أَوْلَىbetter/preferable

Example sentences

• والسلامة والعافية أولى بك

  Safety and well-being are better for you.

  أَوْلَى — are better. This is an elative — 'worthier / more fitting' — serving as the predicate: safety and well-being are 'the better choice'. It is a fixed comparative shape. It pairs with the preposition next to say better FOR whom.

  From: Scripture Over Speculation →

• فلو قال قائل على رجعه إلى الفرج الذي صب فيه لم يكن فرق بينه وبين هذا القول ولم يكن أولى منه

  So if someone were to say regarding his return to the outlet into which it was poured, there would be no difference between this and that statement, and it would not be more appropriate than it.

  أَوْلَى — more appropriate. This is a comparative form 'more appropriate/worthier', the predicate of 'it would not be more appropriate'. The comparative shape sets up 'more X than', completed by the 'than it' phrase that follows.

  From: Ten Proofs of Resurrection →

• والسلامة والعافية أولى بك،

  And safety and well-being are more appropriate for you.

  أَوْلَى — are more appropriate. This is a comparative-superlative word meaning 'more fitting/worthier', built on the elative pattern Arabic uses for 'more X'. It serves as the predicate, and unlike English it needs no separate 'is', the bare word standing as the claim.

  From: Unity Over Partisanship →

• فإذا عرفت ما أنعم به وأبلى، وتيقنت ما أسدى وأولى،

  So if you recognize what He has blessed you with and tested you, and are certain of what He has granted and bestowed,

  وَأَوْلَى — and he bestowed. The attached connector adds a second divine act parallel to the first inside this clause. The verb is past-tense with a built-in 'he', reporting a further completed deed, the bestowing, joined to the granting.

  From: All Creation Praises Him →

• فَهُوَ بِالْحِفْظِ أَوْلَى لِأَنَّ الْبَيْتَ الْمَعْمُورَ مَعْمُورٌ بِعِبَادَةِ الْمَلَائِكَةِ

  So he is more deserving of preservation, for the Much-Frequented House is filled with the worship of the angels.

  أَوْلَى — more deserving. A comparison word ('more deserving / more fitting') serving as the predicate of 'he'. Its fixed 'more X' pattern leans on the 'with respect to preservation' phrase before it to say in what way the heart is more worthy.

  From: Seeking Refuge from the Devil →

• فَقُلْتُ أَوْلَى فَلَمَّا دَنَا الصُّبْحُ

  So I said it was preferable, and when morning drew near.

  أَوْلَى — preferable. This is a comparative-type adjective working as the whole short reply, a clipped 'more fitting / so much the better'. Standing as a one-word predicate, it leaves its complement unspoken and understood. It serves as the narrator's terse retort.

  From: A Spy in the Enemy Camp →