Arabic vocabulary
How to say “to” in Arabic, with pronunciation and real example sentences from OpenArabic texts.
اسْتَعِنْ عَلَى سَيْرِكَ إِلَى اللَّهِ بِتَرْكِ مَنْ شَغَلَكَ عَنِ اللَّهِ ﷿
Seek assistance on your path to Allah by abandoning those who divert you from Allah.
إِلَى — to. Preposition 'ila' = 'to, toward'.
From: Taming the Lower Self →ينبع الطريق إلى تهذيب النفس من ملاحظة اللحظة الصغيرة التي تمر بين شهيق وزفير
The path to refining the soul springs from noticing the small moment that passes between inhalation and exhalation.
إلى — to. Preposition 'ila' = 'to, toward'.
From: Small Daily Habits →اعْلَم أَنَّ الْهَوَى مَيْلُ الطَّبْعِ إِلَى مَا يُلائِمُهُ
Know that desire is the inclination of nature towards what suits it.
إِلَى — towards. Preposition 'ila' = 'toward'.
From: When Desire Exceeds Its Bounds →فَإِنَّهُ لَوْلا مَيْلُهُ إِلَى الْمَطْعَمِ مَا أَكَلَ
For if not for his inclination towards food, he would not eat.
إِلَى — towards. Preposition 'ila' = 'toward'.
From: When Desire Exceeds Its Bounds →وَإِلَى الْمَشْرَبِ مَا شَرِبَ
And towards drink, he would not drink.
وَإِلَى — and towards. 'wa-' = 'and'; 'ila' = 'toward'.
From: When Desire Exceeds Its Bounds →وَإِلَى الْمَنْكَحِ مَا نَكَحَ
And towards marriage, he would not marry.
وَإِلَى — and towards. 'wa-' = 'and'; 'ila' = 'toward'.
From: When Desire Exceeds Its Bounds →هكذا يتحوّل الذِّكرُ إلى مدرسةٍ يومية يعلّمك النظرَ الصحيح، يطهّر لسانك من اللغو، ويَشدُّ قلبَك إلى ربّه،
This is how remembrance becomes a daily school: it teaches you correct perception, purifies your tongue from idle talk, and binds your heart to its Lord,
إِلَى — into. 'ila' marks the goal of a transformation here — 'turns INTO' — and governs the genitive. With 'turn', it names what the dhikr becomes.
From: Turning Daily Words into Worship →هكذا يتحوّل الذِّكرُ إلى مدرسةٍ يومية يعلّمك النظرَ الصحيح، يطهّر لسانك من اللغو، ويَشدُّ قلبَك إلى ربّه،
This is how remembrance becomes a daily school: it teaches you correct perception, purifies your tongue from idle talk, and binds your heart to its Lord,
إِلَى — to. 'ila' equals 'to, toward', governing genitive — names what the heart is bound to. With 'bind', it sets the anchor point.
From: Turning Daily Words into Worship →وَقسم سِيبَوَيْهٍ الْكَلَام إِلَى اسْم وَفعل وحرف جَاءَ لِمَعْنى لَيْسَ باسم وَلَا فعل،
And Sibawayh divided speech into noun, verb, and letter that comes for meaning, not as a noun or a verb.
إِلَى — into. 'ila' here marks the result of dividing — 'into [parts]' — and governs the genitive. With 'divide', it introduces the categories produced.
From: The Declaration of Faith →إياك أن تشتغل بهذا الجدل الذي ظهر بعد انقراض الأكابر من العلماء يشير إلى جدل العميدي فإنه يبعد عن الفقه، ويضيع العمر، ويورث الوحشة والعداوة،
Beware of getting involved in this debate that emerged after the passing of the great scholars (referring to the debate of Al-Amidi), for it distances you from understanding the law, wastes your life, and breeds loneliness and enmity.
إلى — to. 'ila' equals 'to', governing genitive — 'refers TO...'.
From: Avoiding Scholarly Disputation →فاحتاج الأئمة إلى أن يضعوا آدابًا وأحكامًا يقف المتناظران عند حدودها في الرد والقبول،
the scholars needed to establish etiquette and rules that debaters must adhere to in rejection and acceptance,
إِلَى — to. 'ila' equals 'to', governing genitive — the verb 'need' governs 'ila' for what is needed.
From: Rules of Scholarly Debate →وإن كان عند التحقيق يؤول إلى الإفلاس، لكنهم لم يكونوا يقبلون من المناظرة إلا ما يفيد ولو ظنًّا ضعيفًا للناظر
although upon closer examination it leads to nothing, they would only accept from debate what was beneficial, even if it gave only a weak impression to the observer.
إِلَى — to. 'ila' equals 'to', governing genitive — where it ends up.
From: Rules of Scholarly Debate →فَلهَذَا قل وارده الْمُحب يهرب إِلَى الْعُزْلَة وَالْخلْوَة بمحبوبه
For this reason, few come to it. The lover flees to solitude and seclusion with his beloved.
إِلَى — to. Preposition 'to / towards', the refuge sought; it governs the genitive. It marks where he flees.
