أَعَانَ help in Arabic
أَعَانَ is how you say “help” in Arabic.
Root ع و ن ʿ-w-n. verb (form IV). aʿāna.
Arabic
English
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Meaning of help in Arabic
- to help, aid, assist (someone) Used absolutely, as in the prayer formula رَبِّ أَعِنِّي وَلَا تُعِنْ عَلَيَّ, 'O my Lord, aid me, and aid not against me.'
- to help someone accomplish something Takes عَلَى + the task: أَعَانَهُ عَلَى الأَمْرِ, 'he helped him to carry out the affair.'
Example sentence
فَمَتَى أَعَانَهَا فَهُوَ شَرِيكُهَا فِي فَسَادِهَا
Whenever he aids it, he becomes a partner in its corruption.
أَعَانَهَا he aids it
Past-tense verb 'a'ana' = 'he helped'; '-ha' = 'it', so 'he helped it'; subject 'he' is built in.
The English is machine-translated.
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How it is used
Aʿāna is the form IV verb of the root ʿ-w-n, the family of words for aid and help. It is close in meaning to form III ʿāwana, and pairs with the preposition ʿalā when naming the task being helped with. Its verbal noun is iʿānah ('aiding, assistance'), and the same root gives the everyday noun ʿawn ('help') and the reflexive istaʿāna ('to seek help').
Words from the same root
- عَوْنٌ aid, help, assistance; also 'a helper, an assistant'
- أَعْوَانٌ helpers, assistants (plural of ʿawn)
- مَعُونَةٌ aid, help, assistance (noun)
- عَاوَنَ to aid/help someone (who helps you in return); form III, close synonym of aʿāna
- تَعَاوَنُوا they helped, aided, or assisted one another; form VI, 'they cooperated'
- اِسْتَعَانَ to seek, ask for, or beg help/aid (from someone); form X
More example sentences
وَقَوْلُهُمْ مَنْ أَعَانَ ظَالِمًا سَلَّطَهُ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ، مَذْكُورٌ فِي قَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى كَتَبَ عَلَيْهِ أَنَّهُ مَنْ تَوَلَّاهُ فَأَنَّهُ يُضِلُّهُ
And their saying: 'Whoever supports a tyrant, Allah will empower him against them' is mentioned in His saying: 'He has decreed that whoever takes him as an ally, He will misguide him.'
أَعَانَ he supports
Past-tense 'he aided, helped', the 'he' subject inside. It is the condition verb after 'whoever', set in the past, which Arabic uses for the 'if' half of a general truth. It governs the object that follows.
لأنه قد دُلّ على طريق السلامة فإذا تقاعد عنها أعان على نفسه،
Because he has been shown the path of safety, so if he turns away from it, he aids in his own harm,
أَعَانَ he aids
This past-tense verb has its 'he' subject built in and delivers the result of the 'if', 'he aided'. Arabic answers the condition with this plain verb, no separate word for 'then'.
Common questions
- How do you say "help" in Arabic?
- As a verb, أَعَانَ (aʿāna) means 'he helped/aided (someone).' As a plain noun, 'help' is عَوْن (ʿawn) or مَعُونَة (maʿūnah).
- How do you say "to ask for help" in Arabic?
- اِسْتَعَانَ (istaʿāna), often with بِ — istaʿāna bihi, 'he sought help from him.'
Related words
Definitions summarised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).