Arabic vocabulary
هِيَit
How to say “it” in Arabic, with pronunciation and real example sentences from OpenArabic texts.
Example sentences
فَهِيَ تَتَنَاوَلُ مَا يَدْعُوهَا إِلَيْهِ الطَّبْعُ مِنَ الْغِذَاءِ إِذَا حَضَرَ
They consume what their nature calls them to when food is present.
فَهِيَ — so they. The fa- carries the thought forward ('and so'); the pronoun here stands free as the topic the next verb comments on. Arabic uses the feminine singular pronoun for a non-human plural like the animals.
From: The Discipline of Foresight →فهي ليستْ لفظًا مُنفردًا، بل جملةٌ مُقدَّرة معناها أبدأ عملي باسمِ الله، فأربطُ الفعلَ بالرّب
it is not an isolated utterance, but an implicit sentence meaning: I begin my action in the name of Allah, thus linking the act to the Lord.
فَهِيَ — so it is. 'fa' carries 'so', 'hiya' is the standalone 'it, she' restating the topic — 'so it is...'. The feminine pronoun points back to the basmala (treated as a feminine 'phrase').
From: Words That Nourish the Heart →ومن قاتل لتكون كلمة الله هي العليا وقتل كان شهيدا،
And whoever fights so that the word of God is supreme and is killed is a martyr,
هِيَ — is. The standalone feminine pronoun used as a 'separating pronoun', steadying the sentence and underscoring that it is God's word that is 'the highest'. It carries the unstated 'is' before the predicate.
From: Deeds for God Alone →فهي بمنزلة الرائحة التي يشمها مَنْ جَالَس حامل المسك،
it is like the fragrance that is sensed by those who sit with the musk carrier,
فَهِيَ — so it is. 'Fa-' (so) plus the feminine pronoun 'it / they', subject of the comparison — pointing back to his deeds. The 'fa-' frames it as the resulting likeness.
From: The Meaning of Fasting →فإنّ أسلحته هي الشهوات والشبهات، والخيالات والأماني الكاذبة،
For his weapons are desires, doubts, imaginations, and false hopes.
هِيَ — are. The standalone feminine pronoun as a 'separating pronoun', steadying the long sentence and marking the list that follows as the predicate. It carries the unstated 'are'.
From: How Satan Exploits Weakness →وهي في القلب، فيدخل الشيطان فيجدها عنده فيأخذها ويصول بها على القلب؛
And they are in the heart, so the devil enters and finds them there and attacks the heart with them.
وَهِيَ — and they are. 'And' plus the feminine pronoun 'they', subject pointing back to those weapons. It opens 'and they are in the heart'.
From: How Satan Exploits Weakness →فضائله جليلة وَهِي خليّة عَن اللّبْس
His virtues are magnificent, and they are free from ambiguity.
وَهِيَ — and they are. The 'she/it' here points back to the plural 'virtues', and it is singular feminine for the same reason the adjective was: a non-human plural is referred to as one feminine thing. So a single feminine pronoun cleanly stands in for many items.
From: The Prophet's Refuge in the Cave →أَلَا وَهِيَ الْقَلْبُ
No doubt, it is the heart.
وَهِيَ — it is. The 'it' here is feminine, agreeing with the feminine 'morsel' it points back to. It is the subject of a verbless reveal whose predicate, 'the heart', follows with no 'is'.
From: The Lawful, the Forbidden, and the Grey →قال العلماء ﵏ النصيحة لكتاب الله تعالى هي الايمان بأنه كلام الله تعالى وتنزيله
The scholars said that sincere devotion to the Book of Allah, the Exalted, is to believe that it is the word of Allah, the Exalted, and His revelation.
هِيَ — is. This 'it' is doing the work of 'is.' When Arabic links two definite ideas — 'the counsel... is the belief...' — it can slip in a matching pronoun to mark the join, since there is no verb 'to be' in the present tense.
From: Devotion to the Quran →٣ ومنهم من يفسر ألفاظه العربية من غير وقوف على معانيها عند أهلها وهي مما لا يؤخذ إلا بالسماع من أهل العربية وأهل التفسير
3 - And among them are those who interpret Arabic words without knowing their meanings as understood by the experts, meanings which can only be learned by listening to Arabic scholars and interpreters.
وَهِيَ — which. 'and they' — 'they' being the meanings (a non-human plural, so the singular feminine 'it/they'). It restarts the sentence to say something about those meanings: they can only be had by listening to experts.
From: How Scholars Read Scripture →فهي عبارات دهاشة ومقدمات دكاكة،
They are dazzling phrases and deceptive premises.
فَهِيَ — so they are. The 'fa-' draws the summary, and 'they / it' is the subject — 'so they are...'. The pronoun stands for logic's false devices; its predicate, 'dazzling expressions,' follows in a verb-less statement.
From: Revelation Over Philosophy →بل هي صنعة بلا ثواب ولا عقاب،
Rather, it is a craft without reward or punishment.
هِيَ — it is. This feminine pronoun 'it' is the subject of the verbless sentence, agreeing with the feminine 'wisdom / philosophy'. It re-announces the topic before the predicate. Arabic picks the feminine form to match its referent.
From: Intention in Islam →الأولى ترك الصلاة وهي عمود الإخلاص للمعبود
The first is abandoning prayer, which is the pillar of devotion to the worshiped.
