# أجل



## Whodunit

Can you think of some situation in which the word أجل (adjl) can be used separately? I mean can it be used without its accessory particles ل or من?

لأجل - li2adjli
من أجل - min adjli


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## Heba

Hi
I do not think that أجل (adjil) can be used without م  or ل .
Perhaps you mean the word  أجل  (adjal) which has the same form but a different pronounciation. The latter can be used alone to mean ''yes''.


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## Whodunit

Thanks for your answer, Heba. 

I was referring to the word "adjl" (I don't think there's an "i" in between) exclusively. Of course, there's a variety of pronunciations for أجل, but all of them have different meanings. I'm only referring to the one with the meaning "because of ..."/"for ... sake".

I guess you meant it cannot be used without من or ل, right?


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## cherine

To my knowledge, there are only two varieties of pronounciations for أجل : ajl, ajal , the first one أجْـل expresses reason and *doesn't come alone*, i.e. it must be preceded by a preposition ل - من (yes, Heba made a slight typo and forgot the ن ). 
The second one expresses confirmation (yes) أجَل .

If you've seen the word أجل mentioned alone (i.e. without preposition) could you please provide us with a context, so we can make things clearer to all of us ?


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## Whodunit

cherine said:
			
		

> To my knowledge, there are only two varieties of pronounciations for أجل : ajl, ajal , the first one أجْـل expresses reason and *doesn't come alone*, i.e. it must be preceded by a preposition ل - من (yes, Heba made a slight typo and forgot the ن ).


 
Okay, this answers my quesion. 



> The second one expresses confirmation (yes) أجَل .


 
That was the first meaning of this word I learned. It seems to be stronger "na3am", like "laa" opposed to "kallaa".



> If you've seen the word أجل mentioned alone (i.e. without preposition) could you please provide us with a context, so we can make things clearer to all of us ?


 
I'm sorry that I can't work with context, but I know that it can mean "fixed period of time" or "end of time", as well. My dictuionary even suggests a verb that is supposed to be pronounced "ajjala" and that means "to delay". Look here.

If I come across some helpful context, I'll post it here.


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## Sidjanga

Hi all,

Is it true that - as suggested by Whodunit - *أجَل *is stronger than نعم but has basically the same meaning (and usage)?

I am a little surprised to find أجَل to be the only word they use for agreement in the book I am currently working with, in places where from my current experience with the language I would always use and expect just نعم (normal, everyday, and quite unspectacular conversations).

 Could it just be a personal preference of the author, or are there maybe regional differences/preferences, even when it comes to MSA?


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## djara

Whodunit said:


> I'm sorry that I can't work with context, but I know that it can mean "fixed period of time" or "end of time", as well. My dictuionary even suggests a verb that is supposed to be pronounced "ajjala" and that means "to delay". Look here.
> 
> If I come across some helpful context, I'll post it here.


 He are a few examples:
في أجل أقصاه يوم الجمعة by Friday at the latest
آخر أجل لتقديم المطالب The deadline for submitting applications
وافاه الأجل المحتوم He died (He was overtaken by the inescapable end/fate)
أجل زيارته للأسبوع القادم He postponed his visit to next week (ajjala)


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## Abu Rashid

> To my knowledge, there are only two varieties of pronounciations for أجل


I can think of another word. In Islam, we use this word for "lifespan", ie. the amount of time allotted to a human being for his life to occupy.

spelled: أجَل

If it's just a more specialised meaning of the existing word, then disregard.


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## djamal 2008

أجل could be translated as indeed.


من أو ل أجل = for s.t. sake. In order to...


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## Faylasoof

In fus7a,< أجَل _'ajal_, plural  آجال _aajaal_ > =appointed time, fixed term, fate, destiny, death

..and  أجَل _'ajal_ also means <<indeed, no doubt, undoubtedly>>

  But we also have, <_’ajl_> :

  1) cause, reason, sake, (as _min ‘ajl_ / _le-‘ajl_ = because of) - here <_’ajl_> never stands alone!
 
  2) troop of animals (e.g. buffaloes) - but this <_’ajl_> can stand alone.
 
.... and there are a these too:

<_’ijl_ (plural _aajaal_)> sore throat!

  <_aajil_> = one who delays / grants a delay,

  <_al-aajilah_>  = the future life


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## xebonyx

faylasoof said:


> 2) troop of animals (e.g. Buffaloes) - but this <_’ajl_> can stand alone.


