شيءthing

Example sentences

• فأيُّ شيء يسرق منه،

  So what could he steal from it,

  شَيْءٍ — thing. The owner completing 'what thing', genitive (the tanwin) — 'what [of] thing'. The pairing 'which + thing' is how Arabic forms 'what thing at all'.

  From: Repelling the Devil →

• وإن أراد سرقة شيء منه، فماذا يسرق؟،

  And if he wanted to steal something from it, what could he steal?!

  شَيْءٍ — something. The owner completing 'theft of something', genitive (the tanwin). Indefinite, leaving the stolen item unspecified.

  From: Repelling the Devil →

• من خلق فِيهِ قُوَّة واستعداد لشَيْء كَانَت لذته فِي اسْتِعْمَال تِلْكَ الْقُوَّة فِيهِ

  For the one created with strength and readiness for something, their pleasure is in using that strength for it.

  لِشَيْءٍ — for something. 'Li-' (for) fused with 'a thing', genitive (the tanwin) — 'for some thing'. The 'li-' marks what the power and readiness are aimed at.

  From: Directing Desire Toward God →

• فقال ألا أعلمكم شيئًا تدركون به من سبقكم، وتسبقون به من بعدكم، ولا يكون أحد أفضل منكم إلا من صنع مثل ما صنعتم؟

  He said: 'Shall I not teach you something by which you will catch up with those who have surpassed you, and you will surpass those after you, and no one will be better than you except those who do as you do?'

  شَيْئًا — something. This is the object of 'teach', in the accusative and indefinite — 'something', a means he is about to name. The indefiniteness holds the listeners in suspense; the relative clause that follows describes it.

  From: Praises That Elevate the Poor →

• ثُمَّ قَطَعَ دَابِرَهُمْ وَأَبْطَلَ سُنَّتَهُمْ وَمَحَا آثَارَهُمْ وَجَوْرَهُمْ فَإِنَّ أُولَئِكَ لَمْ يَكُونُوا عَلَى شَيْءٍ مِمَّا ذُكِرَ

  Then He completely cut them off, nullified their traditions, erased their traces and tyranny, for they were not upon anything of what was mentioned.

  شَيْءٍ — anything. This noun lacks 'the' and ends in the indefinite mark, 'anything', governed by the preposition before it. Under the surrounding negation it gives 'not upon anything at all', the indefiniteness shown by the ending.

  From: Signs of the Messenger in Medina →

• وَلَا يَجِيءُ فِي شَيْءٍ مِنْ ذَلِكَ تَكَلَّمَ لَهُمْ بِكَذَا وَكَذَا،

  And it is not fitting in any of that to say: 'He spoke to them with such and such',

  شَيْءٍ — any. An indefinite noun, 'anything/a thing', with no 'the', standing in the form the preposition before it imposes. Its indefinite, unmarked status is what gives the 'any' sense; Arabic leaves it bare precisely to keep the meaning open-ended.

  From: The Messenger as Conveyor of Revelation →

• وأنه لا يحدث شيء إلا بإرادته،

  and that nothing happens except by His will,

  شَيْءٌ — anything. The thing that does not happen, 'anything', filling the verb's subject slot and so taking the subject ending. It is left indefinite, no 'the', precisely because the sentence is about anything at all.

  From: Trusting God's Decree →