رَجُلًاman (indefinite)

Example sentences

• وَقَالَ كُنْتُ رَجُلًا أَكْثَرَ شُرْبًا الْمُسْكِرِ،

  And he said, I used to be a man who often drank intoxicants.

  رجل — a man. This noun is the thing the speaker says he 'used to be', so it works as the completing half of the 'to be' verb before it. Because that verb governs its predicate in the accusative, the noun takes the accusative ending rather than the plain subject ending, which is the grammatical signal that it is describing the subject of 'I was', not introducing a new doer.

  From: A Night of Reckoning →

• أَنَّ رَجُلًا أَتَى عُمَرَ،

  That a man came to Umar,

  رجلًا — a man. This noun has no al- and carries an open -an tanwin ending, marking it as indefinite, 'a man', some man, while also being the noun the 'that' particle grips into the object-like form. So its ending does double duty: indefinite and gripped by the particle. The indefiniteness keeps the man anonymous, a generic petitioner.

  From: Honoring Parents →

• فَقَالَ أَبُ بَكْرٍ ـ وَكَانَ رَجُلًا رَقِيقًا ـ يَا عُمَرُ صَلِّ بِالنَّاسِ

  Abu Bakr, who was a gentle man, said, "O Umar, lead the people in prayer."

  رَجُلًا — a man. A noun, 'a man', serving as the completing description after the past 'to be' verb; that verb throws its predicate into the accusative. It is what he is said to have been.

  From: Prayer During Illness →

• ـ وَكَانُوا خَمْسِينَ رَجُلًا ـ

  There were fifty men.

  رَجُلًا — man. A singular counted noun 'man' kept singular on purpose, because Arabic pairs the tens with a single counted item that carries a special indefinite object ending. English turns this into a plural 'men', but the Arabic literally says 'fifty of man'.

  From: A Companion at Battle →

• قَالَ وَكَانَ عَامِرٌ رَجُلًا شَاعِرًا،

  He said that Amir was a man and a poet.

  رَجُلًا — a man. This noun is the predicate of the 'was' frame, what Amir is said to have been, and its -an ending is what marks it as that completing predicate after the framing verb. Arabic flags the 'what he was' slot with this accusative shape.

  From: The Martyr's Reward →

• وَالْقَوْمُ ثَمَانُونَ رَجُلًا

  And the people were eighty men.

  رَجُلًا — men. After a ten like 'eighty', Arabic names the thing counted in the SINGULAR ('eighty man'), not the plural English forces ('men'). The word also takes the indefinite -an accusative ending that counted nouns require after the tens, marking it as the specifier of the number rather than a free-standing object.

  From: The Barley Loaf That Fed Eighty →

• وَالْثَّانِيُ كَمَنْ صَارَعَ رَجُلًا ضَعِيفًا فَإِنَّهُ يَصْرَعُهُ بِغَيْرِ مِشْقَةٍ

  And the second is like someone who wrestles a weak man; he throws him down without difficulty.

  رَجُلًا — a man. An indefinite noun in the object accusative, the man wrestled. The accusative ending marks it as the verb's object.

  From: Staying Firm in Faith →

• لَقَى رَجُلٌ مِنَ الْإِنْسِ رَجُلًا مِنَ الْجِنِّ فَصَارَعَهُ فَصَرَعَهُ الْأَنْسَى

  A man from among the humans met a man from the jinn; they wrestled, and the human felled him.

  رِجْلًا — a man. An indefinite noun in the object accusative, the second man, the one met. Its accusative ending marks it as the object of the meeting verb.

  From: Staying Firm in Faith →

• مِنْهَا أَنْ رَجُلًا سَأَلَهُ مَنْ أَفْضَلُ النَّاسِ بَعْدَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ

  One of them was that a man asked him who the best of the people was after the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace.

  رَجُلًا — a man. An indefinite noun in the object case, 'a man', the doer of the asking — fronted here as the topic of the reported clause. Its indefinite, object-style ending marks it as 'some man', an unspecified person.

  From: Sermons, Wit, and Sorrow →

• إِنْ قِيلَ لَكَ إِنَّ رَجُلًا كَانَ مَعَكَ فَتَوَارَى خَلْفَ حَائِطٍ فَمَاتَ فَصَدَّقَ،

  If it is said to you that a man was with you, withdrew behind a wall, and died, then believe.

  رَجُلًا — a man. A noun, 'a man', the subject of the reported clause, showing the indefinite accusative ending that the emphasis particle imposes on such a subject. Its case is governed by that particle. It is the unspecified figure the claim concerns.

  From: On Foolishness and Wisdom →

• وَإِنْ قِيلَ لَكَ إِنَّ رَجُلًا فَقِيرًا خَرَجَ إِلَى بَلَدٍ فَاسْتَفَادَ مَالًا فَصَدِّقْ،

  And if it is said to you that a poor man went to a land and gained money, then believe it.

  رجلًا — a man. A noun, 'a man', the subject of the reported clause, in the indefinite accusative that the emphasis particle imposes. Its case is governed by that particle. It is the unspecified figure the report is about.

  From: On Foolishness and Wisdom →

• إِذَا أَرَدْتَ أَنْ تُؤَاخِيَ رَجُلًا فَأَغْضِبْهُ قَبْلَ ذَلِكَ

  If you want to make a man your brother, then anger him before that.

  رَجُلًا — a man. An indefinite noun 'a man' in the accusative as the object of the bonding-verb, its tanwin ending marking indefiniteness, 'some man'. The accusative flags its role as the one being befriended. It names the person the addressee wishes to take as a brother.

  From: On Reason and Temptation →

• وَإِنْ رَجُلًا قَالَ لَهُ أَيَأْتِي مِنْ مِثْلِكَ هَذَا؟

  And if a man were to say to him, "Would this come from someone like you?"

  رجلًا — a man. An indefinite noun for the hypothetical speaker, carrying the accusative ending because the conditional construction here fronts it as the focused element of the 'if' clause. The case marks it as the noun the conditional verb hangs on.

  From: Permissible Laughter and Conduct →