 
أظن أن أعرف ما تقصده ولكن في حال لم أفهم فهل يمكنك التوفير مثال جمل بهذا؟


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## cherine

Sigianga said:


> Is it true that - as suggested by Whodunit - *أجَل *is stronger than نعم but has basically the same meaning (and usage)?


I can't confirm whether it's stronger or not. But, to my knowledge, "na3am" is equally -if not more commonly- used as "ajal".



Abu Rashid said:


> I can think of another word. In Islam, we use this word for "lifespan", ie. the amount of time allotted to a human being for his life to occupy.
> 
> spelled: أجَل
> 
> If it's just a more specialised meaning of the existing word, then disregard.


I'm sorry, this meaning didn't occur to me when I wrote that post.
Yes, ajal means lifespan, but I don't think it's specific to the religious context.
We commonly say وافاه الأجل = his time came = he died.



Faylasoof said:


> But we also have, <_’ajl_> :
> 
> 2) troop of animals (e.g. buffaloes) - but this <_’ajl_> can stand alone.
> 
> .... and there are a these too:
> 
> <_’ijl_ (plural _aajaal_)> sore throat!
> 
> <_aajil_> = one who delays / grants a delay,


Could you please provide some sentences (and the Arabic script)? I don't think I've seen these words with these meaning before. Maybe it's classical? 

As for آجِل aajil, it is -as far as I know- the delayed thing, not the person who delays mu2ajjil مؤجل .


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## alotaibi

Whodunit said:


> Can you think of some situation in which the word أجل (adjl) can be used separately? I mean can it be used without its accessory particles ل or من?
> 
> لأجل - li2adjli
> من أجل - min adjli



لأجل  for that reason
من أجل because of 

in the above meaning you cant use أجل without ل or من


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## Faylasoof

Hi Xebonyx and Cherine. Sorry for the delay in replying, but this turned out to be a bigger task than I foresaw… and it is still not quite finished! However, I thought it best to submit what I have so far.

  Cherine you guessed it right. Most of these are indeed from the classical language.

Instead of concocting all sentences of my own, I’ve been scouring Arabic literature for examples of the varied usage of the root < أجل >. Not any easy task as this literature is vast! So far been able to deal in some way only with < أَجَلَ ‘ajala , أَجَّلَ ‘ajjala , أّجَلْ  ‘ajal > since they were the easiest to look for. The Quran alone has numerous examples of these.   

But before that, I thought it prudent to give the different definitions I found in various dictionaries. The lexicons that I’ve consulted are: 

Advanced Learners Arabic-English Dictionary by Anthony Slamone (AS)
A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic by Hans Wehr (HW)
A Learner’s Arabic-English Dictionary by Francis Steingass (FS)
Arabic-English Lexicon by Edward Lane (EL)

أَجَلَ ‘ajala = To excite, provoke (against علي ). To tarry, linger, hesitate.- (AS/ FS/ HW/EL)

أَجُلَ ‘ajula = To be fixed (a term). To hinder, prevent (used with عن). (AS/ HW)

أَجِلَ ‘ajila = To hesitate, tarry, linger, restrict, withhold, debar. (AS/ FS/ HW/ EL)

أَجَّلَ ‘ajjala = To delay, postpone, adjourn, fix a term for someone, grant delay. (HW/ FS/ AS/ EL)

آجَلَ aajala = To prevent cure of a sore throat. To collect water (in a pool).- (FS)

تَأجَّلَ ta’ajjala = To have / attain a term, be postponed, be adjourned, assemble in due time, gather in a company, herd together, collect. (HW/ FS/ AS/ EL)

إستأجَلَ ista’jala = To ask for a delay or a term, request postponement. (FS/ HW/ AS/ EL)

! أّجَلْ  ‘ajal = Yes indeed! Certainly! By all means! Definitely! etc. (HW/ AS/ FS)

أجْل ‘ajl / إجْل ‘ijl = Troop, company, herd. (FS/ AS)

أّجَلْ ,  آجال ‘ajal, aajaal (pl.) = appointed / fixed time or date, moment of death, deadline, destiny, fate. (HW/ FS/ AS/ EL)
قصير الأجل  qaseer-ul-‘ajal = short-lived, short-term. (HW)
  أجل غير مسمي ‘ajal ghayri musamman = until further notice (HW)
  تأجيل ta’jeel = postponement, adjournment, deferment 
آجِل aajil = delayed, deferred; future (HW).  One who grants a delay, what is postponed (FS).
  عاجِلا و آجِلا  3aajilan wa ‘aajilan = sooner or later.(HW)
  فى العاجِل والآجِل fil-3aajil wal-‘aajil = now and the future.(HW/ AS)
الآجِلَة  al-aajilah = The hereafter, life to come, the next life. (HW/ AS)
  مُؤجَّل mu’ajjal = delayed, postponed, deferred. 

