يَدَيْهِhands

Example sentences

• ولا يُشترط ترتيبٌ خاصٌّ في أخذِ الترابِ للعضوين؛ فلو ضَرَبَ يديه على الأرض، وأمكنه مسحُ الوجهِ بيمينه، ثم يَمينُه بيساره، جاز

  There is no specific order required for taking the dust for the limbs; if one strikes his hands on the ground, it is permissible to wipe the face with his right hand, then his right hand with his left.

  يَدَيْهِ — his hands. The dual '-ayn' plus 'his' — 'his two hands,' exactly two, as the object of 'struck.' Even with the possessive attached, the dual ending keeps the 'two-ness' built in.

  From: The Practice of Earth Cleansing →

• فَسَلَّمَ ثُمَّ جَلَسَ بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ

  He greeted him, then sat down before him.

  يَدَيْهِ — his two hands. A dual noun, 'two hands', carrying an attached 'his' suffix and completing the 'between his hands' phrase. The dual shape folds 'exactly two' into the noun, and the suffix names whose hands; together the phrase idiomatically means 'before him'.

  From: Wealth and Knowledge on Trial →

• قَالَ فَرَأْتُ الْبَرَاءَ يَضْرِبُ إِحْدَى يَدَيْهِ عَلَى الأُخْرَى يَنْفِضُ،

  He said: I saw al-Bara' strike one of his hands against the other and shake it off.

  يَدَيْهِ — his two hands. A dual noun, 'two hands', carrying the pronoun '-hi' (his) fused on, so one word says 'his two hands'. The dual is Arabic's dedicated 'exactly two' form, folding the count into the noun's ending where English needs a separate 'two'. As the owned half of the count-pairing it takes the 'of'-style ending.

  From: A Night with the Prophet →

• أُعْطِيَ مِنْ بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ

  He was given from between his two hands and from behind him.

  يَدَيْهِ — his two hands. This is the dual, 'two hands', Arabic's dedicated 'exactly two' form, with a 'his' fused on the end. The 'two' lives in the noun's ending rather than as a separate word. The whole 'between his two hands' is an idiom for 'in front of him', and as the owned half it sits in the genitive.

  From: The Four Inner Guards →