LessonsReasons for Omitting the Object: Context, Economy, and ScopeQuiz

«وَلَوْ شِئْتُ أَنْ أَبْكِي دَمًا لَبَكَيْتُهُ»
And had I wished to weep blood, I would have wept it.

Naming «دمًا» is purposeful. Ordinary weeping is associated with tears; weeping blood presents a strange and intensified image. A bare “Had I wished, I would have wept” would not convey that extraordinary object.

Hence the object after a verb of willing is not invariably deleted. If it is readily inferred it may be omitted, but if its unexpected quality is the rhetorical point, expressing it can be essential.

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An expected versus a striking object of willing

Reasons for Omitting the Object: Context, Economy, and Scope

«وَلَوْ شِئْتُ أَنْ أَبْكِي دَمًا لَبَكَيْتُهُ»
And had I wished to weep blood, I would have wept it.

Naming «دمًا» is purposeful. Ordinary weeping is associated with tears; weeping blood presents a strange and intensified image. A bare “Had I wished, I would have wept” would not convey that extraordinary object.

Hence the object after a verb of willing is not invariably deleted. If it is readily inferred it may be omitted, but if its unexpected quality is the rhetorical point, expressing it can be essential.