تَابَ repented in Arabic
تَابَ is how you say “repented” in Arabic.
Root ت و ب t-w-b. verb (form I). tāba.
Arabic
English
The audio uses AI voices.
Meaning of repented in Arabic
- to repent; to turn back from sin or disobedience to obedience often construed with إِلَى ٱللّٰه 'toward God'
- (of God) to turn to a servant in forgiveness; to accept one's repentance, to relent
Example sentence
ويرسلها مع أنفاس الأسف حتى جاءه توقيع فتاب عليه
And he sent them with sighs of regret until a decree came to him, and He accepted his repentance.
فَتَابَ and he repented
fa- = 'so, then'; past-tense verb 'taba' ('relented, accepted repentance'), 'he' form; with the next word 'alayhi' it means 'He relented toward him'.
The English is machine-translated.
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How it is used
تَابَ is the standard classical/Qur'anic verb for repentance, most often paired with إِلَى ٱللّٰه ('toward God'). The same verb is also used of God Himself — تَابَ ٱللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ, 'God turned to him in forgiveness' — so the root covers both a person's turning away from sin and God's turning back toward the sinner in acceptance.
Words from the same root
- تَابَ he repented, returned from sin to obedience
- تَوْبَة repentance; a returning from sin
- اِسْتَتَابَ he called on someone to repent, to return from sin
- تَوَّابٌ one who repents often; or, of God, the Oft-Relenting/Oft-Forgiving
- تَائِبٌ one who is repenting, a penitent
- تَابُوتٌ a chest or box (said to derive from the root sense of 'returning', since what is taken out is put back)
More example sentences
فَإِنَّ آدَمَ قَدْ تَابَ إِلَى رَبِّهِ فَاجْتَبَاهُ وَهَدَى
For Adam had repented to his Lord, so He chose him and guided him.
تَابَ he repented
A plain past-tense verb 'repented', carrying its own hidden 'he' subject; the completion particle just before it sharpens it to 'had repented'. The verb's three-letter core is the root that the whole repentance vocabulary is built on.
وَتَابَ عَلَيْنَا وَعَلَى جَمِيعِ الْمُذْنِبِينَ
May He accept our repentance and the repentance of all sinners.
وَتَابَ and He accepted repentance
A past-tense verb, here used as a prayer-wish, 'and may He relent toward us / accept repentance'. The perfect tense doing wish-work is standard in Arabic supplications. The leading wa- joins this petition to the protection prayed for just before, and the subject, God, is left understood.
وَمَنْ يَفْعَلْ ذَلِكَ يَلْقَ أَثَامًا يُضَاعَفْ لَهُ الْعَذَابُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَيَخْلُدْ فِيهِ مُهَانًا إِلَّا مَنْ تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا
And whoever does that will incur sins; the punishment will be doubled for him on the Day of Resurrection, and he will abide in it abased, except for whoever repented and believed and did a righteous deed.
تَابَ he repented
A past-tense verb 'repented' with a built-in 'he' subject, the first condition of the exception. The past form here states a completed turning-back. The subject sits inside the verb, so 'whoever repented' needs no separate pronoun.
Common questions
- How do you say "repented" in Arabic?
- تَابَ (tāba) — the classical verb for repenting or turning back from sin to obedience.
- What is the difference between تَائِبٌ and تَوَّابٌ?
- تَائِبٌ (tāʾib) simply means 'one who is repenting'; تَوَّابٌ (tawwāb) is an intensive form meaning 'one who repents often or habitually' — and when applied to God, it means the One who turns to His servants in forgiveness again and again.
Related words
Definitions summarised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).