Lesson 94 · C1

God rest his soul

“God bless you”, “God rest his soul”, “God forbid”: English is full of fossilised religion that atheists say too. Darija even more so. This isn't a lesson about religion: it's about the phrases that come from it and get used every day, and the verses they come from.

Form the optative: llah + bare verb.
Offer and answer condolences.
Use subhana llah and astaghfirullah as people really do.
Recognise the verses behind the formulas.

Twenty-four words

Wishes, fixed Fusha formulas, life events and the words of the texts. Everyone says them.

Wishes with llah

اللَّهْ يْرْحْمُو llah yr7mu God rest his soul
“May God have mercy on him”.
اللَّهْ يْشَافِيكْ llah yshafik get well soon
“May God heal you”.
اللَّهْ يْكْمَّلْ بْالْخِيرْ llah ykemmel b l-khir congratulations (on a birth)
“May God complete it with good”.
اللَّهْ لَا يْوَرِّيكْ llah la ywerrik God forbid
“May God not show you”.
اللَّهْ يْعْطِيكْ الصَّحَّة llah y3tik s-se77a thanks (for work done)
“May God give you health”.

Fixed formulas

سُبْحَانَ اللَّهْ subhana llah amazing!; would you believe it
Wonder.
أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهْ astaghfirullah God forgive me! (how dare you)
Rejection, indignation.
إِنَّا لِلَّهْ inna lillah formula on hearing of a death
Qur'an 2:156.
الْبَرَكَة فْرَاسْكْ l-baraka f rask thank you (to condolences)
“The blessing on your head”.
آمِينْ amin amen
اللَّهْ أَكْبَرْ allahu akbar God is great
Also admiration: what a goal!

Life and death

الْعْزَا l-3za mourning; wake
الدّْفِينْ d-dfin burial
الزّْيَادَة z-zyada birth
الْعَقِيقَة l-3aqiqa naming ceremony
On the seventh day.
الْعِيدْ l-3id Eid
رَمْضَانْ Ramadan Ramadan

From the texts

الْعُسْرْ l-3usr hardship
الْيُسْرْ l-yusr ease
النِّيَّة n-niyya intention
رَاجْعِينْ raj3in those who return

Talking about the texts

الْآيَة l-aya verse
الْحَدِيثْ l-7adith hadith
Saying attributed to the Prophet.
السُّورَة s-sura sura; chapter of the Qur'an

Llah + verb: a wish

Four reactions to four pieces of news. Which goes with which?

— مَاتْ الْحَاجّْ. — إِنَّا لِلَّهْ، اللَّهْ يْرْحْمُو— mat l-7ajj. — inna lillah, llah yr7mu
— خُويَا مْرِيضْ. — اللَّهْ يْشَافِيهْ— khuya mrid. — llah yshafih
— وَاشْ نْتَا اللِّي خْدِيتِي الْفْلُوسْ؟ — أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهْ!— wash nta lli khditi l-flus? — astaghfirullah!
صْبَرْ، رَاهْ مَعَ الْعُسْرْ يُسْرْsber, rah m3a l-3usr yusr

Does the verb in llah yshafih take ka-? What does astaghfirullah express in line 3?

The rule

Optative: llah + imperfect without ka- expresses a wish: llah yr7mu, llah yshafik, llah ysehhel. With ka- it would be a statement: “God has mercy on him”.

Negative: with la, not ma-…-sh: llah la ywerrik.

Fixed Fusha formulas, not conjugated: subhana llah (wonder), astaghfirullah (how dare you!), inna lillah (on a death).

Fixed replies: to condolences, l-baraka f rask; to a wish, amin.

They're courtesy and emotion, whatever one believes.

Wishes and reactions

Form	Say it	Means
اللَّهْ يْرْحْمُو	llah yr7mu	God rest his soul
اللَّهْ يْشَافِيكْ وْ يْعَافِيكْ	llah yshafik u y3afik	get well and be well
اللَّهْ لَا يْوَرِّيكْ	llah la ywerrik	God forbid
— إِنَّا لِلَّهْ… — الْبَرَكَة فْرَاسْكْ	— inna lillah… — l-baraka f rask	— my condolences… — thank you
سُبْحَانَ اللَّهْ، كِيفْ كْبَرْ!	subhana llah, kif kber!	amazing, look how he's grown!
أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهْ، أَنَا مَا قُلْتْ وَالُو	astaghfirullah, ana ma-qult walu	good God, I never said a thing!
مَعَ الْعُسْرْ يُسْرْ	m3a l-3usr yusr	after hardship comes ease
الْأَعْمَالْ بْالنِّيَّاتْ	l-a3mal b n-niyyat	deeds are judged by intentions

Rows 7 and 8: a verse and a hadith turned into proverbs.

