لِيَّI have

Example sentences

• قَالَ إِنِّي مُحْتَاجٌ، وَعَلَيَّ عِيَالٌ، وَلِيَّ حَاجَةٌ شَدِيدَةٌ

  He said, "I am in need, and I have dependents, and I have an urgent need."

  وَلِيَّ — and I have. The connector 'wa-' adds yet another parallel clause; this time a preposition 'for/to' fused to a 'me' pronoun builds a second 'I have'. Arabic uses 'to me is...' as another way to say possession, and this opens 'and I have a need'.

  From: The Verse of the Throne →

• فَسَأَلْنَهَا فَقَالَتْ مَا قَالَ لِيَّ شَيْئًا،

  So we asked her, and she said, 'He did not say anything to me.'

  لِيَّ — to me. Preposition li- ('to') fused with the 'me' ending, marking the speaker as the one the saying was aimed at; the doubled tail is a heavier spelling of the same 'to me'. The preposition governs the attached pronoun, fixing the first person as addressee.

  From: Wives of the Prophet →

• فَقَالَ لِأُمْيَّةَ اِنْظُرْ لِيَّ سَاعَةَ خَلْوَةِ لَعَلَّيَ أَنْ أَطُوفَ بِالْبَيْتِ

  He said to Umayya, "Find for me a time of seclusion; perhaps I may circumambulate the House."

  لِي — for me. A 'for' particle with attached -i 'me', pulled into the 'of' (genitive) shape; it marks the request as being *for my benefit*. So it tells whose advantage the looking-out is meant to serve.

  From: Warning Before the Battle of Badr →