Arabic vocabulary
ذَٰلِكَthat
How to say “that” in Arabic, with pronunciation and real example sentences from OpenArabic texts.
Example sentences
وذلك من عدله فيه
And that is from His justice upon him.
وَذَٰلِكَ — and that. wa- = 'and'; dhalika = 'that' (demonstrative), pointing back to what was just said.
From: Returning to God →فَيرى فِي ذَلِك فقره إِلَى ربّه، وظلمه فِي نَفسه
Thus, he sees in that his need for his Lord, and his injustice to himself.
ذَٰلِكَ — that. dhalika = 'that' (demonstrative), referring back to what was mentioned.
From: Returning to God →فَيَفْضُلُ الْعَاقِلُ عَلَيْهِ بِمَنْعِ نَفْسِهِ مِنْ ذَلِكَ
Thus, a rational person is superior by restraining himself from it.
ذَٰلِكَ — it. A pointing word ('that') standing for the thing already mentioned; genitive after 'from'.
From: The Discipline of Foresight →وَالآدَمِيُّ يَمْتَنِعُ عَنْ ذَلِكَ بِقَهْرِ عَقْلِهِ لِطَبْعِهِ
And the human refrains from that by subduing his nature with reason.
ذَٰلِكَ — that. Pointing word standing for the behavior just mentioned; genitive after 'from'.
From: The Discipline of Foresight →لِيَسْتَمِرَّ بِذَلِكَ عَلَى تَرْكِ مَا تُؤْذِي غَايَتُهُ
So that he continues to refrain from what has harmful outcomes.
بِذَٰلِكَ — with that. 'By/with' + 'that' as one word; it marks the means by which he keeps it up.
From: The Discipline of Foresight →وَهُمْ مَعَ ذَلِكَ لَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ تَرْكَهَا
Yet they are unable to give them up.
ذَٰلِكَ — that. Pointing word standing for the situation just described; genitive after 'with'. The pair reads 'despite that'.
From: The Discipline of Foresight →وَلِهَذَا تَرَى مُدْمِنَ الْخَمْرِ وَالْجِمَاعِ لَا يَلْتَذُّ بِذَلِكَ عُشْرَ الْتِذَاذِ مَنْ لَمْ يُدْمِنْ
This is why you see that the addict to wine and intimacy does not enjoy it even a tenth as much as one who is not addicted.
بِذَٰلِكَ — with that. 'In/with' + 'that' as one word; this verb hooks its object through 'with' — 'takes pleasure WITH/in that'.
From: The Discipline of Foresight →غَيْرَ أَنَّ الْعَادَةَ تَقْتَضِيهِ ذَلِكَ
However, habit necessitates that.
ذَٰلِكَ — that. A pointing word that restates the object for clarity — Arabic sometimes doubles the object with both a suffix and a full word for emphasis.
From: The Discipline of Foresight →لذلك وُضِعَتِ التسميةُ في مواضعَ ثابتة على الطعام، وعند الدخول والخروج، وعلى السكين والقلم ولوحة المفاتيح؛ لتتعلّم أنّ العملَ يبدأ بالله وينتهي إليه
Thus, naming was placed in fixed locations: over food, when entering and exiting, over the knife, pen, and keyboard; to teach that every action begins with Allah and ends with Him.
لِذَٰلِكَ — for that. 'for that reason' — 'li' of cause plus 'that'. It draws a conclusion from what came before — 'therefore'.
From: Remembrance That Reshapes the Heart →إن وجدتَ قلبَك ألينَ، ولسانَك أصدقَ، ويَدَك أعدلَ، فذلك ثمرُه
If you find your heart softer, your tongue more truthful, and your hand more just, that is its fruit.
فَذَٰلِكَ — so that is. 'then that [is]' — 'fa' delivering the result of the condition plus the pointer 'that'. It answers 'if you find...': then THAT is the proof.
From: Remembrance That Reshapes the Heart →وأمثال ذَلِك مِمَّا اسْتعْمل فِيهِ لفظ الْكَلِمَة من الْكتاب وَالسّنة بل وَسَائِر كَلَام الْعَرَب فَإِنَّمَا يُرَاد بِهِ الْجُمْلَة التَّامَّة
And similar uses of the term 'word' in the Book and the Sunnah, as well as in the rest of Arabic speech, refer to a complete sentence.
ذَٰلِكَ — that. 'that', genitive owner closing 'the likes of' — pointing back to the quoted examples.
