@Milena Atanasova 09:40 Feb 18, 2021
As it appears from the style of the given excerpt, which sounds a modern free prose Arabic writing, rather than strict fus·ha, الفصحى, I believe the best approximation would be "ways", or something in that line, i.e. something modern in the sense that عبث الشيطان برأسها. However, there is still another consideration to think about; that is if the writer is using سبل as a verb rather than as the plural of سبيل. This is especially for the fact, that the writer is starting the phrase with a preposition, a non-standard Arabic structure. In strict Arabic writing structure, the sentence reads – or what we call تقديرها: 1. سُبلُ الشيطان برأسها, or 2. سبَّلَ الشيطان برأسها In light of the above, the final say can be deduced from the overall style of the article/story…etc, and the writer’s locale, background as well as the technique s/he is known to use in writing. |