Learn Hardcore Hausa: Don Allah ka taimaka min yanzu.

Don Allah literally means for God’s sake or because of God. Culturally, it is used to soften a request and appeal to kindness or mercy, so in many situations it functions like please.

There are other polite request forms, for example:

Da fatan za ka taimaka min. – I hope you will help me.
Ina rokon ka, ka taimaka min. – I beg you, help me.

But in everyday speech, Don Allah is one of the most common and natural ways to say please.

Is Don Allah very strong, like begging, or is it normal and neutral?

Don Allah is very common and usually feels normal and polite, not overly dramatic.

With a neutral tone, Don Allah ka taimaka min yanzu is just a polite Please help me now.
With a more emotional tone, context and voice can make it sound closer to I beg you, please help me now, but the phrase itself isn’t automatically extreme.

It is fine with strangers, shopkeepers, officials, friends, etc. If you really want to sound extra formal or less emotional, you can use something like:

Da fatan za ka taimaka min yanzu. – I hope you will help me now.

What is ka doing here? Is it just the word you?

Ka is a subject marker that corresponds to you (singular masculine).

In this sentence:

ka = you (male addressee)
taimaka = help

Together, ka taimaka = you (should) help.

Functionally, ka here:

Marks the subject (you)
Helps form a polite command / request: (you) help…

So Don Allah ka taimaka min yanzu is like saying Please, (you) help me now.

Would the sentence change if I’m speaking to a woman instead of a man?

Yes, you change ka (masculine) to ki (feminine):

To a man: Don Allah ka taimaka min yanzu.
To a woman: Don Allah ki taimaka min yanzu.

Everything else stays the same. The gender is about the person you are talking to, not about you as the speaker.

How do I say Please help us now instead of help me?

You need to change the object pronoun from min (to me) to mana (to us).

Examples:

To one man: Don Allah ka taimaka mana yanzu. – Please help us now.
To one woman: Don Allah ki taimaka mana yanzu. – Please help us now.
To several people: Don Allah ku taimaka mana yanzu. – Please (you all) help us now.

So:

min = to me
mana = to us

What exactly is min? Why not just use ni for me?

Min is made of:

ma – to / for
ni – me

Spoken together, ma ni often contracts to mini or min.

So taimaka min literally means help to/for me, which is how Hausa normally says help me.

Compare:

Ka gani ni. – You see me. (ni is direct object)
Ka taimaka min. – You help me. (literally: you help to/for me)

Many verbs of giving, helping, saying, showing etc. often take ma + pronoun, which is why you see min, mana, musu, and so on.

Can I leave out min and just say Don Allah ka taimaka yanzu?

You can say Don Allah ka taimaka yanzu, and it will still sound like a request to help, but it’s less explicit about who should receive the help.

Don Allah ka taimaka yanzu. – Please help now. (help in general / help with something)
Don Allah ka taimaka min yanzu. – Please help me now.

In most situations where you want to make sure you are the one getting help, it’s better (and more natural) to include min.

What is the difference between taimaka and taimako?

taimaka is the verb: to help.
- Ka taimaka min. – You help me / Help me.
taimako is the noun: help, assistance.
- Na gode da taimakonka. – Thank you for your help.

In Don Allah ka taimaka min yanzu, you need the verb form (taimaka) because you are telling someone to do something (help).

Where can yanzu go in the sentence? Can I say it at the beginning?

Yes, yanzu (now) can move around a bit, with small differences in emphasis, but all are acceptable:

Don Allah ka taimaka min yanzu. – Most common; neutral Please help me now.
Yanzu, don Allah ka taimaka min. – Now, please help me (slightly emphasizing now).
Don Allah yanzu ka taimaka min. – Also possible, giving some emphasis to now in the middle.

For a learner, Don Allah ka taimaka min yanzu is a great default word order.

Is Don Allah ka taimaka min yanzu a command? Is it polite enough to use with strangers?

Grammatically, it is a request / command form, but the presence of Don Allah makes it polite.

Ka taimaka min yanzu. – Help me now. (more direct)
Don Allah ka taimaka min yanzu. – Please help me now. (softer and more polite)

It is appropriate with:

Strangers
Shopkeepers
Officials
Older people

Your tone of voice and overall body language will also affect how polite it sounds, but the wording itself is fine and widely used.

Are there other common ways to say Please help me now in Hausa?

Yes, some alternatives (with slightly different nuances):

Za ka taimaka min yanzu?
– Will you help me now?
(Question form, often polite in context, like English Could you help me now?)
Da fatan za ka taimaka min yanzu.
– I hope you will help me now.
(Quite polite, a bit more formal/soft)
Ina roƙon ka, ka taimaka min yanzu.
– I beg you, help me now.
(Stronger, more emotional)
Don Allah taimaka min yanzu.
– Please help me now.
(Imperative without ka; still polite because of Don Allah)

Your original sentence is among the most natural everyday options.

How do I say Please don’t help me now (just to see the negative form)?

Negative commands in Hausa often use kar (or kada) + subject marker.

For Don’t help me now (speaking to a man):

Don Allah kar ka taimaka min yanzu. – Please don’t help me now.

To a woman:

Don Allah kar ki taimaka min yanzu.

To several people:

Don Allah kar ku taimaka min yanzu.

So the positive vs negative pair is:

Ka taimaka min yanzu. – Help me now.
Kar ka taimaka min yanzu. – Don’t help me now.

Is it okay for a non‑Muslim to say Allah in Hausa, or should I avoid Don Allah?

In Hausa, Allah is the standard everyday word for God, used by:

Muslims
Many Christians
Many speakers in general, regardless of personal belief

So:

It is completely normal and not offensive for a non‑Muslim to say Allah in Hausa.
Don Allah is understood culturally as please, not as a strict religious formula every time.

Unless someone specifically tells you they prefer different wording, you can safely use Don Allah like everyone else.