Tasnif Style Guide — Page 69

69 CHAPTER 6: PUNCTUATION " Here are a few examples: Heed the commandments of your Lord-O ye nation of Muslims! for the heavens above record your deeds and the earth below traces your steps. There were dozens of Companions—nay, rather hun- dreds who sacrificed when called. The speech delighted the masses—as we knew it would― as they gazed on spellbound. A single em dash may be placed at the end of what could be a com- plete sentence, to less formally articulate an afterthought or a fleet- ing conclusion. In a more formal context, a colon would be used. ■ My family sacrificed most of what we had, but it was always less than the others—the famine took its toll that year. As if he were a lion of God, he boastfully roared that the Promised Messiah as would die from the plague, only to find himself a victim of it—some lion he was! Question Marks In some foreign languages, such as Arabic, Persian, and Urdu, it is often observed that questions do not end with question marks; the question being understood by the context. In Urdu works, for example, the Urdu equivalent of a full stop-which looks more like a dash [-]-suffices. In English, however, questions ought to end with question marks. In more rare circumstances, rhetorical