خَلَفَ left in Arabic
خَلَفَ is how you say “left” in Arabic.
Root خ ل ف kh-l-f. verb (form I). khalafa.
Arabic
English
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Meaning of left in Arabic
- to come after, remain, or stay behind following another, especially one who died or perished matches the sense of being 'left' surviving after someone or something has gone
- to take someone's place, act as their substitute, or become their khalīfah (successor, deputy, vice-regent) used of heirs, deputies over a family, and rulers
- (of things) to succeed and replace one another, to alternate said of night following day, or one crop of fruit replacing another
- to come up on someone from behind and seize them, or strike off their head unawares
Example sentence
يا آدم، لا تجزع من قولي لك اخرج منها، فلك ولصالح ذريتك خلّفتها
O Adam, do not grieve over My saying to you: 'Get out of it,' for I created it for you and your righteous descendants.
خَلَّفْتُهَا I have left it
Past-tense verb 'left behind, set aside'; the ending '-tu' = 'I' and '-ha' = 'it' — 'I set it aside'.
The English is machine-translated.
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How it is used
Central to the phrase خَلَفَ اللّٰهُ عَلَيْكَ, said to someone who has lost an irreplaceable relative (father, mother, uncle), meaning roughly "may God be your replacement/support" or "may God restore to you what you have lost." The verbal noun خِلَافَة and the agent-sense behind خَلِيفَة (successor, vice-regent) carry strong Qur'anic and later caliphal resonance, all rooted in the basic idea of coming after and taking another's place.
Words from the same root
- خَلِيفٌ successor, vice-regent — one who takes another's place
- خِلَافَةٌ succession; the office of being someone's successor or vice-regent
- خَلَفٌ a successor; that which takes the place of what came before
- خَلْفٌ posterity, those who come after (esp. an inferior generation)
- خِلْفَةٌ alternation, succession — e.g. of night and day, or fruit after fruit
Common questions
- How do you say "left" in Arabic?
- خَلَفَ (khalafa) — used of remaining or staying behind after another person, especially one who has died or departed.
- What is the core meaning of the root خ-ل-ف?
- It expresses coming after, following, or succeeding — the same idea found in خَليفة (successor/vice-regent) and خِلافة (succession).
Related words
Definitions summarised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).