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B Usage and style
B.1 “There is a …” sentences.
In English the plain existence of an indefinite subject is expressed using the word “there”. For example:
- “There is a gloom in the house”
- “There is a type of anger which is liked and [there is] a type of anger which is disliked.
- “There are reasons.”
- “There is a god.”
- “Is there food?”
- “Yes, there is food”
The word “there” in these examples does not indicate a specific place. Rather it signifies the existence of the subject of the sentence. This use of “there” is called the existential “there”.
Expressing such sentences in Arabic can sometimes be tricky. There is a modern tendency to use the ḍ͡harf makan هُنَاکَ and the majhūl verb يُوجَدُ. So one might find:
- هُنَاکَ حَزَنٌ فِي ٱلْبَيتِ. or
يُوجَدُ حَزَنٌ فِي ٱلْبَيتِ. - هناک غضب يستحب وهناک غصب يکره. or
يوجد غضب يستحب ويوجد غصب يکره. - هُناک أسباب. or
تُوجَدُ أسباب.
- هناک إله. or
يوجد إله. - هَل هناک طعام؟ or
هل يوجد طعام؟ - نَعَمْ هناک طعام. or
نَعَمْ يوجد طعام.
Sometimes in place of هُنَاکَ, its synonym, ثَمَّةَ is used. These usages of هُنَاکَ, ثَمَّةَ, and يُوجَدُ are foreign to Arabic and should generally be avoided.
In Classical Arabic, expressing such sentences falls under the category of sentences with indefinite subjects. We have discussed this topic in chapter ??.
There are various strategies for expressing such sentences:
If, for example, there is a jārr wa-majrūr, or other s͡hibh jumlah then it can readily be used as a k͡habar that precedes the mubtadaʾ. For example:
فِي ٱلْبَيتِ حَزَنٌ.
“In the house is gloom.”
Sometimes, a jārr wa-majrūr, or other s͡hibh jumlah is not original, but can readily be manufactured. For example, in the sentence, “There are reasons.” the reasons must be for something, and that something can be used as a k͡habar:
لِلْوَضْعِ أَسْبَابٌ.
“For the situation, are reasons.”
Similarly, a introductory sentence or s͡hibh jumlah can be manufactured to pave the way for the main sentence. For example:
الغَضَبُ غَضَبَانِ: غَضَبٌ مُسْتَحَبٌّ وَغَضَبٌ مَکْرُوهٌ.
“Anger is (actually) two angers: an anger that is liked, and an anger that is disliked.”
مَنَ ٱلْغَضَبِ مَا يٌسْتَحَبُّ وَمَا يٌکْرَهُ.
“From anger is that which is liked, that which is disliked.”
Sometimes it hard to come up with any of the above solutions, as in the sentence: “There is a god.” Such sentences, if they are able to be converted to an interjection, may be expressed with the subject itself as a one word sentence:
إِلَـٰهٌ!
“[There is] a god!”
This solution should only be considered if the sentence makes sense as an interjection, and can not be used as a blanket solution. For example, in the exchange:
“Is there food?”
“Yes, there is food.”
One way to express this in Arabic is:
هَلْ مِنْ طَعَامٍ؟
نَعَمْ، عِنْدَنَا طَعَامٌ.
English also uses the word “there” with this existential meaning for sentences like:
- “There was a king.”
- “There is no hope.”
These sentences can be expressed in Arabuc without indefinite subjects. For example:
کَانَ مَلِکٌ.
This uses the self-sufficient کَانَ. (See section ??.)لَا أَمَلَ.
This uses the nāfiyah lil-jins لَا. (See section ??.)
B.1.1 Legitimate use of هُنَاکَ and يُوجَدُ
If, of course, a place is intended by “there” then there is no problem using هُنَاکَ or its synonyms. For example:
أَثَمَّ زَيْدٌ؟
“Is Zayd there?”
Similarly, يُوجَدُ may be used with no problem if the meaning “is (to be) found” is intended. For example:
من قتل معاهدا لم يرح رائحة الجنة، وإن ريحها توجد من مسيرة أربعين عاماً
B.1.2 Technical and scientific use of يوجَد
Our above directive to avoid the use of يوجد to mean “there is” holds for normal sentences. Sometimes, however, a more technical meaning of “exists” is intended, especially in the language of science. In this case, يوجد and its ism mafɛūl موجود may be used when needing to discuss the existence of something in a scientific text. But such usage should be restricted to its domain, and should not, ideally, spill over to normal sentences, where a simple “there is” is intended.