From: Love and Devotion to God →والأنس بِذكرِهِ كهرب الْحُوت إِلَى المَاء والطفل إِلَى أمه
And finding solace in His remembrance is like the fish's need for water and the child's need for its mother.
إِلَى — for. Preposition 'to / towards', the goal of the bolting; it governs the genitive. The fish flees 'to' water.
From: Love and Devotion to God →والأنس بِذكرِهِ كهرب الْحُوت إِلَى المَاء والطفل إِلَى أمه
And finding solace in His remembrance is like the fish's need for water and the child's need for its mother.
إِلَى — for. Preposition 'to / towards', governing the genitive — the child flees 'to' its mother. It marks the goal.
From: Love and Devotion to God →وَاعجَبا لمن يَدعِي الْمحبَّة وَيحْتَاج إِلَى من يذكرهُ بمحبوبه
How astonishing it is for someone who claims love and needs someone to remind them of their beloved.
إِلَى — to. Preposition 'to / for', governing the genitive — 'to someone'. The pairing 'need + ila' names what he needs.
From: Remembering and Loving God →وَمن خلقت فِيهِ قُوَّة الْعلم والمعرفة فلذته بِاسْتِعْمَال قوته وصرفها إِلَى الْعلم
And for those created with the power of knowledge and understanding, their pleasure is in using their strength towards knowledge.
إِلَى — to. Preposition 'to / towards', the goal; it governs the genitive. It marks what the power is turned toward.
From: Directing Desire Toward God →وَمن خلقت فِيهِ قُوَّة الْحبّ لله والإنابة إِلَيْهِ والعكوف بِالْقَلْبِ عَلَيْهِ والشوق إِلَيْهِ والأنس بِهِ فلذته ونعيمه اسْتِعْمَال هَذِه الْقُوَّة فِي ذَلِك
And for those created with the power of love for Allah, and returning to Him, and devotion to Him with the heart, and longing for Him, and intimacy with Him, their pleasure and bliss is in using this strength for those purposes.
إِلَيْهِ — to Him. 'Ila (to) fused with '-hi' (Him) — returning 'to Him'. The pairing 'turn back + ila' names the one returned to.
From: Directing Desire Toward God →وَمن خلقت فِيهِ قُوَّة الْحبّ لله والإنابة إِلَيْهِ والعكوف بِالْقَلْبِ عَلَيْهِ والشوق إِلَيْهِ والأنس بِهِ فلذته ونعيمه اسْتِعْمَال هَذِه الْقُوَّة فِي ذَلِك
And for those created with the power of love for Allah, and returning to Him, and devotion to Him with the heart, and longing for Him, and intimacy with Him, their pleasure and bliss is in using this strength for those purposes.
إِلَيْهِ — for Him. 'Ila (to) fused with '-hi' (Him) — longing 'for Him'. The pairing 'longing + ila' names the one yearned for.
From: Directing Desire Toward God →فَأحب الْخلق إِلَيْهِ من عرف عبوديته فِي هَذِه الْمَرَاتِب ووفاها حَقّهَا
So the most beloved of creation to Him is the one who knows his servitude in these ranks and fulfills its due right.
إِلَيْهِ — to Him. 'To Him', the preposition with 'Him' fused on, marking in whose regard the belovedness counts: most beloved 'to/in the sight of' God. It pins the love to God's own estimation.
From: Accepting God's Decree →فَهَذَا أقرب الْخلق إِلَيْهِ
So this one is the closest of creation to Him.
إِلَيْهِ — to Him. 'To Him', the preposition with 'Him' fused on, fixing the nearness toward God. It closes 'the nearest of creation to Him'.
From: Accepting God's Decree →وَيُشِيرُ إلَى صَدْرِهِ ثَلَاثَ مَرَّاتٍ،
and he pointed to his chest three times.
إِلَى — to. With 'point', this 'to/toward' is the fixed partner marking what is indicated, governing the following noun in the after-preposition ending: 'points to...'.
From: Brotherhood in Islam →وَفِي إِضَافَتِهِ إِلَيْهِ بِاسْمِ الرِّسَالَةِ أَبْيَنُ دَلِيلٍ أَنَّهُ كَلَامُ الْمُرْسِلِ،
And in attributing it to him by the name of messenger is the clearest evidence that it is the speech of the Sender.
إِلَيْهِ — to him. A preposition 'to' fused with an attached 'him' ending, 'to him', naming the one the speech is ascribed to, the Messenger. One word carries the preposition and its pronoun.
From: Proofs of Scripture →وَلَوْ كَانَتْ إِضَافَتُهُ إِلَيْهِ إِضَافَةَ إِنْشَاءِ وَابْتِدَاءٍ لَمْ يَكُنْ رَسُولًا،
And if it were attributed to him as origination and initiation, he would not be a messenger.
إِلَيْهِ — to him. This fuses the directional preposition 'to/toward' with an attached 'him'. The preposition governs that pronoun and points the attribution at its target. Arabic compresses preposition and pronoun into one word where English keeps 'to him' as two.
From: Proofs of Scripture →OpenArabic teaches words like إلى through real bilingual reading with native audio and spaced-repetition practice.
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