جَعَلَ place in Arabic
جَعَلَ is how you say “place” in Arabic.
Root ج ع ل j-ʿ-l. verb (form I). jaʿala.
Arabic
English
The audio uses AI voices.
Meaning of place in Arabic
- to make, do, produce (a thing) Given as synonymous with ṣanaʿa, but said (by Er-Rághib) to be broader in scope than both faʿala and ṣanaʿa.
- to make/appoint (someone or something) to be something; to render, constitute Doubly transitive, e.g. Qur'anic 'and He made me a prophet' or 'We made the moon a light'.
- to put, place, lay down, or insert (something) into or upon something E.g. 'they put their fingers into their ears'; matches the plain sense 'place'.
- to pronounce, declare, or call (something) to be; also to think or hold (something) to be Covers judicial/legal pronouncement, naming, and belief, e.g. 'they called the angels females'.
Example sentence
كم بين قوله لآدم إني جاعل في الأرض خليفة،
How vast is the difference between His words to Adam: 'I will place a vicegerent on earth,'
جَاعِلٌ place
jail means 'one placing, about to place'; used here for the near future — 'I am going to place'.
The English is machine-translated.
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How it is used
Very frequent in the Qur'an, where it covers everything from creation ('He made the darknesses and the light') to naming, judgment, and simple placement ('they put their fingers in their ears'). Classical lexicographers treat it as a broader, more general verb of 'making' than either faʿala or ṣanaʿa.
Words from the same root
- جَعْلٌ verbal noun: the act of making, doing, or appointing
- جُعْلٌ verbal noun (alternate form): the act of making
- جَعَالَةٌ verbal noun (alternate form): the act of making
- مَجْعَلٌ verbal noun (alternate form): the act of making
- جَاعِلٌ active participle: one who makes, appoints, or puts
- أَجْعَلَ form IV: to make, cause to make (causative)
More example sentences
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.
اجْعَلْ make!
Command 'ij'al' = 'make!, set!' to one person; 'you' is built in.
ومع كل فجرٍ جديد، اجعل نيتك أوّل عملك، وابتسم سرًّا حين تنتصر على نفسك في أمر صغير؛
With each new dawn, make your intention your first action, and smile secretly when you overcome yourself in a small matter.
اجْعَلْ make
Command 'ij'al' = 'make!, set!'; 'you' is built in.
ضع نيةً محددة كإبرة بوصلتك، ثم اجعل أعمالك الصغيرة تدور حولها وضوء حاضر، نظرة مصروفة عن فضول، كلمة مكفوفة عن إيذاء، ابتسامة تُثبِّت قلبًا واهيًا
Set a specific intention as your compass needle, then let your small deeds revolve around it: a mindful ablution, a glance turned away from curiosity, a restrained word from harm, a smile that steadies a weak heart.
اجْعَلْ let!
Command 'ij'al' = 'make!, let!'; 'you' is built in.
اجعل ليلك ميزانًا لنهارك ثلاث دقائق للمحاسبة، دقيقة للاستغفار، ودقيقة لوعدٍ واضح تتعامل معه كعهد
Make your night a scale for your day: three minutes for accountability, one minute for seeking forgiveness, and one minute for a clear promise you treat as a covenant.
اجْعَلْ make!
Command 'ij'al' = 'make!, set!'; 'you' is built in.
وَلا يَجُوزُ أَنْ يُجْعَلَ وَهُوَ الْحَاكِمُ عَلَيْهِ مَحْكُومًا
And it is not permissible for him to be made subordinate when he is the ruler over it.
يُجْعَلَ be made
Present-tense passive verb, subject 'he' built in; the '-a' ending follows 'an'.
اجعل للصبحِ والمساءِ وِردًا من الأذكارِ المأثورة، واقرأه بمهلٍ وفهم، ثم اسأل نفسَك ماذا تغيّر؟
Make for the morning and evening a habitual recitation from established remembrances, read it with care and understanding, then ask yourself: what has changed?
