ما what in Arabic
ما is how you say “what” in Arabic.
Arabic
English
The audio uses AI voices.
Example sentence
أَرض الْفطْرَة رحبة قابلة لما يغرس فيها،
The soil of innate disposition is expansive and receptive to what is planted in it.
لِمَا to what
li- = 'to, for'; ma = 'what' — together 'to what (is planted)'.
The English is machine-translated.
Practise this word in the app
One tap gives you the meaning, a grammar note and audio.
Add the words you don’t know. Practise them with spaced repetition.
Free. No ads. No subscription.
An account is needed in the app.
More example sentences
قد كنا يا رسول الله نكذبك بما تأتينا به من خبر السماء،
We used to deny you, O Messenger of Allah, concerning what you brought us from the news of the heavens,
بِمَا concerning what
bi- = 'with, concerning'; ma = 'what' — together 'concerning what'.
اعْلَم أَنَّ الْهَوَى مَيْلُ الطَّبْعِ إِلَى مَا يُلائِمُهُ
Know that desire is the inclination of nature towards what suits it.
مَا what
'ma' = 'what, that which'.
فَإِنَّهُ لَوْلا مَيْلُهُ إِلَى الْمَطْعَمِ مَا أَكَلَ
For if not for his inclination towards food, he would not eat.
مَا not
'ma' here = the 'not' that negates a past verb.
وَإِلَى الْمَشْرَبِ مَا شَرِبَ
And towards drink, he would not drink.
مَا not
'ma' = the 'not' negating a past verb.
وَإِلَى الْمَنْكَحِ مَا نَكَحَ
And towards marriage, he would not marry.
مَا not
'ma' = the 'not' negating a past verb.
وَكَذَلِكَ كُلُّ مَا يشتهيه فالهوى مستحلب لَهُ مَا يَفِيدُ
And similarly, everything he desires, the desire draws to him what benefits.
مَا what
'ma' = 'what, that which'; the 'of' word here.
وَكَذَلِكَ كُلُّ مَا يشتهيه فالهوى مستحلب لَهُ مَا يَفِيدُ
And similarly, everything he desires, the desire draws to him what benefits.
مَا what
'ma' = 'what, that which', the object.
كَمَا أَنَّ الْغَضَبَ دَافِعٌ عَنْهُ مَا يُؤْذِي
Just as anger repels from him what harms.
مَا what
'ma' = 'what, that which', the object.
وَهُوَ مَا يَزِيدُ عَلَى جَلْبِ الْمَصَالِحِ وَدَفْعِ الْمَضَارِّ
And that is what exceeds bringing benefits and repelling harms.
مَا what
'ma' = 'what, that which'.
خُلاصةُ الطريق أصلان أن تُعبَدَ اللهُ وحده، وأن تُعبَدَه بما شَرَع
The essence of the path is two principles: that you worship Allah alone, and that you worship Him with what He has prescribed.
بِمَا with what
'with what' — 'bi' of means fused to the relative 'ma' (that which). It sets up 'by means of that which He prescribed', pointing forward to the next verb.
وأمثال ذَلِك مِمَّا اسْتعْمل فِيهِ لفظ الْكَلِمَة من الْكتاب وَالسّنة بل وَسَائِر كَلَام الْعَرَب فَإِنَّمَا يُرَاد بِهِ الْجُمْلَة التَّامَّة
And the likes of that from the usage of the term (the word) in the Book and the Sunnah, as well as the rest of Arab speech, for it indeed means the complete sentence.
مِمَّا from the usage of
'from that which' — 'min' fused to the relative 'ma'. It means 'among the cases in which...', opening a relative clause.
أنه لما كان بابُ المناظرة في الرد والقبول مُتَّسِعًا، وكل واحدٍ من المتناظرين في الاستدلال والجواب يرسل عِنانه في الاحتجاج، ومنه ما يكون صوابًا ومنه ما يكون خطأً،
that since the field of debate in rejection and acceptance was wide, and each debater in reasoning and answering would let loose his reins in argumentation, some of it being correct and some incorrect,
مَا is
'what, that which' — the delayed subject: 'some of it [is] what is correct'.
أنه لما كان بابُ المناظرة في الرد والقبول مُتَّسِعًا، وكل واحدٍ من المتناظرين في الاستدلال والجواب يرسل عِنانه في الاحتجاج، ومنه ما يكون صوابًا ومنه ما يكون خطأً،
that since the field of debate in rejection and acceptance was wide, and each debater in reasoning and answering would let loose his reins in argumentation, some of it being correct and some incorrect,
مَا is
'what, that which' — the second delayed subject.
وقد وصف لنا شيخ الإسلام ابن تيمية هذه المرحلة وصفًا يكشف لنا حقيقتها وخصائصها وميزاتها وما لها وما عليها،
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah described this phase with a description that reveals its nature, characteristics, and advantages and disadvantages,
وَمَا and what
'and what' — 'wa' plus relative 'ma'; 'and what is...'.
وقد وصف لنا شيخ الإسلام ابن تيمية هذه المرحلة وصفًا يكشف لنا حقيقتها وخصائصها وميزاتها وما لها وما عليها،
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah described this phase with a description that reveals its nature, characteristics, and advantages and disadvantages,
وَمَا and what
'and what' — a second relative.
فقال ثم صار المتأخرون بعد ذلك قد يتناظرون في أنواع التأويل والقياس بما يؤثر في ظن بعض الناس،
and he said: "Then later generations debated forms of interpretation and analogy that influence the thinking of some,
بِمَا with what
'with what' — 'bi' plus relative 'ma'; 'by means of that which...'.
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.
مَا what
'what, that which' — the exception: 'except what is useful'.
فعّال لما يُرِيد
He does what He wills.
لِّمَا for what
'Li-' (for / of) fused with the relative 'ma' — 'for whatever', the object the doer-form reaches toward. The 'li-' links the intensive doer to what He does.
تالله مَا عدا عَلَيْك الْعدو إِلَّا بعد أَن تولى عَنْك الْوَلِيّ
By Allah, no enemy came upon you except after the Protector withdrew from you.
مَا no
A negating particle 'not / never' before a past verb — denying that the enemy ever attacked. It opens 'no enemy came upon you except…'.
فوَاللَّه مَا أكرمها من لم يهنها
By Allah, no one has honored it who has not humiliated it.
مَا not
A negating 'not' before a past verb — denying that anyone honored it without first humbling it. It opens the paradoxical maxim.
مَا تبلغ الْأَعْدَاء من جَاهِل من يبلغ الْجَاهِل من نَفسه
What enemies achieve against an ignorant person is not as much as what the ignorant person achieves against himself.
مَا what
A relative-noun 'what [amount]', the topic — 'what the enemies achieve…'. It opens the first half of a comparison.
مَا تبلغ الْأَعْدَاء من جَاهِل من يبلغ الْجَاهِل من نَفسه
What enemies achieve against an ignorant person is not as much as what the ignorant person achieves against himself.
مَا what
A second relative-noun 'what [amount]', opening the matching half — set against the first, 'is not like what…'. The comparison hinges on these paired 'what' clauses.
اعرف قدر مَا ضَاعَ مِنْك وابك بكاء من يدْرِي مِقْدَار الْفَائِت
Know the value of what you have lost and weep like one who knows the worth of what is gone.
مَا what
A relative 'that which', the owner completing 'the worth of what…', opening a clause. It names the lost thing.