Translating Ad-Dahr Into English
"لا تسبوا الدهر".
"Do not curse ad-dahr".
The Arabic term ad-dahr (الدَّهر) is often rendered simply as "time", but this translation misses an important nuance.
Unlike the abstract concept of time (zaman), ad-dahr refers to the course or flow of time as experienced through events, particularly those beyond human control. It encompasses not just time itself, but the unfolding of occurrences: life, death, hardship, and fortune, that happen within it.
Therfore, I suggest not translating ad-dahr merely as "time" in contexts such as the prohibition against cursing it. A more precise rendering is:
"Do not curse the course of time".
This captures the meaning that Allāh alone directs it, and humans should not blame it for misfortune.
For example, consider the āyah:
{وَقَالُوا مَا هِيَ إِلَّا حَيَاتُنَا الدُّنْيَا نَمُوتُ وَنَحْيَا وَمَا يُهْلِكُنَا إِلَّا الدَّهْرُ وَمَا لَهُم بِذَلِكَ مِنْ عِلْمٍ إِنْ هُم إِلَّا يَظُنُّونَ}
[al-Jāthiyah: 24]
And they say: "There is nothing but our life in this world: we die and we live, and nothing destroys us except ad-Dahr (the course of time). Yet they have no knowledge; they only conjecture".
— Translation Hilālī & Khān
Tafseer as-Saʿdī explains:
Those who deny resurrection say: "Nothing destroys us except ad-Dahr". In reality, it is nothing but the habits and flow of night and day; people die and others live. Death and life are decreed by Allah, not by ad-Dahr. Thus, cursing ad-Dahr is inappropriate because it attributes power over events to something that has none; the controller is Allah alone.
Also, the hadīth which states:
"Allah, exalted is He, says: 'The son of Ādam annoys Me when he says, "O wretchedness of ad-dahr!". Let none of you say, "O wretchedness of ad-dahr!", for I am ad-dahr; I turn its night and day, and when I will, I take them both away'".Notice how both the Qur'ān and hadīth tie ad-dahr to the events that occur to people: the flow of life and death, ease and hardship, not merely the abstract passing of time.
Saḥīḥ Muslim (2246), translation: al-Qaddāry
The Arabs use ad-dahr when referring to occurrences rather than simply measuring time.
TL;DR: In short, ad-dahr is best rendered as "the course of time" in English: it conveys both time and unfolding of events, preserving the meaning that all is under Allāh's control, and humans must not blame ad-dahr itself for misfortune.
And Allah knows best.