Arabic vocabulary
How to say “detain” in Arabic, with pronunciation and real example sentences from OpenArabic texts.
اِحْبِسْ أَبَا سُفْيَانَ عِنْدَ حَطْمِ الْخَيْلِ
Detain Abu Sufyan at Hatm al-Khayl.
اِحْبِسْ — detain. A command-form verb, 'detain!', addressed to a single 'you' that is built into the verb's shape rather than spelled out. Arabic forms the order by stripping the verb down to its bare imperative; what to detain follows immediately as its object.
From: Conquest of Mecca Account →فَإِذَا قَالَ لَكَ ذَلِكَ فَقُلْ لَهُ اِحْبِسْ عَنِّي الْمَدَّ
So if he says that to you, say to him, "Hold back the tide from me."
اِحْبِسْ — hold back. A command form, 'hold back!', the instructed retort. The 'you' addressee is inside the verb; the bare imperative shape is the order, with the helping initial vowel easing pronunciation. The thing to be held back follows.
From: Luqman's Wisdom and Trial →قَالَ فَاِحْبِسْ عَنِّي الْمَدَّ
He said, "Then hold the tide back from me."
فَاِحْبِسْ — then hold back. The connector 'fa-' (then) on a command form, 'hold back!'. The 'fa-' supplies the 'then' that ties the order to the foregoing exchange. The imperative carries its 'you' subject inside.
From: Luqman's Wisdom and Trial →OpenArabic teaches words like اِحْبِسْ through real bilingual reading with native audio and spaced-repetition practice.
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