رَبٌّ Lord in Arabic
رَبٌّ is how you say “Lord” in Arabic.
Root ر ب ب r-b-b. noun (substantive / epithet). rabb.
Arabic
English
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Meaning of Lord in Arabic
- lord, master, possessor, owner one who has rightful ownership of a thing, or command and authority over a person
- rearer, fosterer, guardian by extension of رَبَّهُ 'he reared/brought him up'; a commentator on the Qur'an gives the root's primary sense as bringing something to completion by degrees, i.e. nurturing it to maturity
Example sentence
والوحشة بَين العَبْد وَبَين ربّه
And estrangement between the servant and their Lord.
رَبِّهِ their Lord
rabb means 'Lord'; the ending -hi adds 'his', pointing back to the servant (English 'their' is loose for -hi = 'his').
The English is machine-translated.

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How it is used
رَبّ is the standard word for a lord, master, or possessor/owner of something, and is used absolutely (الرَّبّ, 'the Lord') as a title for God. Its verb رَبَّهُ links this authority-sense to a nurturing one — 'he reared/brought him up' — and one commentary on the Qur'an holds that the root's core meaning is bringing a thing to completeness by degrees, i.e. fostering it to maturity.
Words from the same root
- رَبَّهُ he owned it and held authority over it; also, he reared and fostered a child (form I)
- ربّب reared or fostered intensively, especially said of bringing up an orphan (form II)
- رِبَابَةٌ the act of ruling or governing people; guardianship
- رُبٌّ rob, a thickened fruit (date) juice used to season a skin or vessel
- رِبَابٌ a female animal's state of having just given birth or having young newly born
More example sentences
طُوبَى لمن أنصف ربّه
Blessed is the one who is fair with his Lord.
رَبَّهُ with his Lord
rabb means 'Lord'; the ending '-hu' adds 'his'. It is the object — 'his Lord' (whom he dealt fairly with).
اجعل لكل يوم وقفة محاسبة قصيرة ما الذي زادني قربًا من ربي اليوم، وما الذي زاد الغفلة سمكًا حول قلبي
Make a brief accounting each day: What brought me closer to my Lord today, and what increased the thickness of heedlessness around my heart.
رَبِّيَ my Lord
'rabb' = 'Lord'; '-i' = 'my', so 'my Lord'.
وتعرّف رب الْعِزَّة إِلَى المحبين بأسمائه وَصِفَاته
And the Lord of Majesty introduced Himself to the lovers through His names and attributes.
رَبُّ the Lord
'Lord', the subject of 'made Himself known', nominative ('-u'), and first term of an 'of' pairing — 'the Lord of Might'. It owns the noun that follows.
فيسألهم ربهم وهو أعلم ما يقول عبادي؟
Their Lord asks them – and He knows best: What do My servants say?
رَبُّهُمْ Their Lord
This is 'Lord' with attached 'their' — 'their Lord', the subject of 'asks', restating who does the asking. The pronoun ties the Lord to the angels. Its nominative ending marks the doer.
الأمر الثالث ما تضمنه قوله ﴿تَنْزِيلٌ مِنْ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ﴾
The third matter is what is contained in His saying: 'A revelation from the Lord of the worlds.'
رَبِّ the Lord
The noun 'Lord' heading the pairing 'Lord of the worlds' and standing in the form the preposition governs. It leans on the owner that follows to specify whose lordship.
فمن زعم ذلك لم يقدر رب العالمين قدره ونسبه إلا مالا يليق به تعالى
Whoever claims that has not given the Lord of the worlds His due esteem and has attributed to Him what is not befitting.
رَبَّ the Lord
This is the object of the verb and the first half of a possessive pairing, the Lord, taking the accusative ending as the thing not duly esteemed. It owns the following word in an 'of' relationship built by placing the two nouns side by side with no separate word for 'of'.
﴿فَتَعَالَى اللَّهُ الْمَلِكُ الْحَقُّ لا إِلَهَ إِلا هُوَ رَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْكَرِيمِ﴾
Exalted is Allah, the True Sovereign; there is no deity except Him, Lord of the Noble Throne.
