كُنَّاWe were

Example sentences

• كنا مع رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم في سفر،

  We were with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) on a journey.

  كُنَّا — We were. This is the past tense of 'to be' with the 'we' subject built into its ending, so one word means 'we were'. Arabic marks person and number inside the verb itself, needing no separate 'we'; this verb sets the past frame the rest of the scene unfolds within.

  From: A Prophet Warns His People →

• كُنَّا فِي الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ لَا نَعُدُّ النِّسَاءَ شَيْئًا،

  We were in the Age of Ignorance; we did not regard women as anything,

  كُنَّا — we were. A past 'to be' verb with '-na' marking a 'we' subject; it sets a past state and is the kind of helper-verb that hosts a following verb to build a continuous past ('we used to...'). The 'we' is folded inside it.

  From: Umar and the Prophet's Wives →

• كُنَّا نَخَافُ أَنْ يَأْتِيَنَا،

  We were afraid that he would come to us.

  كُنَّا — we were. A past 'to be' verb with '-na' for the 'we' subject; it sets a past state and hosts the following verb to build a continuous past ('we were fearing'). The 'we' is folded in.

  From: Umar and the Prophet's Wives →

• إِمَّا كُنَّا ظَنَّاً أَنَّ أَوْلَادَكَ لَا يَتَغَيَّرُونَ

  Either we had thought that your children would not change.

  كُنَّا — we were. Past-tense 'to be' verb with 'we' in its ending. Paired with the noun of thinking after it, it builds a 'we had been (in a state of) thinking' frame, setting the supposition in the past.

  From: Sheba's Garden and Destruction →

• كنا مع رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم في دعوة، فرفع إليه الذراع، وكانت تعجبه،

  We were with the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, at a meal where a foreleg was presented to him, which he liked.

  كُنَّا — We were. A past-tense verb with the 'we' ending built into its shape, so no separate pronoun is needed. This particular verb works like 'to be', setting up a past state and inviting the rest of the sentence to say where or how the group was.

  From: The Prophet's Intercession →