From: Small Deeds, Great Reward →وبين ما يسميه هو عقليات من الأمور المأخوذة عن بعض الطواغيت من المشركين وأهل الكتاب وغير ذلك من أنواع الاعتبار
And between what he calls 'rationalities' taken from some tyrants among the polytheists, People of the Book, and other forms of consideration.
ذَٰلِكَ — that. 'that', genitive owner — 'and besides that'.
From: Judging by Revelation →إنما مثَّل ﷺ ذلك بصاحب الصُّرة التي فيها المسك؛
The Prophet (peace be upon him) used the example of the person with a bag containing musk;
ذَٰلِكَ — that. The far-pointing demonstrative 'that', direct object of 'likened', pointing back to the matter under discussion. It is what the parable is about.
From: The Meaning of Fasting →فمن ذلك أن يظهر فيه دلالة الآية على شئ يخالف مذهبه
Among those cases is when the verse clearly indicates something contrary to his school of thought.
ذَٰلِكَ — those. A pointing word, 'that' — the forbidden wrangling just described — in the -i form after 'from.' 'Among that' = one example of it, which the rest of the sentence lays out.
From: Quran Interpretation and Debate →فيحملها على مذهبه ويناظر على ذلك مع ظهورها في خلاف ما يقول
So he interprets it according to his school of thought and debates on that basis, despite its clarity against what he says.
ذَٰلِكَ — that. A pointing word, 'that' — the strained interpretation — in the -i form after 'on.' It is the platform he debates from, gathering up everything he forced onto the verse.
From: Quran Interpretation and Debate →وأما من لا يظهر له ذلك فهو معذور
As for one to whom this is not apparent, he is excused.
ذَٰلِكَ — that. A pointing word, 'that' — the meaning at issue — serving as the doer of 'becomes clear.' It is what never dawns on him, closing on -u as that subject.
From: Quran Interpretation and Debate →إن كان مما يدرك بالاجتهاد كالمعاني والأحكام الجلية والخفية والعموم والخصوص والإعراب وغير ذلك
If it is something reachable through juristic effort, like clear and hidden meanings, general and specific rulings, grammar, and the like.
ذَٰلِكَ — those. A pointing word, 'that,' owned by 'other than' — 'other than that,' i.e. 'and so on.' It gestures back over the whole list.
From: Quran Interpretation and Debate →فكيف يليق بأحكم الحاكمين وأرحم الراحمين وأقدر القادرين أن يقره على ذلك
How can it befit the Wisest of Judges, the Most Merciful of the merciful, the Most Powerful of the powerful, to approve of that?
ذَٰلِكَ — that. A far-pointing demonstrative, 'that', reaching back to the previously described misconduct rather than to a near object. Arabic separates near 'this' from far 'that', and the far form here flags reference to the earlier wrongdoing.
From: False Prophets →قائلًا إن الله أمرني بذلك وأباحه لي
Saying that Allah commanded me to do this and permitted it for me.
بِذَٰلِكَ — to do this. The preposition 'bi-' here marks the content or thing commanded and takes the genitive, fused with a far demonstrative meaning 'with that'. So it links the command to its object, 'commanded me to do that', the demonstrative pointing back to the deed.
From: False Prophets →فصوتت ميزان شهوات زليخا بذلك الصبي،
The scales of Zuleikha's desires tipped because of that boy.
بِذَٰلِكَ — because of that. This is the cause-marking bi- 'because of' fused with the pointing word 'that', giving 'because of that' in one word. The preposition governs the demonstrative, and the phrase ties the tipping to its trigger, the boy named next.
From: The Story of Prophet Joseph →يَفْعَلُ ذَٰلِكَ كُلَّ لَيْلَةٍ مِنْ تِلْكَ اللَّيْلَاتِ الثَّلاَثِ
He does that on each of those three nights.
ذَٰلِكَ — that. A far-pointing 'that' standing in for the whole routine described just before; it is the thing-acted-on of 'does'. Demonstratives like this can reach back to an entire action, not just a single noun.
From: The Secret Migration →وَمَا ذَٰلِكَ لِهَوَانِهِمْ عَلَيْهِ،
And that is not because of their belittling upon Him,
ذاك — that. This is the demonstrative 'that', pointing back to the whole situation just described rather than to any single noun. It is the subject of the denial, the thing said not to be due to a certain cause. It works as a pointer summarizing what came before.
From: Under God's Shield →
Learn Arabic vocabulary in context
OpenArabic teaches words like ذَٰلِكَ through real bilingual reading with native audio and spaced-repetition practice.
Get the app