Arabic vocabulary
الدُّنْيَاworld
How to say “world” in Arabic, with pronunciation and real example sentences from OpenArabic texts.
Example sentences
الْأَصْنَام لذات الدُّنْيَا كسوداء
The idols are the pleasures of this world, like a dark-skinned woman.
الدُّنْيَا — of the world. 'The world / this life', the owner completing 'the pleasures of the world', genitive (a weak ending, so unmarked). The transient life whose delights are the idols.
From: Overcoming Desire →مَنْ نَفَّسَ عَنْ مُؤْمِنٍ كُرْبَةً مِنْ كُرَبِ الدُّنْيَا نَفَّسَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ كُرْبَةً مِنْ كُرَبِ يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ،
"Whoever relieves a believer's hardship of this world, Allah will relieve a hardship of the Day of Resurrection from him.
الدُّنْيَا — the world. The owner in 'hardships of ___', the worldly life, in the genitive though its fixed final 'aa' shows no case vowel. It locates the distress in this present world.
From: Easing a Believer's Hardship →وَمَنْ يَسَّرَ عَلَى مُعْسِرٍ، يَسَّرَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ،
And whoever makes it easy for the one in difficulty, Allah will make it easy for him in this world and in the Hereafter.
الدُّنْيَا — the world. In the genitive after 'in', the worldly life, its fixed final 'aa' showing no case vowel. The first of the two realms of reward.
From: Easing a Believer's Hardship →وَمَنْ سَتَرَ مُسْلِما سَتَرَهُ اللهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ ،
And whoever conceals the faults of a Muslim, Allah will conceal his faults in this world and in the Hereafter.
الدُّنْيَا — this world. In the genitive after 'in', the worldly life, its fixed 'aa' showing no case vowel. The first realm where God screens him.
From: Easing a Believer's Hardship →وإن كان الذي يبدو عليه في الدنيا إنما هو عمله لا سريرته
And if what appears of him in this world is only his deed and not his inner state,
الدُّنْيَا — this world. A noun made definite by al- (the), in the genitive from the preposition before it, naming the lower/present world as a known whole. The al- marks it as the one familiar 'this world' contrasted with the hereafter.
From: Preparing for Judgment Day →وذكر كذلك الذين اتخذوا العلم وسيلة وغرضا لتحصيل ملذات الدنيا وحطامها الفاني،
He also mentioned those who took knowledge as a means and a goal to acquire the pleasures of the fleeting world and its perishable goods.
الدُّنْيَا — of the world. The owning noun closing the 'pleasures of the world' pair. Carrying 'the', it makes the whole phrase definite and names this lower, nearer life as the owner of those pleasures.
From: Knowledge and Humility →علماء السوء الذين قصدهم من العلم التنعم بالدنيا والتوصل الى الجاه والمنزلة عند أهلها،
The corrupt scholars whose purpose in knowledge is to indulge in worldly life and attain status among its people.
بِالدُّنْيَا — in worldly life. Here 'bi-' is fused on as 'in' or 'by means of', attaching the worldly life as the sphere of the indulging. The preposition pulls the following noun into its governed form, and that noun's 'the' marks this present world as a known whole.
From: Knowledge and Humility →وقد وصف الله علماء السوء بأكل الدنيا بالعلم،
And Allah described the corrupt scholars as devouring the world with knowledge.
الدُّنْيَا — the world. This noun is what is devoured, linked to the action-noun before it in a possessive pairing, 'the eating of the world'. Its 'the' marks the present world as a known whole; the chain has no separate word for 'of'.
From: Knowledge and Humility →الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي جَعَلَ الدُّنْيَا عَلَى الْحَقِيقَةِ مَعْبَرًا اِعْتِبَارًا،
All praise is due to God, who made the world, in truth, a passage for reflection,
الدُّنْيَا — the world. Carries al- ('the') and is the first object of 'made' — the thing being assigned a new role. It names the worldly life, the term Arabic regularly sets against the hereafter. As the made-thing it takes the object ending and waits for the second object that says what it was turned into.
From: This World Is Short →ذَلِكَ مَتَاعُ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَهَلْ الْمَتَاعُ إِلَّا عَارِيَةٌ تُعَارُ،
That is the provision of worldly life; and is the provision anything but a loan that is lent?
الدُّنْيَا — worldly. Carries al- ('the') and is a describing word for 'the life' before it — 'worldly / of this world'. As an adjective it follows its noun and copies its definiteness and genitive case. It pins the whole phrase to this present life, the one being dismissed as a mere loan.
From: This World Is Short →وَلَقَدْ بُشِّرَ الصَّابِرُونَ بِثَلَاثٍ كُلُّ مِنْهَا خَيْرٌ مِمَّا عَلَيْهِ أَهْلُ الدُّنْيَا يَتَحَاسَدُونَ
And indeed the patient ones were given glad tidings of three things, each of which is better than what the people of the world compete over.
