Arabic vocabulary
How to say “heard” in Arabic, with pronunciation and real example sentences from OpenArabic texts.
وَكَانَ سَيّده إِذا رَآهُ عَبث بِهِ وَيسمع مِنْهُ الْكَلِمَة الحكيمة فيعجب مِنْهُ
And his master, when he saw him, would ridicule him and hear the wise word from him, and be amazed by it.
وَيَسْمَعُ — and he would hear. 'wa-' = 'and'; present-tense verb (habitual past with 'kana'); subject 'he' built in.
From: Luqman's Response to Injustice →وَقَول الْمُصَلِّي الله أكبر سُبْحَانَ رَبِّي الْعَظِيم سُبْحَانَ رَبِّي الْأَعْلَى سمع الله لمن حَمده رَبنَا وَلَك الْحَمد التَّحِيَّات لله
And the one praying says: (Allah is the Greatest, glory be to my Lord the Great, glory be to my Lord the Most High, Allah hears the one who praises Him, our Lord, to You belongs all praise, all greetings are for Allah).
سَمِعَ — he hears. Past 'heard, answered', subject 'Allah' (coming next) — 'God has heard'. The past here states a standing truth: He responds to the one who praises.
From: The Declaration of Faith →وَقَول الْمُصَلِّي الله أكبر سُبْحَانَ رَبِّي الْعَظِيم سُبْحَانَ رَبِّي الْأَعْلَى سمع الله لمن حَمده رَبنَا وَلَك الْحَمد التَّحِيَّات لله
And the statement of the one praying: (Allah is the Greatest. Glory be to my Lord, the Most Great. Glory be to my Lord, the Most High. Allah listens to the one who praises Him. Our Lord, and to You belongs all praise. All greetings are for Allah.)
سَمِعَ — he listens. Past 'heard, answered', subject 'Allah' (next) — 'God has heard'. The past states a standing truth: He responds to the one who praises.
From: Small Deeds, Great Reward →وأمر أيضاً بالحمد بقوله فإذا قال سمع الله لمن حمده فقولوا ربنا ولك الحمد
And he also commanded praise saying: 'When he says: Allah hears the one who praises Him. You say: Our Lord, to You is the praise.'
سَمِعَ — he hears. Past 'heard, answered', subject 'God' next — the quoted phrase 'God hears...'.
From: The Opening Chapter →ويسمع وَيعلم السِّرّ وَالْعَلَانِيَة
And He hears and knows the secrets and the openly declared,
وَيَسْمَعُ — And He hears. 'And' plus a present-tense verb 'hears', subject 'He' inside. Paired with 'knows' next.
From: God's Majesty →مَا علمت أَن أحدا سمع بِالْجنَّةِ وَالنَّار تَأتي عَلَيْهِ سَاعَة لَا يُطِيع الله فِيهَا بذكرا وَصَلَاة أَو قراة أَو إِحْسَان
I have not known anyone who has heard of Paradise and Hell to have an hour pass without obeying God through remembrance, prayer, reading, or charity.
سَمِعَ — has heard. A past verb, 'heard', describing 'anyone' just named. Because that noun is indefinite, Arabic attaches the describing clause with no 'who', letting the verb alone carry 'who has heard'.
From: Contentment with What God Wills →سَمِعْت رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه و سلم يَقُولُ
I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say:
سَمِعْتُ — I heard. The '-tu' ending is the subject 'I' fused onto the past verb, so no separate word for 'I' is needed. This verb of hearing sets up two things at once: the one heard (the Messenger) and what he was doing (saying).
From: The Vastness of God's Mercy →حين تسكتُ قليلًا، تسمعُ بوضوحٍ ما يقوله عقلك وما يخفيه قلبك
When you are silent for a while, you clearly hear what your mind says and what your heart hides.
تَسْمَعُ — you hear. 'you hear,' the result of 'when you fall silent' — the 'you' in the front prefix. A brief silence yields clear hearing; of what, the objects ('what your mind says...') will tell; the manner comes via 'bi-' next.
From: On Silence →قال لأني سمعت الله يقول ولم يكن له كفوا أحد فأردت أن أكون أنا ذلك الكفؤ إذا كان موجودًا
He said: Because I heard Allah say, '[Nor is there to Him any equivalent],' so I wanted to be that equivalent if it existed.
سَمِعْتُ — I heard. The -tu ending is the built-in 'I' that did the hearing, the first-person past subject marked by a suffix.
From: Bedouin Manners →قال سمعت القارئ يقرأ ولقد خلقنا السموات والأرض وما بينهما في ستة أيام فظننت الأيام أشهرًا
He said: I heard the reciter reading 'And We created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them in six days,' so I thought the days were months.
سَمِعْتُ — I heard. Past-tense 'I heard', with the first-person 'I' subject marked by the ending. Arabic shows the speaker inside the verb rather than as a separate word. It launches a structure where what was heard is then described by a following verb.
