In The Name of ALLAH, The

Entirely Merciful, The Especially

Merciful
Peace and blessings of ALLAH be
upon our prophet, Mohammad
'O Lord, he said "Ya Rabb! Lakal-
hamdu kama yanbagi li-jalali
Wajhika wa li'azima sultanika (O
Lord, to You is praise as befits
the Glory of Your Face and the
greatness of your Might).'
 ‫‪Idioms‬‬
‫التعبيرات اإلصطالحية‬
 By:
Dalia Elsayed
English course at RSH
 Discussion on:
- What are idioms?
- Are all correct?
- Discussion: Why are Arabic
idioms are similar to western
ones?
What are Idioms?
Cambridge defined idiom as: it is a
group of words in a fixed order
that have a particular meaning
that is different from the
meanings of each word on its
own.
Example:
the proof of the pudding is in the
eating
‫الميه تكدب الغطاس‬
First step:
We have to put our rule to
measure to what extent the idiom
is correct.
i.e. To differentiate between
correct and incorrect idioms.
Accordingly to decide what of
them we will accept and what of
them we will reject.
What is Our Rule?
We take our rules from the Holy
Koran and Noble Sunnah.
What has ALLAH, the Almighty
said, and what has Prophet
Muhammad, peace and blessings
be upon him, said?
We will take each idiom and
measure with our basic rules from
the Holy Koran and the Noble
Sunnah.
Our first example: the proof of the
pudding is in the eating
‫الميه تكدب الغطاس‬
Here, the idiom compares
between sayings and actions of
human to know how honest they
are.
Therefore, Search

To decide if this idiom is correct or

not, we can refer to the Holy verse
that says:
َ ‫«يَا أَيُّ َها الَّ ِذ‬
َ ُ‫ين آ َمنُوا ِل َم تَقُول‬
‫ون َما َل‬
2‫» الصف‬.‫ون‬ َ ُ‫ت َ ْفعَل‬
Then the idiom is true,
we can accept it.
Second example:
Once bitten, twice shy
It is derived from the Noble
Hadith in:
‫ ل يلدغ‬:‫قول رسول هللا صلى هللا عليه وسلم‬
‫ رواه البخاري‬.‫مؤمن من جحر مرتين‬
So, accept… it is true
Third idiom:

he makes a dome out of a grain

‫يعمل الحبة قبة‬
It is a bad habit to exaggerate
something, i.e. not to bind with
truth.
‫‪We can refer to the Noble Hadith:‬‬

‫إن الصدق يهدي إلى البر‪ ،‬وإن البر يهدي‬

‫إلى الجنة‪ ،‬وإن الرجل ليصدق حتى يكتب عند‬
‫هللا صديقًا‪ ،‬وإن الكذب يهدي إلى الفجور‪،‬‬
‫وإن الفجور يهدي إلى النار‪ ،‬وإن الرجل‬
‫ليكذب حتى يكتب عند هللا كذابًا" (متفق‬
‫عليه)‪.‬‬
The Messenger of Allah ( )‫ﷺ‬said, “Truth
leads to piety and piety leads to Jannah.
A man persists in speaking the truth till
he is recorded with Allah as a truthful
man. Falsehood leads to transgression
and transgression leads to the Hell-fire. A
man continues to speak falsehood till he
is recorded with Allah as a great liar.”
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
Then the idiom is true
if it used to refuse this
untrusted behavior, so,
we can accept it.
Fourth idiom:
carry coals to Newcastle
‫يبيع المياه في حارة السقايين‬
This idiom criticizes unbalanced
selection. It relates to selecting
suitable action/place with the
right place/ situation.
‫‪Our Prophet Mohammad, peace and‬‬
‫‪blessings of ALLAH be upon him was keen‬‬
‫‪to choose best place of market at Al-‬‬
‫‪Madina.‬‬
‫ّللا ـ صلى هللا عليه وسلم ـ‬ ‫سو َل َّ ِ‬ ‫س ْيد أ َ َّن َر ُ‬ ‫َح َّدثَنا أَبَا أ ُ َ‬
‫س َهذَا لَ ُك ْم‬ ‫يط فَنَ َظ َر ِإلَ ْي ِه فَقَا َل " لَ ْي َ‬ ‫وق النَّ ِب ِ‬
‫ِ‬ ‫س‬
‫ُ‬ ‫ى‬‫َ‬ ‫ل‬ ‫إ‬
‫ِ‬ ‫ب‬‫َ‬ ‫َ‬
‫ه‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ذ‬
‫س‬ ‫سوق فَنَ َظ َر ِإلَ ْي ِه فَقَا َل " لَ ْي َ‬ ‫ب ِإلَى ُ‬ ‫سوق " ‪ .‬ث ُ َّم ذَ َه َ‬ ‫ِب ُ‬
‫اف فِي ِه‬ ‫وق فَ َط َ‬‫ِ‬ ‫س‬
‫ُّ‬ ‫ال‬ ‫ا‬‫َ‬ ‫ذ‬‫ه‬‫َ‬ ‫ى‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ل‬ ‫إ‬
‫ِ‬ ‫ع‬
‫َ‬ ‫ج‬
‫َ‬ ‫ر‬‫َ‬ ‫م‬
‫َّ‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ث‬ ‫‪.‬‬ ‫"‬ ‫وق‬ ‫س‬
‫ُ‬ ‫ب‬
‫ِ‬ ‫م‬ ‫ْ‬ ‫ُ‬
‫ك‬ ‫َ‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ا‬ ‫َ‬ ‫َهذ‬
‫علَ ْي ِه‬ ‫ص َّن َولَ يُ ْ‬
‫ض َربَ َّن َ‬ ‫سوقُ ُك ْم فَالَ يُ ْنتَقَ َ‬ ‫ث ُ َّم قَا َل " َهذَا ُ‬
‫َخ َراج " ‪ .‬سنن ابن ماجة‬
the Messenger of Allah ( )‫ﷺ‬went to the
market of Nabit,[1] and looked at it, and
said: "This is not a market for you." Then
we went to another market and looked
at it, and said: "This is not a market for
you." Then he came back to this market
and walked around in it then he said:
"This is your market. It will always be
your market and no duty will be levied
on it.“ Sunan Ibn Majah
Souq Al-Manakha, in the
current days at Al-Madinah
Al-Mounawara is the same
Market at the Prophet age.
 - Discussion: Why are
Arabic idioms are similar
to western ones?
 Discussion was done between
members, and they concluded
altogether that: the case may be
due to the following reasons:
- Spreading of Islam in different
western countries, and Islamic
history, culture, and science
- Arabic literature
- Traders from foreign countries
- Tourism
- Scientific cooperation
In addition, each idiom has certain
story, so through human instinct
(ALLAH, the Almighty, creates it)
and legacy of morals (over ages and
through instruction of prophets of
ALLAH), human was able to
formulate short phrases with
specific meaning, ALLAH willing.
References:

- https://sunnah.com
- https://dictionary.cambridge.or
g