تَبِعَ follow in Arabic
تَبِعَ is how you say “follow” in Arabic.
Root ت ب ع t-b-ʿ. verb (form I). tabiʿa.
Arabic
English
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Meaning of follow in Arabic
- to follow; to go or walk behind or after (a person or group) The basic sense: to walk after someone, or after a people who have passed by.
- to overtake, catch up with one who had already gone ahead Some lexicographers hold this is the true sense of tabiʿa, distinct from following someone who is still walking ahead of you; used of a shooting star 'overtaking' a devil, and of Pharaoh 'overtaking' the Israelites, in Qur'anic usage.
- to follow as a guide or model, to imitate in conduct Tropical use, e.g. following the imam in prayer, or following the Qur'an as a rule of action.
- to prosecute or sue someone for a debt or right owed As in tabiʿtu al-rajula bi-ḥaqqī, 'I pursued the man at law for my due'; also used of a debtor's claim being referred on to another party.
Example sentence
وقوله له اذهب فمن تبعك منهم
And His words to him: 'Go, and whoever follows you among them.'
تَبِعَكَ follows you
Past-tense verb 'followed', 'he' form; the ending '-ka' adds 'you' — 'followed you'.
The English is machine-translated.
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How it is used
Beyond ordinary physical following, tabiʿa carries a legal sense of pursuing someone at law for a debt, and a tropical sense of following a person or text (the imam, the Qur'an) as one's guide in action. It occurs in the Qur'an describing a shooting star 'overtaking' a devil and Pharaoh 'overtaking' the Israelites with his troops.
Words from the same root
- تَبَّعَ to make one thing follow after another (said of God causing consequence to follow an act)
- تِبَاعٌ succession, consecution — making two things follow one another without a gap
- مُتَتَابِعٌ consecutive, following on uninterruptedly
- تَابِعٌ a follower; one who follows
- مَتْبُوعٌ one who is followed
More example sentences
فإذا ظهر الدليلُ الراجحُ تبِعه، وإن بقي الخلافُ بعد استفراغ الوسع قبِله، لأن اجتماعَ القلوب على العدلِ أرجحُ من انتصارِ لسانٍ على لسان
When the stronger evidence appears, he follows it, and if the disagreement remains after exhausting all efforts, he accepts it, because the unity of hearts upon justice is weightier than the victory of one tongue over another.
تَبِعَهُ he follows it
'he followed it,' the answer-verb of the condition, with '-hu' for the evidence. When the weightier proof appears, he follows it — accepting where the evidence leads, not where pride does.
ومن كانت سريرته فاسدة كان عمله تابعًا لسريرته لا اعتبار بصورته
And whoever has a corrupt inner state, his deed will follow his inner state, regardless of its outward form.
تَابِعًا will follow
An active participle in the object-style ending, predicate of the 'to be' verb: 'is following'. A participle is a verb turned into an adjective-like word; here it names the deed's ongoing quality of trailing after the inner state, and its accusative ending marks it as the predicate.
فَلَمَّا رَآهُ تَبِعَهُ،
When he saw him, he followed him.
تَبِعَهُ he followed him
A past verb with its 'he' subject inside and the attached 'him' as object, the person followed. It is the consequence the 'when' clause leads into; tracking who 'him' is depends on the men in play.
Common questions
- How do you say "follow" in Arabic?
- تَبِعَ (tabiʿa) — to follow, or to go behind or after someone.
- What is the Arabic word for "a follower"?
- تَابِعٌ (tābiʿ), from the same root ت ب ع as تَبِعَ (tabiʿa), "to follow."
Related words
Definitions summarised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).