عَبْدٌ servant in Arabic

والوحشة بَين العَبْد وَبَين ربّه

And estrangement between the servant and their Lord.

الْعَبْدِ the servant

al- = 'the'; the word after bayna: 'the servant, the worshipper'.

From Returning to God

لُقْمَان الْحَكِيم كَانَ عبدا نوبيا أسود

Luqman the Wise was a black Nubian slave

عَبْدًا a slave

'abd' = 'slave, servant'. The '-an' ending marks it as what he 'was', so 'a slave'.

From Luqman's Response to Injustice

تركها من حسن إسلام العبد،

Leaving them is part of a person’s good Islam,

العَبْدِ of a person

This closes the chain — 'the Islam OF the servant' — in the genitive as final owner. The word literally means 'servant' but stands for any believer here. The three-noun chain reads 'part of the goodness of the believer's Islam'.

From Scripture Over Speculation

فيسألهم ربهم وهو أعلم ما يقول عبادي؟

Their Lord asks them – and He knows best: What do My servants say?

عِبَادِي My servants

This is the subject of 'say', 'My servants', with attached 'My' — a broken plural plus the possessor. It lands after its verb, which is why that verb stayed singular. The pronoun marks them as God's own servants.

From Where Angels Gather

فإذا أراد العبد أن يصلح قلبه، فليقطع هذه القواطع،

If the servant wants to repair his heart, let him cut these obstacles,

العَبْدُ the servant

The doer of 'wants', named after the verb. Arabic normally puts the verb first and the subject second, the reverse of English word order, and this noun carries the subject ending that marks it as who is doing the wanting.

From A Sound Heart Knows

فكلما أكثر العبد من الذكر، صفا قلبه، واتضح له الحق

The more a servant remembers, the purer his heart becomes and the clearer the truth appears to him.

العَبْدُ the servant

The doer of the increasing, named after its verb in line with Arabic's verb-first order. It carries the subject ending that flags who is acting and stays definite with 'the'.

From A Sound Heart Knows

فليستعن العبد بربه، وليسأله التوفيق، وليصبر على تكاليف الشرع، فإن العاقبة له

Let the servant seek assistance from his Lord, ask Him for guidance, and be patient with the duties of the law, for the outcome is in his favor.

الْعَبْدُ the servant

The one commanded, 'the servant', named after the command-verb in the usual verb-first order. It carries the subject ending and stays definite with 'the'.

From Facing God's Tests

فَقَالَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ جُبَيْرٍ

Then Abdullah ibn Jubayr said:

عَبْدُ servant

The front of the compound name 'servant of God', owned by the divine name to follow, the two placed directly together with no word for 'of'. As the owned head it takes the subject ending here because the whole name is the speaker.

From A Companion at Battle

عَبْدٌ غُفِرَ لَهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ ذَنْبِهِ

A servant for whom what preceded of his sin was forgiven.

عَبْدٌ a servant

An indefinite noun, 'a servant', here the topic the rest of the sentence describes; lacking 'the', it is presented generally, as a kind of person rather than a known individual. A whole clause follows to characterise him, so this noun is what that description is about.

From Intercession on Judgment Day

وَعَلَى قَدْرِ ثُبُوتِ قَدَمِ الْعَبْدِ عَلَى هَذَا الصِّرَاطِ

And in proportion to how firmly the servant's foot is set on this path.

الْعَبْدِ the servant

A definite noun ('the servant') closing the chain of 'of' pairings as the final owner, giving the whole 'foot of the servant' its definiteness. As the last owner it takes the genitive ending. The al- supplies 'the' without a separate word.

From The Bridge to Paradise

فَلْيَنْظُرِ الْعَبْدُ سَيْرَهُ عَلَىٰ ذَلِكَ الصِّرَاطِ

So let the servant examine his conduct on that path.

الْعَبْدُ the servant

A definite noun ('the servant') that is the doer told to look, and so carries the ending that marks the subject. Though it follows the verb, it is who is being urged to act. The al- marks it as the general believer addressed.

