِنَ السِّجْنِ meaning إِلَىَّ [i. e. He hath acted well towards me, when he brought me forth from the prison]: (AHeyth, Az:) or, according to some, the verb in this case is made to import the meaning of لَطَفَ [which is transitive by means of بِ, i. e. He hath acted graciously with me]. (Mughnee in article بِ.)
3.
الإِحْسَانُ is also explained as meaning الإِخْلَاصُ [i. e. The being sincere, or without hypocrisy; or the asserting oneself to be clear of believing in any beside God]; which is a condition of the soundness, or validity, of الإِيمَان and الإِسْلَام together: and as denoting watchfulness, and good obedience: and as meaning the continuing in the right way, and following the way which those [of the righteous] who have gone before have trodden; this last being said to be the meaning in the Qur'an, 9:101. (TA.)
4.
As a transitive v.: see 2, in three places.
5.
احسنهُ also signifies (tropical:) He knew it: (S, K, TA:) [or] he knew it well; (Er-Rághib, Msb;) and so احسن بِهِ, as in the saying, هُوَ يُحْسِنُ بِالعَرَبِيَّةِ (assumed tropical:) He knows well the Arabic language. (MA.) Hence the saying of 'Alee, قِيمَةُ المَرْءِ مَا يُحْسِنُهُ (tropical:) [The value of the man is what he knows, or knows well]. (TA.) النَّاسُ أَبْنَاءُ مَا يُحْسِنُونَ is another saying of 'Alee, meaning (tropical:) Men are named, or reputed, in relation to what they know, and to the good deeds that they do. (TA.)
6.
أَحْسِنْ بِهِ and مَا أَحْسَنَهُ: see 1, last sentence. You say also,
مَا أُحَيْسِنَهُ [i. e. How very good, or goodly, &c., is he!]; using the diminutive form; like مَا أُمَيْلِحَهُ [q. v.]. (S and K in article ملح.)