سَيِّئَةٌ bad deed in Arabic
سَيِّئَةٌ is how you say “bad deed” in Arabic.
Root س و أ s-w-ʾ. noun (feminine substantive, from the adjective سَيِّئٌ). sayyiʾah.
Arabic
English
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Meaning of bad deed in Arabic
- a bad deed, misdeed, wrongdoing the ordinary sense, as opposed to a good act
- an evil, harm, or offense done to someone broader use tied to the root sense 'to grieve, displease, or do evil to' (cf. مَسَآءَةٌ)
Example sentence
وَإِن عمل سيّئة رَآهَا من تخلّيه عَنهُ وخذلانه لَهُ،
And if he commits a bad deed, he sees it as resulting from His abandonment of him and His forsaking him,
سَيِّئَةً a bad deed
sayyia means 'a bad deed'; the '-an' ending marks it as the object ('did a bad deed').
The English is machine-translated.
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How it is used
سَيِّئَةٌ is the feminine of the adjective سَيِّئٌ, itself tied to the verb سَآءَ 'to be or become evil, bad, abominable, foul, or unseemly.' Used as a noun it names a concrete bad deed or misdeed, paralleling the form IV verb أَسَآءَ 'to do evil, act ill' — the stated opposite of أَحْسَنَ 'to do good.'
Words from the same root
- سَآءَ to be or become evil, bad, abominable, unseemly (verb, form I)
- أَسَآءَ to do evil, act badly; opposite of أَحْسَنَ 'to do good' (verb, form IV)
- سَوْءٌ evil, badness, harm (verbal noun of سَآءَ)
- سَيِّئٌ evil, bad (masculine adjective; base of سَيِّئَةٌ)
- مَسَآءَةٌ an evil or injury done to someone; a cause of grief or displeasure
- مَسَاوٍ evils, faults, misdeeds (plural form)
- استآء to experience evil, be grieved or displeased (verb, form VIII)
More example sentences
وَمن عُقُوبَة السَّيئَة السَّيئَة بعْدَهَا
And among the penalties for a bad deed is a bad deed after it.
السَّيِّئَةِ of a bad deed
al- = 'the'; sayyia means 'a bad deed' — the 'of…' word: 'of the bad deed'.
وَمن عُقُوبَة السَّيئَة السَّيئَة بعْدَهَا
And among the penalties for a bad deed is a bad deed after it.
السَّيِّئَةُ a bad deed
al- = 'the'; sayyia means 'a bad deed'; the '-u' ending marks it as the subject ('…is another bad deed').
لذلك جاء في القرآن ﴿فَمَنْ ثَقُلَتْ مَوَازِينُهُ فَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ﴾، ولم يقل من رجحت سيئاته؛ لأن السيئات لا تُعطي صاحبها وزنًا محمودًا، بل تُسقطه
Therefore, it is mentioned in the Quran: 'So those whose scales are heavy, they are the successful ones,' and it does not say: 'whose bad deeds outweigh,' because bad deeds do not give their owner a praiseworthy weight; rather, they bring him down.
سَيِّئَاتُهُ bad deeds
'his bad deeds' — 'sayyi'at' with 'his' attached, nominative as the doer of 'outweighed'. Sound feminine plural, hence the verb's -at.
لذلك جاء في القرآن ﴿فَمَنْ ثَقُلَتْ مَوَازِينُهُ فَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ﴾، ولم يقل من رجحت سيئاته؛ لأن السيئات لا تُعطي صاحبها وزنًا محمودًا، بل تُسقطه
Therefore, it is mentioned in the Quran: 'So those whose scales are heavy, they are the successful ones,' and it does not say: 'whose bad deeds outweigh,' because bad deeds do not give their owner a praiseworthy weight; rather, they bring him down.
السَّيِّئَاتِ bad deeds
'the bad deeds', accusative because 'anna' puts its subject in that case. The -at here is the sound feminine plural in the accusative.
المؤمن له حسنات وسيئات
The believer has good deeds and bad deeds.
وَسَيِّئَاتٌ and bad deeds
'and bad deeds', a second nominative joined by 'wa' — also what he has. Every believer carries both.
وإن كثرت سيئاته عوقِبَ بقدرها، ثم تُخرجه بقيةُ حسناته ولو كانت مثقال ذرّة؛ إذ إن الإيمان لا ينعدم مع وجود أصلٍ منه
And if his bad deeds are numerous, he is punished according to them, then the rest of his good deeds deliver him, even if they are the weight of an atom, for faith does not vanish as long as a trace of it remains.
سَيِّئَاتُهُ his bad deeds
'his bad deeds' — 'sayyi'at' with 'his' attached, nominative as the doer of 'became many'. Sound feminine plural, hence -at.
Common questions
- How do you say "bad deed" in Arabic?
- سَيِّئَةٌ (sayyiʾah).
- What root does سَيِّئَةٌ come from?
- The triliteral root س و أ (s-w-ʾ), also behind سَآءَ 'to be evil/bad' and أَسَآءَ 'to do evil.'
Related words
Definitions summarised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).