شَيْء thing in Arabic

فَكلما أثمر مِنْهَا شَيْء جنيت ثمره وغرست نَوَاه

So whenever something from it bears fruit, you harvest its fruit and plant its seeds.

شَيْءٌ something

shay means 'a thing'; the '-un' ending marks it indefinite — the subject 'something'.

From Seeds and Streams of Deeds

وَهُوَ أَن يعبد الله وَحده لايشرك بِهِ شَيْئا

And it means to worship Allah alone, associating nothing with Him.

شَيْئًا anything

'anything', accusative (note the ending), the thing one must not associate. Placed after a negation it sweeps out to 'nothing whatsoever'.

From Worship God Alone

الاسمُ المجرّدُ لا يبني شيئًا؛ أمّا الجملةُ المشروعةُ فتبني قلبًا وسلوكًا

A mere name builds nothing; but a prescribed sentence builds both heart and conduct.

شَيْئًا anything

'anything', accusative, the object. Placed under the negation it sweeps to 'nothing at all'.

From Remembrance That Reshapes the Heart

وَقَوله أفضل كلمة قَالَهَا الشَّاعِر كلمة لبيد أَلا كل شَيْء مَا خلا الله بَاطِل

And his saying: "The best word said by a poet is the word of Labid: Behold, everything other than Allah is futile."

شَيْءٍ thing

Genitive owner of 'every' — 'thing'. Indefinite; 'every single thing'.

From The Declaration of Faith

أفضل كلمة قَالَهَا الشَّاعِر كلمة لبيد أَلا كل شَيْء مَا خلا الله بَاطِل

"The best phrase the poet Labid said: 'Indeed, everything besides Allah is false.'"

شَيْءٍ thing

Genitive owner of 'every' — 'thing'. Indefinite; 'every single thing'.

From Small Deeds, Great Reward

وَذَلِكَ شَيْء لَا تَعب عَلَيْك فِيهِ وَلَا نصب وَلَا معاناة

And this is something that does not burden you with effort, nor toil, nor hardship.

شَيْءٌ something

The indefinite predicate, 'a thing', closing 'this [is] a thing...'. Its '-un' ending marks it indefinite, and the clause that follows narrows down what kind of thing.

From Repentance and Resolve

وَإِن سَقَطت على شَيْء لم تكسره وَلم تخدشه

And if it lands on something, it does not break it or scratch it.

شَيْءٍ something

Indefinite 'a thing', in the genitive the preposition forces. It leaves open whatever the bee might settle on, the point being its gentleness toward all of it.

From Contentment with What God Wills

وَاعْلَمْ أَنَّ الْأُمَّةَ لَوْ اجْتَمَعَتْ عَلَى أَنْ يَنْفَعُوك بِشَيْءٍ لَمْ يَنْفَعُوك إلَّا بِشَيْءٍ قَدْ كَتَبَهُ اللَّهُ لَك،

Know that if the nation gathered to benefit you with anything, they would not benefit you except with what Allah has decreed for you.

بِشَيْءٍ with anything

'With something', the 'bi-' of means with an indefinite noun, 'anything at all'. It names the instrument of the hoped-for benefit, in the after-preposition ending.

From Patience and Trust in God

وَاعْلَمْ أَنَّ الْأُمَّةَ لَوْ اجْتَمَعَتْ عَلَى أَنْ يَنْفَعُوك بِشَيْءٍ لَمْ يَنْفَعُوك إلَّا بِشَيْءٍ قَدْ كَتَبَهُ اللَّهُ لَك،

Know that if the nation gathered to benefit you with anything, they would not benefit you except with what Allah has decreed for you.

بِشَيْءٍ with what

'With something', the same 'bi-' of means, now naming the sole exception: only by something already decreed. It governs the indefinite noun in the after-preposition ending.

