Arabic vocabulary
الشَّيْطَانُSatan in Arabic
الشَّيْطَانُ is how you say “Satan” in Arabic. Hear it pronounced and see it used in a real example sentence from classical texts below.
Root د ح ر (d-ḥ-r)noun (definite proper name / epithet for the Devil)Pronounced ash-shayṭān
Meaning of Satan in Arabic
- Satan, the Devil — Used as the subject of the root's passive participle مَدْحُورٌ in the set phrase 'Satan is driven away from the mercy of God.'
الشَّيْطَانُ does not itself come from the root د ح ر, but Lane's cites it as the standard subject of that root's vocabulary of expulsion: the traditional supplication اَللّٰهُمَّ ٱدْحَرْ عَنَّا الشَّيْطَانَ ('O God, drive away from us the devil') uses the verb دَحَرَ, and the phrase الشَّيْطَانُ مَدْحُورٌ مِنْ رَحْمَةِ ٱللّٰهِ ('Satan is driven away, or banished, from the mercy of God') uses the passive participle مَدْحُورٌ — the same word the Qur'an (vii. 17, xvii. 19) uses for one driven far away.
Words from the same root
- دَحَرَهُhe drove him away, expelled or banished him (verb, form I)
- مَدْحُورٌdriven away, banished far off — used of Satan in الشيطان مدحور
- دَاحِرٌdriving away, expelling, repelling
- دَحُورٌthat which drives away or repels (with roughness and ignominy)
- مَدْحَرَةٌa cause or means of driving away
- أَدْحَرُmore, or most, violently and ignominiously repelled
Common questions
- How do you say "Satan" in Arabic?
- الشَّيْطَانُ (ash-shayṭān).
- How do you say "Satan is driven away from the mercy of God" in Arabic?
- الشَّيْطَانُ مَدْحُورٌ مِنْ رَحْمَةِ ٱللّٰهِ (ash-shayṭānu madḥūrun min raḥmati llāh) — built on مَدْحُورٌ, the passive participle of دَحَرَ 'to drive away.'
Definitions synthesised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).
Example sentences
فَلَا تظن أَن الشَّيْطَان غلب وَلَكِن الْحَافِظ أعرض
So do not think that Satan has overpowered, but rather the Guardian has turned away.
الشَّيْطَانَ — Satan. In the accusative ('-a') because 'anna' governs it — the subject of the content-clause. The one wrongly thought to have won.
From: Guarding the Heart →
Related words
Learn Arabic vocabulary in context
OpenArabic teaches words like الشَّيْطَانُ through real bilingual reading with native audio and spaced-repetition practice.
Get the app