أُجَّل / إجَّل ‘ujjal / ‘ijjal = chamois (FS)
إجْل , آجال  'ijl , aajaal = sore throat (FS)

[ Of course we also have:
   أَجَلّ / جُلّاء ‘ajall / julla’ = more important, more sublime, splendid.
  <- جَلّ  from
جَليل , أَجِلّة  jaleel , ‘ajillah (pl.)= important, great, significant, lofty etc. etc. and    جَلّjall =  sublime.]


أَجِلَ /  أَجَلَ   عَلَيهِم شَرَّاٌ
He committed evil against them OR He excited / stirred / provoked it against them (EL)

أَجَلَ أَجْلَهُم
He prevented / debarred their herd (troop) of cattle from pasturage 

أَجَلَ مالَهُم
He restricted / debarred their chattel / cattle. (EL)

In the Quran <a-j-l> and its derivatives occur about 55-56 times. Here are some examples for أَجَل and أَجَّلَ :

حَتٍّى يَبلُغَ الكِتابُ أَجَلَهُ وَ ٱعلَمُوا أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَعلَمُ ما فِي أَنفُسِكُمْ
Until the prescribed term is completed and know that God knows whatever is within yourselves -- al-Quran, al-Baqarah, 235 


لِأَيِّ يَومٍ أُجِّلَتْ
To which day is the fixed term / appointment -- al-Quran, al-Murasalat, 12.

وَ بَلَغنا أَجلَنا الّذى أَجَّلتَ لَنا
And we have reached the term which You have assigned for us - Quran, al-An3am, 128


هُوَ  الأ وَّلُ  وَلَمْ يَزَلْ وَ الْباقي بِلا أَجَلٍ خَرَّتْ لَهُ الجِباهُ وَ وَحَّدَتْهُ الشِّفَاهُ
He is the first and doesn’t cease (permanent), is eternal and without end (fixed duration); foreheads bow to Him and lips praise His oneness. – Ali Ibn Abi Talib in praise of God (from نَهْجُ البَلاغَة).


بُدِئتَ ﴿ مِن سُلالَةٍ مِن طِينٍ﴾ وَ وُضِعتَ ﴿ في قَرارٍ مَكينٍ إلَى قَدَرٍ مَعلومٍ ﴾ وَ أَجَلٍ مَقْسومٍ
You (Man) originated from the essence of clay and were kept in a safe place till a preset duration and for a fixed period.  – Ali Ibn Abi Talib, the 4th Caliph, on the creation of Man, where the bracketed terms are quotations from the Quran. (from نَهْجُ البَلاغَة).


جاءَهُ كَعبُ الأ حبار فقال : يا أمير المؤمنين إنّكَ مَيِّتٌ فى ثلاثة أيام . و ما يُدْرِيكَ ؟  قال : أجِدُهُ فى كتابِ اللّه التَّوراة . قال عمر : اللّهَ ، إنّكَ لَتَجِد عمر بن الخطّاب فى التَّوراة ؟  قال : لا، و لكنّى أجدُ  صِفَتَكَ وَ انّه قد فنى أَجَلُكَ .​                                                                                            Jarir at-Tabari -   تاريخ الرسل و الملوك – recounting a conversation between Omar bin Khattab, the 2nd Caliph, and his Jewish friend Ka3b-ul-Ahbaar, who relates to the former that he has only three days to live as foretold in a way <in the Torah, the Book of God فى كتابِ اللّه التَّوراة >. A point that surprised the Caliph. 


لِأجْلِ / مِن أجْلِ  li-‘ajl / min ‘ajl = for the sake of, for the purpose of, (AS/ HW/ FS/ EL)

آجِل / أجيل = dilatory (AS)
الأَ جيِل  ‘ajeel =  the granter of delay; the assembled (FS)

There is a bit more on < أّجَلْ  ‘ajal>, but I shall do that next time. Have to stop. Now quite late. Very sleepy!


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## xebonyx

Faylasoof said:


> Hi Xebonyx and Cherine. Sorry for the delay in replying, but this turned out to be a bigger task than I foresaw… and it is still not quite finished! However, I thought it best to submit what I have so far.



