حبك الشيء يعمي ويصم

[amirsherman]

Hi everyone,

سنن أبي داود | أبواب النوم باب في الهوى (حديث رقم: 5130 )

5130- عن أبي الدرداء، عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم، قال: «حبك الشيء يعمي ويصم»

If this means "Your love of something" then why isn't it حبك شيئا يعمي ويصم?

Thank you in advance

 

[analeeh]

Basically because الـ can have generic or abstract meaning, and so الشيء can correspond to 'a thing' in English. If you look through the forum you'll find plenty of questions and answers on the use of الـ in different contexts.

 

[Ali Smith]

Why was ال used though? What does it contribute to the meaning? What would حبك الشيء يعمي ويصم have meant if شيئا had been used instead?

حبك الشيء يعمي ويصم
حبك شيئًا يعمي ويصم

 

[𐎂𐎍𐎐𐎗 𐎃𐎐4]

It would mean "Your love of ONE thing".

 

[Mahaodeh]

Your love of ONE thing

I agree, but I would say that it’s “your love of a particular thing”, since “one thing” might be confused and understood to mean “only one thing, not more than one”.

 

[גולם]

Then what's the point of adding al-? Why not just say حبك شيئًا يعمي ويصم?

 

[Hamster Huey]

I think it’s just for style.