مَحَبَّة love in Arabic

إِذا علقت شروش الْمعرفَة فِي أَرض الْقلب نَبتَت فِيهِ شَجَرَة الْمحبَّة،

When the roots of knowledge take hold in the soil of the heart, the tree of love grows there.

الْمَحَبَّةِ love

al- = 'the'; mahabba means 'love' — the 'of…' word: 'of love'.

From Knowledge, Reverence, Obedience

فَقَالَ رجل لمعروف عَلمنِي الْمحبَّة

A man said to Ma'ruf, 'Teach me love.'

الْمَحَبَّةَ love

The object of 'teach', accusative ('-a'), definite — love. What he asks to be taught.

From The Path to God's Love

فَقَالَ الْمحبَّة لَا تَجِيء بالتعليم

He said, 'Love does not come by teaching.'

الْمَحَبَّةُ love

The topic, nominative ('-u'), definite — 'love [does not]…'. What the statement is about.

From The Path to God's Love

لبرها به، ومحبتها له،

due to her kindness and love for him,

وَمَحَبَّتِهَا and her love

The opening particle joins this as a second cause parallel to the first, and the noun carries an attached 'her' while heading an 'of' pairing. It shares the 'because of' governing the earlier cause, hence its governed form.

From Raised in the Prophet’s Household

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.

وَمَحَبَّتِهِ and His love

The 'and' prefix joins this onto the chain of things being credited to God, and a coordinated noun matches the case of what it is joined to, here the genitive. The attached 'his' at the end points back to God, so it reads as God's own love.

From Worship and Repentance

وَهِي وَإِن كَانَت مَنْفَعَتهَا للْعَبد وَالله غَنِي عَنْهَا فَهِيَ لَهُ من جِهَة محبته لَهَا وَرضَاهُ بهَا

And even though its benefit is for the servant and Allah is self-sufficient from it, it is for Him in terms of His love for it and His approval of it.

مَحَبَّتِهِ His love for it

This noun completes the pairing as 'His love', with the attached 'his' as its owner pointing back to God. As the owner-half it takes the genitive ending, and the pronoun fixes whose love is meant.

From Worship and Repentance

فصل وَهَذِه الْأَعْمَال الْبَاطِنَة كمحبة الله وَالْإِخْلَاص لَهُ والتوكل عَلَيْهِ وَالرِّضَا عَنهُ وَنَحْو ذَلِك كلهَا مَأْمُور بهَا فِي حق الْخَاصَّة والعامة

Section: These inner actions — such as love of Allah, sincerity to Him, reliance upon Him, and contentment with Him, and the like — are all commanded for both the elite and the common people.

كَمَحَبَّةِ such as love for

A 'like/such as' prefix attached to a noun, opening the list of examples. It governs the noun into the owned form and sets up an 'X of Y' link with what follows, here 'love of...'.

From Patience in Hard Times

وَقَدْ ضَمَّ الْأَبُ إِلَى الْتَسَبُّبِ فِي إِيجَادِهِ مَحَبَّتَهُ بَعْدَ وُجُودِهِ،

And indeed, the father added to the causing of his coming into being his love after his coming into existence.

مَحَبَّتَهُ his love

This is the direct object of 'added', the thing the father joined on: his love, marked by the object-style -a ending and carrying the 'his' pronoun. Arabic flags the object with that -a vowel even when, as here, it comes well after the verb. The -hu names the father as the one whose love it is.

From Honoring Parents

فَجِنْسُ الْمَحَبَّةِ يَكُونُ لِلَّهِ وَلِرَسُولِهِ كَالطَّاعَةِ

So the kind of love is for God and for His Messenger, like obedience.

الْمَحَبَّةِ of love

This noun is the owning second half of an 'of' pairing with the word before it, 'the category of love', and so it takes the genitive shape. Bound to the head noun, it supplies the 'of' content with no separate word, narrowing 'category' to the specific kind meant.

From Faith and Worship