وَيْلwoe

Example sentences

• فأمر بهما تارة وأثنى على فاعليهما تارة وتوعد بالويل والعقاب تاركهما تارة

  He commanded them at times, praised those who perform them at other times, and warned of woe and punishment for those who abandon them at other times.

  بِالْوَيْلِ — of woe. This noun has the preposition 'with/by' fused to its front and carries 'the', so 'with woe'. The preposition marks the content of the threat, governing the noun into the prepositional form.

  From: Prayer and Charity →

• فالعربي يقول من معاشرتهن ويلي

  So the Arab says from associating with them, 'Woe to me',

  وَيْلِي — Woe to me. An exclamation of grief that fixes 'woe' to a 'me' suffix, so one word means 'woe is upon me'. Arabic packs the lamenter into a pronoun ending on the cry itself, where English needs a separate 'to me', and the whole thing stands as a quoted outburst.

  From: Preferring the Hereafter →