Usage Note
Calife is the French term for the Islamic head of state in the historical caliphate. The French idiom vouloir être calife à la place du calife (to want to be the caliph in the caliph's place) means to want someone else's position of power; it comes from the Iznogoud comic series by Goscinny and Tabary.
Examples
"Le calife régnait sur un vaste empire."
Natural Translation
The caliph ruled over a vast empire.
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