مَلِيّlong period

Example sentences

• ثُمَّ انْطَلَقَ، فَلَبِثْتُ مَلِيًّا، ثُمَّ قَالَ يَا عُمَرُ أَتَدْرِي مَنْ السَّائِلُ؟

  Then he departed, and I stayed for a long period. Then he said: 'O Umar, do you know who the questioner was?'

  مَلِيًّا — for a long period. An adverb-like noun 'a long while' in the accusative, telling how long the staying lasted. Arabic uses this bare accusative to express duration without a preposition, the case doing the work English would give to 'for'. It modifies the verb of staying.

  From: When Gabriel Came to Teach →