باب bāb pl. ابواب abwāb, بيبان bībān door;; gate; opening, gateway; entrance; chapter, section, column, rubric; group, class, category; field, domain (fig.)│الباب العالى the Sublime Porte; باب المندب b. al-mandab Bab el Mandeb (strait between SW Arabia and Africa; geogr.); على الابواب near, imminent; فتح بابا جديدا to open up a new way, a new possibility; فتح باب futiḥa bāb ... was (were) begun, ... got under way; قفل باب الشيء (qafala) to put an end to s.th., terminate, close s.th.; من باب الفضل (b. il-faḍl) as a favor; من باب اولى(aulā) with all the more reason, the more so; فى هذا الباب about this matter, about this; من باب الضرورة ان (b. iḍ-ḍarūra) it is necessary that ... ; هذا ليس من باب الصدفة (b. iṣ-ṣudfa) that’s no coincidence; كان من باب or دخل في باب (with foll. genit.) to belong to, fall under; فريد في بابه unique of its kind; طلع على باب الله to pursue one‘s livelihood, earn one’s bread 80