Arabic vocabulary
ذَكَرَto remember
How to say “to remember” in Arabic, with pronunciation and real example sentences from OpenArabic texts.
Example sentences
إذا ثَقُل الطريق، فتذكر أنّ التعب علامة حياة، وأن نور الهداية يظهر في مواضع المقاومة
If the path becomes heavy, remember that fatigue is a sign of life, and that the light of guidance appears in places of resistance.
فَتَذَكَّرْ — so remember. 'fa-' = 'so'; 'tadhakkar' = a command 'remember!, call to mind!'; 'you' is built in.
From: Small Daily Habits →عند الفتور، بدّل الوسيلة لا الغاية إن عجز لسانك فليذكر قلبك، وإن ثقل قلبك فلتخدم يدك، فالطرق إلى الله بعدد أنفاس الخلائق
When feeling lethargic, change the means, not the goal: if your tongue is too weak, let your heart remember; if your heart is heavy, let your hands serve, for the paths to God are as numerous as the breaths of creation.
فَلْيَذْكُرْ — let your heart remember. 'fa-' = 'then'; the 'li-' here is a 'let...' marker; 'yadhkur' = 'he/it remembers', so 'then let (it) remember'.
From: On Sincerity →وَقَد تَقَدّم مَا ذكره الْمَشَايِخ من نفي التَّشْبِيه والتعطيل
And what the shaykhs have mentioned regarding the negation of likening and nullification has already been addressed.
ذَكَرَهُ — he mentioned it. Past 'mentioned it', with 'it' attached pointing back to that 'what'. The suffix closes the relative clause — 'what they mentioned' — and its subject 'the shaykhs' follows.
From: Worship God Alone →وما يذكره أصحاب أحمد في مسائل الخلاف إن إيجاب هذه الأذكار من مفردات أحمد عن الثلاثة؛
What Ahmad’s followers mention in matters of dispute is that mandating these remembrances is unique to Ahmad among the three.
يَذْكُرُهُ — he mentions it. Present 'mentions it', with 'it' attached; subject 'the followers' next.
From: Required Remembrance →وما يذكره أصحاب أحمد في مسائل الخلاف إن إيجاب هذه الأذكار من مفردات أحمد عن الثلاثة؛
And what the followers of Ahmad mention in matters of disagreement: the obligation of these phrases is unique to Ahmad among the three;
يَذْكُرُهُ — he mentions it. Present 'mentions it', with 'it' attached; subject 'the followers' next.
From: Praise and Petition in Prayer →وَذَكَرَهُمْ اللَّهُ فِيمَنْ عِنْدَهُ،
and Allah makes mention of them among those who are with Him.
وَذَكَرَهُمُ — and mentioned them. Here the verb has no feminine ending, because its doer is 'Allah,' counted as masculine, so the verb stays bare. Compare the two verbs just before, which took the -at ending for their feminine subjects: the shape of the verb quietly tells you the gender of the doer that follows.
From: Easing a Believer's Hardship →وقال بعضهم فلعلهم الذين ولدوا في الإسلام، فلم يشركوا بالله شيئاً وذكروا أشياء
and some of them said: Perhaps they are those born in Islam who never associated anything with Allah – and they mentioned other things –
وَذَكَرُوا — and they mentioned. This is 'and' plus a past verb 'mentioned', subject 'they' inside — a narrator's aside that the speakers listed yet more traits. The doer is sealed in the verb.
From: Those Who Enter Without Account →ثم ذكر الأمر المستدل عليه والمعاد بقوله ﴿إِنَّهُ عَلَى رَجْعِهِ لَقَادِرٌ﴾
Then, the matter being inferred and returned to is mentioned by His saying, 'Indeed, He is Able to bring him back.'
ذَكَرَ — he mentioned. This is a completed-action verb 'he mentioned', its subject carried inside, here God understood from context. It governs the object 'the matter' that follows and the means-phrase 'by His saying' coming later.
From: Ten Proofs of Resurrection →فذكر شأن مبدأ عمله ونهايته فمبدؤه محفوظ عليه ونهايته الجزاء عليه
And He mentioned the significance of the beginning and end of his deeds; the beginning is preserved for him, and the end is recompense for him.
فَذَكَرَ — and He mentioned. This fuses the connector fa- to a past-tense verb, 'so he mentioned', with its 'he' subject built in. The fa- ties this back to the prior reasoning, and the doer is God; the verb opens what He set out.
From: Ten Proofs of Resurrection →ثم ذكر سبحانه المقسم عليه فقال ﴿إِنَّهُ لَقَوْلُ رَسُولٍ كَرِيمٍ﴾
Then Allah mentioned what He swore upon, saying: 'Indeed, it is the word of a noble Messenger.'
ذَكَرَ — he mentioned. Past-tense verb 'he mentioned', subject 'he' built in. It introduces what God next brings up; Arabic carries the doer inside the verb rather than as a separate pronoun.
From: God's Eternal Word →وذكر كذلك الذين اتخذوا العلم وسيلة وغرضا لتحصيل ملذات الدنيا وحطامها الفاني،
He also mentioned those who took knowledge as a means and a goal to acquire the pleasures of the fleeting world and its perishable goods.
وَذَكَرَ — and mentioned. A completed past-tense verb carrying its own 'he' subject, joined to the previous sentence by the attached 'and'. Arabic verbs of this shape already say who acted, so no separate subject word is needed here.
