Idioms and Phrasal Verbs (Part-3)

a man of letters=a learned man

He is a man of letters of this village.

a bed of roses=a bed of flowers

Life is not a bed of roses.

a black sheep=a bad person

He is  a black sheep of the family.

at home in=expert

Mohammad is at home in all subjects.

above all=mainly

He is above all a doctor.

along with sb/sth=in addition to sth/sb

He lost his money along with his fame.

an open secret=a secret that is known to all

The matter is now an open secret that he killed him.

again and again=time and again

I told him not to do it but he is doing it again and again.

all on (of) a sudden=quickly and unexpectedly

The police attacked the robber all of a sudden.

at every step=at every moment/stage

We should be aware at every step of our life.

at length=after a long time

I saw him at length.

all the while =always

He grumbles to my ear all the while.

at any cost=in any way

I have to pass in the examination at any cost.

at all events=whatever happened

We will reach there in time at all events.

at dead of night=in the quietest part of the night

The robbers came to house at dead of night.

Benefits of making someone break the Fast

Fasting means ‘Swam’.  It’s an Arabic word.  Benefits of making the fast break in time that means after sunset is very great.

If anyone feeds any person to open the fast in the fixed time who is keeping fast, he will be given the same virtue or goodness (sowab/ neki) as the fast keeper gets.

Even anyone feeds the fast keeper with a small date no problem he will also get the same virtue as the fast keeper gets.

If anyone gives a glass of water to the fast keeper Allah will give him drinks or beverage in the Janna after death.

If any person feeds any fast keeper to keep fast in the midnight he will get the same virtue as the fast keeper gets.

But in this case the fast keeper will lose no virtue or goodness from his fasting. He will get the 100% goodness of his fasting as usual.

Benefits of Fasting

Swam is an Arabic language which means to keep fast. In details, it can be said that to starve from all types of foods and drinking is called swam or fasting. Fasting starts from the first day of the month of Ramadan from midnight to the sunset.  Ramadan is the month of having patience, saying prayers and deep thought of the almighty Allah, even to stop all sorts of conjugal life’s activities while keeping fast from midnight to the sunset. Fasting is in number fourth of the five bases of Islam. Fasting is the main spiritual and mental training for all the human beings. Through fasting we can understand the distress or pain of the hungry people. Fasting teaches us to have patience while we are in great trouble. Allah has promised us (in the holy Quran) to give the highest gift of fasting with his own hand. In the month of Ramadan people’ prayers are granted by Allah easily. If anyone does one good work in this month he will be given the goodness or virtue of seventy good works out of this month. The importance of this month is indescribable. If we follow the rules of the month of Ramadan, we will be able to lead the best lives up to death.

Kindness of Prophet Mohammad (SM)

One day our beloved prophet Mohammad (sm) was passing by a jungle, he came across a deer binding with a tree with a rope. He made forward and saw a poacher had trapped it.  The deer told, ‘I have two children who need milk at once so I need to go and after feeding them I will come back.’ But he did not believe and lose its binding. Prophet Mohammad (sm) heard everything from the deer. As he could understand everyone’s language, he made out the deer’s speech. Prophet Mohammad (sm) earnestly requested to the poacher to let it go.  In spite of his request, he did not leave it. The man was a heathen. Prophet Mohammad (sm) told, ‘I will stay here until it comes back, so bind me here up to its return.’ The man did as he was told. The deer went back and told her children, ‘Drink milk for the last time.’ The children asked her what the reason was. She told, ‘I was caught by a trapper and bound with a tree. For the sake of the life of the greatest prophet Mohammad (sm) I was able to come here again. Now he is bound to that tree.   I have to get back now otherwise that heathen will kill our prophet Mohammad (sm).’ The children told, we will also go with you. So they all together came back there. The heathen man was astonished thinking this that by believing this man (Prophet Mohammad (sm)) in spite of being animal they have come back again to sacrifice their lives. Then he believed him as the greatest man and the last prophet. At once, the heathen man accepted Islam seeing the beauty of the truthfulness, greatness and kindness of our Prophet Mohammad (sm) . Undoubtedly it can be said, he is the greatest of all human beings. We should follow his character to build our lives as the perfect human being. May Allah give us such a character to lead our lives up to death.

Use of as if / as though

The past subjunctive is used with as if / as though. It indicates the unreality, impossibility or doubt that happens in the present form.

Sub + present tense + as if / as though + past tense.

He talks as if he were a king.

The student talks as if he knew everything.

The boy behaves with me as though he knew me.

He talks as if he knew nothing about it.

The verb used prior to the subjunctive can be past form also without changing the tense of subjunctive.

The man talks / talked as if he were the boss of the office.

She looked / looks as though she were an innocent girl.

She behaved with me as if she did not know me.

The police-man behaves with the man as if he were all in all in the office.

She looks / looked at me as if she had never seen me.

Ramadan

Ramadan is the month of fasting for obeying the order of the almighty Allah. It is the blessing month to the Muslim Ummah.  In this month the whole of the Muslim Ummah keep themselves unfed from midnight to the sunset. There are many things to learn in this month. People can feel how the poor and needy people stay unfed while they don’t have anything to eat. They learn how to keep themselves patient in the crisis moment like when they feel thirsty they cannot drink anything and eat anything while they are hungry staying even in the hidden place for fear of Allah. Because we know well that if nobody sees, Allah sees everything wherever we are and what we are doing. This month teaches us how to lead an honest and disciplined life. This month is of tolerance, endurance and fortitude that keeps us away from all sorts of wars, quarrels and unethical activities.  We try our level best to say prayers five times in this month that is the ultimate command of Allah. It is high time we shunned telling lies from this month that is the main cause of all sins. If people follow the rules of Ramadan in their whole lives, there will be no chaos in the society and family. Brethren, fellow feeling, amity and fraternity will increase and peace will be established among the people. So, we should embed the teachings of holy Ramadan to enrich affection in our lives to obtain the highest gift of the almighty Allah after death.