Arabic vocabulary
نَفْسself
How to say “self” in Arabic, with pronunciation and real example sentences from OpenArabic texts.
Example sentences
فَأقر لَهُ بِالْجَهْلِ فِي علمه، والآفات فِي عمله، والعيوب فِي نَفسه، والتفريط فِي حَقه، وَالظُّلم فِي مُعَامَلَته
So he acknowledges his ignorance in his knowledge, the flaws in his actions, the defects in his self, his negligence in his duty, and the injustice in his dealings.
نَفْسِهِ — his self. nafs means 'self, soul'; the ending '-hi' adds 'his' — 'himself'.
From: Returning to God →فَيرى فِي ذَلِك فقره إِلَى ربّه، وظلمه فِي نَفسه
Thus, he sees in that his need for his Lord, and his injustice to himself.
نَفْسِهِ — himself. nafs means 'self, soul'; the ending '-hi' adds 'his' — 'himself' (wronging himself).
From: Returning to God →ونكتة الْمَسْأَلَة أَنَّهُ لَا يرى ربه إِلَّا محسنا، وَلَا يرى نَفسه إِلَّا مسيئا
And the essence of the matter is that he sees his Lord as nothing but good, and himself as nothing but wrong.
نَفْسَهُ — himself. nafs means 'self, soul'; the ending '-hu' adds 'his' — 'himself'; the object of 'sees'.
From: Returning to God →اعْلَمْ أَنَّهُ إِنَّمَا كَانَ جِهَادُ النَّفْسِ أَكْبَرَ مِنْ جِهَادِ الأَعْدَاءِ
Know that the struggle against one's self is indeed greater than the struggle against enemies.
النَّفْسِ — of one's self. al- = 'the'; nafs means 'the self, soul' — the 'of…' word: 'against the self'.
From: Resisting Temptation →لأَنَّ النَّفْسَ مَحْبُوبَةٌ
Because the self is beloved.
النَّفْسَ — the self. al- = 'the'; nafs means 'the self, soul'; the '-a' ending marks it as the subject of 'anna' ('because the self…').
From: Resisting Temptation →ومع كل فجرٍ جديد، اجعل نيتك أوّل عملك، وابتسم سرًّا حين تنتصر على نفسك في أمر صغير؛
With each new dawn, make your intention your first action, and smile secretly when you overcome yourself in a small matter.
نَفْسِكَ — yourself. 'nafs' = 'self'; '-ka' = 'your', so 'yourself'; takes the 'over...' ending after 'ala'.
From: Small Daily Habits →فَأَمَّا الْعَاقِلُ فَإِنَّهُ يَنْهَى نَفْسَهُ عَنْ لَذَّةٍ تُعَقِّبُ أَلَمًا
As for the rational person, he restrains himself from pleasure that is followed by pain.
نَفْسَهُ — his self. 'Self' with 'his' clipped onto the end; teamed with the verb's built-in 'he', the two produce the reflexive 'restrains his own self'. As the object it takes the accusative.
From: The Discipline of Foresight →فَيَفْضُلُ الْعَاقِلُ عَلَيْهِ بِمَنْعِ نَفْسِهِ مِنْ ذَلِكَ
Thus, a rational person is superior by restraining himself from it.
نَفْسِهِ — his self. 'Self' with 'his' attached, completing 'the withholding of his self' — genitive as the owner in the pair, and reflexive in sense.
From: The Discipline of Foresight →فَيُلْقِي نَفْسَهُ فِي الْمَهَالِكِ لِنَيْلِ مَا يَقْتَضِيهِ تَعَوُّدُهُ
So he throws himself into danger to obtain what his habit demands.
نَفْسَهُ — his self. 'Self' with 'his' attached; paired with the verb's built-in 'he', it gives the reflexive 'throws his own self'. Object, so accusative.
From: The Discipline of Foresight →وفي السجود سبحانَ ربّي الأعلى فتضعُ النفسَ موضعَها عبدٌ يقتربُ بسجوده لا بصورةٍ يُنشِرها
In prostration: 'Glory be to my Lord, the Most High,' you place the self in its position: a servant who draws near through prostration, not through an image to be shared.
النَّفْسَ — the self. 'the self', accusative as the object placed. al- makes it the self in general — your own soul, set where it belongs.
From: Remembrance That Reshapes the Heart →اجعل للصبحِ والمساءِ وِردًا من الأذكارِ المأثورة، واقرأه بمهلٍ وفهم، ثم اسأل نفسَك ماذا تغيّر؟
Make for the morning and evening a habitual recitation from established remembrances, read it with care and understanding, then ask yourself: what has changed?
نَفْسَكَ — yourself. 'yourself' — 'nafs' with 'your' attached, the object of 'ask'. It turns the question inward.
From: Remembrance That Reshapes the Heart →وأيضاً فنوع الثناء أضافه الرب إلى نفسه،
And also, a type of praise was attributed by the Lord to Himself,
نَفْسِهِ — Himself. 'Himself' — 'nafs' plus 'his', genitive after 'ila'; reflexive: He ascribed praise to His own self.
From: The Opening Chapter →وأيضاً فنوع الثناء أضافه الرب إلى نفسه، ونوع السؤال أضافه إلى عبده
And also, the type of praise is attributed by the Lord to Himself, and the type of supplication is attributed to His servant.
نَفْسِهِ — Himself. 'Himself' — 'nafs' plus 'his', genitive after 'ila'; reflexive: He ascribed praise to His own self.
