Arabic vocabulary
How to say “Moses” in Arabic, with pronunciation and real example sentences from OpenArabic texts.
فقيل لى هذا موسى وقومه،
but it was said to me: This is Moses and his people,
مُوسَى — Moses. This is the predicate — the name 'Moses'. Note its ending never changes for case: it belongs to the class of names frozen with a final long vowel, so it looks the same as subject, object, or predicate. It corrects the Prophet's guess.
From: Those Who Enter Without Account →أَبُو مُوسَى الأَشْعَرِيُّ، أَنَّهُ تَوَضَّأَ فِي بَيْتِهِ ثُمَّ خَرَجَ،
Abu Musa al-Ash'ari reported that he performed ablution in his house, then he went out.
مُوسَى — Musa. The name that completes 'father of Musa', the owned half of the pairing. Its long final vowel is part of the name, not a case ending.
From: Three Companions Promised Paradise →فَقَالَ وَرَقَةُ هَذَا النَّامُوسُ الَّذِي أُنْزِلَ عَلَى مُوسَى،
Waraqah said, "This is the law that was revealed to Moses."
مُوسَى — Moses. A proper name on the receiving end of 'sent down to', so it sits in the genitive after that preposition, though as a foreign name it does not visibly change its ending. It names the earlier prophet the law first came to, drawing the parallel Waraqah is making.
From: The Night of Revelation and Consolation →وَلَكِنْ إِئْتُوا مُوسَى عَبْدًا
But bring Moses, a servant.
مُوسَى — Moses. A proper name that happens to end in a long vowel of a kind that never shows case endings, so it stays fixed in shape whatever role it plays; here it is the object of the command. That frozen ending is a feature of this class of names, not a missing marker. It names whom to bring.
From: Intercession on Judgment Day →فَيَأْتُونَ مُوسَى
Then they came to Moses.
مُوسَى — Moses. A proper name ending in a long unchanging vowel of a kind that never shows case endings, so its shape stays fixed in any role; here it is the object the coming reaches. That frozen ending is a property of this class of names. English adds 'to', while Arabic sets the goal in the object slot.
From: Intercession on Judgment Day →أَنْتَ مُوسَى الَّذِي اِصْطَفَاكَ اللَّهُ بِرِسَالَاتِهِ وَبِكَلَامِهِ
You are Moses, whom God chose for His messages and for His word.
مُوسَى — Moses. This proper name, Moses, is the predicate of the pronoun before it, 'you are Moses', equating the addressee with the named figure. The 'are' is silent, and the relative clause that follows will expand on this identity.
From: Patience Under Decree →قَالَ فَحَاجَ آدَمُ مُوسَى
He said: Adam disputed with Moses.
مُوسَى — Moses. This proper name, Moses, is the one argued against, the object of the verb whose subject is Adam. Standing after the subject, it completes 'Adam out-argued Moses', naming the party who did not prevail.
From: Patience Under Decree →وآدَمُ ﵇ لَمْ يَحْتَجْ عَلَى مُوسَى بِالْقِدْرِ
And Adam did not invoke the divine decree against Moses.
مُوسَى — Moses. This proper name, Moses, is governed by the 'against' before it and so stands in the genitive role, the one the decree was not invoked against. It names the party Adam did not argue at, completing the denied confrontation.
From: Patience Under Decree →قَالَ مُوسَى عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ يَا رَبَّ مَنْ أَهْلَكَ الَّذِينَ هُمْ أَهْلُكَ،
Moses, peace be upon him, said: "O Lord, who destroyed those who are Your people?"
مُوسَى — Moses. This is the prophet's proper name, standing as the named doer of 'said', placed after the verb in Arabic's verb-first order. As a name it is inherently definite. The honorific phrase right after it is a blessing, not part of the clause.
From: Under God's Shield →لَمَّا بَعَثَ اللَّهُ مُوسَى وَأَخَاهُ هَارُونَ إِلَى فِرْعَوْنَ قَالَ
When God sent Moses and his brother Aaron to Pharaoh, He said:
مُوسَى — Moses. This is a personal name and the first of two people being sent, so it is an object of the sending verb. Names ending in this long final vowel do not show their case with a visible ending, so the object role is read from position rather than from a marker. Its form stays fixed whatever role it plays.
From: Under God's Shield →اذهبوا إلى موسى، فيأتون موسى، فيقولون يا موسى أنت رسول الله فضلك الله برسالاته وبكلامه على الناس، اشفع لنا إلى ربك ألا ترى ما نحن فيه؟
Go to Moses, so they go to him and say: "O Moses, you are the Messenger of Allah. Allah favored you with His messages and His words over the people. Intercede for us with your Lord. Do you not see the state we are in?"
مُوسَى — Moses. A proper name serving as the goal of 'to'; foreign names like this resist visible case change, but grammatically it sits as the target the preposition governs. It is the destination of the command.
From: The Prophet's Intercession →اذهبوا إلى موسى، فيأتون موسى، فيقولون يا موسى أنت رسول الله فضلك الله برسالاته وبكلامه على الناس، اشفع لنا إلى ربك ألا ترى ما نحن فيه؟
Go to Moses, so they go to him and say: "O Moses, you are the Messenger of Allah. Allah favored you with His messages and His words over the people. Intercede for us with your Lord. Do you not see the state we are in?"
مُوسَى — Moses. The name repeats as the one reached, Arabic preferring a restated noun over a pronoun like 'him' to keep the reference clear through the run of verbs. It is the object of the coming.
From: The Prophet's Intercession →اذهبوا إلى موسى، فيأتون موسى، فيقولون يا موسى أنت رسول الله فضلك الله برسالاته وبكلامه على الناس، اشفع لنا إلى ربك ألا ترى ما نحن فيه؟
Go to Moses, so they go to him and say: "O Moses, you are the Messenger of Allah. Allah favored you with His messages and His words over the people. Intercede for us with your Lord. Do you not see the state we are in?"
مُوسَى — Moses. The addressee being called, so it sits in the special form that follows the call-particle rather than its plain sentence form. Naming him directly opens the appeal to him.
From: The Prophet's Intercession →OpenArabic teaches words like مُوسَى through real bilingual reading with native audio and spaced-repetition practice.
Get the app