رَجَعَ return in Arabic
رَجَعَ is how you say “return” in Arabic.
Root ر ج ع r-j-ʿ. verb (form I). rajaʿa.
Arabic
English
The audio uses AI voices.
Meaning of return in Arabic
- to return, go back (to a place, person, or former state) the basic sense; contrasted in Lane with ذَهَبَ 'to go'
- to revert, turn back (from an affair, or in a saying or judgment) tropical use, e.g. retracting a statement or ruling
- to repent, relinquish (a sin) tropical use reflected in Qur'anic usage
- to take back (a gift already given) tropical use
Example sentence
فارجع إلى الله واطلبه من عينك وسمعك وقلبك ولسانك،
Return to God and seek Him with your eyes, ears, heart, and tongue.
فَارْجِعْ so return
fa- = 'so, then'; a command 'return!' to 'you' (singular) — 'so return'.
The English is machine-translated.
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How it is used
رَجَعَ is the standard classical and Qur'anic verb for 'to return', used both intransitively (he went back) and, less commonly, transitively (he brought something back). It appears often in the Qur'an, e.g. describing the return of the soul or of people to God, and extends tropically to reverting from an action, retracting a statement, or repenting of sin.
Words from the same root
- رُجُوعٌ returning, going back (verbal noun)
- رَجْعٌ a return, a bringing back; also used of migratory birds returning
- مَرْجِعٌ place or time of return, as in the Qur'anic 'unto your Lord is your return'
- رُجْعَى a return (Qur'anic verbal noun)
- ارتجع to reclaim, demand restitution of something (form VIII)
- رِجَاعٌ the return (of migratory birds after wintering abroad)
More example sentences
فمَن رجع إلى الله بتوفيقه فإنما رجع بها،
Whoever returns to Allah by His guidance, only truly returns through them.
رَجَعَ he returns
Past-tense verb 'returned', 'he' form.
فمَن رجع إلى الله بتوفيقه فإنما رجع بها،
Whoever returns to Allah by His guidance, only truly returns through them.
رَجَعَ he returns
Past-tense verb 'returned', 'he' form.
وَرَجع إِلَى سَيّده
And he returned to his master.
وَرَجَعَ and he returned
'wa-' = 'and'; past-tense verb, subject 'he' built in.
ولا ترجع إلى أرضك فإنها أرض سوءٍ،
And do not return to your land, for it is a land of evil.
تَرْجِعْ you return
This present-tense verb is clipped into the jussive by the prohibitive 'no' before it — 'do not RETURN'. The shortened ending is the sign the prohibition has acted. It pairs with the preposition next to name where not to go back.
وقال أبو إسحاق الرجع المطر لأنه يجيء ويرجع ويتكرر
Abu Ishaq said that 'returning' is rain because it comes and returns and repeats.
وَيَرْجِعُ and returns
A present-tense verb 'and it returns' with the doer built in, joined by the leading 'and'. It continues the chain depicting the rain's cycle.
فرجع إلى البائع فقال لقد حملته مقلوبًا كما قلت، فسال كله
He returned to the seller and said: I carried it upside down as you said, and it all spilled.
رَجَعَ he returned
A bare past verb with 'he' built in, marking the returning.
فَيَرْجِعُونَ بِحَسْرَةٍ وَنَدَامَةٍ مَا رَجَعَ الْأَوَّلُونَ وَالْآخِرُونَ بِمِثْلِهَا
They will return with a regret and remorse the likes of which none of the first or last have ever experienced.
فَيَرْجِعُونَ they will return
The connector 'so / then' joined to a present-tense verb, 'they return', with a plural 'they' subject in its ending. The 'so' marks this as the consequence that follows, what then happens to them.
فَيَرْجِعُونَ بِحَسْرَةٍ وَنَدَامَةٍ مَا رَجَعَ الْأَوَّلُونَ وَالْآخِرُونَ بِمِثْلِهَا
They will return with a regret and remorse the likes of which none of the first or last have ever experienced.
رَجَعَ he returned
A past-tense verb, 'returned', with its subject to follow, inside the comparison clause. It states the measure against which the grief is judged unequalled.
