عينeyes

Example sentences

• أما علمت أَن الصَّادِق إِذا هم ألْقى بَين عَيْنَيْهِ عزمه

  Do you not know that the truthful person, when he resolves, casts his determination before his eyes?

  عَيْنَيْهِ — his two eyes. A dual 'two eyes' (the '-ay' ending) with '-hi' (his) attached, genitive — 'his [two] eyes'. The dual folds 'exactly two' into the noun; the idiom 'between his eyes' means 'right before him'.

  From: Night Prayer and Nearness to God →

• إِذا نزل آب فِي الْقلب حل آذار فِي الْعين

  When the heat of August settles in the heart, the rain of March flows from the eyes.

  الْعَيْنِ — the eyes. In the genitive after 'in', definite — completing the image: summer in the heart, spring rain in the eyes.

  From: Night Prayer and Nearness to God →

• فقال العطار خذ هذا الدواء واجعله في إحدى عينيه

  The herbalist said, 'Take this medicine and put it in one of its eyes.'

  عينيه — its two eyes. The owner closing 'one of its two eyes', a dual noun, Arabic's dedicated 'exactly two' form, with the owner attached as a suffix. The dual is carried by the word's own ending, so no separate 'two' is needed, and the suffix points back to the donkey.

  From: Reflections on Literal Obedience →

• فأخذ جحا الدواء وذهب به إلى الحمار ووضعه في عينه،

  Joha took the medicine and went to the donkey and put it in its eye,

  عينه — its eye. The place, 'its eye', in the genitive after the preposition, with the owner attached as a suffix pointing back to the donkey. One word carries noun and owner.

  From: Reflections on Literal Obedience →