From Patience and Trust in God

وَإِنْ اجْتَمَعُوا عَلَى أَنْ يَضُرُّوك بِشَيْءٍ لَمْ يَضُرُّوك إلَّا بِشَيْءٍ قَدْ كَتَبَهُ اللَّهُ عَلَيْك؛

And if they gathered to harm you with anything, they would not harm you except with what Allah has decreed against you.

بِشَيْءٍ with anything

'With something', the 'bi-' of means with an indefinite noun, 'anything at all', the supposed instrument of harm. Governed in the after-preposition ending.

From Patience and Trust in God

وَإِنْ اجْتَمَعُوا عَلَى أَنْ يَضُرُّوك بِشَيْءٍ لَمْ يَضُرُّوك إلَّا بِشَيْءٍ قَدْ كَتَبَهُ اللَّهُ عَلَيْك؛

And if they gathered to harm you with anything, they would not harm you except with what Allah has decreed against you.

بِشَيْءٍ with what

'With something', the same 'bi-' of means naming the sole exception, harm only by what was decreed. Governed in the after-preposition ending.

From Patience and Trust in God

يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ إنَّك لَوْ أتَيْتنِي بِقُرَابِ الْأَرْضِ خَطَايَا ثُمَّ لَقِيتنِي لَا تُشْرِكُ بِي شَيْئًا لَأَتَيْتُك بِقُرَابِهَا مَغْفِرَةً

O son of Adam! Were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, not associating anything with Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as it.

شَيْئًا anything

The '-an' ending marks this as the thing not associated, and as an indefinite under a negation it sweeps out to 'anything at all.' Nothing, however small, is to be set beside God.

From The Vastness of God's Mercy

لا يشبهه شئ من كلام الخلق ولا يقدر على مثله الخلق بأسرهم

Nothing from the speech of creation resembles it, nor can the entire creation produce anything like it.

شَيْءٌ anything

The doer (closing on -un, indefinite) of 'resembles.' Standing after a negation, an indefinite like this means 'nothing at all' — no created speech is its equal.

From Devotion to the Quran

وقال بعضهم فلعلهم الذين ولدوا في الإسلام، فلم يشركوا بالله شيئاً وذكروا أشياء

and some of them said: Perhaps they are those born in Islam who never associated anything with Allah – and they mentioned other things –

شَيْئًا anything

This is the object 'anything', in the accusative and indefinite — and the indefiniteness is the point: 'not anything at all'. After a negative, an indefinite object like this sweeps the field, stressing total purity of belief.

From Those Who Enter Without Account

وقال بعضهم فلعلهم الذين ولدوا في الإسلام، فلم يشركوا بالله شيئاً وذكروا أشياء

and some of them said: Perhaps they are those born in Islam who never associated anything with Allah – and they mentioned other things –

أَشْيَاءَ other things

This is the object of 'mentioned', in the accusative — 'other things'. It is a broken plural belonging to the no-nunation 'diptote' class, so its ending stays bare. It stands for further qualities left unspecified.

From Those Who Enter Without Account

فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم لا يقدمن أحد منكم إلى شيء حتى أكون أنا دونه

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: 'None of you should advance towards anything until I am ahead of him.'

شَيْءٍ anything

This indefinite noun, 'anything', is the object of 'toward', taking the preposition's object form. Its indefinite shape keeps it open, any object at all.

From A Handful of Dates and Paradise

العاشر أنه سبحانه نبه بقوله ﴿إِنْ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ لَمَّا عَلَيْهَا حَافِظٌ﴾ على أنه قد وكل عليه من يحفظ عليه عمله ويحصيه فلا يضيع منه شيء

The tenth point is that He, glorified be He, emphasized by saying, ‘Indeed, every soul will have a guardian over it,’ indicating that He has appointed someone to safeguard and account for its deeds, and nothing will be lost from them.

شَيْءٌ anything

This noun lacks 'the' and ends in the indefinite mark, so it means 'a thing', anything, and is the delayed subject of the losing verb. Under the negation it gives 'not a single thing is lost', the indefiniteness shown by the ending.

