Arabic vocabulary
قَبْلَbefore
How to say “before” in Arabic, with pronunciation and real example sentences from OpenArabic texts.
Example sentences
اكتب سطرين قبل النوم، سطرًا للشكر على نعمة لاحظتها، وسطرًا للعزم على تصحيح خُلُق واحد غدًا
Write two lines before sleeping: one for expressing gratitude for a blessing you noticed, and another for resolving to correct one character trait tomorrow.
قَبْلَ — before. 'qabla' = 'before'; it joins the next word as 'before...'.
From: Small Daily Habits →فمتى قَدَرَ على الماء قَبْلَ الدخول في الصلاة بَطَلَ تيممُه
If one can access water before starting the prayer, their Tayammum is void.
قَبْلَ — before. 'before' — a time-word that itself sits in the -a form and puts what follows in the -i form. It heads an 'of' pair, 'before the entering,' fixing the cut-off: water found BEFORE the prayer starts.
From: When Earth Replaces Water →ولا يصحُّ التيممُ لفريضةٍ قبل دخول وقتها،
Tayammum for an obligatory prayer is not valid before its time has begun.
قَبْلَ — before. 'before' — the time-word in the -a form, putting the next noun in the -i form. It heads 'before the entering of its time,' fixing the fault: doing the tayammum ahead of the prayer's window.
From: When Earth Replaces Water →ولو أحدثَ بعد أخذِ التراب قبل مسحِ الوجه بَطَلَ الأخذُ ولزمه النقلُ ثانيةً
If one experiences an impurity after taking the dust but before wiping the face, the taking is invalidated, and he must take it again.
قَبْلَ — before. 'before' — the matching time-word in the -a form, heading 'before the wiping.' The second bound: the break came BEFORE he had wiped his face. Between taking and wiping, that is, the mishap struck.
From: The Practice of Earth Cleansing →ولا يصحُّ التيممُ لفريضةٍ قبلَ دخولِ وقتِها؛
Performing a dry ablution for an obligatory prayer before its time has commenced is invalid.
قَبْلَ — before. 'before' — a time-word in the -a form that puts what follows in the -i form. It heads 'before the entering,' fixing the fault: doing the tayammum ahead of the prayer's window.
From: Purification Without Water →وإذا أتمَّ فريضةً بالتيمم، ثم زالَ عذرُه قبل أن يشرعَ في نافلةٍ،
If one completes an obligatory prayer with dry ablution, and the excuse is lifted before beginning a non-obligatory prayer,
قَبْلَ — before. 'before' — the time-word in the -a form, putting what follows in the -i form. It heads 'before that he begin,' fixing the timing: the excuse lifts before he has started an optional prayer.
From: Purification Without Water →إنّه حقلُ تجمُّعٍ للأفكار قبل أن تتزاحم في اللسان
It is a field for gathering thoughts before they crowd the tongue.
قَبْلَ — before. 'before' — the time-word in the -a form. It heads 'before that they crowd,' marking when the gathering happens: BEFORE the thoughts rush out onto the tongue, as the verb next says.
From: On Silence →سكينةٌ تفتح بابًا للمعنى قبل أن يطرقَه الصوت
A calmness that opens a door to meaning before sound knocks on it.
قَبْلَ — before. 'before' — the time-word in the -a form, heading 'before that sound knock.' It marks the sequence: the calm opens the door to meaning BEFORE sound even comes knocking, as the verb next says.
From: On Silence →فقرةٌ قبل النوم تفتحُ كتابًا،
A paragraph before sleep opens a book,
قَبْلَ — before. 'before' — the time-word in the -a form, heading 'before sleep.' It fixes when the small habit happens: a paragraph read BEFORE sleeping — the modest nightly act.
From: Steady Spiritual Habits →كان فيمن كان قبلكم رجل قتل تسعة وتسعين نفساً،
There was among those before you a man who killed ninety-nine people.
قَبْلَكُمْ — before you. This is 'before' fused with 'you' (plural) — a time-adverb, 'before your time'. The attached pronoun addresses the listeners as a group. So the man belonged to a bygone people.
From: Righteous Company →فاجتمعنا إلى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فقال إنه لم يكن نبي قبلي إلا كان حقاً عليه أن يدل أمته على خير ما يعلمه لهم،
We gathered to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and he said: "There was no prophet before me except that it was his duty to guide his nation to the best of what he knew for them,"
قَبْلِي — before me. This is 'before' with 'me' attached, 'before me', the suffix marking the speaker as the reference point. The single word fuses a time-relation word with the first-person pronoun; it locates earlier prophets relative to the one speaking.