From: Knowledge and Humility →فَذَكَرَ مِنْهَا الشِّرْكَ بِاللَّهِ، وَالسِّحْرَ، وَقَتْلَ النَّفْسِ الَّتِي حَرَّمَ اللهُ إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ، وَأَكْلَ مَالِ الْيَتِيمِ، وَأَكْلَ الرِّبَا، وَالتَّوَلِّيَ يَوْمَ الزَّحْفِ، وَقَذْفَ الْمُحْصَنَاتِ الْغَافِلَاتِ الْمُؤْمِنَاتِ مُتَّفَقٌ عَلَيْهِ
He mentioned among them: associating partners with Allah, sorcery, unjust killing, consuming the wealth of an orphan, usury, fleeing from the battlefield, and falsely accusing chaste, unaware, believing women - agreed upon by scholars.
ذَكَرَ — he mentioned. A past-tense verb with its 'he' subject built in, 'he mentioned'. It heads the long list of major sins that follows as its objects.
From: What Small Worship Erases →وَهَذَا هُوَ الشِّرْكُ الْأَكْبَرُ الَّذِي ذَكَرَهُ اللهُ
And this is the major shirk that Allah mentioned.
ذَكَرَهُ — mentioned it. A past-tense verb with its 'he' subject pattern and a 'it' object attached to its end pointing back to the shirk, so one word means 'mentioned it'. It sits inside the relative clause, its doer named next.
From: The Sin of Idolatry →انه ذكر الْخَوَارِج فَقَالَ
He mentioned the Khawarij and said,
ذَكَرَ — he mentioned. A past-tense verb with its 'he' subject built in, here meaning he brought up a topic. Its object follows next, and the unstated 'he' is the Prophet from the chain just given.
From: Sincerity and Hypocrisy →لَيْتَنِي أَكُونُ حَيًّا ذَكَرَ حَرْفًا
I wish I were alive to hear him mention a single letter.
ذَكَرَ — he mentioned. A past verb with its 'he' built in, opening a fresh clause about the one whose words the speaker longs to hear. Arabic sets the verb before any named subject, so it stands complete on its own; here the unspoken 'he' is the Prophet whose speech is meant.
From: The Night of Revelation and Consolation →وَذَكَرَ اِبْنُ أَبِي الدُّنْيَا عَنْ بَعْضِ السَّلَفِ أَنَّ شَيْطَانًا لَقِيَ شَيْطَانًا
Ibn Abi al-Dunya reported from some of the predecessors that one devil met another.
وَذَكَرَ — and mentioned. The joining 'wa-' on a past-tense 'mentioned / reported', linking this report into the text. The verb carries its 'he' subject inside, and the named reporter follows.
From: Staying Firm in Faith →وَانْ شُرْبِ ذَكَرَ اِسْمِ اللَّهِ فَلَا أَشْرَبُ مَعَهُ
If he drinks after saying the name of God, I will not drink with him.
ذَكَرَ — he mentioned. A past-tense verb 'mentioned' with its 'he' subject built in, taking 'the name of God' as its object. It states the act done alongside the drinking.
From: Staying Firm in Faith →وَإِنْ دَخَلَ بَيْتَهُ ذَكَرَ اسْمَ اللَّهِ فَأَبَيْتُ خَارِجَ الدَّارِ
And if he entered his house and mentioned the Name of God, I would spend the night outside the house.
ذَكَرَ — he mentioned. A past-tense verb 'mentioned' with its 'he' subject built in, the second action of the condition. It takes 'the name' as its object.
From: Staying Firm in Faith →فَخَرَجْتُ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ الَّذِي ذَكَرَ الْمَلْعُونُ فَدَخَلْتُهُ
So I went out to the mosque which the accursed had mentioned, and I entered it.
ذَكَرَ — he mentioned. Past-tense verb inside the relative clause. Its unspoken object is the mosque pointed to by 'which', so the mosque is what got mentioned even though no separate object word appears; the relative connector carries that role back to the head noun.
From: Seeking Refuge from the Devil →وَقَدْ ذَكَرَ بَعْضُ الْعُلَمَاءِ أَنَّ أَبَا طَالِبٍ حَضَرَ الْعَقْدَ وَمَعَهُ بَنُو مُضَرٍ،
Some scholars reported that Abu Talib attended the marriage contract accompanied by the Banu Mudar.
ذَكَرَ — reported. A past-tense verb ('reported/mentioned'), third-person singular, placed before its subject in normal verb-first order. The named doer ('some of the scholars') follows, and the verb sets up the reported clause introduced later by 'that'.
From: The Prophet's Marriage to Khadijah →ثم ذكر الأمر المستدل عليه والمعاد بقوله ﴿إِنَّهُ عَلَى رَجْعِهِ لَقَادِرٌ﴾
Then He mentioned the subject of inference and the Resurrection by saying, 'Indeed, He is able to bring him back.'
ذَكَرَ — He mentioned. A past verb meaning 'mentioned', with a built-in 'he' subject (God); the subject rides inside, so no separate 'he' is needed. It introduces the next quoted point.
From: Creation Points to Resurrection →وما يذكره أصحاب أحمد في مسائل الخلاف إن إيجاب هذه الأذكار من مفردات أحمد عن الثلاثة؛
And what the followers of Ahmad mention in issues of disagreement: making these remembrances obligatory is unique to Ahmad, apart from the three others.
يَذْكُرُهُ — mention it. A present-tense verb carrying its own 'they' subject inside the form, with an attached object pronoun on the end pointing back to the 'that which' just mentioned. Arabic regularly bundles subject, verb, and object into one word like this, where English needs three separate slots.
From: Praise and Supplication in Prayer →
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