Hi I wondering if somebody could help me? I've just visited Egypt and asked somebody out there to translate a quote for me from English to Arabic. The quote is 'An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind'. I was told by 1 person Arabic lanugage doesn't have the word 'An' so the quote would read 'eye for eye makes the whole world blind'. But a different person told me they can have 'An' in the quote. Could somebody please clear this up for me and answer with the correct Arabic translation to this quote?
Thank you :)
That's right, We don't need to use "A" or "An" in Arabic.
We don't use any thing before Indefinite article, and we use "Al" before definite article.
But that's doesn't mean that the sentence will turn to "eye for eye makes the whole world blind", it's easy for Arab to differentiate between definite and Indefinite article while translation.
So your sentence:
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind
عين بعبن تجعل كل العالم أعمى
About definite and Indefinite, watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U34qE0VzaH4&list=PL0A4EB5D68AF2E67E&index=22
well, i dont think its possible in classical arab, i dont know about dialects, the only possibilty is to say " عين واحدة" "ayn wahida" .. which means "one eye". i think with "an" the quote sounds less eloquent compared to without "an" .
عين بعبن تجعل كل العالم أعمى
Ayn for ayn tajal kol lalam aama
An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind
عين واحدة بعين تجعل كل العالم أعمى
one eye for one eye makes the whole world blind
Ayn wahida for ayn tajal kol lalam aama
قصاص العين بالعين سوف يعقد الحياة كلها
"Eye for an eye makes the whole world blind"
it means do not face violent with violence
i think
It's fine to say "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind". Each language has its way to describe things. Not using "An or A" doesn't mean that we don't have an equivalent to the same meaning that you said.
And by the way, Arabic is so rich in words and synonyms. For Example, Lion has more than 200 names wich all mean "Lion".
Thank you for your replies! So would it sound better in Arabic if the quote was 'One eye for one eye makes the whole world blind'?- عين واحدة بعين تجعل كل العالم أعمى
Or it would be fine left as 'An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind'- عين بعبن تجعل كل العالم أعمى
