الزَّمَانُthe time

Example sentences

• وَهَكَذَا حَتَّى إِذَا تَبَاعَدَ الزَّمَانُ شَيْئًا قَلِيلًا

  And so it continued until when time had grown distant a little slightly.

  الزمن — the time. The definite subject of 'grew distant', carrying the -u subject ending, placed after its verb as Arabic allows. With 'al-' it is the specific span of time whose growing remoteness prompted what follows.

  From: How the Companions Preserved Hadith →

• لِئَلا يَمْضِيَ الزَّمَانُ فَارِغًا،

  So that time would not pass idly.

  الزَّمَانُ — the time. A definite noun with al- ('the'), the subject of the subjunctive verb just before it: that time should not pass. As subject of that verb it stands in the nominative. Its al- gives the broad 'time in general' sense.

  From: A Life of Reading and Writing →