Arabic vocabulary
ضَلَّstray in Arabic
ضَلَّ is how you say “stray” in Arabic. Hear it pronounced and see it used in a real example sentence from classical texts below.
Root ض ل ل (ḍ-l-l)verb (form I)Pronounced ḍalla
Meaning of stray in Arabic
- to err, stray, or go astray; deviate from the right way — opposite of rashād/hudā, right guidance
- to lose one's way, or miss the place of something — used of a road, a stationary object, or a stray animal
- to become lost, perish, come to nothing — figurative, of effort or wealth
- to become hidden, unperceived, or forgotten — figurative, also used of memory slipping away
Common in the Qur'an, often set against hudā (guidance) or rashād (right conduct); covers both the literal sense of losing one's way and the figurative senses of moral error, forgetting, or something becoming lost or hidden.
Words from the same root
- ضَلَالٌerror, straying from the right path
- اضلّهُto lead someone astray, mislead
- ضَالٌّone who has strayed, misguided
- ضَالَّةٌa stray or lost animal
- ضَلَالَةٌerror, a going astray
Common questions
- How do you say "stray" in Arabic?
- ضَلَّ (ḍalla) — to stray, err, or go astray from the right way.
- What is the difference between ضَلَّ and ضَالٌّ?
- ضَلَّ (ḍalla) is the verb "to stray/err"; ضَالٌّ (ḍāll) is the active participle from it, meaning "one who has strayed, misguided."
Definitions synthesised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).
Example sentences
فَإِنْ فَتَرَ سَائِقُهَا ضَلَّتْ عَنِ الطَّرِيقِ
If its driver weakens, it strays from the path.
ضَلَّتْ — it strays. Past-tense verb 'dallat' = 'it went astray'; the '-at' ending marks a feminine 'it' (the soul).
From: Faith as Light →
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