متى ما
Arabic edit
Etymology edit
متى (“when; whenever”) + ـمَا (-mā, “soever”).
Conjunction edit
مَتَى مَا • (matā mā) (+ past or jussive)
- when; whenever; if ever
- مَتَى مَا تَجِئْ عِنْدِي أَسْعَدْ كَثِيرًا
- matā mā tajiʔ ʕindī ʔasʕad kaṯīran
- Whenever you come by my place, I feel so happy.
- 7th century CE, Kaʿb ibn Zuhayr, أَعلَمُ أَنّي مَتى ما يَأتِني قَدَري:
- أَعْلَمُ أَنِّي مَتَى مَا يَأْتِنِي قَدَرِي * فَلَيْسَ يَحْبِسُهُ شُحٌّ وَلَا شَفَقُ
- ʔaʕlamu ʔannī matā mā yaʔtinī qadarī * falaysa yaḥbisuhu šuḥḥun walā šafaqū
- I know so well that when my fate
Comes by for me, neither grudging
Nor pitying can hold him back.