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والذي نفسي بيده

English translation: The One in whose hands is my soul

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Arabic term or phrase:والذي نفسي بيده
English translation:The One in whose hands is my soul
Entered by: Aisha Maniar

20:01 Oct 10, 2004
Arabic to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Religion
Arabic term or phrase: والذي نفسي بيده
This is from the same hadith, which continues as follows:

والذي نفسي بيده لئن رايته لا يفارق سوادي سواده الخ

Any clarification thereon??? Many thanks...
Jacques Saleh
United States
Local time: 13:09
The One in whose hands is my soul
Explanation:
This is a common translation of this part of the phrase in English

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Note added at 11 mins (2004-10-10 20:13:13 GMT)
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blog.masud.co.uk/2004/04/ none-believes-until-he-loves-for-his
Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “By the One in whose Hand is my soul, no servant (of Allah) believes until he loves for his neighbor and brother what he loves for himself” (Bukhari and Muslim).

http://www.youngmuslims.ca/ymfn/archive_display.asp?ID=168
By the One in Whose hand is my soul, truly the miscarried child will certainly drag its mother with its umbilical cord to Paradise, provided one expects recompense [for SABR].\" Ibn Majah and Ahmad from Mu`adh.

Selected response from:

Aisha Maniar
Grading comment
That should do it... Most other answers seem correct too, but I guess you got here first... First comes first... Thanks.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5 +3The One in whose hands is my soul
Aisha Maniar
5 +1By whom in whose hand is my soul
Ahmed Ali
5 +1I swear by God ....
Sabry Hameed
5 +1By (Him) Whom my soul is in His Hand
paleozon
5[I swear] by Him who controls my soul
Hussam Mohammad
4I swear by Whom my soul in his hands.
Awad Balaish
4(I swear by Him "ALLAH") whome my whole being is his case
Suleiman Al Saqer
3by Him who holds my life in His Hands
Alaa Zeineldine


  

Answers


5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
والذي نفسي بيده
[I swear] by Him who controls my soul


Explanation:
It's a form of oath meaning [By Allah],it literarly means [By Him who controls my soul], ofcourse " holds my soul in His hand" is just a metaphor meaning that God controls my soul

Hussam Mohammad
Egypt
Local time: 21:09
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic
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9 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
والذي نفسي بيده
By whom in whose hand is my soul


Explanation:
This translation is unanimously agreed by major translators of religious texts, me included. hhh

Ahmed Ali
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic
PRO pts in category: 12

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Nancy Eweiss: or 'By Him in Whose Hands my soul is',‎
9 hrs
neutral  Nesrin: agree with Nancy
14 hrs
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2 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +3
والذي نفسي بيده
The One in whose hands is my soul


Explanation:
This is a common translation of this part of the phrase in English

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 11 mins (2004-10-10 20:13:13 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

blog.masud.co.uk/2004/04/ none-believes-until-he-loves-for-his
Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “By the One in whose Hand is my soul, no servant (of Allah) believes until he loves for his neighbor and brother what he loves for himself” (Bukhari and Muslim).

http://www.youngmuslims.ca/ymfn/archive_display.asp?ID=168
By the One in Whose hand is my soul, truly the miscarried child will certainly drag its mother with its umbilical cord to Paradise, provided one expects recompense [for SABR].\" Ibn Majah and Ahmad from Mu`adh.



Aisha Maniar
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 59
Grading comment
That should do it... Most other answers seem correct too, but I guess you got here first... First comes first... Thanks.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Nesrin
1 hr
  -> thank you
agree  Dr. Wathib Jabouri
1 hr
  -> thank you
agree  Nancy Eweiss: or 'By Him in Whose Hands my soul is,‎
9 hrs
  -> thank you
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17 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
والذي نفسي بيده
I swear by God ....


Explanation:
I swear by God ....

Sabry Hameed
Egypt
Local time: 21:09
Native speaker of: Arabic
PRO pts in category: 10

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  MElHelw: Nice and simple
13 hrs
  -> thanks
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5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
والذي نفسي بيده
By (Him) Whom my soul is in His Hand


Explanation:
SOUL may be substituted for BEING or PERSON

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Note added at 5 hrs 49 mins (2004-10-11 01:51:26 GMT)
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You may omit the word Him, which I put between parantheses. Note the capital letters...

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Note added at 5 hrs 54 mins (2004-10-11 01:55:49 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

This expression, as suggested by many participants here, is an oath and a way of insiting on the truth of the statement that follows it.

paleozon
Local time: 13:09
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic, Native in FrenchFrench

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Nancy Eweiss: By Him in Whose Hands my soul is,‎
3 hrs
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20 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
والذي نفسي بيده
I swear by Whom my soul in his hands.


Explanation:
Awadh

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Note added at 20 hrs 16 mins (2004-10-11 16:18:01 GMT)
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لا نعرف قسماً باللغة الإنجليزية يعتمد على حرف الواو و ضمير الغائب مثلا و و لذل فأن Swear ترجمة لهذا النوع من القسم
إقتراح أخر
I swear by Whom my soul in his own absolute mighty.

Awad Balaish
Saudi Arabia
Local time: 21:09
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic
PRO pts in category: 30
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
والذي نفسي بيده
by Him who holds my life in His Hands


Explanation:
What everyone agrees upon is that this was a figurative way to swear by Allah. I suggest that the translation remains figurative to capture the same tone of the original text. You can consider this suggestion in addition to the other good suggestions made above. You can also replace life with soul: by Him who holds my soul in His Hands.



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Note added at 3 hrs 49 mins (2004-10-10 23:51:14 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Correction: I suggest using singular \" by Him who holds my life in His Hand\".

In reflection, many of the ayat and ahadith that refer to Allah\'s abilities refer to one hand. The following ayah from surat al-zumar for example has two such references:

وما قدروا الله حق قدره والأرض جميعاًقبضته يوم القيامة والسماوات مطويات بيمينه.

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Note added at 1 day 16 hrs 41 mins (2004-10-12 12:43:34 GMT) Post-grading
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Answer to ahmed2704:

Of course, but that is not the subject. The translation of بيده is \"His Hand\" in the singular. Because the subject is about divine attributes, I corrected myself after translating the singular to plural like most people do when referring to the hands. The reason for my other citation was to demonstrate the importance of keeping the singular as singular, and the plural as plural. You would not misquote a common phrase in many hadith and say والذي نفس محمد بيديه instead of the correct words والذي نفس محمد بيده, you should also be as faithful to the text when you translate it.

Alaa Zeineldine
Egypt
Local time: 21:09
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in ArabicArabic, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 48

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Ahmed Ali: There is also: بل يداه مبسوطتان indicating 2 hands. Also, there is a hadith that mention Allah having two right hands وكلتاهما يمين . But of course, as u know, Allah's hands r not like ours. Thanks.
1 day 9 hrs
  -> Of course, but where is the conflict? See my comment above.
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4 days   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
والذي نفسي بيده
(I swear by Him "ALLAH") whome my whole being is his case


Explanation:
(I swear by Him "ALLAH") whome my whole being is his case( My soul's whole thing is the sole affair of HIM)

Suleiman Al Saqer
Jordan
Local time: 21:09
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Arabic
PRO pts in category: 4
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