Arabic vocabulary
أَعَانَhelp in Arabic
أَعَانَ is how you say “help” in Arabic. Hear it pronounced and see it used in real example sentences from classical texts below.
Root ع و ن (ʿ-w-n)verb (form IV)Pronounced aʿāna
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.'
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
- عَوْنٌaid, help, assistance; also 'a helper, an assistant'
- أَعْوَانٌhelpers, assistants (plural of ʿawn)
- مَعُونَةٌaid, help, assistance (noun)
- عَاوَنَto aid/help someone (who helps you in return); form III, close synonym of aʿāna
- تَعَاوَنُواthey helped, aided, or assisted one another; form VI, 'they cooperated'
- اِسْتَعَانَto seek, ask for, or beg help/aid (from someone); form X
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.'
Definitions synthesised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).
Example sentences
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.
From: Taming the Lower Self →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.
From: When Scripture Answers Proverbs →
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