نَفْسًاa soul in Arabic

Example sentences

• رَجُلٌ قَتَلَ تِسْعَةً وَتِسْعِينَ نَفْسًا،

  A man killed ninety-nine people.

  نَفْسًا — a soul. After a number in this range Arabic counts the thing in the singular and puts it in the object-style (accusative) ending, which is why this 'soul/person' word appears as one singular noun specifying what was counted. So the singular here does not mean a single victim; it is the grammar of counting at work.

  From: The Joy of Repentance →

• وَقَالَ تَعَالَى مِنْ أَجْلِ ذَلِكَ كَتَبْنَا عَلَى بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ أَنَّهُ مَنْ قَتَلَ نَفْسًا بِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍ أَوْ

  And the Exalted said: From the sake of that, it was prescribed upon the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul without a soul or

  نَفْسًا — a soul. An indefinite noun 'a soul/life' (no al- 'the'), the object of 'killed' in the accusative (object) form. Its indefinite shape keeps it general - any single life. As the thing killed it is what the verb acts upon, soon qualified by 'without [the cause of] a soul'.

  From: The Gravity of Murder →