Arabic vocabulary
فَجْر is how you say “dawn” in Arabic. Hear it pronounced and see it used in real example sentences from classical texts below.
Fajr is the maṣdar of فَجَرَ, whose core, primary meaning is to cleave or split something open — as when a dam is broken so that water bursts through. The same root gives افجر, "to enter upon the time of daybreak," tying fajr's sense of "dawn" to that same image of a sudden breaking-open, here applied to the first light of day rather than water.
Definitions synthesised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).
ومع كل فجرٍ جديد، اجعل نيتك أوّل عملك، وابتسم سرًّا حين تنتصر على نفسك في أمر صغير؛
With each new dawn, make your intention your first action, and smile secretly when you overcome yourself in a small matter.
فَجْرٍ — dawn. 'fajr' = 'dawn'; the 'of' word after 'kull', so 'every dawn'.
From: Small Daily Habits →فَمَا طلع الْفجْر الا وَهِي بالمينا
The dawn had not broken before they were at the port.
الْفَجْرُ — the dawn. The subject of 'rose', nominative ('-u'), definite — daybreak. What had scarcely risen.
From: Stages of the Seeker →فلبثت والقدح على
OpenArabic teaches words like فَجْر through real bilingual reading with native audio and spaced-repetition practice.
Get the appSo I waited with the vessel in my hand until dawn broke, and the children were crying at my feet. They then awoke and drank their evening drink.
الْفَجْرُ — the dawn. This noun is the subject of 'broke', following its verb, so it takes the plain (nominative) ending; the al- makes it definite. It names dawn as the thing that arrived, marking the close of the long night's wait.