صَائِمfasting

Example sentences

• رُبَّ صَائِمٍ لَيْسَ لَهُ مِنْ صَوْمِهِ إِلَّا الْجُوعُ وَالْعَطَشُ، وَرُبَّ قَائِمٍ لَيْسَ لَهُ مِنْ قِيَامِهِ إِلَّا السَّهَرُ

  'Perhaps a fasting person gains nothing from his fast except hunger and thirst, and perhaps one who prays gains nothing from his prayer except sleeplessness.'

  صَائِمٍ — a fasting person. An indefinite noun, 'a fasting person', governed by the particle before it and so in its special ending. Its lack of 'the' marks it as 'any such person', a representative case, not one specific man.

  From: Empty Fasting, Empty Prayer →