دَعَا pray in Arabic
دَعَا is how you say “pray” in Arabic.
Root د ع و d-ʿ-w. verb (form I). daʿā.
Arabic
English
The audio uses AI voices.
Meaning of pray in Arabic
- to pray to God, supplicate, petition humbly the sense behind the given gloss 'pray'; also دعا له 'to pray/intercede for someone' and دعا عليه 'to pray against, curse, someone'
- to call, call out to, summon someone e.g. دعوته 'I called him to come to me'
- to call people to, invite e.g. inviting people to a meal, or calling people to a cause such as Islam or to prayer
- to name, call someone by a name a figurative use, e.g. دعوته زيدًا 'I called him Zayd'
Example sentence
وَمَا تَدْعُو إِلَيْهِ مَحْبُوبٌ
And what it calls to is beloved.
تَدْعُو it calls to
Present-tense verb 'calls, invites', 'it/she' form (the self) — 'it calls'.
The English is machine-translated.
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How it is used
دعا is a broad root: it covers everyday calling and inviting as well as the specifically religious sense of praying or supplicating God, which is why دُعَاء became the standard word for personal supplication in Islamic usage. The same verb also extends figuratively to naming someone and to one thing 'calling for' or requiring another.
Words from the same root
- دُعَاءٌ supplication, prayer; the act of calling upon or asking of God
- دَعْوَى a verbal noun paired with duʿāʾ, likewise denoting supplication
- دَعْوَةٌ an invitation, e.g. to a meal or gathering
- دَاعٍ one who calls, summons, or invites; a caller
- مُدَاعَاةٌ proposing riddles to one another, or contending in doing so (form III)
- دَاعِيَةٌ in one classical use, a small remainder of milk left in the udder, as though 'calling' more to follow
More example sentences
لِأَنَّهَا لَا تَدْعُو إِلا إِلَى مَا تَشْتَهِي
Because it only calls to what it desires.
تَدْعُو it calls
Present-tense verb 'calls, invites', 'it/she' form (negated — 'it does not call').
وَمُوَافَقَةُ الْمَحْبُوبِ فِي الْمَكْرُوهِ مَحْبُوبَةٌ فَكَيْفَ إِذا دَعَا إِلَى مَحْبُوب
And agreeing with the beloved even in what is disliked is beloved, so how much more when it calls to something beloved?
دَعَا it calls
Past-tense verb 'called, invited', 'he/it' form.
وَخُولِفَ الْمَحْبُوبُ فِيمَا يَدْعُو إِلَيْهِ مِنَ الْمَحْبُوبِ
And the beloved is opposed in what it calls to of beloved things,
يَدْعُو it calls
Present-tense verb 'calls, invites', 'it/he' form — 'it calls'.
فَهِيَ تَتَنَاوَلُ مَا يَدْعُوهَا إِلَيْهِ الطَّبْعُ مِنَ الْغِذَاءِ إِذَا حَضَرَ
They consume what their nature calls them to when food is present.
يَدْعُوهَا calls them
Present-tense verb holding 'it' (their nature) as built-in subject and 'them' clipped on as object — verb, doer and receiver in one word.
وكان أحياناً يدعو بعد التحميد بقوله اللهم باعد بيني وبين خطاياي
And sometimes he would supplicate after the praise by saying: 'O Allah, distance me from my sins.'
يَدْعُو supplicate
Present 'supplicates', subject 'he' inside; after 'kana' it means 'would supplicate'.
وكذلك من أوجب أن يدعو بعد التشهد بالدعاء المأمور به هناك، وهو الاستعاذة من عذاب جهنم، والقبر، وفتنة المحيا والممات، والدجال،
And likewise for those who obligate supplication after the tashahhud with the commanded supplication there, which is to seek refuge from the torment of Hell, the grave, the trials of life and death, and the Dajjal.
يَدْعُوَ supplicate
'supplicate', subjunctive (the -a) after 'an'; subject 'he' inside.
وكذلك من أوجب أن يدعو بعد التشهد بالدعاء المأمور به هناك،
And likewise for those who require supplication after the Tashahhud, with the supplication prescribed there,
يَدْعُوَ supplicate
The verb sits in the subjunctive because of the 'that' particle just before it — the final vowel is '-a' rather than the plain '-u', which is how Arabic marks an action that is intended or required, not stated as fact. Its subject 'he' is built in.
قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ إِنَّكَ مَا دَعَوْتنِي وَرَجَوْتنِي غَفَرْتُ لَك عَلَى مَا كَانَ مِنْك وَلَا أُبَالِي،
Allah, the Exalted, said: "O son of Adam! As long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind.
دَعَوْتَنِي you call upon Me
Two pronouns ride this single verb: '-ta' is the subject 'you,' and '-ni' is the object 'Me.' Under the 'as long as' just before, the past form reads as an ongoing 'keep calling upon Me'.
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,'
ٱدْعُ pray
A command 'call upon / pray', stripped to its bare ordering shape. The verb 'call' takes its object directly, so 'Allah' next is what is called upon. It is addressed to the Prophet.
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.'
ٱدْعُ pray
A command 'call upon / pray', the bare ordering form. The verb takes its object directly, so 'Allah' next is whom he asks the Prophet to call upon.
