Learn Hardcore Hausa: Don Allah ka sha ruwa kaɗan.

Don Allah literally means for God (or for Allah), and it’s very commonly used to mean please in everyday Hausa. Even though it has a religious literal meaning, it functions as a normal politeness phrase in many contexts—similar to how English speakers might say for heaven’s sake without being strongly religious in that moment.

Why is there a ka in ka sha? Isn’t the imperative just the verb?

Yes—Hausa can use a bare imperative like sha ruwa = drink water.
Adding ka (the 2nd person singular masculine subject pronoun) makes it more explicitly you (male) drink..., often sounding a bit more direct/clear, and it’s very common in real speech.

So you may hear both:

Sha ruwa kaɗan. (imperative without pronoun)
Ka sha ruwa kaɗan. (imperative with pronoun)

Does ka mean the listener is male? What if I’m speaking to a woman or a group?

Yes, ka is you (singular masculine).

Common alternatives:

To a woman: Don Allah ki sha ruwa kaɗan.
To more than one person: Don Allah ku sha ruwa kaɗan.

So the pronoun changes with gender/number (in the singular) and number (in the plural).