What English gives you, and what it costs

Free: “God rest his soul”, “God bless you”, “God forbid”: the same optative, in the subjunctive-like base form. The bare verb is its match.

Free: “Good God!”, “Jesus!”: religious exclamations emptied of religion, like subhana llah.

Costly: frequency. In Morocco these aren't old-fashioned or marked: everyone says them, every day.

Your mistake, not someone else's

Out of habit you add ka-, and the wish turns into a statement.

×اللَّهْ كَيْرْحْمُوka- in the optative.

✓اللَّهْ يْرْحْمُو“God rest his soul”.

And don't answer condolences with a plain shukran: l-baraka f rask.

Where they come from

Four Qur'anic passages and a hadith behind everyday formulas: the basmala, the origin of inshallah (18:23-24), the consolation of 94:5-6, the formula on a death, and the saying about intention. Given in standard spelling, with no religious commentary.

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ ۝ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

وَلَا تَقُولَنَّ لِشَيْءٍ إِنِّي فَاعِلٌ ذَٰلِكَ غَدًا ۝ إِلَّا أَن يَشَاءَ اللَّهُ

فَإِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا ۝ إِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا

إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ

Qur'an: four passages

إِنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ

Hadith: intention

Corán 1:1-2, 18:23-24, 94:5-6 y 2:156; hadiz «Innamā l-aʿmālu bi-n-niyyāt» (al-Bujārī, n.º 1). Ortografía estándar · dominio público

Did you follow?

Which verse explains inshallah?
Show answers
18:23-24: don't say “I'll do it tomorrow” without “if God wills”.
What does 94:5-6 say?
Show answers
With hardship comes ease — twice.
When is inna lillah… said?
Show answers
On hearing of a death or a misfortune.
What does the hadith say?
Show answers
Deeds are judged by intentions.

Check

Two here, three more in the C1 book.

Exercises 1 and 2 are here, with answers. Exercises 3 to 5 are in the C1 book, the PDF this site lives on: you can see the first item of each below.

1Match

News to reaction.

1	مَاتْ	a	الْبَرَكَة فْرَاسْكْ
2	مْرِيضْ	b	اللَّهْ يْرْحْمُو
3	إِنَّا لِلَّهْ	c	اللَّهْ يْكْمَّلْ بْالْخِيرْ
4	تْزَادْ لِيهْ وْلْدْ	d	اللَّهْ يْشَافِيهْ

2Pick the right one

The well-formed formula.

1. اللَّهْ يْرْحْمُو
2. اللَّهْ كَيْرْحْمُو
3. اللَّهْ رْحْمُو غَادِي
1. اللَّهْ لَا يْوَرِّيكْ
2. اللَّهْ مَا يْوَرِّيكْشْ
3. اللَّهْ مَا وَرَّاكْشْ
1. الْبَرَكَة فْرَاسْكْ
2. شُكْرًا بْزَّافْ
3. مَرْحْبَا

3True or false?

Is this the origin of…?

إِلَّا أَن يَشَاءَ اللَّهُ …inshallah.

The rest is in the C1 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The C1 book

4Wish

React with the optative the situation calls for.

خْتِي مْرِيضَة (دْعَا)

The rest is in the C1 book

3 more items, with the answers.

The C1 book

5Condolences

Write a six-line dialogue offering condolences and receiving the reply.

اللَّهْ يْرْحْمُوإِنَّا لِلَّهْالْبَرَكَة فْرَاسْكْاللَّهْ يْصَبّْرْكُمْآمِينْ

The rest is in the C1 book

The C1 book

Show answers

1. Match	1-b, 2-d, 3-a, 4-c
2. Pick the right one	1-a, 2-a, 3-a

The C1 book: In preparation

Write and I will tell you the day it is out. One email, no list.

Tell me when it is out

I can now

Form the optative with llah.
Offer and answer condolences.
Use subhana llah and astaghfirullah.
Recognise the origin of everyday formulas.