Arabic vocabulary
How to say “prayer” in Arabic, with pronunciation and real example sentences from OpenArabic texts.
فالصلاة والصيام والزكاة والحج، وإن كانت مشقة على البدن، فإنها راحة للقلب، وطهارة للروح
Prayer, fasting, charity, and pilgrimage, though burdensome on the body, are comfort for the heart and purification for the soul.
الصَّلَاةُ — prayer. The first item of the list-topic, 'the prayer', set up to be commented on later in the sentence. It carries the subject ending and its 'the' marks the definite ritual prayer.
From: Facing God's Tests →الْمَثَلُ الْأَوَّلُ رَجُلٌ خَرَجَ مِنْ بَيْتِهِ إِلَى الصَّلَاةِ،
The first example: a man went out of his house to pray.
الصَّلَاةِ — the prayer. Governed by the preceding 'to', this definite noun takes the genitive ending and names the goal of the man's going: the prayer. Its al- (assimilating into the sun letter) marks the specific ritual prayer. With the preposition it completes 'out to the prayer'.
From: Choosing Good Companions →وهو الذي كان النبي ﷺ يفعله في كل صلاة،
Which the Prophet ﷺ used to practice in every prayer.
صَلَاةٍ — prayer. A singular indefinite noun bound to the preceding 'every', sitting in the genitive that 'every' governs. Its singular indefinite shape is exactly what 'every' wants, since Arabic counts 'each one' with a bare singular here, so it completes 'every prayer'.
From: Praise and Supplication in Prayer →فإذا تركه عمداً بطلت صلاته،
If he leaves it intentionally, his prayer is invalid.
صَلَاتُهُ — his prayer. A feminine noun with an attached '-his', the subject of the preceding feminine 'becomes void', so the verb's gender matches it. The suffix names the owner, so the one word means 'his prayer', and it states whose worship is rendered invalid.
From: Praise and Supplication in Prayer →فمذهب مالك من ترك من ذلك ثلاثاً عمداً أعاد الصلاة،
Malik's view is that if three of those actions are left intentionally, the prayer must be repeated.
الصَّلَاةَ — the prayer. A definite noun with 'the', the direct object of the preceding 'repeated', so its accusative ending marks it as the thing acted upon. Its 'the' names the specific prayer in question, completing 'he must repeat the prayer'.
From: Praise and Supplication in Prayer →OpenArabic teaches words like صَلَاةٌ through real bilingual reading with native audio and spaced-repetition practice.
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