Arabic vocabulary
How to say “surprise” in Arabic, with pronunciation and real example sentences from OpenArabic texts.
لَيْسَ الْعجب من مَمْلُوك يتذلل لله ويتعبّد لَهُ،
It is not surprising for a servant to humble himself before Allah and worship Him,
العَجَبُ — surprising. al- = 'the'; ajab means 'wonder, surprise'; the '-u' ending marks it as the subject ('the wonder is not…').
From: Seeds and Streams of Deeds →إِنَّمَا الْعجب من مَالك يتحبب إِلَى مَمْلُوكه بصنوف إنعامه،
Indeed, the wonder is of a Master who endears Himself to His servant with various kinds of His favors,
العَجَبُ — the wonder. al- = 'the'; ajab means 'wonder, surprise'; the '-u' ending marks it as the subject.
From: Seeds and Streams of Deeds →إِنَّمَا الْعجب من قَوْله يُحِبهُمْ
The true wonder is from His saying, 'He loves them.'
الْعَجَبُ — the astonishment. The topic, nominative ('-u'), definite — 'the wonder [is]…'. What 'innama' restricts.
From: The Path to God's Love →لَيْسَ الْعجب من فَقير مِسْكين يحب محسنا إِلَيْهِ
It is not astonishing from a poor, needy person to love one who is kind to him.
الْعَجَبُ — the astonishment. The subject of 'is not', nominative ('-u'), definite. What is denied to be the wonder.
From: The Path to God's Love →إِنَّمَا الْعجب من محسن يحب فَقِيرا مِسْكينا
The true wonder is that a kind one loves a poor, needy person.
الْعَجَبُ — the astonishment. The topic, nominative ('-u'), definite — 'the wonder [is]…'. What 'innama' restricts.
From: The Path to God's Love →ياعجبا من يُغطي عين ضوء الشَّمْس فِي نصف النَّهَار
How amazing is one who covers the eye of the sun's light at midday!
عَجَبًا — amazing. The '-an' ending is the giveaway that this is an exclamatory accusative: after the cry of wonder, the noun for 'astonishment' is set in the object case, an idiom meaning roughly 'how astonishing!' English needs a whole frame ('how amazing is...') for what Arabic does with one ending.
From: The Prophet's Refuge in the Cave →فإذا تذكر الإنسان مبدأ أمره ومنتهاه، زال عنه العجب والغرور،
Thus, when a person remembers his origin and end, his vanity and arrogance disappear,
العَجَبُ — vanity. The subject of 'departs', named after the verb, its 'the' marking self-amazement as a known failing. It is the thing that lifts off the man once he reflects.
From: A Path to Mercy →وَلَيْسَ الْعَجَبُ أَنْ يَغْلِبَ، إِنَّمَا الْعَجَبُ أَنْ يُغْلَبَ
It is not surprising that one should prevail; what is surprising is that one should be overcome.
الْعَجَبُ — the surprise. A noun made definite by al- ('the wonder/surprise'), here the subject of the 'is not' verb. With no spoken 'is', the sentence works as 'the surprise is not...', and this noun is what the later 'that'-clause will turn out to be or not be.
From: Guarding the Heart from Heedlessness →وَلَيْسَ الْعَجَبُ أَنْ يَغْلِبَ، إِنَّمَا الْعَجَبُ أَنْ يُغْلَبَ
It is not surprising that one should prevail; what is surprising is that one should be overcome.
الْعَجَبُ — the surprise. The same definite noun 'the surprise' repeated, now the subject of the second half. The repetition is deliberate parallelism, setting the real surprise (being overcome) against the non-surprise (prevailing) stated before.
From: Guarding the Heart from Heedlessness →OpenArabic teaches words like عَجَبٌ through real bilingual reading with native audio and spaced-repetition practice.
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