فضجت مما لجت الجدر، فرجعت على الورق الشكر،
So the walls resounded with what the torrents brought, and thanks returned on the leaves,
فَرَجَعَتْ and they returned
The 'so/then' prefix marks the next result in the chain, and beneath it a past-tense verb means 'returned / came back', with a feminine subject built in. The connector ties this turning onto the previous effects, so thanks returns as the rain's final fruit.
فَرَجَعَ فَتَوَفَّى فِي السَّنَةِ الدَّاخِلَةِ
He returned and then died the following year.
فَرَجَعَ then he returned
The 'so/then' prefix marks this as the next step in a sequence of events, and the verb is past tense with its 'he' subject built in. The connector orders the narrative, signalling 'and then he returned'.
فَقُلْنَ إِرْجِعِي إِلَيْهِ فَأَبَتْ أَنْ تَرْجِعَ،
We said, "Go back to him," but she refused to return.
تَرْجِعَ she return
A verb of returning with its feminine 'she' subject built in, sitting in the goal-form because the 'to' particle before it governs it; that ending marks the returning as the act under 'refused'. So the pair reads 'she refused to return'.
ثُمَّ رَجَعَ إِلَى أَصْحَابِهِ فَقَالَ
Then he returned to his companions and said.
رَجَعَ he returned
A past verb carrying its own single male 'he', here 'returned'. The subject is built into the verb's default shape, so no separate pronoun is written.
ثُمَّ رَجَعْتُ فَجَلَسْتُ،
Then I returned and sat down.
رَجَعْتُ I returned
A plain past 'I returned' with the first-person 'I' built into its ending. The doer is the speaker.
ثُمَّ رَجَعَ إِلَى أَبِي ذَرٍّ،
Then he returned to Abu Dharr.
رَجَعَ he returned
A bare past verb meaning he returned, its 'he' subject understood from the running narrative and carried inside the verb. No separate pronoun is needed.
فَلَمَّا رَجَعَ أُمَيَّةُ إِلَى أَهْلِهِ قَالَ يَا أُمُّ صَفْوَانِ،
So when Umayya returned to his household, he said, 'O Umm Safwan,'
رَجَعَ he returned
A past verb with 'he' inside, meaning to go back. It is the event of the time-clause — what, once it happened, set up the speech that follows.
فَرَجَعَ بِهَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ
The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, then returned with her.
فَرَجَعَ then returned
The prefix fa- ties this to the prior scene as the consequence, 'so/then', and the verb carries its own 'he' subject. It moves the story from the cave to the return, with the doer folded into the verb.
مَا سَمِعْتُ أَحَدًا يَرْجِعُ إِلَيْكَ شَيْئًا
I did not hear anyone reply to you.
يَرْجِعُ reply
A present-tense verb of returning/replying with a built-in 'he' subject, here in a description of the 'anyone', 'anyone replying'. It pictures the absent act of answering that the speaker did not catch.
فَأَرْسَلَتْنِي دَسِيسًا إِلَى مُحَمَّدٍ بَعْدَ أَنْ رَجَعَ مِنَ الشَّامِ،
So she sent me as a schemer to Muhammad after he returned from Syria.
رَجَعَ he returned
A past-tense verb ('returned') with its 'he' subject built in, the verb of the 'after' clause. It pins the timing of the errand to his coming back, and no separate 'he' is needed because the form already carries it.
فَسَلَّمَ عَلَى سَيِّدِهِ ثُمَّ وَضَعَ مَا مَعَهُ وَرَجَعَ إِلَى سَيِّدِهِ
He greeted his master, then put down what he had and returned to his master.
وَرجع and he returned
The linking 'wa-' (and) on a past verb, 'returned', with the 'he' subject built in. Here 'wa-' simply adds this action to the chain rather than marking result. The same 'and'-plus-past-verb shape recurs whenever the narrative tacks on another step.
Common questions
- How do you say "return" in Arabic?
- رَجَعَ (rajaʿa).
- What is the root of رَجَعَ and what does it mean?
- The root is ر ج ع (r-j-ʿ), carrying the core sense 'to return, go back', shared by words like رُجُوعٌ (returning) and مَرْجِعٌ (place of return).
Related words
Definitions summarised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).