Learn Arabic › B2 › بَلاء
بَلاء
trial /baˈlaːʔ/
nounB2#4106 most common
Also: affliction, tribulation, calamity
Example sentences
هَذَا بَلاءٌ كَبِيرٌ.
This is a great affliction.
صَبَرَتْ عَلَى الْبَلاءِ بِقُوَّةٍ.
She endured the affliction with strength.
المَرَضُ بَلاءٌ يَخْتَبِرُ صَبْرَ الإِنْسانِ.
Illness is a trial that tests a person's patience.
نَسْأَلُ اللهَ أَنْ يَرْفَعَ عَنَّا هَذَا الْبَلاءَ.
We ask God to lift this affliction from us.
فِي كُلِّ بَلاءٍ حِكْمَةٌ قَدْ لا نُدْرِكُها فِي حِينِها.
In every trial there is wisdom we may not grasp at the time.
يَرَى بَعْضُ العُلَمَاءِ أَنَّ الابْتِلاءَ وَجْهٌ مِنْ وُجُوهِ البَلاءِ يُمَيِّزُ الصَّادِقَ مِنَ المُدَّعِي.
Some scholars hold that testing is one face of tribulation that separates the sincere from the pretender.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | بَلاءٌ | None |
| Genitive | بَلاءٍ | None |
| Accusative | بَلاءً | None |
| Vocative | يا بَلاءُ | None |
Word family
بَلاto test, try
ابْتِلاءtrial, testing (often by God)
بَلِيَّةcalamity, misfortune
مُبْتَلًىafflicted, tried, tested
Etymology
بَلاء is the verbal noun of the triliteral root ب-ل-و, from the verb بَلا / يَبْلُو, meaning to test or try someone. The same root also carries the sense of wearing something out through use, so a trial in this word is literally something that wears a person down and shows what they are made of. This is a native Semitic root, not a borrowing.
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