Lesson 89 – الدَّرْسُ التَّاسِعُ والثَّمانون

The conditional sentence - أَسالِيبُ التَّحِيَّةِ، والاِعْتِذارِ

The Arabic styles of greetings – أَسالِيبُ التَّحِيَّةِ العَرَبِيَّةِ

  • We are still in lesson eighty nine of our free Arabic language course. This Arabic course with images and audios will help you learn Arabic.
  • There is an Arabic common Islamic greeting that can be said in any time of the day.
  • This greeting is used by most Muslims in all Islamic countries in Standard Arabic and also in all colloquial Arabic dialects. It is as follows (please read from right to left):

Answer

Greeting

English

Arabic

English

Arabic

And upon you be peace!

وَعَلَيْكُم السَّلامُ

Peace be upon you!

السَّلامُ عَلَيْكُم

  • It is also possible to prolong the above mentioned greeting or its answer as follows:

Answer

Greeting

English

Arabic

English

Arabic

And upon you be peace and Allah's mercy and blessings!

وَعَلَيْكُم السَّلامُ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وبركاته

Peace be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings!

السَّلامُ عَلَيْكُم وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وبركاته

  • In addition, there are many other greetings which are commonly used in Modern Standard Arabic. Following are some common of them:
  • A morning greeting:

English

Arabic

Speaker

Good morning, Saad!

صَباحُ الْخَيْرِ يا سَعْدُ

عادِل

Good morning, Adel!

صَباحُ النُّورِ يا عادِلُ

سَعْد

How are you this morning?

كَيْفَ أَصْبَحْتَ؟

عادِل

Fine, thanks to God

بِخَيْرٍ، وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ

سَعْد

  • The above mentioned morning greeting is equal for both masculine and feminine. Consider the following dialogue between two females:

Dialogue

English

Arabic

Speaker

Good morning, Huda

صَباحُ الْخَيْرِ يا هُدَى

مُنَى

Good morning, Mona

صَباحُ النُّورِ يا مُنَـى

هُدَى

How are you?

كَيْفَ حَالُكِ؟

مُنَى

Fine, thanks to Allah

بِخَيْرٍ، وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ

هُدَى

Dialogue

English

Arabic

Speaker

Good evening, Saeed

مَسَاءُ الْخَيْرِ يا سَعِيدُ

ياسِر

Good evening, Yasser

مَسَاءُ الْخَيْرِ يا ياسِرُ

سَعِيد

How are you this evening?

كَيْفَ أَمْسَيْتَ؟

ياسِر

Fine, thanks to Allah

بِخَيْرٍ، وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ

سَعِيد

(1)

Example

English

Arabic

Speaker

Peace be upon you!

السَّلامُ عَلَيْكُم

وَائِل

And upon you be peace!

وَعَلَيْكُمُ السَّلامُ، مَنْ أنْتَ؟

حَسَن

I am Wail from Syria

أنا وائِل مِنْ سُوريا

وَائِل

Hello

أَهْلاً وَسَهْلاً

حَسَن

And who are you?

وَمَنْ أَنْتَ؟

وَائِل

I am Hassan from Lebanon

أنا حَسَن، مِنْ لُبْنَان

حَسَن

Welcome

أَهْلاً وَسَهْلاً

وَائِل

(2)

Example

English

Arabic

Speaker

Peace be upon you!

السَّلامُ عَلَيْكُم

عِمْران

And upon you be peace!

وَعَلَيْكُمُ السَّلامُ

أَحْمَد

How are you, Ahmed?

كيْفَ حَالُكَ يا أَحْمَد؟

عِمْران

Thanks to Allah, I am fine

الْحَمْدُ لله، أَنا بِخَيْر.

أَحْمَد

And who is this?

وَمَنْ هَذّا؟

عِمْران

This is my friend Omar, he is from Holland

هَذَا صَدِيقي عُمَر، هُو مِنْ هُولَنْدَا.

أَحْمَد

Hello Omar, have you ever visited Egypt?

أَهْلاً وَسَهْلاً يا عُمَر

هَلْ زُرْتَ مِصْرَ قَبْلَ ذَلِكَ؟

عِمْران

No, this is my first visit to Egypt

لا، هَذِهِ أَوَّلُ زِيارَةٍ لِي إلى مِصْر

عُمَر

Welcome to Egypt

مَرْحَبًا بِكَ فِي مِصْر

عِمْران

 (3)

Example

English

Arabic

Speaker

Good evening, Adel!

مساء الْخَيْرِ يا عَادِلُ

جمال

Good evening Jamal!

مَساء النُّور يا جَمالُ

عادِلُ

How are you this evening?

كَيْفَ أَمْسَيْتَ؟

جمال

Fine, thanks to Allah

بِخَيْرٍ وَالْحَمْدُ لله

عادِلُ

Are you busy now?

هَلْ أَنْتَ مَشْغُول الآنَ؟

جمال

No, I am sitting at home

لا، أَنا أَجْلِسُ فِي الْبَيْتِ

عادِلُ

Can I visit you today?

هَلْ أَسْتَطِيعُ زِيَارَتَكَ الْيَوْمَ؟

جمال

Yes, with pleasure, please come!

نَعَم، بِكُلّ سُرور، تَفَضَّلْ

عادِلُ

  • At Adel’s home:

Example

English

Arabic

Speaker

Hello, Jamal!

أَهْلاً وسَهْلاً يا جَمال

عادل

Hello, Adel!

أَهْلاً بِكَ يا عادِل

جمال

Welcome to my house!

مَرْحَبًا بِكَ فِي بَيْتِي

عادِلُ

May Allah reward you!

جَزاكَ اللهُ خَيْرًا

جمال

  • You may notice that all the welcome greetings are in the accusative case, because they are considered absolute objects or pro-absolute objects (lesson 67).