From Ten Proofs of Resurrection

فَبِضِدِّهَا تَتَبَيَّنُ الْأَشْيَاءُ، وَالضِّدُّ يُظْهِرُ حُسْنَهُ الضِّدُّ، فَمَعْرِفَةُ أَدِلَّةِ الْبَاطِلِ وَشُبَهِهِ مِنْ أَنْوَاعِ أَدِلَّةِ الْحَقِّ وَبَرَاهِينِهِ

For by their opposites things become clear, and the opposite shows the beauty of its opposite; so knowing the evidence of falsehood and its doubts is itself a type of evidence for truth and its proofs.

الْأَشْيَاءُ things

This noun carries 'the' and is plural, 'the things', and is the delayed subject of the clarifying verb. Arabic places the subject after its verb, so 'things' arrives last though it is what becomes clear.

From Signs of the Messenger in Medina

وقال الكلبي تبصرون من شيء ومالا تبصرون من شيء

Al-Kalbi said: you see one thing and do not see another thing.

شَيْءٍ a thing

An indefinite noun 'a thing', in the form the preposition governs and with no 'the'. Its indefiniteness gives the 'some thing / one thing' sense; Arabic keeps it bare to leave it general.

From Proof in All Creation

وقال الكلبي تبصرون من شيء ومالا تبصرون من شيء

Al-Kalbi said: you see one thing and do not see another thing.

شَيْءٍ a thing

An indefinite noun 'a thing', in the governed form and without 'the', repeated to mirror the first half, giving 'and do not see another thing'. Its bare form keeps it open-ended.

From Proof in All Creation

وقد قال بعض العارفين نفسك التي بين جنبيك هي عدوك الأكبر، فإذا غلبتها فقد غلبت كل شيء

And some of the knowers have said: 'Your self, which is between your sides, is your greatest enemy, and if you conquer it, you have conquered everything.'

شَيْءٍ thing

The completing half of 'every thing', so it carries the possessive case ending, and being without 'the' it stays indefinite as the 'every X' frame requires. The two words sit side by side with no word for 'of'.

From Struggling Against the Self

فقال وهل يصلح أن أدعو بأن تهوي إليَّ وأنا لست بشيء؟

He said: Is it appropriate for me to pray that they be directed to me while I am nothing?

بِشَيْءٍ with anything

This is bi- 'with' plus an indefinite 'a thing'; the bi- forces the genitive. With the 'am not' verb it forms an emphatic 'I am not anything at all', the bi- adding force to the negation.

From Bedouin Manners

وَقَوْلُهُمْ مَنْ جَهِلَ شَيْئًا عَادَاهُ، مَذْكُورٌ فِي قَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى بَلْ كَذَّبُوا بِمَا لَمْ يُحِيطُوا بِعِلْمِهِ وَإِذْ لَمْ يَهْتَدُوا بِهِ فَسَيَقُولُونَ هَذَا إِفْكٌ قَدِيمٌ

And their saying: 'Whoever is ignorant of something, opposes it' is mentioned in His saying: 'But they denied that which they did not encompass in knowledge, and when they have not been guided by it, they will say: This is an ancient falsehood.'

شَيْئًا a thing

This is 'a thing, something', indefinite, the object of 'was ignorant of', so it takes the accusative ending that marks the thing acted upon. It names what the person did not know. It is what the condition turns on.

From When Scripture Answers Proverbs

فقد ذكر فيه أسماء جماعة ثم لم ينقل عنهم شيئًا من ذلك،

Yet it mentioned the names of a group, then reported nothing of that from them.

شَيْئًا anything

An indefinite noun, 'a thing / anything', the object of the verb, carrying the object ending. Under the earlier negation it strengthens the 'not a single thing' reading, emphasising total absence.

From Gaps in a Collection of Pious Lives