اجْعَلْ make!
A command, 'make, set up!', its bare clipped form is the imperative. 'ja'ala' here takes two objects — make X for Y — so expect a 'for...' and a thing.
فاجعل في كفّتك ما يثبت أمام الحقّ، لا ما يطير مع أول نفخة ريح
so place in your scale what stands firm before the truth, not what flies away with the first gust of wind.
فَاجْعَلْ so place
'so place, put!' — 'fa' plus the imperative; 'ja'ala' here means 'put X in Y'; it takes an object.
فَجعل يذكر الرصد فيسير أَمَامه
He kept remembering the watch so he walked ahead of him.
فَجَعَلَ so he made
'Fa-' (so) plus a past-tense verb 'began / set about', subject 'he' inside. Used with a following verb, this verb means 'took to doing', starting a habit; here it heads 'he kept remembering'.
وَأرْسل حَمَامَتَيْنِ فاتخذتا هُنَاكَ عشا جعل على أبصار الطالبين غشاوة
And He sent two doves that made a nest there, creating a veil over the seekers' eyes.
جَعَلَ creating
A past-tense verb 'made / placed', subject (God) understood — opening the result clause 'which made…'. It takes two objects: it placed a veil over the eyes.
يُمهِّد الصمتُ لنيةٍ أدقّ، فيجعل الكلمةَ أصدق، والحكمَ أعدل، والاعتذارَ أسرع
Silence paves the way for a sharper intention, making words more truthful, judgments more just, and apologies faster.
فَيَجْعَلُ so he makes
The 'fa-' draws the consequence: 'so it makes...'. The verb 'makes [X into Y]' takes two objects — a thing and what it becomes; here it makes the word truer, the judgement juster, the apology quicker, each pair following.
فالأصولي الواقف مع الظواهر والآثار عند خصومه يجعلونه مجسما وحشويا ومبتدعا،
So the theologian who adheres to the apparent texts and traditions, his opponents label him an anthropomorphist, a literalist, and an innovator.
يَجْعَلُونَهُ they make him
This is the verb 'render / make', present, with '-una' = 'they' and '-hu' = 'him'. Crucially it takes TWO objects: 'they make him [into] X'. So the labels that follow are all second objects in the accusative. One word holds the verb, its subject, and its first object.
فأتاهم ملك في صورة آدمي فجعلوه بينهم أي حكماً
Then an angel came to them in the form of a human, and they made him a judge among them.
فَجَعَلُوهُ and they made him
This is 'so' plus the verb 'made / rendered' ('-u' = 'they', '-hu' = 'him') — 'so they made him...'. This verb takes TWO objects: 'made him [into] X'. So the role that follows is its second object. Verb, subject, and first object ride in one form.
فقام عكاشة بن محصن فقال ادع الله أن يجعلني منهم،
Ukasha bin Mihsan stood up and said: 'Pray to Allah to make me one of them,'
يَجْعَلَنِي make me
This is the verb 'make / render' in the subjunctive (because of the 'that' before it), with '-ni' = 'me' as its object — 'that He make me...'. This verb takes TWO objects: 'make me [one] of them', the second object coming next.
ثم قام رجل آخر فقال ادع الله أن يجعلني منهم
Then another man stood up and said: 'Pray to Allah to make me one of them.'
يَجْعَلَنِي make me
The verb 'make / render' in the subjunctive after 'that', with '-ni' = 'me' — 'that He make me...'. It takes two objects; the second ('of them') follows.
قال فإنك من أهلها فأخرج تمرات من قرنه فجعل يأكل منهن،
He said: 'Nothing, O Messenger of Allah, except that I hope to be among its people.' So he said: 'You are indeed among its people.' Then he took out dates from his quiver and began to eat them.
فَجَعَلَ and began
fa- (so/then) on a past-tense verb that means 'he set about / began'. This verb belongs to a small set of 'starting' verbs that take another verb after them to mean 'began to do'; the following verb stays present-tense to show the ongoing action that was started.