رَبُّ Lord
This noun is the first half of a possessive pairing, Lord-of, and stands in apposition to the excepted pronoun, taking the nominative. It owns the following word with no separate word for 'of', the two nouns simply set side by side.
فليستعن العبد بربه، وليسأله التوفيق، وليصبر على تكاليف الشرع، فإن العاقبة له
Let the servant seek assistance from his Lord, ask Him for guidance, and be patient with the duties of the law, for the outcome is in his favor.
بِرَبِّهِ from his Lord
A noun with the 'with' prefix marking the one whose help is sought and a possessor attached on the end, 'with his Lord'. The prefix governs it into the genitive, and the suffix points back to the servant; one word carries preposition, noun, and owner.
ومنهم أرباب التقى ومنهم الغجر،
And among them are the lords of piety, and among them are the wanderers,
أَرْبَابُ lords
This plural noun is the group named for this share, and it is also the first half of a possessive pair joined to what they are lords of. As the leading noun it gives up its own 'the' and takes its definiteness from the following word naming the thing possessed.
سَبِّح اِسمَ رَبِّكَ الأعلى، الّذِي خَلَقَ فَسَوّى
Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High, who created and perfected.
رَبِّكَ of your Lord
The owner half of the possessive pair, in the 'of' ending, with 'your' fused to its end addressing the listener. So it reads 'of your Lord', naming whose name is to be glorified, with the possessor on the noun.
لَا يَقْصِدُونَ مَا يُرْضِي الرَّبَّ وَيُحِبُّهُ
They do not intend what pleases the Lord and what He loves.
الرَّبَّ the Lord
A noun carrying 'the' that here functions as the object of 'pleases', the one made pleased. The definiteness plus context fixes it as God, the Lord. It receives the pleasing rather than performing it.
إِقْرَأْ وَرَبُّكَ الْأَكْرَمُ
Read, and your Lord is the Most Generous.
رَبُّكَ your Lord
This noun has 'your' attached at its end, so one word carries both 'Lord' and its owner, and it stands as the topic of the statement, 'your Lord is the most generous'. The suffix marks the addressee as the one whose Lord is meant.
وَهَذَا الْعَبْدُ يَسْأَلُ رَبَّهُ وَيَتَضَرَّعُ إِلَيْهِ وَيَتَوَكَّلُ عَلَيْهِ
And this servant asks his Lord, implores Him, and trusts in Him.
رَبَّهُ his Lord
A noun in the object accusative carrying the owner ending '-hu' (his): his Lord. The case marks it as the one asked, and the suffix ties the lordship to the servant.
وَفَوْقُ مَوْضِعُ نَظَرِ الرَّبِّ سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى إِلَى قُلُوبِ عِبَادِهِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
And above is the place of the gaze of the Lord, Glorified and Exalted, toward the hearts of His believing servants.
الرَّبِّ the Lord
The divine title 'the Lord', the owner at the end of the possessive chain 'the place of the gaze of the Lord', so it takes the 'of' (genitive) ending. Made definite by al- ('the'), it is the one whose gaze is meant.
وَلَيْسَ لِلْعَبْدِ أَنْ يَخْتَبِرَ رَبَّهُ
It is not for the servant to test his Lord.
رَبَّهُ his Lord
A noun 'Lord' with the 'his' suffix attached, the object of the subjunctive verb 'to test'. The possessor points back to the servant, so it frames the forbidden act sharply: the servant testing the one who is the servant's own Lord. Object role gives it the object-style ending.
وأيضاً فنوع الثناء أضافه الرب إلى نفسه، ونوع السؤال أضافه إلى عبده
Also, the type of praise was attributed by the Lord to Himself, and the type of request was attributed to His servant.
الرَّبُّ the Lord
A definite noun with 'the', standing as the subject of the preceding 'attributed it', and falling after its verb in standard order, so in the nominative subject shape. It names God as the one who made the attribution, with 'the' marking Him as the known referent.
Common questions
- How do you say "Lord" in Arabic?
- رَبّ (rabb).
- What does the Arabic root ر-ب-ب mean?
- It centers on possession and authority (owning or ruling something) together with rearing and fostering (raising a child or thing to completion), as seen in رَبَّهُ 'he owned it / he reared him' and رِبَابَة 'governance'.
Related words
Definitions summarised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).