Arabic vocabulary
فَقْرِpoverty in Arabic
فَقْرِ is how you say “poverty” in Arabic. Hear it pronounced and see it used in real example sentences from classical texts below.
Root ف ق ر (f-q-r)noun (verbal noun / maṣdar)Pronounced faqr
Meaning of poverty in Arabic
- poverty, need, indigence — the state of lacking means; the standard abstract noun opposite of wealth
- (as verbal noun of the root verb) digging, boring, or piercing — e.g. boring beads for stringing, digging a well or hollow, or incising an animal's muzzle
فَقْر is the abstract noun for poverty/need, contrasted with فَقِير (a poor person) and غِنًى (wealth). The same root's concrete senses — digging, boring holes, and breaking the vertebrae (فَقَار) — run through related forms, and a 'calamity' is described as one that breaks a person's back (فَاقِرَة), showing how the root's physical and abstract senses of being 'broken' or 'in need' connect.
Words from the same root
- فَقِيرٌpoor, needy (person)
- اِفْتَقَرَto become poor, to be in need
- أَفْقَرَto make someone poor; also, to lend an animal's back for riding
- فَقَارٌthe vertebrae, the backbone
- فَاقِرَةٌa crushing calamity (lit. one that 'breaks the back')
- فَقَرَto dig; to bore or perforate; to incise
Common questions
- How do you say "poverty" in Arabic?
- فَقْر (faqr).
- What is the difference between فَقْر and فَقِير؟
- فَقْر is the abstract noun meaning 'poverty, need' itself, while فَقِير is the noun/adjective describing a person who is poor or needy.
Definitions synthesised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).
Example sentences
وغناك قبل فقرك،
And your wealth before your poverty.
فَقْرِكَ — your poverty. The attached -ka marks you as the owner, giving 'your'. Because the word for 'before' precedes it, this noun takes the possessive case, the ending Arabic uses to show a noun is being governed by a preceding word.
From: While You Still Can →قال الأمن مع الفقر خير من الغنى مع الخوف
He said, 'Security with poverty is better than wealth with fear.'
الفَقْرِ — the poverty. This is the noun governed by 'with', in the genitive because of it and made definite by 'al-', naming the poverty that the security is paired with.
From: Moderation in Medicine →فِي الْمُصِيبَاتِ الَّتِي تَصِيبُنَا كَالْفَقْرِ وَالْمَرَضِ وَالْخَوْفِ
Related words
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