ليت

See also: لیب and ليث

Arabic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laj.ta/
• (Gulf Arabic) IPA^(key): /let/

Particle

لَيْتَ • (layta)

1. if only, I wish, would (would God) that...; expresses an unattainable wish

   لَيْتَكَ كُنْتَ مَعِي أَمْس!

   laytaka kunta maʕī ʔams!

   If only you had been with me yesterday!

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 25:27-28:

     وَيَوْمَ يَعَضُّ ٱلظَّالِمُ عَلَىٰ يَدَيْهِ يَقُولُ يَـٰلَيْتَنِى ٱتَّخَذْتُ مَعَ ٱلرَّسُولِ سَبِيلًا ۝ يَـٰوَيْلَتَىٰ لَيْتَنِى لَمْ أَتَّخِذْ فُلَانًا خَلِيلًا ۝

     wayawma yaʕaḍḍu l-ẓālimu ʕalā yadayhi yaqūlu yālaytanī ittaḵaḏtu maʕa l-rasūli sabīlan. yāwaylatā laytanī lam attaḵiḏ fulānan ḵalīlan.

     And (beware of) the Day the wrongdoer will bite his nails (in regret) and say, “Oh! I wish I had followed the way along with the Messenger! Woe to me! I wish I had never taken that one as a friend.

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 69:25-27:

     وَأَمَّا مَنْ أُوتِىَ كِتَـٰبَهُ بِشِمَالِهِ فَيَقُولُ يَـٰلَيْتَنِى لَمْ أُوتَ كِتَـٰبِيَهْ ۝ وَلَمْ أَدْرِ مَا حِسَابِيَهْ ۝ يَـٰلَيْتَهَا كَانَتِ ٱلْقَاضِيَةَ ۝

     waʔammā man ʔūtiya kitābahu bišimālihi fayaqūlu yālaytanī lam ʔūta kitābiyah. ʔadri mā ḥisābiyah. yālaytahā kānati l-qāḍiya.

     And as for those given their record in their left hand, they will cry (bitterly), “Oh! I wish I had not been given my record, nor known anything of my reckoning! Oh! I wish it (death) was the end!

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 78:40:

     إِنَّا أَنْذَرْنَٰكُمْ عَذَابًا قَرِيبًا يَوْمَ يَنْظُرُ ٱلْمَرْءُ مَا قَدَّمَتْ يَدَاهُ وَيَقُولُ ٱلْكَافِرُ يَٰلَيْتَنِي كُنْتُ تُرَٰبًا

     Indeed, We have warned you of an imminent punishment—the Day every person will see ˹the consequences of˺ what their hands have done, and the disbelievers will cry, “I wish I were dust.”

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Usage notes

لَيْتَ (layta) must be followed by a noun or pronoun shifted to the accusative case.

Inflection

Inflected forms
Base form					لَيْتَ (layta)
Personal-pronoun- including forms	Singular		Dual	Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Common	Masculine	Feminine
First person	لَيْتَنِي (laytanī)		لَيْتَنَا (laytanā)
Second person	لَيْتَكَ (laytaka)	لَيْتَكِ (laytaki)	لَيْتَكُمَا (laytakumā)	لَيْتَكُمْ (laytakum)	لَيْتَكُنَّ (laytakunna)
Third person	لَيْتَهُ (laytahu)	لَيْتَهَا (laytahā)	لَيْتَهُمَا (laytahumā)	لَيْتَهُمْ (laytahum)	لَيْتَهُنَّ (laytahunna)

Derived terms

• لَيْتَ شِعْرِي (layta šiʕrī)

See also

• (ʾinna and her sisters) إِنَّ وَأَخَوَاتُهَا (ʔinna waʔaḵawātuhā); إِنَّ (ʔinna), أَنَّ (ʔanna), لٰكِنَّ (lākinna), كَأَنَّ (kaʔanna), لِأَنَّ (liʔanna), لٰكِنَّ (lākinna), لَعَلَّ (laʕalla), لَيْتَ (layta), ^{(Category: Sisters of ʾinna)}
• تَمَنَّى (tamannā)

Gulf Arabic

Etymology

From English light.

Pronunciation

• (Kuwait) IPA^(key): /leːt/

Noun

ليت • (lēt) m (dual ليتين (lētēn), plural ليتات (lētāt))

1. light