Al-Adab Al-Mufrad
Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 575
حَدَّثَنَا عَمْرُو بْنُ مَرْزُوقٍ، قَالَ: أَخْبَرَنَا شُعْبَةُ، عَنْ عُمَارَةَ بْنِ أَبِي حَفْصَةَ، عَنْ عِكْرِمَةَ، عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ قَالَ: عَجِبْتُ لِلْكِلاَبِ وَالشَّاءِ، إِنَّ الشَّاءَ يُذْبَحُ مِنْهَا فِي السَّنَةِ كَذَا وَكَذَا، وَيُهْدَى كَذَا وَكَذَا، وَالْكَلْبُ تَضَعُ الْكَلْبَةُ الْوَاحِدَةُ كَذَا وَكَذَا وَالشَّاءُ أَكْثَرُ مِنْهَا.
‘Amr ibn Marzuq related to us: Shu‘bah informed us, from ‘Umarah ibn Abi Hafsah, from ‘Ikrimah, from Ibn ‘Abbas, who said: I am amazed at dogs and sheep. Sheep are slaughtered in such-and-such numbers each year, and such-and-such numbers are given as gifts, while a single female dog gives birth to such-and-such numbers of puppies—and sheep are more numerous than that.
Translation notes
The Arabic uses كذا وكذا (“such-and-such”) rather than specifying quantities; these indefinite quantities have been preserved.
The statement compares the abundance of sheep with a dog’s litter; the precise comparison is elliptical in the Arabic.
وَالْكَلْبُ تَضَعُ الْكَلْبَةُ الْوَاحِدَةُ كَذَا وَكَذَا وَالشَّاءُ أَكْثَرُ مِنْهَا.
The feminine dog subject is explicit (الكلبة); the comparison phrase “more than that” is elliptical.
Does “sheep are more numerous than that” preserve the comparison without over-specifying it?