طَاعَةٍ obedience in Arabic
طَاعَةٍ is how you say “obedience” in Arabic.
Root ط و ع ṭ-w-ʿ. noun (verbal noun / quasi-infinitive noun, of form IV أَطَاعَ). ṭāʿah.
Arabic
English
The audio uses AI voices.
Meaning of obedience in Arabic
- obedience, compliance with a command the sense most lexicographers stress: doing as one is told, as opposed to mere willingness
- submissiveness, deference to another's will broader sense shared with the related noun طَوْع
Example sentence
طَاعَةً بِطَاعَةٍ وَمَعْصِيَةً بِمَحَبَّةٍ
Obedience for the sake of obedience, and disobedience for the sake of love.
بِطَاعَة by obedience
The 'bi-' here marks exchange or cause ('in return for / by'): 'obedience FOR obedience'. It governs the following noun in the genitive ending and pairs the two like-for-like, building the symmetry of the reckoning.
The English is machine-translated.
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How it is used
طَاعَة denotes obedience specifically to a command or authority, distinguished by lexicographers from the more general طَوْع (willing compliance/submission). The root is common in religious vocabulary: صَلَاةُ التَّطَوُّعِ names supererogatory prayer, and مُتَطَوِّعٌ 'volunteer' describes one who performs good deeds beyond what is obligatory — both built on the same idea of voluntary compliance found in طَاعَة.
Words from the same root
- طَاعَ to be, or become, submissive/obedient (to someone)
- أَطَاعَ to obey (a person or command)
- طَاوَعَ to comply with, agree with (someone)
- تَطَوَّعَ to do voluntarily, beyond what is obligatory
- اسْتَطَاعَ to be able (to do something)
- طَائِعٌ obedient, submissive (one who obeys)
- مُتَطَوِّعٌ volunteer (one who does good beyond what's required)
- طَوْعٌ submission, compliance (verbal noun of طَاعَ)
More example sentences
وَمِنْ هَذِهِ حَالُهُ لَا يَفُوزُ بِطَاعَةٍ
And such is his state: he does not attain success through obedience.
بِطَاعَةٍ through obedience
The bi- prefix is a preposition meaning 'by means of', and it puts the noun it rides on into the genitive while marking it as the instrument: the channel THROUGH which success would (but does not) come. It links the failed attaining of the verb to obedience as the missing means.
Common questions
- How do you say "obedience" in Arabic?
- طَاعَة (ṭāʿah).
- What's the difference between طَاعَة and طَوْع?
- Both share the root ط و ع and relate to compliance, but طَاعَة is generally obedience to a command or authority, while طَوْع is the broader idea of submissiveness or willing compliance.
Related words
Definitions summarised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).