A quick post about a common and useful expression.
على كيفك (for most people 3ala keefak, you may hear 3ala kiifak from some people) literally means ‘on your mood’. The 3ala here is in the sense of ‘according to’ of which some other examples are given in this post. Although 3ala keefak/keefek is probably the most common form the expression can appear with any pronoun.
This expression has several distinct but related uses. The first is to say ‘as you like’, ‘in whatever way that you like’, ‘however you like’ etc:
داوم على كيفك من سيارتك
daawem 3ala keefak mən səyyaartak
Work whenever you feel like it/however much you want from your car
ايش شغل الحكومة في البلد اذا كل واحد مجتهد على كيفو بحرم وبحلل واللي مش عاجبو بفجرو
2eesh shughl il7ukuume fii halbalad 2iza kull waa7ed mujtahed 3ala keefo bi7arrem w bi7allel?
What’s the point of having a government if everyone is a mujtahed and gets to decide what’s haram and halal as they like? [= according to his mood deems (things) haram or halal]
A nice translation in many contexts is ‘up to’ as in ‘up to you’ or ‘up to him’. For example:
ما بدو يشتغل؟ شو على كيفو؟
maa bəddo yəshtəghel? shuu 3ala keefo?
He doesn’t want to work? Does he think it’s up to him? [what, (is it) up to him?]
لك مو على كيفك
lak muu 3ala keefak!
You don’t get to decide! It’s not up to you!
It can also be used as a kind of positive intensifier. In this sense the meaning is closer to ‘that you will really like’ or more broadly just ‘amazing’. It is often emphasised further by addition of another keef (on your mood’s mood):
بساويلك فنجان قهوة على كيفك
bsaawiilek fənjaan 2ahwe 3ala keefek
I’ll give you a great cup of coffee
شوتة على كيف كيفك معلم
shoote 3ala keef keefak @m3allem
It was an incredible shot, man