قَبْل before in Arabic

وصدقةٌ رياءً تفقد وزنها قبل أن تمسّ الكفّة

and charity with hypocrisy loses its weight before it even touches the scale.

قَبْلَ before

'before' — an accusative time-adverb, head of an 'of' pairing with the clause after it.

From When Hidden Deeds Are Shown

وأنْبت الله شَجَرَة لم تكن قبل

And Allah caused a tree to grow that had not been there before.

قَبْلُ before

A time-word 'before' standing alone, cut off from a following noun, so it freezes in a fixed '-u' shape meaning 'beforehand'. Such time-words take this bare ending when what they would govern is left understood.

From The Night of the Migration

وَإِن حفظته مَعَ إصْلَاح الْوَقْتَيْنِ اللَّذين قبله وَبعده بِمَا ذكرت نجوت وفزت بالراحة واللذة وَالنَّعِيم

And if you preserve it, along with correcting the periods before and after as I mentioned, you succeed and attain comfort, pleasure, and bliss.

قَبْلَهُ before it

'Before' fused with 'it', the present moment, into one word. The pronoun keeps the reference anchored to the present: the period lying ahead of it in the past.

From Repentance and Resolve

فقد كان قبل أن يدخل في هذه الصناعة منورا مضيئا، على محياه سيما السلف،

So indeed, before he entered into this field, he was enlightened and radiant, upon his face the mark of the pious predecessors,

قَبْلَ before

This is a time-adverb, 'before', in the accusative as adverbs of time are, and it heads a 'before doing' construction with the particle that follows. It locates the described state at a point prior to a certain action.

From Unity Over Partisanship

العاقل يرى بنور فكره عواقب الأمور قبل وقوعها، فيتجنب ما يخاف سوء عاقبته، ويسارع إلى ما يرجو حسن عاقبته

"The wise person sees, with the light of his thought, the consequences of matters before they occur. He avoids what he fears will have a bad outcome, and hastens toward what he hopes will have a good outcome."

قَبْلَ before

A frozen time word that governs the noun after it into the possessive case while itself staying in the object form. It marks that the seeing happens ahead of the events named next.

From Think Before You Act

كان الرجل ممن كان قبلكم إذا ثقل عليه الحديث قال

A man among those before you, when the speech became heavy upon him, would say

قَبْلَكُم before you

This is a time-place word meaning 'before' fused with the attached pronoun 'you' (plural). The 'before' part fixes the position in time relative to the listeners, and the pronoun stuck on its end is the point of reference. One Arabic word thus carries 'before you all'.

From Stories That Soften the Heart

ولقد وصينا الذين أوتوا الكتاب من قبلكم وإياكم أن اتقوا الله فبالله ؛

And We have certainly instructed those who were given the Scripture before you and yourselves to fear God;

قَبْلِكُمْ before you

This time-word, 'before', carries the attached -kum 'you' (plural) at its end and sits in the possessed ending forced by min before it: 'before you'. The -kum addresses a group, and one word holds 'before' plus 'you all'.

From True Devotion

سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول انطلق ثلاثة نفر ممن كان قبلكم حتى آواهم المبيت إلى غار فدخلوه،

I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, say: 'Three men from those before you set out, and night forced them to take shelter in a cave. They entered it.'

قَبْلَكُمْ before you

This is the time-adverb 'before' fused with the possessor-style pronoun -kum ('you', plural), so one word means 'before you all'. It pins the men to an era earlier than the audience and rounds off the relative clause.

From Three Men Saved by Sincerity

قال رجل منهم اللهم كان لي أبوان شيخان كبيران، وكنت لا أغبق قبلهما أهلاً ولا مالاً

One of them said: 'O Allah, I had elderly parents, and I never provided drink to my family or wealth before them.'

قَبْلَهُمَا before them

This is the time-adverb 'before' fused with -huma, the dual 'them two', pointing precisely to the pair of parents. The dual suffix shows Arabic tracking exactly two referents in one word, stressing he served no one ahead of those two.

From Three Men Saved by Sincerity

فنأى بى طلب الشجر يوماً فلم أرح عليهما حتى ناما فحلبت لهما غبوقهما فوجدتهما نائمين فكرهت أن أوقظهما وأن أغبق قبلهما أهلاً أو مالاً،

One day, I was delayed by seeking wood and did not return to them until they had fallen asleep. I milked their evening drink for them, but I found them asleep and disliked to wake them or to serve my family or wealth before them.

قَبْلَهُمَا before them

This is the time-adverb 'before' fused with the dual -huma, 'before them two', pointing to the parents. The dual suffix tracks exactly the pair, stressing that he would serve no one ahead of those two.

From Three Men Saved by Sincerity