الدُّنْيَا — the world. The owner half of the 'of' chain, a definite noun naming worldly life, in the genitive as the possessor. Its built-in 'the' fixes 'the people of the world' as definite.
From: Patience and God's Help →وَأَوْصَى عِبَادَهُ بِالِاسْتِعَانَةِ بِالصَّبْرِ وَالصَّلٰوَةِ عَلَى نَوَائِبِ الدُّنْيَا وَالدِّينِ
And he advised his servants to seek help through patience and prayer when facing the calamities of the world and of religion.
الدُّنْيَا — the world. A definite noun ('the world') as the owner half of the 'of' chain ('calamities of the world'), in the genitive. Its 'the' fixes the pairing as definite.
From: Patience and God's Help →وَذَكَرَ اِبْنُ أَبِي الدُّنْيَا عَنْ بَعْضِ السَّلَفِ أَنَّ شَيْطَانًا لَقِيَ شَيْطَانًا
Ibn Abi al-Dunya reported from some of the predecessors that one devil met another.
الدُّنْيَا — the world. A definite noun in the genitive closing the name 'Abi al-Dunya', the owned-by term of the inner pairing. Its case is set by that owned role within the proper name.
From: Staying Firm in Faith →كَمَا أَنَّ اللُّصُوصَ قَوَاطِعُ لِطُرُقِ الدُّنْيَا عَلَى الْمُسْلِمِينَ
Just as thieves are highwaymen who block Muslims' access to the ways of the world.
الدُّنْيَا — the world. Definite by 'al-', this is the owner-half of an 'of' pairing with 'ways': 'the ways OF the world'. It sits in the genitive ending and tells you which roads are meant, the worldly ones, contrasting them later with the path of the afterlife.
From: Seeking Refuge from the Devil →وَأَغْصَانُهَا مُدَلَّاةٌ عَلَى الدُّنْيَا
And its branches hang down over the world.
الدُّنْيَا — the world. This noun sits in the genitive the preposition governs and names the realm the branches overhang. Its fixed feminine shape carries 'the world' as one definite idea.
From: Charity and Stinginess →قَدْ تَخَلَّى بِجِسْمِهِ وَفِكْرِهِ عَنْ أَسْبَابِ الدُّنْيَا،
He may have abandoned the concerns of the world in his body and in his mind.
الدُّنْيَا — the world. This noun is the owned-of term, naming whose concerns, and takes the genitive ending. Its fixed feminine shape carries 'the world' as one definite idea.
From: Guarding the Heart from Heedlessness →جَوَاذِبُ الطَّبْعِ إِلَى الدُّنْيَا كَثِيرَةٌ، ثُمَّ هِيَ مِنْ دَاخِلٍ،
There are many natural attractions to the world; they come from within.
الدُّنْيَا — the world. A noun made definite by the attached 'the' (al-), here governed by the preposition before it, so it sits in the genitive as the goal of the leaning. It names worldly life as the target that the natural pulls are drawn to.
From: Guarding the Heart from Heedlessness →وَلَا تَمُدَّا إِلَى ذَلِكَ أَعْيُنُكُمَا فَإِنَّهَا زَهْرَةُ الحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَزِينَةُ الْمُتَرَفِّينَ،
Do not turn your gaze toward that, for it is the fleeting flower of this worldly life and the ornament of the indulgent,
الدُّنْيَا — this world. This definite noun closes the phrase, attaching to 'life' to specify it as the present, lower world. It works as a descriptive tag on the noun before it, narrowing 'life' to 'this nearer worldly life'. The pairing as a whole stands in contrast to the hereafter mentioned elsewhere.
From: Under God's Shield →وَاعْلَمْ أَنَّهُ لَمْ يَتَزَيَّنْ الْعِبَّادُ بِزِينَةٍ أَبْلَغِ فِيمَا عِنْدِي مِنَ الزُّهْدِ فِي الدُّنْيَا،
And know that the servants have never adorned themselves with an ornament more effective, in my view, than asceticism in the world.
الدُّنْيَا — the world. This is a definite noun carrying 'the', governed by the 'in' before it and so in the governed form. It names the worldly realm in which the asceticism is practised. The 'the' marks it as the known single world rather than any world.
From: Under God's Shield →وإن كان الذي يبدو عليه في الدنيا إنما هو عمله لا سريرته فيوم القيامة تبدو عليه سريرته ويكون الحكم والظهور لها
If what appears about someone in this world is only his deeds and not his inner self, then on the Day of Resurrection his inner self will be revealed and the judgment and manifestation will be for it.
الدُّنْيَا — this world. A definite noun governed by the preceding 'in', so in the genitive. Its 'the' makes it the specific known realm, this present world, and it stands in deliberate contrast with the coming Day of Resurrection, a contrast the sentence is built around.
From: Creation Points to Resurrection →
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