Arabic vocabulary
سُرَّplease in Arabic
سُرَّ is how you say “please” in Arabic. Hear it pronounced and see it used in a real example sentence from classical texts below.
Root س ر ر (s-r-r)verb (form I, passive voice)Pronounced surra
Meaning of please in Arabic
- to be pleased, gladdened, made joyful — the passive counterpart of سَرَّهُ 'he gladdened him'; commonly followed by بِ, as in سُرَّ بِهِ, 'he rejoiced at it/him'.
- (of a newborn) to have the navel-string cut — a separate, concrete sense recorded for the same passive form, distinct from the sense of joy.
سُرَّ is the passive/quasi-passive form of سَرَّ, describing the experience of being gladdened rather than the act of gladdening someone; Lane's glosses it as a pleasure or delight of the heart that need show no outward sign, which is what links this 'joy' sense to the root's other core sense of hiding or keeping secret (سِرّ, أَسَرَّ). The same passive shape سُرَّ is also recorded, unrelated in meaning, for a newborn having its umbilical cord cut.
Words from the same root
- سَرَّهُhe gladdened, delighted him (active form I)
- أَسَرَّهُhe concealed it — and, contrarily, he revealed/made it known (form IV)
- سَارَّهُhe spoke to him secretly, confided in him (form III)
- سِرٌّa secret
- سُرُورٌjoy, gladness (verbal noun)
- سُرَّةٌthe navel
- سُرِّيَّةٌa concubine slave-girl
Common questions
- How do you say "please" in Arabic?
- سُرَّ (surra) — the passive of سَرَّ (sarra), 'to gladden'; سُرَّ itself means 'he was pleased, delighted, made glad', often used as سُرَّ بِ, 'he was pleased by/with'.
- Is سُرَّ (to be pleased) related to سِرّ (secret)?
- Both come from the root س ر ر. Lane's explains the joy denoted by سُرَّ as a delight of the heart with no outward sign — the same 'hidden, inward' idea that underlies سِرّ 'secret' and أَسَرَّ 'to conceal'.
Definitions synthesised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).
Example sentences
فَيرى كل مَا يسرّه من فضل الله، وكل مَا يسوءه من ذنوبه وَعدل الله فِيهِ
Thus, he sees everything that pleases him as from the grace of Allah, and everything that displeases him as from his sins and the justice of Allah upon him.
يَسُرُّهُ — pleases him. Present-tense verb 'pleases, gladdens', 'it/he' form; the ending '-hu' adds 'him' — 'pleases him'.
From: Returning to God →
Related words
Learn Arabic vocabulary in context
OpenArabic teaches words like سُرَّ through real bilingual reading with native audio and spaced-repetition practice.
Get the app