وَهِيَ — which is. The wa- opens a side-comment, and the word is the feminine standalone subject pronoun 'it/she'. It refers back to prayer, treated as feminine, and adds a parenthetical 'which is', steering into the description that follows.
From: Prayer and Charity →وهي تطلب منه في كل وقت ما تهواه، وتزين له المعاصي، وتصعب عليه الطاعات
It seeks from him at all times what it desires, embellishes sins for him, and makes acts of worship difficult for him.
وَهِيَ — and it. The wa- opens the sentence, and the standalone pronoun 'it' is the subject of the verbless-then-verbal description that follows. Spelling out the pronoun fronts the self as the topic before the verbs pile on its actions.
From: Struggling Against the Self →وقد قال بعض العارفين نفسك التي بين جنبيك هي عدوك الأكبر، فإذا غلبتها فقد غلبت كل شيء
And some of the knowers have said: 'Your self, which is between your sides, is your greatest enemy, and if you conquer it, you have conquered everything.'
هِيَ — is. A standalone pronoun 'she/it' used as a separating word that props up the equational sentence, marking 'your self' as the very thing that 'is' your greatest enemy. Arabic inserts this pronoun to keep subject and predicate clear in a no-verb sentence.
From: Struggling Against the Self →وليتذكر أن الدنيا أيام قلائل، وأن الآخرة هي دار القرار
Let him remember that this world is only a few days, and the hereafter is the abode of permanence.
هِيَ — is. A standalone pronoun 'she/it' used as a separating word that props up the equational clause, marking 'the hereafter' as the very thing that 'is' the abode of permanence. Arabic inserts this pronoun to keep subject and predicate clear in a no-verb clause.
From: Celebration and the Final Hour →وهو إعانته على نفسه التي هي وديعة الله تعالى عنده وقد أُمر بحفظها
And it is his aiding against his self, which is the trust of Allah, Exalted is He, placed with him, and he has been commanded to preserve it.
هِيَ — is. A standalone pronoun, 'she / it', spelled out to firmly equate the soul with what follows inside the relative clause. Since Arabic usually leaves such pronouns unsaid, its presence adds an emphatic 'it is in fact...'.
From: Trust in God →فَتَعَيَّنَ عَلَيْنَا الْفَحْصُ عَنِ الْكَبَائِرِ مَا هِيَ لِكَيْ يَجْتَنِبَهَا الْمُسْلِمُونَ
Therefore, it is necessary for us to investigate which are the major sins so that Muslims can avoid them.
هِيَ — they are. A standalone subject pronoun, feminine plural in sense, 'they (are)'. Spelled out as its own word, it serves as the subject of a verbless question pointing back to the sins.
From: What Small Worship Erases →وَقَالَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ هِيَ إِلَى السَّبْعِينَ أَقْرَبُ مِنْهَا إِلَى السَّبْعِ
Ibn Abbas said: They are closer to seventy than to seven.
هِيَ — it is. A standalone subject pronoun, feminine plural in sense, 'they (are)', spelled out as the subject of the verbless comparison that follows. It points back to the sins.
From: What Small Worship Erases →وأكلات جمع أكلة، وهي اللقمة،
'Bites' is the plural of 'bite', which is a morsel.
وَهِيَ — and it is. The 'wa-' opens a follow-up, and the rest is the connector with the attached subject-pronoun 'it (feminine)', meaning 'and it is', pointing back to the singular 'mouthful'. The feminine pronoun agrees with that word.
From: The One-Third Rule →والأنعام وهي معجبة للمالك والنظار،
And the cattle, which impress both the owner and the onlookers,
وَهِيَ — and it. The 'and' opens a circumstantial clause describing the state of the cattle, and beneath it stands the standalone pronoun 'it/she'. Arabic uses this kind of 'and + pronoun' to pin a 'while being...' description onto the noun just mentioned, so it links the cattle to the trait that follows.
From: Preferring the Hereafter →بينا هي في صعود الزيادة إذا صاحبها إلى القبر في انحدار،
While it is in the ascent of increase, suddenly its owner heads to the grave in decline,
هِيَ — it. This standalone 'it/she' pronoun serves as the subject of the 'while' clause, pointing back to the cattle from the previous line. Arabic can carry the topic forward with just this pronoun, so part of reading the line is tracking that 'it' to the herd, not the nearest noun.
From: Preferring the Hereafter →وَالْعِبَادَة هِيَ الْغَايَة الَّتِي خلق الله لَهَا الْعباد من جِهَة أَمر الله ومحبته وَرضَاهُ
And worship is the goal for which Allah created the servants, concerning His command, love, and approval.
هِيَ — is. This is the standalone 'she/it' pronoun, used here as a linking word between subject and description because Arabic has no present-tense 'is'. It steadies the sentence, telling the reader that what follows is the identity of the subject just named.
From: Worship and Repentance →وَهِي اسْم يجمع كَمَال الذل ونهايته وَكَمَال الْحبّ لله ونهايته
And it is a term that encompasses complete humility at its highest degree, and complete love for Allah at its highest degree.
وَهِيَ — and it is. The 'and' prefix opens the statement, and what follows is the standalone 'it' pronoun used as a subject. With no present-tense 'is' in Arabic, this pronoun anchors the sentence so the description that follows reads as 'it is...'.
From: Worship and Repentance →
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