Arabic vocabulary
رُوحٌsoul in Arabic
رُوحٌ is how you say “soul” in Arabic. Hear it pronounced and see it used in real example sentences from classical texts below.
Root ر و ح (r-w-ḥ)noun (substantive)Pronounced rūḥ
Meaning of soul in Arabic
- soul, spirit
رُوحٌ is the standard classical term for the soul or spirit. It belongs to the ر و ح root family, whose other members cluster around wind, coolness, and repose — رِيحٌ "wind", رَوْحٌ "coolness, comfort", and رَاحَةٌ "rest, relief" — while رُوحٌ itself carries the distinct sense of "soul."
Words from the same root
- رِيحٌwind (from the verb's sense 'it was violently windy')
- رَوْحٌcoolness, comfort brought by wind
- رَاحَةٌrest, relief, ease (after distress)
- رَوَاحٌgoing out or departing in the evening/afternoon
- رَاحٌbriskness, liveliness, alacrity
Common questions
- How do you say "soul" in Arabic?
- رُوحٌ (rūḥ).
- Is رُوحٌ related to رِيحٌ "wind"?
- Yes — both come from the root ر و ح, though رِيحٌ specifically means "wind" while رُوحٌ means "soul, spirit."
Definitions synthesised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).
Example sentences
فالصلاة والصيام والزكاة والحج، وإن كانت مشقة على البدن، فإنها راحة للقلب، وطهارة للروح
Prayer, fasting, charity, and pilgrimage, though burdensome on the body, are comfort for the heart and purification for the soul.
لِلرُّوحِ — for the soul. A noun bundling the 'for' prefix with 'the', 'for the soul', naming who the purification benefits. The prefix governs it into the genitive, bundling preposition, article, and noun together.
From: Facing God's Tests →اذهبوا إلى عيسى، فيأتون عيسى، فيقولون يا عيسى أنت رسول الله وكلمته ألقاها إلى مريم وروح منه ،
Go to Jesus; then they come to Jesus, then they say, O Jesus, you are the Messenger of God, His word He cast into Mary, and a spirit from Him.
وَرُوحٌ — and a spirit. 'wa-' adds a further description and the noun stays indefinite, no 'the', so it reads 'and a spirit', presenting something unspecified rather than a known one. The bareness is what signals 'a' over 'the'.
Related words
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