Arabic vocabulary
سَاءَdisplease in Arabic
سَاءَ is how you say “displease” in Arabic. Hear it pronounced and see it used in a real example sentence from classical texts below.
Root س و أ (s-w-ʾ)verb (form I)Pronounced sāʾa
Meaning of displease in Arabic
- to be or become evil, bad, foul, unseemly, or ugly — intransitive; used like بِئْسَ for exclamatory censure, e.g. Qur'an 17:34 سَآءَ سَبِيلًا 'evil is it as a way (of acting)!'
- to displease, grieve, or vex (someone) — transitive (سَآءَهُ 'it grieved him'); given as the opposite of سَرَّ 'to please'
Sāʾa is often used impersonally like بِئْسَ, followed by a specificative noun in the accusative, to voice censure (as in the Qur'anic sāʾa sabīlan, 'evil is it as a way'). Used with a direct object (sāʾahu), it means to grieve, displease, or vex a person, the opposite of sarrahu 'it pleased him.'
Words from the same root
- سَوّأto corrupt or mar something; to tell someone 'you have done ill' about a deed
- أَسَآءَto do evil, act badly, or do something poorly — opposite of doing well (aḥsana)
- استآءto experience evil, displeasure, grief, or anxiety
- سَوْءٌevil, badness (verbal noun of sāʾa)
- مَسَآءَةٌthe act of grieving or vexing someone; harm done
Common questions
- How do you say "displease" in Arabic?
- سَاءَ (sāʾa) — it also covers being or becoming evil, bad, or ugly; sāʾahu means 'it displeased/grieved him.'
- What does سَآءَ سَبِيلًا mean in the Qur'an?
- It works like the exclamation بِئْسَ: 'Evil is it as a way (of acting)!' — a censure of a course of conduct.
Definitions synthesised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).
Example sentences
فَيرى كل مَا يسرّه من فضل الله، وكل مَا يسوءه من ذنوبه وَعدل الله فِيهِ
Thus, he sees everything that pleases him as from the grace of Allah, and everything that displeases him as from his sins and the justice of Allah upon him.
يَسُوءُهُ — displeases him. Present-tense verb 'grieves, displeases', 'it/he' form; the ending '-hu' adds 'him' — 'displeases him'.
From: Returning to God →
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