مَثَلِexample

Example sentences

• مَثَلُ الَّذِي يَعْمَلُ لِلرِّيَاءِ وَالسُّمْعَةِ كَمَثَلِ الَّذِي يَمْلَأُ كِيسَهُ حَصًى،

  'The example of one who acts for showing off and seeking praise is like the example of one who fills his bag with stones,

  كَمَثَلِ — is like the example of. The front prefix is the 'like' particle, which forces the noun after it into the (genitive) form and sets the comparison: this side of the metaphor is measured against the other. It then heads its own 'example of...' chain pointing to the second figure.

  From: Empty Fasting, Empty Prayer →

• فَوَلَيْتُ مِنْهَا مَثَلِ مَا وَلَيْتُ

  So I turned away from her, just as I had turned.

  مَثَلِ — likeness of. This noun, 'likeness / the like', opens an owner-and-owned pairing with the relative clause after it, meaning 'the like of what...'. As the first half it stays bare and takes its sense from what follows. So it sets up a comparison: he turned away just as he had turned.

  From: Honoring Parents →

• فَمَثَلِي وَمَثَلُكُمْ كَمَثَلِ يَعْقُوبَ وَبَنِيهِ،

  My example and your example are like the example of Jacob and his sons.

  كَمَثَلِ — like the example of. The prefix ka- means 'like', and the noun it rides on then locks onto the following name in a possessive chain, giving 'like the example of...'. Arabic builds 'X of Y' by simply setting the two nouns next to each other with no separate 'of' word, and the noun after ka- takes the 'of'-style ending.

  From: Aisha Cleared of Slander →