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### Wishing and Blessing with the Past Tense

In Arabic, the past tense is not only used to describe events that have already happened. It is also uniquely used to express wishes, blessings, or prayers for the future. This is known as the optative mood.

When a past tense verb is used in this way, it translates to "May [someone] do [something]" in English. The subject of these verbs is almost always **الله** (God). You will frequently hear this structure used for social etiquette around major life events, such as attending a condolence gathering.

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### Statements vs. Wishes

Because the verb form is identical to the regular past tense, context is what tells you whether a sentence is a factual statement or a wish. Notice how the verb behaves as a standard past tense action when the context is clearly a narrative event:

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### Sickness and Health

When visiting someone who is ill, the optative past tense is traditionally used to wish them a quick recovery and lasting wellness.

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If you want to clarify that God has *already* healed someone (making it a factual statement rather than a wish), you can place the particle **قد** before the past tense verb.

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### Weddings and Newborns

Joyous milestones, such as a marriage or the arrival of a newborn, come with their own specific well-wishes that use this exact same grammatical structure.

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### Expressing Gratitude

Finally, this structure is deeply woven into everyday politeness. One of the most common and sincere ways to say "thank you" in Arabic is to use the optative past tense to wish that God rewards the person with goodness.

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Well-wishing with the past tense

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

interrogative

noun

numeral

particle

prefix

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

The definite article and locatives (الـ)

Basic noun gender (ة)

Sun and moon letters

Singular subject pronouns (أنا، أنت، هو، هي)

Indefinite nouns and nominal sentences (ـٌ)

Demonstrative pronouns for 'this' (هذا / هذه)

Separate prepositions (في، من، إلى، على)

Attributive adjectives

Predicative adjectives

Yes/No questions (هل، أ)

Basic questions (من، ما، أين)

Singular possessive pronouns (ـي، ـك، ـه، ـها)

Plural subject pronouns (نحن، أنتم، هم)

Plural possessive pronouns (ـنا، ـكم، ـهم)

Noun possession

Attached prepositions (بـ، لـ، كـ)

Pronouns with prepositions

Having and possessing (عند، لـ، مع)

Regular plural nouns (ـون، ـين، ـات)

Broken plurals

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Plural and distant demonstratives (هؤلاء، ذلك، تلك)

Non-human plural agreement

Present tense singular verbs

Verbal sentences (VSO)

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The indefinite accusative case (ـاً)

Verb object pronouns (-ني، -ك، -ه)

Present tense negation (لا)

Question words with verbs (متى، كيف...)

Adverbs of time and place

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Intentions and desires (أن)

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Past tense singular suffixes

Past tense plural suffixes

Negating past events (ما)

Singular commands

Numbers 1 to 10

Number agreement for 1 and 2 (واحد، اثنان)

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Numbers 3 to 10 (ثلاثة إلى عشرة)

Ordinal numbers 1 to 10 (الأول، الثاني)

Basic conjunctions (فـ، أو، لكن)

Ordering at a café (واحد، اثنان)

Food and drink with conjunctions (و، ف، أو، لكن)

There is and there are (هناك / ليس هناك)

Direct address (يا)

Giving reasons (لأنّ)

Relative pronouns (الذي / التي)

Quantifiers (كل / بعض)

The past tense of 'to be' (كان)

Past possession

Numbers 11 to 19 and tens to 80

Telling time (الساعة)

This book vs this is a book (هذا الكتاب، هذا كتاب)

Greetings (مرحبا، السلام عليكم)

How are you? and goodbye (كيف حالك، مع السلامة)

Nationalities (مصري، مصرية)

Roots and patterns (كتب، كتاب، مكتب)

Politeness (من فضلك، آسف)

Complex possession chains

Colors and traits (أفعل / فعلاء)

Plural colors and traits (فُعْل)

Comparative adjectives (أفعل من)

Superlative adjectives (أفعل)

Adverbs of manner (ـاً)

The nominative case (ـُ)

The genitive case (ـِ)

The accusative case (ـَ)

Dual noun cases (ـان / ـين)

Masculine plurals and 'the best of' (أفضل النجارين)

Emphasizing sentences (إنّ)

Connecting clauses (أنّ)

Reporting speech (قال إنّ)

Expressing contrast (لكنّ)

Comparison and probability (كأنّ, لعلّ)

Distant plural pointing (أولئك)

Plural relative pronouns (الذين, اللواتي)

Past habits (كان + present)

Ongoing actions (ما زال)

Masculine plurals online (مبرمجون، مؤثرون)

Perfective past (قد)

Probability (قد)

The subjunctive mood (أن)

Question	Answer
condolence	عزاء'azâ'
to have mercy on	رحمrahima
God	اللهallâhu
We attended the condolence gathering; may God have mercy on him.	حضرنا العزاء، رحمه الله.hadarnâ al-'azâ'a, rahimahu allâhu.
to forgive	سامحsâmaha
May God have mercy on her and forgive her.	رحمها الله وسامحها.rahimaha allahu wa samahaha.
The father forgave his son before the condolence gathering.	سامح الأب ابنه قبل العزاء.sâmaha al-abu ibnahu qabla al-azâ'i.
to heal	شفىshafâ
to provide	رزقrazaqa
wellness	عافيةâfiya
May God heal the sick man and grant him wellness.	شفى الله المريض ورزقه العافية.shafâ allâhu al-marîda wa razaqahu al-'âfiyah
God has healed the sick woman, and she felt well.	قد شفى الله المريضة وشعرت بالعافية.qad shafâ allâhu al-marîdata wa shaarat bil aafiyati
to grant success	وفقwaffaqa
marriage	زواجzawâj
May God grant you success in your marriage.	وفقك الله في زواجك.waffaqaka allâhu fî zawâjika.
Can you attend the wedding today? May God grant the bride success.	هل تستطيع أن تحضر الزواج اليوم؟ وفق الله العروس.hal tastatee'u an tahdura az-zawâja al-yawma? waffaqa allâhu al-'arûsa.
to reward	جزىjazâ
goodness	خيرkhayr
Thank you, may God reward you with goodness.	شكرا، جزاك الله خيرا.shukran, jazâka allâhu khayran.
He helped the poor man, so may God reward him with goodness.	ساعد الرجل الفقير فجزاه الله خيرا.sâ'ada ar-rajula al-faqîra fajazâhu allâhu khayran
to bless	باركbâraka
newborn	مولودmawlûd
May God bless the new baby.	بارك الله في المولود الجديد.bâraka allâhu fî al-mawlûdi al-jadîdi
May God bless you and grant you a beautiful baby.	بارك الله لك ورزقك مولودا جميلا.bâraka llâhu laka wa razaqaka mawlûdan jamîlan
May God grant the family goodness and peace.	رزق الله العائلة خيرا وسلاما.razaqa allâhu al'â'ilata khayran wa salâman
May God forgive the sick man and heal him.	سامح الله المريض وشفاه.sâmaha allâhu al-marîda wa shafâhu