إِحْسَان kindness in Arabic
إِحْسَان is how you say “kindness” in Arabic.
Root ح س ن ḥ-s-n. noun (verbal noun / maṣdar of form IV, aḥsana). iḥsān.
Arabic
English
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Meaning of kindness in Arabic
- doing good; kindness, benevolence The opposite of إِسَآءَة (bad conduct/wrongdoing). Unlike إِنْعَام (bestowing a favor, which is directed only at another), iḥsān can be toward oneself or another; it exceeds mere justice (عَدْل) by giving more than one owes and taking less than is owed to one.
- sincerity; excellence in faith and devotion In religious usage, explained as الإِخْلَاص (freedom from hypocrisy), a condition for the soundness of faith (إِيمَان) and submission (إِسْلَام) together — denoting watchfulness, dutiful obedience, and keeping to the right way followed by the righteous who came before.
Example sentence
فَإِن غفرها لَهُ فبمحض إحسانه وَكرمه
So if He forgives it for him, it is by His pure kindness and generosity.
إِحْسَانِهِ His kindness
ihsan means 'kindness, doing good'; the ending '-hi' adds 'His' — 'His kindness'.
The English is machine-translated.
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How it is used
Iḥsān is the verbal noun of the form IV verb أَحْسَنَ (aḥsana). Its everyday sense is doing good or acting kindly toward others — going beyond strict fairness. In classical religious usage it also carries a deeper sense of sincere, watchful devotion, named alongside إِيمَان (faith) and إِسْلَام (submission) as a condition for their soundness.
Words from the same root
- حَسُنَ to be or become good, goodly, or beautiful (form I)
- حُسْنٌ goodness, beauty, goodliness
- حَسَنٌ good, goodly, beautiful, comely
- حَسَنَةٌ a good deed
- أَحْسَنُ better, best, more excellent (elative)
- حسّنهُ to make good, beautify, embellish, adorn (form II)
- استحسنهُ to deem good, approve of, esteem (form X)
More example sentences
ويتودد إِلَيْهِ بأنواع إحسانه مع غناه عنه
And who shows affection to him with different types of His kindness while being self-sufficient from him.
إِحْسَانِهِ His kindness
ihsan means 'kindness, doing good'; the ending '-hi' adds 'His' — 'His kindness'.
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.
إِحْسَانٍ doing good
A Form IV action-noun, 'the doing of good', closing the list and still genitive under the 'by'. The pattern turns 'be excellent' into a deed-noun: kindness or charity as the last named act of obedience.
الثانية ترك إطعام المسكين الذي هو من مراتب الإحسان للعبيد
The second is abandoning feeding the poor, which is among the ranks of benevolence to the servants.
الْإِحْسَانِ benevolence
This noun carries 'the' and is owned by 'ranks' before it: the ranks of the excellent kindness. As the possessed half it takes the genitive ending; the two nouns sit directly together for 'of'.
فلا إخلاص للخلق ولا إحسان للمخلوق
There is neither devotion to the Creator nor benevolence to the creation.
إِحْسَانَ benevolence
This noun names kindness or excellence and sits in the accusative because the categorical 'no' before it governs it into that form. Together they assert 'no kindness at all', the noun supplying what is wholly denied.
قَالَ فَأَخْبِرْنِي عَنْ الْإِحْسَانِ
He said: 'Then tell me about ihsan.'
الْإِحْسَانِ ihsan
The noun governed by 'about', carrying al- ('the') and in the (genitive) ending the preposition requires. It names the topic being asked about, the ideal of spiritual excellence. Definite and case-marked, it is the fixed subject the speaker wants explained.
Common questions
- How do you say "kindness" in Arabic?
- إِحْسَان (iḥsān).
- What does إِحْسَان mean beyond "kindness"?
- Beyond doing good to others, it carries a religious sense of sincerity and watchful devotion, described as a condition for the soundness of faith (إِيمَان) and submission (إِسْلَام).
Related words
Definitions summarised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).