كَالْمَاءِlike the water in Arabic

Example sentences

• الْأَدَبُ عِنْدَ الْأَحْمَقِ كَالْمَاءِ فِي أُصُولِ الْحَنَظَلِ،

  Good manners in a fool are like water in the roots of the colocynth.

  كَالْمَاءِ — like the water. This stacks a likeness-marker meaning 'like' and a 'the' onto the front of a noun, so the comparison and the definiteness are built into one word. The likeness-marker forces the 'of' (genitive) form. It opens the simile comparing the manners to water.

  From: On Foolishness and Wisdom →

• وَلَيْسَ كَذَٰلِكَ؛ لِأَنَّ مِثْلُ الطَّبْعِ فِي مَيْلِهِ إِلَى الدُّنْيَا كَالْمَاءِ الْجَارِيِ،

  But that is not so; for the disposition, in its inclination toward the world, is like flowing water,

  كَالْمَاءِ — like the water. The comparison prefix ka- ('like') fused onto a noun made definite by al-, giving 'like the water'. The ka- forces that noun into the genitive and supplies the predicate of the sentence: the disposition is being equated with water.

  From: Guarding the Heart from Heedlessness →