نَدَم regret in Arabic
نَدَم is how you say “regret” in Arabic.
Root ن د م n-d-m. noun (verbal noun / maṣdar). nadam.
Arabic
English
The audio uses AI voices.
Meaning of regret in Arabic
- regret, remorse grieving over something one has done
- repentance close in sense to مَنْدَمٌ, the verbal noun of the same root verb
Example sentence
ما زال يكتب بدم الندم سطور الحزن في القصص،
He never stopped writing with the blood of regret the lines of sadness in the stories.
النَّدَمِ of regret
al- = 'the'; nadam means 'regret, remorse' — the 'of…' word: 'of regret'.
The English is machine-translated.
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How it is used
نَدَم names the feeling itself — grief or remorse over an action already done — and is typically used with عَلَى ("regret for/over" something), matching the verb's construction نَدِمَ عَلَى مَا فَعَلَ, "he regretted what he had done."
Words from the same root
- نَدِمَ to regret, repent of what one had done; or to dislike it
- نَدِيمٌ a drinking companion; by extension, any convivial or boon companion
- مَنْدَمٌ repentance (verbal noun of نَدِمَ)
More example sentences
وَشَهْوَةٍ تُوَرِّثُ نَدَمًا
And from desire that leads to regret.
نَدَمًا regret
The object of that verb, so accusative and indefinite — the regret it ends up producing.
فَالَّذِي مضى تصلحه بِالتَّوْبَةِ والندم وَالِاسْتِغْفَار
So what has passed can be corrected by repentance, remorse, and seeking forgiveness.
وَالنَّدَمِ and remorse
Although the 'by' is not repeated, this noun stays under its instrument frame, which is why it keeps the genitive. Arabic lets one preposition govern a whole list of nouns joined by 'and'.
ومن زرع فيها معصية، حصد النار والندم
And whoever planted disobedience in it will harvest hellfire and regret.
وَالنَّدَمَ and regret
The wa- adds a second object, 'and regret', linked to the Fire, so it too stands in the object case with 'the'. It joins the first object as part of what is reaped, matching it in case and definiteness.
Common questions
- How do you say "regret" in Arabic?
- نَدَم (nadam).
- Is نَدِيمٌ (a drinking companion) related to نَدَم (regret)?
- Yes — Lane's lists نَدِيمٌ under the same root ن د م, though its sense of "cup-companion / boon companion" is distinct from the root's core meaning of regret or repentance.
Related words
Definitions summarised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).