From: Justice in the Field →سمع ورأى ولا يقال أحس،
He hears and sees, and it is not said that He senses.
سَمِعَ — he hears. A past-tense verb with the doer 'He' built into its form, so no separate pronoun is needed. Though rendered as a present in English, the Arabic past here states a settled, timeless divine attribute of hearing.
From: God's Attributes →وقال المزني سمعت الشافعي رضي الله تعالى عنه يقول
And al‑Muzannī said, 'I heard al‑Shāfiʿī, may Allah be pleased with him, say:'
سَمِعْتُ — I heard. Past-tense verb, 'I heard', with the 'I' built into its ending. It opens the embedded report; the speaker is the narrator, and what he heard follows as its object.
From: The Pilgrim's Conduct →وَمَنْ قَرَأَهُ، أَوْ سَمِعَهُ، أَوْ نَظَرَ فِيهِ،
And whoever reads it, or hears it, or looks into it,
سَمِعَهُ — hears it. A past-tense verb holding its own 'he' subject, closed by '-hu' (it) as object, parallel to the reading-verb before it. It adds the second qualifying act in the 'whoever' chain, the suffix again pointing to the book.
From: Guidance for the Seeker →سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقُولُ
I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say
سَمِعْتُ — I heard. A past-tense verb whose tacked-on ending marks the speaker as the hearer; the 'I' lives in that suffix, so no separate pronoun is used. The form alone names who heard, and it sets up the next noun as what was heard.
From: Trapped and Delivered →فَانْطَلَقَ الأَخُ حَتَّى قَدِمَهُ وَسَمِعَ مِنْ قَوْلِهِ،
Then the brother set out until he reached him and heard his words.
وَسَمِعَ — and he heard. Joined by wa- 'and', adding a second past action onto the reaching as part of the same arrival. Its 'he' subject is carried inside the verb, the same actor as before.
From: A Stranger Finds the Prophet →فَسَمِعَ مِنْ قَوْلِهِ،
Then he heard from his words.
فَسَمِعَ — then he heard. Led by fa-, the tight connector chaining this hearing onto the prior entering. The past verb carries its own 'he' subject.
From: A Stranger Finds the Prophet →مَا سَمِعْتُ أَحَدًا يَرْجِعُ إِلَيْكَ شَيْئًا
I did not hear anyone reply to you.
سَمِعْتُ — I heard. A past-tense verb of hearing with the speaker fused on as an 'I' subject. Under the preceding 'not' it states a failure to hear, the single form carrying both the action and the first-person doer.
From: Paradise for the Sincere →سَمِعَ أَنَسَ بْنَ مَالِكٍ، يَقُولُ
Anas ibn Malik reported:
سَمِعَ — he heard. A past verb of hearing, its 'he' subject inside, used in the report-chain to mean a transmitter heard someone. It heads the link of narration and takes the person heard as its object next.
From: The Barley Loaf That Fed Eighty →لَقَدْ سَمِعْتُ صَوْتَ، رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ضَعِيفًا
I heard the voice of the Messenger of Allah faintly.
سَمِعْتُ — I heard. A past verb with the '-tu' ending that means 'I', so the doer is built right in -- 'I heard'. Standing under the preceding emphatic, it is the strongly asserted act of hearing.
From: The Barley Loaf That Fed Eighty →قَالَتْ فَسَمِعَهُ أَبُو بَكْرٍ وَرَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ
She said, and Abu Bakr and the Messenger of God heard it, may God bless him and grant him peace.
فَسَمِعَهُ — and heard it. The prefix fa- marks the next event ('and so'), and the verb 'heard' has an attached -hu ('it') as object pointing back to the reported matter. The doers are named after it, the verb leading in the usual order.
From: Aisha Cleared of Slander →وأمر أيضاً بالحمد بقوله فإذا قال سمع الله لمن حمده فقولوا ربنا ولك الحمد
And he also commanded the praise by saying: 'When he says: Allah hears the one who praises Him, say: Our Lord, to You is the praise.'
سَمِعَ — he hears. A past-tense verb 'hears', with its subject following it as the next word, the normal verb-then-doer order of Arabic. It opens the quoted prayer-leader's formula, and its subject is the divine name that comes right after.
From: Praise and Supplication in Prayer →سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول انطلق ثلاثة نفر ممن كان قبلكم حتى آواهم المبيت إلى غار فدخلوه،
I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, say: 'Three men from those before you set out, and night forced them to take shelter in a cave. They entered it.'
سَمِعْتُ — I heard. This is a past-tense verb with the 'I' built into its ending, so no separate subject pronoun is needed. It governs the long quotation that follows as its object, framing the whole report as something the speaker personally heard.
From: Three Men Saved by Sincerity →OpenArabic teaches words like سَمِعَ through real bilingual reading with native audio and spaced-repetition practice.
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