Arabic religious saying.

mansio · Post by **mansio** » 31 Jan 2006 20:54

The name of prophet Muhammad is always followed by "sallaa Llaahu `alayhi wa sallam" in Islam.
What is the exact meaning of that phrase?
The usual translation "may the blessing(s) and peace of God rest on him" does not seem to correspond to the Arabic.

damas · Post by **damas** » 31 Jan 2006 23:10

may the blessing(s) and peace of God rest on him

Well in fact this is almost correct, the literal translation is something like:
"Muhammad whom God blessed and upon whom the peace of God rested"

Salla ALlahu Alayhi means literally (god prayed on him) but here it has been used figuratively to say (god gave him peace).

mansio · Post by **mansio** » 01 Feb 2006 08:58

Damas

Thanks for your information.

Does "sallaa 3alayhi" mean "(he) prayed 'on' him" or "(he) prayed for him", as you say when you pray for someone that he gets better after an illness?

Of course the sentence must be taken figuratively as God is prayed at but does not pray for.
That must be the reason why it is translated as "May God bless him".

I think it does not mean "(he) gave him peace". That is the meaning given by "sallam". Shouldn't it be "sallama"?

damas · Post by **damas** » 01 Feb 2006 14:29

sallam or sallama is the same thing, in fact it's just a matter of declination, the first is not declined, as we don't usually decline (add the fat7a, damma, kasra) when we speak, while the second is (with a fat7a).

As for the "salla 3alayhi", we use it only in this phrase I would say, otherwise you say Salla lahu or Da3a lahu = Prayed for him

muhannad · Post by **muhannad** » 01 Feb 2006 20:01

Hi,
I think 'Damas' tell you the correct answer.
But 'Damas', I think you get confused between "sallama"(to be safe)
and "sallama"(which is equal to "sallam" but with declination).

In Arabic language, we have a lot of words which are pronounced by the same way
but they differ in the way they are written.

Anyway, "sallama" means "to be safe",
(e.g. when someone leave a place, the other people who are stay there say "ma3 sallama". which mean "God preserve you").
Whereas, "sallama" with declination,
(e.g. when I want to say "I said hi" In Arabic, I say "alqaito sallama").
which is writtin in Arabic as:

ألقيت السلامَ
Bye.

damas · Post by **damas** » 02 Feb 2006 02:44

Muhannad,
It's Ma3 al-Salama (one 'l' and not double 'l'). If you say ma3 sallama it will be read like مع سلّمَ (with Shadda) which has no sense.

mansio · Post by **mansio** » 02 Feb 2006 13:06

And "ma3a s-salaama" does not mean "God preserve you" but literaly "with peace", which must be short for "leave with peace" or "may peace be with you".

damas · Post by **damas** » 02 Feb 2006 14:10

Exact

mansio · Post by **mansio** » 02 Feb 2006 16:30

After a preposition one should find the indirect case in "i". So it should be ma3a s-salaami and not ma3a s-salaama.

damas · Post by **damas** » 03 Feb 2006 01:09

No, pay attention to this. It is ma3a s-salamati, because the word ends with Taa Marbuta ( ة ) and not alef ( ا ), so it is treated as Taa ( ت ) when inclined.

mansio · Post by **mansio** » 03 Feb 2006 13:34

Shukran jazîlan Damas. I was worried by that seemingly exception to the rule. The explanation is so simple.
I was just explaining on another forum that one difference between classical and modern Arabic was the dropping of case endings by the latter. Of which we have an example here.

damas · Post by **damas** » 03 Feb 2006 14:15

In fact, the case endings are very confusing and almost all the people hate them and make a lot of mistakes using them because there are so many cases and exceptions . Luckily enough they disappeared from modern arab dialects.

mansio · Post by **mansio** » 03 Feb 2006 17:05

Damas

I have an argument with an Egyptian who says there is no such thing as modern Arabic (let's forget the various dialects). He says there is only one classical Arabic, the same from Muhammad's time to today.

I answered that classical Arabic is very close to modern Arabic, but there must be differences between the two because in bookstores you find either Classical Arabic handbooks or Modern Standard Arabic ones.

muhannad · Post by **muhannad** » 03 Feb 2006 22:47

Hi,
I'am sorry, I read the word "sallama" quickly and I think it is "salama".
So excuse me, please.

But as for "mansio", the meaning (God preserve you) that I gave you for
the sentence "ma3a s-salaama" (as you write it) is the general idea
(which a person means when he/she says it), and not the literal meaning.

Okay.

mansio · Post by **mansio** » 04 Feb 2006 00:31

Yâ Muhannad wa Damas

Shukran 3alâ musâ3adatikumâ.