كَانَتwere

Example sentences

• والثاني وهو الأرجح أن تسوية بنانه إعادتها كما كانت بعد ما فرقها البلى في التراب

  And the second, which is more likely, is that restoring his fingertips refers to making them as they were after decay had dispersed them in the dust.

  كَانَتْ — they were. This is a past-tense form of the verb 'to be' carrying a feminine 'they/it' subject, describing how the fingertips formerly were. Arabic's 'to be' verb appears in the past to set a prior state, where English would also reach for 'were'.

  From: Ten Proofs of Resurrection →

• وكانت أمه مولاة لأم سلمة؛ زوج النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم،

  His mother was a freedwoman of Umm Salama, the wife of the Prophet, peace be upon him.

  وَكَانَتْ — and she was. The opening particle joins this on, and the 'to be' verb carries a feminine 'she' subject marked by its ending, framing 'his mother was'. Arabic shows the feminine doer by that attached ending rather than a separate pronoun.

  From: Raised in the Prophet’s Household →

• وَهِي وَإِن كَانَت مَنْفَعَتهَا للْعَبد وَالله غَنِي عَنْهَا فَهِيَ لَهُ من جِهَة محبته لَهَا وَرضَاهُ بهَا

  And even though its benefit is for the servant and Allah is self-sufficient from it, it is for Him in terms of His love for it and His approval of it.

  كَانَتْ — it was. This is the past tense of the verb 'to be' with a feminine 'it' subject, anchoring the conceded description. The feminine ending agrees with worship, the thing being talked about, kept as the subject of this clause.

  From: Worship and Repentance →