From: A Prophet Warns His People →البدار البدار قبل الفوات
Hasten, hasten before it is too late.
قَبْلَ — before. A word 'before' that marks the time-limit and owns the noun after it: before the missing of the chance. It heads a time-phrase completed by the following noun.
From: While You Still Can →فاغتنم أيام شبابك قبل هرمك،
So seize the days of your youth before your old age.
قَبْلَ — before. A word 'before' that marks the time-limit and owns the noun after it: before your old age. It heads a time-phrase completed by the following noun.
From: While You Still Can →وصحتك قبل سقمك،
And your health before your sickness.
قَبْلَ — before. This is a time word that always governs the noun after it, forcing that noun into the possessive 'of' case while itself staying frozen in the object form. Unlike English 'before', which just sits loosely, here it actually binds tightly to the following word and pulls it into a fixed grammatical relationship.
From: While You Still Can →وفراغك قبل شغلك،
And your free time before you are busy.
قَبْلَ — before. A fixed time word that does not change its own ending but reaches forward and puts the following noun into the 'of' possessive case. English 'before' has no such grip on the next word; in Arabic the relationship is marked grammatically on what follows.
From: While You Still Can →وغناك قبل فقرك،
And your wealth before your poverty.
قَبْلَ — before. A time word locked in one shape that nonetheless governs the noun after it, dragging that noun into the possessive 'of' case. Where English just places 'before' next to a word, Arabic makes the following noun show the relationship through its ending.
From: While You Still Can →وحياتك قبل موتك
And your life before your death.
قَبْلَ — before. This frozen time word reaches forward to bind the next noun, forcing it into the possessive 'of' case. The grip is grammatical, not just positional, which is why the following word changes its ending rather than staying neutral as English 'before' would leave it.
From: While You Still Can →فَيَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا لَوْ أَدْخَلْتَنَا النَّارَ قَبْلَ أَنْ تُرِيَنَا مَا أَرَيْتَنَا مِنْ ثَوَابِ مَا أَعْدَدْتَ لِأَوْلِيَائِكَ كَانَ أَهْوَنَ عَلَيْنَا
They will say: Our Lord, if You had put us into the Fire before showing us what You showed us of the reward You prepared for Your close ones, it would have been easier for us.
قَبْلَ — before. A preposition 'before' governing the noun-like clause after it, fixing the timing of one event relative to another. It links the hypothetical entering to the showing that came after it.
From: Turned Away at the Gate →أحمد إذا ظفرني بالمعاني قبل طلبي
I thank You if You grant me understanding before my request.
قَبْلَ — before. This is a time word meaning 'before', behaving like a preposition that pins one event earlier than another. It governs the noun after it into the possessor form, building 'before my request'.
From: The Story of Prophet Joseph →أبرم القضاء قبل خلق إنفاذا،
He decreed the judgment before creation as enforcement.
قَبْلَ — before. This is a time word meaning 'before', behaving like a preposition that places one thing earlier than another. It governs the noun after it into the possessor form, building 'before creation'.
From: Signs of God's Transcendence →الحركة قبل الطعام خير كله، كما أنها بعده شر كله
Movement before food is entirely good, just as it is after it entirely evil.
قَبْلَ — before. This is the time-word qabla 'before', which behaves like a preposition: it must be followed by a noun that it puts into the possessed, 'of'-type ending. It links the movement to the meal that comes after it, fixing the timing as 'prior to'.
From: The Art of Eating Well →أَنْ يَسْمَعَ مِنْ إِبْنِ صَيَّادٍ شَيْئًا قَبْلَ أَنْ يَرَاهُ
to hear something from Ibn Sayyad before he sees him
قَبْلَ — before. A time-word 'before' heading its own phrase. It governs what follows, and here it leads into another 'to do' clause, fixing the hearing as happening earlier in time than the seeing described next.
From: A Night with the Companions →اللَّيَالِيَ ذَوَاتِ الْعَدَدِ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَرْجِعَ إِلَى أَهْلِهِ،
For several nights before he returned to his family,
قَبْلَ — before. A time word meaning 'before' that governs the clause after it and forces a genitive relationship. It sets the retreats as happening prior to the returning that the next words describe.
From: The Night of Revelation and Consolation →إِنْ عَلِمْوا بِإِسْلاَمِي قَبْلَ أَنْ تَسْأَلَهُمْ بَهَتُونِي عِنْدَكَ،
If they had known of my Islam before you asked them, they would have been astonished in your presence.
قَبْلَ — before. A time-preposition 'before' that orders two events, forcing the clause after it into an 'of'-type frame. It sets the knowing as prior to the asking, anchoring the sequence of the hypothetical.
From: What Was Created First →
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