لَيَالٍnights

Example sentences

• تَعْلَمُ مَنْ تُخَاطِبُ مُنْذُ ثَلاَثِ لَيَالٍ يَا أَبَ هُرَيْرَةَ

  You know whom you have been addressing for three nights, O Abu Hurayrah.

  لَيَالٍ — nights. The counted noun in the 'three of nights' phrase, left indefinite and sitting in the genitive because the number before it governs it. Its ending is the signal that it is the thing being counted rather than a free-standing subject.

  From: The Verse of the Throne →

• فَمَكَثَ فِيهِ ثَلاَثَ لَيَالٍ

  So he stayed in it three nights.

  لَيَالٍ — nights. The counted noun after 'three'; Arabic's number rules put a noun counted by three-to-ten into the plural and the genitive, which is why it reads 'nights' with the -in ending. The numeral governs the noun's case, completing 'three nights'.

  From: The Secret Migration →