سَجَدَ bow in Arabic
سَجَدَ is how you say “bow” in Arabic.
Root س ج د s-j-d. verb (form I). sajada.
Arabic
English
The audio uses AI voices.
Meaning of bow in Arabic
- to prostrate oneself in prayer; to put the forehead on the ground the specific sense used for the Islamic prayer prostration
- to be lowly, humble, or submissive; to bend oneself down toward the ground the general, non-ritual sense
- (of a camel) to lower its head so as to be mounted tropical usage
- to bend or incline, as a fruit-laden palm tree, a ship before the wind, or plants turning toward the sun tropical usage
Example sentence
فصل إيّاك والمعاصي فإنها أزالت عزّ اسجدوا، وأخرجت إقطاع اسكن يا آدم
Beware of sins, for they removed the honor of 'bow down,' and expelled the estate of 'dwell, O Adam.'
اسْجُدُوا 'bow down'
A command 'bow down!' to a group (the '-u' ending = plural 'you'); quoted as the angels' order to bow to Adam.
The English is machine-translated.
Practise this word in the app
One tap gives you the meaning, a grammar note and audio.
Add the words you don’t know. Practise them with spaced repetition.
Free. No ads. No subscription.
An account is needed in the app.
How it is used
سَجَدَ is best known as the verb for the Islamic prayer-prostration — dropping to the ground and placing the forehead on it — and appears in this sense repeatedly in the Qur'an (e.g. ii. 55, vii. 161, xvi. 50, lv. 5), including the extended, tropical use of trees and plants "bowing" in submission to God. Outside ritual prayer it more broadly means to lower oneself or one's head in humility, and is extended figuratively to things that bend or incline, such as a laden palm tree or a ship yielding to the wind.
Words from the same root
- سَجْدَةٌ a single act of prostration (in prayer)
- سِجْدَةٌ a particular kind or manner of prostration
- سَجَّادٌ one who prostrates himself often or frequently
- سَجَّادَةٌ a prayer mat or small carpet knelt on for prayer; also the mark of prostration left on the forehead
- سَاجِدٌ one who is bowing or prostrating himself (active participle)
- أَسْجَدَ to gaze continuously with lowered, languid eyelids (tropical, form IV)
More example sentences
وبشكر نعمته سجد المصلي وخوى،
And in gratitude for His blessings, the worshipper prostrated and became humble.
سَجَدَ he prostrated
A past-tense verb with a built-in 'he' subject, reporting a completed prostration. The singular masculine form agrees with the singular doer named after it, which Arabic places following the verb.
فلما قيل اسجد واضرب الشرس الخلق إلا شريس،
Then when it was said, "Prostrate," he struck the stubborn creation — none but the stubbornly defiant.
اسْجُدْ bow down
This is a command form addressed to 'you' (a single being), the quoted order itself. Built on a clipped verb shape with the 'you' subject understood, it directly tells the addressee to prostrate, with no separate pronoun.
Common questions
- How do you say "bow" in Arabic?
- سَجَدَ (sajada) — to bow down or prostrate oneself, most notably in the Islamic prayer prostration.
- What is the Arabic word for a prayer mat?
- سَجَّادَةٌ (sajjādah), from the same root س-ج-د as سَجَدَ, "to prostrate oneself."
Related words
Definitions summarised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).