From: Praise and Petition in Prayer →فنَفْسَك لُمْ ولا تَلُمِ المطايا
Blame yourself, not the mounts...
فَنَفْسَكَ — so yourself. 'Fa-' plus 'self' with '-ka' (your) attached, in the accusative as the fronted object — 'your own self, blame!'. Fronting the object before the command stresses it: it is yourself you should blame.
From: How Satan Exploits Weakness →أَعْطَتْ نَفسه المطمئنة مَا وصلت إِلَيْهِ من الذل لعظمته والانكسار لعزته
His tranquil soul gives what it reached in humility to His greatness and in submission to His might.
نَفْسُهُ — His soul. 'Soul / self' with '-hu' (his) attached, the subject of 'gave', nominative — the servant's soul. The suffix points to the servant.
From: Humility Before the Divine →مَا تبلغ الْأَعْدَاء من جَاهِل من يبلغ الْجَاهِل من نَفسه
What enemies achieve against an ignorant person is not as much as what the ignorant person achieves against himself.
نَفْسِهِ — his self. 'Self' with '-hi' (his) attached, genitive after 'min' — 'against himself'. The fool harms himself more than any enemy could.
From: Love and Devotion to God →لكن على نَفسه قوي قلبه بِبِشَارَة ﴿لَا تَحْزَنْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعنا﴾
But in himself, his heart was strengthened by the glad tidings, 'Do not grieve; indeed, Allah is with us.'
نَفْسِهِ — his self. 'Self' with '-hi' (his) attached, genitive after 'upon' — 'in his own self'. The inner man, steadied despite the danger.
From: The Night of the Migration →كم وقى الرَّسُول بِالْمَالِ وَالنَّفس
How much he protected the Messenger with his wealth and his life.
وَالنَّفْسِ — and self. 'And' plus 'self / life', parallel genitive — 'and his own life'. He shielded the Prophet with property and person alike.
From: The Prophet's Refuge in the Cave →فقال رسول الله والذي نفسي بيده لو تدومون على ما تكونون عندي وفي الذكر لصافحتكم الملائكة على فرشكم وفي طرقكم، ولكن يا حنظلة ساعة وساعة ثلاث مرات،
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: 'By Him in Whose Hand my soul is, if you remained in the state that you are with me and in remembrance, the angels would shake hands with you in your beds and on your paths. But, O Hanzala, a time and a time.' He repeated this three times.
نَفْسِي — my soul. This is 'soul' with attached 'my' — 'my soul', the subject of the little clause 'in whose hand is my soul'. The pronoun ties the soul to the speaker. It pairs with the 'in his hand' that follows.
From: Devotion and Daily Life →ونظيره قوله سبحان ﴿لا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ نَصْرَ أَنْفُسِهِمْ وَلا هُمْ مِنَّا يُصْحَبُونَ﴾
And similarly, His words: "They cannot help themselves, nor are they helped by Us."
أَنْفُسِهِمْ — themselves. A reflexive noun 'themselves' with -hum (their) attached, the owning second noun of 'helping of themselves', so it is in the genitive. The attached -hum points back to the group, making the helping turn on its own subjects.
From: Preparing for Judgment Day →ونظيره قوله سبحان ﴿لا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ نَصْرَ أَنْفُسِهِمْ وَلا هُمْ مِنَّا يُصْحَبُونَ﴾
And a similar idea is in His saying, "They are unable to help themselves, nor are they assisted by Us."
أَنْفُسِهِمْ — themselves. A reflexive noun 'their selves' with an attached 'their' ending, the owner half of the 'helping of' pairing, in the genitive. The plural pronoun loops back to the same subjects: they cannot help their own selves.
From: Signs of Resurrection →ونظيره قوله سبحان ﴿لا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ نَصْرَ أَنْفُسِهِمْ وَلا هُمْ مِنَّا يُصْحَبُونَ﴾
And similar is His saying, the Exalted: 'They cannot aid themselves, nor are they supported by Us.'
أَنْفُسِهِمْ — themselves. This is the reflexive noun 'themselves' with an attached 'their', the owner closing 'aiding of themselves'. It is in the genitive of the possessive pair and points back to the same people who are the unable doers, making the helping turn back on themselves.
From: Oaths That Seal the Truth →العاشر أنه سبحانه نبه بقوله ﴿إِنْ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ لَمَّا عَلَيْهَا حَافِظٌ﴾ على أنه قد وكل عليه من يحفظ عليه عمله ويحصيه فلا يضيع منه شيء
The tenth point is that He, glorified be He, emphasized by saying, ‘Indeed, every soul will have a guardian over it,’ indicating that He has appointed someone to safeguard and account for its deeds, and nothing will be lost from them.
نَفْسٍ — soul. This noun lacks 'the' and ends in the indefinite mark, so it means 'a soul', any soul, owned by 'every' before it. Its indefiniteness, shown by the ending, is what lets 'every' range over all souls without exception.
From: Ten Proofs of Resurrection →ولما أقام الحجة وبين الحجة إرتهن كل نفس بكسبها وآخذها بذنبها
And when the proof was established and made clear, every soul is held accountable for its deeds and taken for its sins.
نَفْسٍ — soul. This noun lacks 'the' and ends in the indefinite mark, so it means 'a soul', any soul, owned by 'every' before it. Its indefiniteness, shown by the ending, lets 'every' cover all souls without exception.
From: Prayer and Charity →
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