LessonsArabic Syntax Practicum — Parsing Passages from Ten MaqāmātQuiz

«فَرُبَّ أُكْلَةٍ هَاضَتِ الْآكِلَ وَحَرَمَتْهُ مَا أَكَلَ»
Many a meal harms the eater and deprives him of the benefit of what he ate.

Rubba introduces the indefinite genitive uklatin. The feminine verb hāḍat agrees with the meal, while al-ākila is its direct object. Mā akala contains relative mā, “what he ate.”

Rubba can convey “many a,” “sometimes,” or an illustrative instance according to context. Here the warning is about a meal that injures the eater; it does not assert that every meal is harmful.

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Rubba and an illustrative example

Arabic Syntax Practicum — Parsing Passages from Ten Maqāmāt

«فَرُبَّ أُكْلَةٍ هَاضَتِ الْآكِلَ وَحَرَمَتْهُ مَا أَكَلَ»
Many a meal harms the eater and deprives him of the benefit of what he ate.

Rubba introduces the indefinite genitive uklatin. The feminine verb hāḍat agrees with the meal, while al-ākila is its direct object. Mā akala contains relative mā, “what he ate.”

Rubba can convey “many a,” “sometimes,” or an illustrative instance according to context. Here the warning is about a meal that injures the eater; it does not assert that every meal is harmful.