بارك الله فيك
Thanks for taking the time to post this up...it's brilliant and informative.



> Have to stop. Now quite late. Very sleepy!


Same here.  تصبح على الخير


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## Mahaodeh

Faylasoof: good work  I was going to do that but you saved me the trouble.



cherine said:


> I can't confirm whether it's stronger or not. But, to my knowledge, "na3am" is equally -if not more commonly- used as "ajal".


 
I remember reading in a book once (don't remember where or when) that says that they are equal in meaning and can be used interchangably, but نعم مفضلة في ردّ النداء وأجل مفضلة في الإجابة بالإيجاب (talking about fus7a of course).

So basically, if someone was calling you and you wanted to say "yes", then it's better to use نعم; if someone asked a question and you wanted to answer the question with yes, it's better to say أجل; but from what I read at the time, you can still answer with 'ajal to someone calling and na3am to answer a question.


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## Faylasoof

Firstly, thank you Mahaodeh and Xebonyx for your apprecitation! 

اشكركم / كنّ  جزيل الشكر على  الجهدي  الصغير

Ed Lane also tries to explains this difference between the use of أَجَلْ ‘ajal and نَعَمْ na3am in the classical language. It’s essentially whether one is merely confirming a statement or answering a question in the affirmative, i.e  نَعَمْ na3am answers an interrogative. Here he is in his rather antiquated English:

<<… so that when one says  سَوفَ تَذهَبُ [Thou wilt, or shalt go away], thou sayest أَجَلْ  ‘ajal [Yes]; and it is better than   نَعَمْ na3am: but when one says,     أَ تَذهَبُ
  [Wilt thou go away?], thou sayest  نَعَمْ  na3am; and it is better than أَجَل ْ ‘ajal.>>

But I guess these rules are not hard and fast and the two are almost synonymous in this context, esp. now.

Here are the remaining points on the use of  أَجَلْ ’ajal,  أجْلْ ‘ajl etc.:

أَجَلْ – with the meaning of <due date>

باعَهُ إيّاهُ إلَى أجَلٍ
He sold it to him at the due date (appointed period / time).  

سَلَّمَ الدَّرَاهِمَ فى طَعَامٍ إلىَ أجَلٍ
He delivered the money for food to be given at a fixed time / the due date.


أَجَلْ - with the meaning of destruction or death.

As أَجَلْ signifies a fixed period / term, it can not only be used with the meanings of  <due date> but also of <time of death / destruction>, i.e. when our time in this world is up.<time or period of / moment of death>

دَنا أجَلَهُ
His death drew near


    إسْتِيفاءُ الأجَلِ
The completion of life’s duration

ثُمّ قَضَى أجَلٌا و أجَلٌ مُسَمّى عِندَهُ
Then He decreed a term (the term of death) and there is a term named with Him (the term of resurrection). [al-Quran, al-‘an3aam:2]


    و أنْ عَسَى أنْ يَكونَ قَدِ ٱقتَرَبَ أجَلَهُمْ
And that may their doom / destruction shall have drawn near.  [al-Quran, al-a3raaf: 184]


أجْلْ - with the meaning of <cause, because, for the sake of etc.> as in:

مِن أجْلِكَ     لِأجْلِكَ     لِجَلَلِكَ 
Because of, for the sake of, due to etc.

    مِن أجْلِهِ كانَ كَذا 
 Because of him / it, it was thus / it was so.



Whodunit said:


> Can you think of some situation in which the word أجل (adjl) can be used separately? I mean can it be used without its accessory particles ل or من?..


 
Here is one example where أجْلis used alone in this sense:

أجْلَ أنَّ ٱللّهَ قَد فَضَّلَكُم

Because (that) God has preferred you / made you excellent. 
  –Saying of  ‘Adi bin Zayd, where he didn’t use either  مِن min or لِ le.

 Incidentally, we use the term أَجَلْ‘ajal in Urdu as well, where it carries a more restricted meaning then in Arabic. We always associate it with <fate, destiny, impending death>. Found in poetry and high prose.


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## seitt

[Moderator's Note: Merged with a previous thread]
Greetings

Can اجل (’jl) be used to mean “okay/yes”, please? I’ve seen it so often in subtitles for English programmes. What word is it exactly?

Best Wishes

Simon


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## Ghabi

Hello @seitt. You can find an answer in post#4.


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