امْتَنَعَتْshe withheld herself

Example sentences

• فأردتها على نفسها فامتنعت منى حتى ألمّت بها سنة من السنين فجاءتنى فأعطيتها عشرين ومائة دينار على أن تخلى بينى وبين نفسها ففعلت، حتى إذا قدرت عليها

  I returned her to her own custody, but she withheld herself from me until a year of the years befell her. Then she came to me and I gave her one hundred and twenty dinars on the condition that she relinquish between me and her self; she did so, until when I gained power over her.

  فَامْتَنَعَتْ — so she withheld herself. This pairs the connector fa- ('so/then') with a self-acting (reflexive) verb: she held herself back of her own will. The fa- marks her refusal as the response to his demand, and the verb's pattern carries the 'kept herself from' sense.

  From: Three Men Saved by Sincerity →