This lesson introduces respectful and common vocabulary related to faith, worship, and spiritual concepts.
Prayer and the Sacred
The core of many spiritual practices is prayer. The verb for "to pray" is صلى. When describing places, books, or ideas as "sacred" or "holy", use the adjective مقدس. The word for "soul" or "spirit" is روح.
To talk about when a continuous or repeated action happens, use the conjunction عندما (when). Notice how it links two clauses together in a single sentence to show how one action relates to another.
| The employees prayed in the sacred mosque. | صلى الموظفون في المسجد المقدس.sallâ al-muwazzafûna fî al-masjidi al-muqaddasi |
| When I pray, I feel peace in my soul. | عندما أصلي، أشعر بسلام في روحي.'indamâ usallî, ash'uru bisalâmin fî rûhî. |
Faith and Fasting
In Arabic, the concept of "faith" or "belief" is إيمان. To express knowing or believing that something is the case, use the conjunction أن (that) to connect the main verb to the noun clause.
| She knew that faith is a beautiful thing. | عرفت أن الإيمان شيء جميل.'arafat 'anna l-îmâna shay'un jamîlun. |
Another important spiritual practice is fasting. The verb "to fast" is صام, and the noun form (fasting) is صيام. Both of these are forms of عبادة (worship).
| The women fast during the day. | تصوم النساء في النهار.tasûmu an-nisâ'u fî an-nahâr |
| Fasting is worship for the soul. | الصيام عبادة للروح.as-siyâmu 'ibâdatun lir-rûhi. |
Prophets and Believing In
When discussing spiritual leaders and figures, the word for a "prophet" is نبي.
If you want to say that you "believe in" a person, idea, or text, use the verb آمن. Importantly, this verb must always be followed by the preposition بـ (in) attached directly to the object of belief.
| When the prophet spoke, the people listened to him. | عندما تكلم النبي، استمع الناس إليه.'indamâ takallama an-nabiyyu, istama'a an-nâsu ilayhi. |
| We believe in the prophet and the sacred book. | نحن نؤمن بالنبي والكتاب المقدس.nahnu nu'minu bin-nabiyyi wal-kitâbi al-muqaddasi |
Nouns of Practice and Past-Tense Time Clauses
While we learned the verb to pray earlier, the noun form "prayer" is صلاة. You will often see it paired with other spiritual concepts.
| Faith and prayer are important in life. | الإيمان والصلاة مهمان في الحياة.al-'îmânu wa-ṣṣalâtu muhimmâni fî-l-ḥayâti |
To express "when" specifically with past-tense actions, Arabic often uses the conjunction لما. Like عندما, it sets the scene for another action to occur, but is strongly associated with completed events.
| When the sick man fasted, he became tired. | لما صام الرجل المريض، أصبح متعبا.lammâ ṣâma r-rajulu l-marîḍu, aṣbaḥa mut'aban |