أَتَى come in Arabic

فَلَا تزَال الشَّجَرَة تؤتي أكلهَا كل حِين بإذن الله رَبِّهَا

The tree continues to yield its fruit at all times by the permission of its Lord.

تُؤْتِي it yields

Present-tense verb 'give, yield', 'it' form — 'it yields'.

From Knowledge, Reverence, Obedience

قد كنا يا رسول الله نكذبك بما تأتينا به من خبر السماء،

We used to deny you, O Messenger of Allah, concerning what you brought us from the news of the heavens,

تَأْتِينَا you brought us

Present-tense verb 'bring, come with', 'you' form; the ending '-na' adds 'us' — 'you bring us'.

From Early Converts to Islam

وهذا أمر لم يحضره إلا أنا وصفوان فوالله لأعلم ما أتاك به إلا الله،

And this is a matter witnessed only by me and Safwan, and by Allah, I know that it was none but Allah who brought it to you,

أَتَاكَ brought it to you

Past-tense verb 'came, brought', 'he/it' form; the ending '-ka' adds 'you' — 'brought (it) to you'.

From Early Converts to Islam

قَالَ إِذا أَتَاك الرجل فَقَالَ لَك اشرب مَا فِي النَّهر

He said, 'When the man comes to you and says, "Drink what is in the river,"'

أَتَاكَ comes to you

Past-tense verb (in a condition, read as present), subject 'he' built in; '-ka' = 'you' object.

From Luqman's Response to Injustice

مَا علمت أَن أحدا سمع بِالْجنَّةِ وَالنَّار تَأتي عَلَيْهِ سَاعَة لَا يُطِيع الله فِيهَا بذكرا وَصَلَاة أَو قراة أَو إِحْسَان

I have not known anyone who has heard of Paradise and Hell to have an hour pass without obeying God through remembrance, prayer, reading, or charity.

تَأْتِي comes

A present verb in the feminine, agreeing with 'an hour' (a feminine noun) that follows it. Verb-first, it announces 'she/it comes' before naming the hour; the weak final root-letter shows as the long ending.

From Contentment with What God Wills

يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ إنَّك لَوْ أتَيْتنِي بِقُرَابِ الْأَرْضِ خَطَايَا ثُمَّ لَقِيتنِي لَا تُشْرِكُ بِي شَيْئًا لَأَتَيْتُك بِقُرَابِهَا مَغْفِرَةً

O son of Adam! Were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, not associating anything with Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as it.

أَتَيْتَنِي you came to me

Both 'you' (-ta) and 'Me' (-ni) ride this single verb of coming. Under 'if,' it reads 'were you to come to Me,' the opening move of the supposition.

From The Vastness of God's Mercy

يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ إنَّك لَوْ أتَيْتنِي بِقُرَابِ الْأَرْضِ خَطَايَا ثُمَّ لَقِيتنِي لَا تُشْرِكُ بِي شَيْئًا لَأَتَيْتُك بِقُرَابِهَا مَغْفِرَةً

O son of Adam! Were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, not associating anything with Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as it.

لَأَتَيْتُكَ I would bring you

The 'la-' on the front signals that this is the result of 'if' — 'then I would surely...'. Don't confuse it with the negating 'not'; here it emphasizes a promise. The verb carries both 'I' (-tu) and 'you' (-ka).

From The Vastness of God's Mercy

فأتاه فقال إنه قتل تسعه وتسعين نفساً، فهل له من توبة؟

So he came to him and said, 'He has killed ninety-nine people, is there repentance for him?'

فَأَتَاهُ So he came to him

This is 'so' plus a defective past verb 'came' (its weak final letter shows in the short stem) with attached '-hu' = 'him' — 'so he came to him'. The verb of coming takes the person directly here. Verb and object ride in one form.

From Righteous Company

فانطلق حتى إذا نصف الطريق أتاه الموت،

He set out until when he was halfway there, death came to him.

أَتَاهُ came to him

A past verb 'came' with attached '-hu' = 'him' — 'came to him'. Its subject (death) follows. So 'death came upon him' mid-journey. Verb and object ride in one form, with the doer named next.

From Righteous Company

فأتاهم ملك في صورة آدمي فجعلوه بينهم أي حكماً

Then an angel came to them in the form of a human, and they made him a judge among them.

فَأَتَاهُمْ Then an angel came to them

This is 'so' plus a past verb 'came' with attached '-hum' = 'them' — 'so [someone] came to them'. Its subject (an angel) follows. The 'fa-' steps the story on. Verb and object ride in one form, with the doer named next.

From Righteous Company

فلتأته منيته وهو يؤمن بالله واليوم الأخر،

let him meet his death while believing in Allah and the Last Day,

فَلْتَأْتِهِ let him meet

This stacks fa- (so) with the command-marker li- and a verb plus 'him' attached, so the cluster means 'so let his... come to him'. The li- here turns a statement into a third-person command, 'let it...', and forces the verb into the clipped jussive ending; the suffix marks the person as the one death comes to.

From A Prophet Warns His People

وليأت إلى الناس الذى يحب أن يؤتى إليه

and let him do to people what he would love to be done to him."

وَلْيَأْتِ and let him do

This is wa- (and) with the command-marker li- on a verb, 'and let him do/bring', the li- turning a statement into a 'let him...' command and forcing the verb into the clipped jussive ending. The command is third-person, addressed about him rather than to him directly.