While this concession can be granted to يوجد, we find no such justifying circumstance for using هناک existentially.
B.2 Pronoun of separation after question nouns
In later writing we find the following forms:
مَنْ هِيَ زَيْنَب؟
Who is Zaynab?
مَا هُوَ ٱلْإِسْلَامُ؟
What is Islām?
لِمَاذَا هُوَ حَزِينٌ؟
Why is he sad?
The insertion of the pronoun of separation (هُوَ, هِيَ, etc.) after question nouns is best avoided. So it is better to say:
مَنْ زَيْنَب؟
Who is Zaynab?
مَا ٱلْإِسْلَامُ؟
What is Islām?
As for “why” sentences, Arabic has a native expression using مَا لِ followed by a noun or pronoun in the i-state and then an adjective in the a-state. For example:
مَا لَهُ حَزِينًا؟
Why is he sad?
Another option, that is sometimes possible, is to convert the “why” question into a “what” question, thus:
مَا أَحْزَنَهُ
Why is he sad?
(literally: What has made him sad?)
B.3 “What happened to …”
When asking the question, “What happened to a person/thing?” the verbs فَعَلَ and صَنَعَ are used and the person or thing asked about is made the doer. For example:
يَا أَبَا عُمَيْرٍ مَا فَعَلَ النُّغَيْرُ
What happened to al-nug͡hayr
bukhari:6129
ما فعل أصحابک
What happened to your companions?
riyadussalihin:30
مَا فَعَلَتِ الرَّيْطَةُ
What happened to the thin cloak?
ibnmajah:3603
فَيَسْأَلُونَهُ مَاذَا فَعَلَ فُلاَنٌ مَاذَا فَعَلَ فُلاَنٌ
So they ask him: What happened to so-and-so? What happened to so-and-so?
nasai:1833
B.4 about
The word “about” is often indiscriminately translated as عَنْ. عَنْ is to be used, but only in specific circumstances. For example, with the verb سَأَلَ.
سَأَلَهُ عَنْ أَمْرٍ.
He asked him about a matter.
We have also found عَنْ in the narration:
مَا هَذَا الَّذِي يَذْکُرُونَ عَنِ الْحَسَنِ
abudawud:4621
Usually, though, the preposition فِي should be used instead. For example:
B.5 “What about …”
Avoid مَاذَا عَنْ when asking “What about someone/something?”
Instead use مَا بَالُ.
For example:
حَتَّى إِذَا فَرَغَ مَشَيْتُ، فَقُلْتُ مَا بَالُ الْعَظْمِ وَالرَّوْثَةِ
bukhari:3860
إِذَا تَوَاجَهَ الْمُسْلِمَانِ بِسَيْفَيْهِمَا فَکِلاَهُمَا مِنْ أَهْلِ النَّارِ “. قِيلَ فَهَذَا الْقَاتِلُ، فَمَا بَالُ الْمَقْتُولِ
bukhari:7083
عَنْ عَائِشَةَ، أَنَّهَا قَالَتْ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ مَا الشَّىْءُ الَّذِي لاَ يَحِلُّ مَنْعُهُ قَالَ الْمَاءُ وَالْمِلْحُ وَالنَّارُ ” . قَالَتْ قُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ هَذَا الْمَاءُ قَدْ عَرَفْنَاهُ فَمَا بَالُ الْمِلْحِ وَالنَّارِ
ibnmajah:2474
When the question “What about …?” is asked as a follow-up to a previous statement then the asked about person/thing can be asked by itself in a single word. For example:
عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَنَّهُ نَهَى أَنْ يَشْرَبَ الرَّجُلُ قَائِمًا . قَتَادَةُ فَقُلْنَا فَالأَکْلُ فَقَالَ ذَاکَ أَشَرُّ أَوْ أَخْبَثُة “what about eating?” muslim:2024b
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم لِلْمُتَلاَعِنَيْنِ ” حِسَابُکُمَا عَلَى اللَّهِ أَحَدُکُمَا کَاذِبٌ لاَ سَبِيلَ لَکَ عَلَيْهَا ” . قَالَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ مَالِي
“What about my wealth?”
abudawud:2257