عبد servant in Arabic
عبد is how you say “servant” in Arabic.
Root ع ب د ʿ-b-d. noun. ʿabd.
Arabic
English
The audio uses AI voices.
Meaning of servant in Arabic
- a slave, one owned by a master
- a servant or worshipper of God the sense used when the object served is God rather than a human master
Example sentence
وَالْعَبْدُ مَأْمُورٌ بِمُلازَمَةِ الأَدَبِ
And the servant is commanded to adhere to proper manners.
وَالْعَبْدُ And the servant
'wa-' = 'and'; 'al-' = 'the'; 'abd' = 'servant, slave', so 'and the servant'.
The English is machine-translated.
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How it is used
The same verb ʿabada covers both serving/worshipping God and being held as a slave, so ʿabd can mean either a literal slave or, in religious contexts, a devoted servant of God.
Words from the same root
- عِبَادَةٌ worship, service rendered to God
- عُبُودِيَّةٌ slavery, the state of being a slave
- تَعَبَّدَ to devote oneself to worship
- اِسْتَعْبَدَ to enslave, take as a slave
- عَبِيدٌ slaves, servants
More example sentences
وَالْعَبْدُ مُجْتَهِدٌ فِي رَدِّهَا
And the servant strives to restrain it.
وَالْعَبْدُ And the servant
'wa-' = 'and'; 'al-' = 'the'; 'abd' = 'servant', so 'and the servant'.
أَوَّلُ وِصَالِ الْعَبْدِ لِلْحَقِّ هُجْرَانُهُ لِنَفْسِهِ
The first connection of the servant to the Truth is his abandonment of his self.
الْعَبْدِ of the servant
'al-' = 'the'; 'abd' = 'servant'; the 'of' word, so 'of the servant'.
وَأَوَّلُ هُجْرَانِ الْعَبْدِ لِلْحَقِّ مُوَاصَلَتُهُ لِنَفْسِهِ
And the first abandonment of the Truth by the servant is his connection to his self.
الْعَبْدِ of the servant
'al-' = 'the'; 'abd' = 'servant'; the 'of' word.
خُلاصةُ الطريق أصلان أن تُعبَدَ اللهُ وحده، وأن تُعبَدَه بما شَرَع
The essence of the path is two principles: that you worship Allah alone, and that you worship Him with what He has prescribed.
تُعْبَدَ you worship
The -a ending is the subjunctive, triggered by 'an' just before — together 'that [He] be worshipped'. The form is the passive shape, casting worship as something rendered to God rather than an act you merely perform.
خُلاصةُ الطريق أصلان أن تُعبَدَ اللهُ وحده، وأن تُعبَدَه بما شَرَع
The essence of the path is two principles: that you worship Allah alone, and that you worship Him with what He has prescribed.
تَعْبُدَهُ you worship Him
Subjunctive after 'an' (the -a), with 'Him' attached as object — 'that you worship Him'. The subject 'you' sits inside the verb and the object rides on its end: three pieces in one word.
وغايته أن يظفر في الأحايين منه بخَطْفَةٍ ونَهْبَةٍ تحصل له على غِرَّةٍ من العبد وغفلةٍ لابد له منها؛
At most, he might occasionally manage a snatch or grab from him when the servant is caught off guard in an unavoidable moment of heedlessness;
الْعَبْدِ the servant
In the genitive after 'from', definite. The one whose guard slips.
إذا علم العبد أن كل ما يجري في الكون بقضاء الله وقدره،
When a servant knows that everything that occurs in the universe is by the decree of God and His destiny,
العَبْدُ a servant
The one who knows, named after the verb as Arabic prefers. It takes the subject ending and stays definite with 'the', standing for the believer in general.
Common questions
- How do you say "servant" in Arabic?
- عَبْدٌ (ʿabd).
- What is the root meaning behind ʿabd?
- The root ع-ب-د carries the sense of serving or worshipping, extended to mean being enslaved to a master.
Related words
Definitions summarised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).