From A Prophet Warns His People

وقال ﴿وَلا يَأْتُونَ الصَّلاةَ إِلَّا وَهُمْ كُسَالَى وَلا يُنْفِقُونَ إِلَّا وَهُمْ كَارِهُونَ﴾

And He said, 'They do not approach prayer except lazily, and they do not spend except reluctantly.'

يَأْتُونَ they approach

This present-tense verb carries a built-in plural 'they' subject, 'they come to'. Under the negation before it, it means they do not approach; the plural doer is shown by the verb ending itself.

From Prayer and Charity

قال نعم يا سيدي، ناقته دخلت حائطي وأكلت زرعي، فحبستها حتى يأتي صاحبها

He replied: Yes, my lord, his camel entered my field and ate my crops, so I detained it until its owner comes.

يَأْتِيَ he comes

Present-tense 'he comes', in the subjunctive because the 'until' before it demands that mood, its ending altered from the plain present. It marks the owner's arrival as the future point the holding waits for. The mood is the grammatical clue that this is a goal, not a fact.

From Justice in the Field

فجعلت أن تقول متى تصديقًا لما أتى من الوعد يا فتى،

So she began to say, 'When will you believe what has come of the promise, O young man?'

أَتَى has come

A past-tense verb meaning 'came / has come', with its 'he/it' subject built into the form. It opens the relative-style clause describing the thing believed, so it tells you what kind of thing the 'that which' refers to.

From God's Promise of New Life

وَأَمّا الَّتِي بَيْنك وَبَين خلقي فأت للنَّاس مَا تحب أَن يَأْتُوا إِلَيْك

And as for the one that is between you and My creation, it is that you treat people as you would love for them to treat you.

فَأتِ so treat

Here the 'so/then' prefix opens the answering command, and the verb is a clipped command form telling the listener to do something. Arabic builds a command by paring the present-tense verb down to a short stem, which is why this looks shorter than the plain present.

From Worship and Repentance

وَأَمّا الَّتِي بَيْنك وَبَين خلقي فأت للنَّاس مَا تحب أَن يَأْتُوا إِلَيْك

And as for the one that is between you and My creation, it is that you treat people as you would love for them to treat you.

يَأْتُوا they come

This is a present-tense verb for 'they', in the subjunctive shape triggered by the 'that' particle before it, which is why it drops its final n. It names the wished-for action, others' behavior toward the listener.

From Worship and Repentance

وَإِذا لآتيناهم من لدنا أجرا عَظِيما ولهديناهم صراطا مُسْتَقِيمًا

And if We were to give them from Us a great reward, and (so) guide them to a straight path.

لَأَتَيْنَاهُمْ We would give them

An emphatic-conditional 'verily' letter fused to a past verb carrying 'we', plus 'them' attached as object, 'we surely gave them'. The leading letter strengthens and frames the verb as the certain answer of the condition; built-in 'we' and tacked-on 'them' make it one word.

From Following Desires

فَنَهَضَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ وَنَهَضْنَا مَعَهُ حَتَّى أَتَى الْغُلَامَ،

The Messenger of God rose, and we rose with him until he came to the boy.

أَتَى he came

A past-tense verb, 'he came/reached', with the 'he' carried inside, pointing back to the Messenger as the doer rather than to the companions. Tracking that subject across the clause is part of reading it. Following the limit-particle, this is the arrival the rising continued up to.

From A Mother's Forgiveness

أَنَّ رَجُلًا أَتَى عُمَرَ،

That a man came to Umar,

أَتَى he came

This is a completed-action verb meaning 'came', with its 'he' subject built into it. Inside the 'that...' clause it is the action the anonymous man performed. It then takes the name after it as the destination he came to.

From Honoring Parents

فَجَعَلَتْ أَنْ تَقُولَ مَتَى تَصْدِيقًا لِمَا أَتَى مِنَ الْوَعْدِ يَا فَتًى،

So she began to say, "When will there be confirmation of what has come of the promise, O young man?"

أَتَى he has come

A completed past verb, 'has come', whose subject is carried inside it rather than spelled out separately. It heads the relative clause begun by the previous linker and describes what already arrived of the promise.

From On Birth and Its Timing

فَأَتَاهُ الرَّسُولُ فَقَالَ إِنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَأْمُرُكَ أَنْ تُصَلِّّيَ بِالنَّاسِ

A messenger came to him and said that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah's blessings and peace be upon him, commands you to lead the people in prayer.

فَأَتَاهُ so he came to him

The fa- is a sequencing 'so', and the completed past verb has an object pronoun 'him' attached at its end. One word thus carries the link, the coming, and the one come to.

From Prayer During Illness

فَإِنَّ الْوَحْيَ لَمْ يَأْتِنِي،

Indeed, the revelation did not come to me.

يَأْتِنِي come to me

A verb of coming sitting in the clipped jussive shape because the past-negator before it governs it, with the 'me' object attached at its end. That shortened ending marks the negated past, and the suffix names the speaker as the one revelation did not reach.

From Wives of the Prophet

قَالُوا وَاللَّهِ لَنَأْتِيَنَّ النَّاسَ

They said, "By God, we will surely come to the people."

لَنَأْتِيَنَّ we will surely come

A heavily marked verb of resolve: a 'la-' on the front and a doubled '-nna' on the tail bracket a 'we' present verb to mean 'we shall most certainly come'. These twin emphasis pieces turn a plain future into a firm vow, a force Arabic builds by framing the verb rather than adding adverbs.

From A Companion at Battle