فالأصولي الواقف مع الظواهر والآثار عند خصومه يجعلونه مجسما وحشويا ومبتدعا،
So the fundamentalist who stands with the apparent meanings and narrations, his opponents deem him an anthropomorphist, a Hashwi, and an innovator.
يَجْعَلُونَهُ they deem him
A present-tense verb on a causative pattern meaning they make or deem him, with the plural 'they' marked and the object 'him' attached. The causative shape carries 'render/regard as', and the verb takes a second accusative describing what they deem him to be.
إن الله تعالى خلق الخلق ليعبدوه، وجعل الدنيا دار ابتلاء واختبار
Indeed, Allah the Exalted created the creation to worship Him, and made the world a place of trial and test.
وَجَعَلَ and made
The connector 'and' fused to a past-tense verb, 'made / appointed', carrying its own 'he' subject. This verb takes two objects, one thing and what it is turned into, setting up 'made the world a place of...'.
قال العطار لأنك وضعت الدواء في عينه، وكان ينبغي أن تجعله في فمه
The herbalist said, 'Because you put the medicine in its eye, and you were supposed to put it in its mouth.'
تَجْعَلَهُ put it
A present verb in its aim-shape because the particle before it marks it as a goal, 'that you put it', with the object 'it' attached. It carries a 'you' subject, and the suffix points back to the medicine.
ثم قال اللهم إني أسألك كما سألك إبراهيم وإسماعيل، فاجعل أفئدة من الناس تهوي إليهم
Then he said: O Allah, I ask you as Ibrahim and Ismail asked you, so direct the hearts of the people towards them.
فَاجْعَلْ so direct
The fa- gives this a 'so' force, turning to the request. The verb is a bare command 'make' to God, an imperative built by dropping the present prefix.
وَقَوْلُهُمْ خَيْرُ الْأُمُورِ أَوْسَاطُهَا، مَذْكُورٌ فِي قَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى وَلَا تَجْعَلْ يَدَكَ مَغْلُولَةً إِلَى عُنُقِكَ وَلَا تَبْسُطْهَا كُلَّ الْبَسْطِ
And their saying: 'The best of matters is its middle' is mentioned in His saying: 'And do not make your hand chained to your neck, nor open it completely.'
تَجْعَلْ you make
This is a verb 'you make, place', addressed to one male, clipped into the jussive because the prohibition 'do not' before it demands that form. The shortened ending is the grammatical sign of the prohibition. So it means 'do not make', and it takes a double object.
الحمد لله الذي جعل الدنيا على الحقيقة معبر اعتبار،
Praise be to Allah who made this world, in truth, a passage for reflection,
جَعَلَ he made
A past-tense verb 'made/appointed' with its subject 'He' built in, referring to God. This verb takes two objects, a thing and what it is made into, setting up 'made the world a passage'.
فجعلت أن تقول متى تصديقًا لما أتى من الوعد يا فتى،
So she began to say, 'When will you believe what has come of the promise, O young man?'
فَجَعَلَتْ so she began
The 'so/then' prefix opens the next move, and beneath it a past-tense verb means 'she set about / began', with a feminine subject built in. This verb of beginning expects a following verb naming what she started doing, so it launches the quoted speech to come.
جعل مهر الأخرى طلاق الدنيا بتاتا،
He made the dowry of the Hereafter a final divorce from this worldly life,
جَعَلَ He made
A past-tense verb meaning 'made / appointed', with its 'he' subject built in and pointing back to Allah. This verb takes two objects, a thing and what He turned it into, so it sets up the metaphor that follows, naming first the dowry and then what it equals.
Common questions
- How do you say "place" in Arabic?
- جَعَلَ (jaʿala) — though its core sense is broader, 'to make, put, or appoint', not just physical placement.
- What does the Arabic verb جَعَلَ mean?
- It means to make or create something, to make/appoint someone or something to be something else, to put or place a thing, and to pronounce, name, or think something to be.
Related words
Definitions summarised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).