الثامن أنه سبحانه دعا الانسان إلى النظر فيما خلق منه ليرده عن تكذيبه بما أخبر به
The eighth point is that He, glorified be He, invited humans to reflect on what He created them from to dissuade them from denying what He informed them of.
دَعَا invited
This is a plain past-tense verb, 'he called' or 'invited', with its 'he' subject built in. No separate subject word is needed because the verb form itself names the doer, here God from the surrounding context.
وقال ﴿تَتَجَافَى جُنُوبُهُمْ عَنِ الْمَضَاجِعِ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ خَوْفًا وَطَمَعًا وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنْفِقُونَ﴾
And He said, 'Their sides shun their beds as they call upon their Lord in fear and hope, and from what We have provided them, they spend.'
يَدْعُونَ they call upon
This present-tense verb carries a built-in plural 'they' subject, 'they call upon'. It opens a circumstantial description of how they leave their beds, namely while calling on their Lord, and governs the following noun.
فقالوا له لماذا دعوت بهذا؟
They asked him: Why did you pray for this?
دَعَوْتَ did you pray
The -ta ending is the built-in 'you' (one man) who did the praying; the second-person subject lives in the verb.
فقيل له إن إبراهيم وإسماعيل دعوا بأن تهوي أفئدة الناس إلى هذا البيت،
He was told: Indeed, Ibrahim and Ismail prayed that the hearts of the people be directed to this house,
دَعَوَا they both prayed
A past verb 'they two prayed' in the dual: the -a ending marks exactly two doers, the two named prophets. Arabic has a dedicated 'exactly two' form English lacks, folding 'both' into the verb's ending.
وأنت تدعو بأن تهوي إليهم
And you are praying that they be directed to them!
تَدْعُو are praying
A present-tense verb 'are praying' with 'you' built into its prefix; the plain ending marks it as a simple statement of ongoing action.
فقال وهل يصلح أن أدعو بأن تهوي إليَّ وأنا لست بشيء؟
He said: Is it appropriate for me to pray that they be directed to me while I am nothing?
أَدْعُوَ I pray
A present-tense verb 'I pray' with 'I' built in, in the subjunctive because of the 'that' before it; the changed -a ending marks the praying as the contemplated action, not a fact. Its weak-final root softens the ending.
فَقَالَ إِنَّي أَرَاكُمَا قَدْ دَعَوْتُمَا عَلَيَّ فَادْعُوا لِي،
So he said, "I see that you two have prayed against me, so pray for me."
دَعَوْتُمَا you two have prayed
A past verb of praying whose ending is the second-person DUAL - built-in 'you two' as the doers. Where English needs the extra word 'two', Arabic folds the count into the verb's tail.
فَدَعَا لَهُ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَنَجَا
The Prophet prayed for him, and he was saved.
فَدَعَا so he prayed
The fa- links this to the prior scene with a sense of consequence; the verb is a plain past of praying with its doer named just after. Arabic's verb-first order means the actor follows the action.
فَدَعَا اللَّاتَ وَالْعُزَّى وَأَشْرَكَ
So he called upon al-Lat and al-Uzza and associated others with God.
فَدَعَا so he called
The sequence-connector 'so' is fused to a past-tense verb, 'called', with an unspoken 'he' doer carried over from the man who just stood. It moves the narration to his next action. No separate subject is needed because the 'he' is understood from context.
وَعَرَضَ لِي نَفْسَهُ وَدَعَانِي إِلَيْهَا وَأَنَا أَسْرَعُ شَيْءٍ إِلَى نُصْرَةِ أَوْلِيَائِي،
He showed himself to me and invited me to it, and I am the quickest to come to the aid of my allies.
وَدَعَانِي and invited me
The wa- on the front is 'and', joining a second past verb to the first, and -ni ('me') is fused to its end as the object, so one word means 'and invited me'. The wa- links the two actions, and the object pronoun is the speaker. The verb's doer stays the same 'he' as before.
وكان أحياناً يدعو بعد التحميد بقوله اللهم باعد بيني وبين خطاياي
And sometimes he would supplicate after the praise by saying: 'Oh Allah, distance me from my sins.'
يَدْعُو he supplicates
A present-tense verb completing the 'used to' habit, with its third-person subject built into the form. Paired with the earlier 'was' it means 'would supplicate', and Arabic carries the doer inside the verb's shape rather than as a separate pronoun.
فقالوا إنه لا ينجيكم من هذه الصخرة إلا أن تدعوا الله بصالح أعمالكم
They said: 'Nothing will save you from this rock except that you call upon Allah by mentioning your righteous deeds.'
تَدْعُوا you supplicate
This is a present-tense verb pushed into the subjunctive by the particle 'that' before it, with its 'you' (plural) carried in the ending. The mood marks the calling-out as the proposed solution being set up, not something already done.
Common questions
- How do you say "pray" in Arabic?
- دَعَا (daʿā) — to pray to or call upon God; its verbal noun دُعَاء (duʿāʾ) means 'supplication, prayer'.
- What does the noun دُعَاء (duʿāʾ) mean?
- It is the verbal noun of دعا, meaning the act of supplicating, calling upon, or asking something of God.
Related words
Definitions summarised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).