Intermediate - Benefits of a grouchy wife

The standard Arabic equivalent of “he prays” is ﻴﺪﻋﻮ (yad’uu). Why has ﻮ (waw) been replaced by ﻲ (ya) in the text presented in this podcast? Has this substitution something to do with the fact that the verb “da’aa” is defective? (I hope all the Arabic letters will be visible on your screen.)

Well spotted. That part of the sentence is not really classical Arabic, just as we mentioned in the lesson that this script is a mixture of colloquial and classical, so the rule of da3aa/yad3oo does not apply to it.
In colloquial Arabic, the word yad3y is used, though in classical Arabic it is yad3oo which is the proper way of saying it.

@ Ehab

Thank you for this useful information, Ehab. Texts in which standard and vernacular elements are blended can pose considerable problems for learners of Arabic.

Arab politicians often lapse into the vernacular when they lose self-control. Ben Ali lapsed into the Tunisian dialect when he realised his situation was becoming untenable, and Gaddafi employed a considerable number of colloquialisms in his latest television address. Did you notice that he said ﻠﻴﺶ (leesh) instead of ﻠﻤﺎﺬﺍ (limaadha)?

In the text presented in your podcast the verb ﻴﺪﻋﻲ (yad’y) is followed by ﺤﺴﺒﻲ (hasbiya). Is ﺤﺴﺒﻲ (hasbiya) a colloquial preposition meaning “to”? I can’t find this word in any of the dictionaries or grammar books I’ve consulted.

The lexical item in question looks exactly like “hasby”, but “hasby” is a noun with a pronominal suffix. “Hasb” means “lot”, “portion”, “share” or “what is sufficient”, and “hasby” means “what is sufficient for me”. A good example can be found in Sami Yusuf’s best-selling hit entitled “hasby rabbi” (My Lord is enough for me).

@ Ehab

Is the word-group that follows "yad'y" a quotation from a prayer?

It is very common for people to mix classical and colloquial Arabic as the second is what they are used to in their daily life conversations. The quote from Sami Yusuf's nasheed (My Lord is enough for me) is the best way to translate (7asby), and (7asbiya Allah wa ne3m alwakeel) it is a common say that people use when they seek support, which is considered as a prayer.

@ Ehab

Thank you for confirming my assumptions concerning the word “hasby” and the word-group that follows the verb ﻴﺪﻋﻲ (yad’y).

I’ve managed to track down this word-group on the Net. In English this kind of utterance would be described as an ejaculation. In a medical context “ejaculation” denotes an abrupt discharge of seminal fluid, but in a religious context it denotes a brief pious utterance or prayer. The French and German equivalents of “ejaculation” are “prière éjaculatoire” and “Stoßgebet” respectively.

Let’s look more closely at the constituents of the ejaculation under discussion. There are four nouns: ﺤﺴﺒﻲ (hasby), ﺍﷲ (Allah), ﻨﻌﻡ (ni’m) and ﻮﻜﻴﻝ (wakiil). The first item consists of the noun “hasb” (= what is sufficient) and a pronominal suffix which can be rendered as “my”. The noun “Allah” requires no comment, but ﻨﻌﻡ (ni’m) is somewhat problematic. It looks like an affirmative particle (“yes”), but in this particular instance it evidently means “grace” or mercy”. In some Arabic texts it is spelt ﻨﻌﻡ, but in others it has a “taa marbuta” (ﻨﻌﻤﺔ). Is there any difference between these two variants? The fourth noun is evidently related to ﻮﻜﺎﻠﺔ (wakaala), the Arabic word for “agency”, and it can normally be rendered as “agent” or “deputy”.

Now let’s consider the syntactic relations between the constituents of the ejaculation. The first two elements (hasby Allah) constitute an equative clause with an implicit copula. The clause can be rendered in English as “Allah is enough for me”.

The function of the conjunction “wa” is less clear. Does it introduce a new clause, or does it merely establish a link between “Allah” and “ni’m”?

The word-group “ni’m al-wakiil” looks like an ‘idaafa. “Ni’m” is undetermined, but there is a definite article before “wakiil”? If this is indeed an ‘idaafa, it must mean “the grace of the agent”.

If the ejaculation consists of a single clause there must be a double subject (Allah + ni’m al-wakiil), and the English translation will be: “God and the grace of the agent are enough for me.” But what is meant by “the grace of the agent”? Who is the agent (wakiil)?

Finally, how can we translate the sentence in the text presented in the podcast? I think the best solution would be: “All day long he implores God to have mercy on him.”

This is the funniest lesson ever. You guys rock :)

Desmond, I think that نعم الوكيل would rather translate as ''the best agent, trustee'', etc...

@ Teresabollin

I don't see any connection between "ni'm" and "best", and the identity of the agent remains a mystery. Perhaps Ehab can shed some light on this question.

@Desmond

I do not know the contents of this intermediate lesson, as my account type is free. But I happened to find the meanings of نعم and نعمة on searching, and thought of sharing it with you.

نعم (ni3ma) followed by a definite noun ending in nominative case, is an expression of exclamation, which means “what an excellent … !”, “what a wonderful … !”. For example,

نعم المعلم (ni3mal mu3allimu) = what an excellent teacher!

So, ونعم الوكيل may mean “and what an excellent agent / trustee!” It is only a guess; hosts may correct it, if I am wrong.

نعمة (ni3mah) = grace, blessing
بنعمة الله (bini3matillaah) = by the grace of God

The proverb is not "Behind every great man is a woman" BUT "BEHIND EVERY GREAT MAN IS A GREAT WOMAN"

I have a question about line 4, where it says ھربان عند ّأم ه. Why is it "haraban" and not يهرب؟ It is referring to the husband, which is masculine singular, isn't it?