From The Bridge to Paradise

حَتَّى يَدْخُلُ فِي النَّوْعِ الثَّانِيِّ مِنْ مَعْنَى الْعَبْدِ وَهُوَ الْعَبْدُ بِمَعْنَى الْعَابِدِ

until it enters the second sense of the word "slave", which is the sense of "worshipper".

الْعَبْدُ the slave

The definite noun repeated as the subject of the clarifying clause, here in the subject (nominative) form. It re-anchors the discussion on this word so the next phrase can pin its intended sense.

From What Worship Really Means

يُقَالُ تَيِّمُ اللَّهِ أَيُّ عَبْدٌ لِلَّهِ فَالْمُتَيِّمُ الْمُعَبَّدُ لِمَحْبُوبِهِ

It is said, 'Enamored of God,' that is, 'servant of God.' So the enamored becomes a worshipper for his beloved.

عَبْدٌ servant

Without al-, this noun is indefinite, 'a servant', and it stands in apposition, restating the earlier description in plainer terms. Apposition lets Arabic set one noun beside another to clarify it, here equating being enamored with being a servant, again with no linking verb between them.

From Faith and Worship

كَانَ الْوَزِيرُ ابْنُ يُوْنُسِ الْحَنَبَلِيُّ قَدْ عَقَدَ مَجْلِسًا لِلرُّكْنِ عَبْدِ السَّلَامِ ابْنِ عَبْدِ الْقَادِرِ الْجِيلِيِّ،

The minister Ibn Yunus al-Hanbali had convened a session for al-Rukn Abd al-Salam ibn Abd al-Qadir al-Jili,

عَبْدِ servant of

A noun 'servant (of)' beginning a compound name 'Servant-of-Peace', the first half of an 'of' pair governed into the genitive by the earlier 'for'. It waits for the following word to complete the theophoric name.

From An Exiled Scholar's Trials

كَانَ الْوَزِيرُ ابْنُ يُوْنُسِ الْحَنَبَلِيُّ قَدْ عَقَدَ مَجْلِسًا لِلرُّكْنِ عَبْدِ السَّلَامِ ابْنِ عَبْدِ الْقَادِرِ الْجِيلِيِّ،

The minister Ibn Yunus al-Hanbali had convened a session for al-Rukn Abd al-Salam ibn Abd al-Qadir al-Jili,

عَبْدِ servant of

A noun 'servant (of)' beginning the father's compound name 'Servant-of-the-Capable', itself the first half of an 'of' pair governed into the genitive. It waits for its completing word.

From An Exiled Scholar's Trials

وَلَا رَأَيْتُمْ عَبْدًا صَالِحًا إِلَّا وَهُوَ كَرِيمٌ

You never saw a righteous servant who was not generous.

عَبْدًا a servant

This indefinite noun is what the verb saw and so takes the object ending. An adjective follows to qualify the kind of servant meant.

From Charity and Stinginess

وَلَيْسَ لِلْعَبْدِ أَنْ يَخْتَبِرَ رَبَّهُ

It is not for the servant to test his Lord.

لِلْعَبْدِ for the servant

The preposition 'for/to' fused onto a definite noun carrying al-, giving 'for the servant'. The preposition governs the noun in the genitive. In this 'it is not for X to...' frame, the prepositional phrase names the party who has no right to the action that follows.

From Stories of Prophetic Judgments

وأيضاً فنوع الثناء أضافه الرب إلى نفسه، ونوع السؤال أضافه إلى عبده

Also, the type of praise was attributed by the Lord to Himself, and the type of request was attributed to His servant.

عَبْدِهِ His servant

A noun with an attached '-His' on its end, governed by the preceding 'to' and so in the genitive. The suffix binds the servant to God as 'His servant', and the word names the recipient of the request's attribution, balancing 'to Himself' in the first half.

From Praise and Supplication in Prayer