A HOME FOR ANYONE ADDICTED TO ARABIC. 
JOIN ARABIC FOR NERDS➕

Support this site with a membership: For only $2.99 a month or $29.99 a year, you can have a true AD-FREE experience. You also get a 15% discount in my shop and a monthly premium newsletter. Find out more here.

SUPPORT THIS SITE

Passion doesn't need money. Unfortunately, my web provider does. Your contribution ensures that this site will grow and grow.

Buy Me A Coffee

PayPal Donate
amazon wishlist button
Free monthly newsletter

Subscribe to my FREE newsletter and get 10% off in my store!

cropped mosque

الصَّلاةُ خَيْرٌ مِن الْنَّوْمِ: Why is the prayer better than sleep?

The Islamic call to prayer is a tricky construction. In Sunni Islam, the muezzin uses khayr (خير) which strangely denotes a comparative (better). Why?

Last updated: 1 month ago

At least regarding the grammar of the sentence, the Arabic sentence الصَّلاةُ خَيْرٌ مِن الْنَّوْمِ means “prayer is better than sleep”.

You might know that in Sunni Islam there is a special line that the muezzin says if he calls people to come to pray during dawn: الصَّلاةُ خَيْرٌ مِن الْنَّوْمِ (as-salatu khayrun min an-nawm). This is only said for the الْفَجْر-prayer (fajr).

This is an interesting grammatical construction. We do not use the regular اِسْم التَّفْضِيل – ism -al-Tafdeel – here, following the pattern: أَفْعَل – which would denote a or meaning.

So, why do we translate the word with a comparative meaning?

The word خَيْرٌ is usually translated as good, which is correct. However, it also has another meaning – the meaning of a اِسْم تَفْضِيل.

The word خَيْر has the same meaning as أَحْسَن – better.

Let us have a closer look at some examples:

Prayer is better than sleep.الصَّلاةُ خَيْرٌ مِن الْنَّوْم
Work is better than laziness.الْعَمَلُ خَيْرٌ مِن الْكَسَلِ
He is better than…هُوَ خَيْرٌ مِنْ
I am not better than the student.لَسْتُ خَيْرًا مِن الطَّالِبِ

What is the DNA of the word خَيْر?

The word for better was originally أَخْيَر – but it was changed into خَيْر.

This happened a long time ago as in the Qur'an, خَيْر is already used in the meaning of better.

The word comes from the root خ – ي – ر. The corresponding I-verb is خارَ.


Watch out for the correct :

meaningpluralsingular
good; excellent/better; bestخِيار or أَخْيارخَيْر
good; blessing; good thingخُيُورخَيْر

There are other words which follow the same logic as خَيْرٌ, for example, the word شَرٌّ (bad or ), but it is less common.

She is worse than……هِيَ شَرٌّ مِنْ
Notice that there is no feminine form of شَرٌّ !

Watch out: If you use خَيْرٌ or شَرٌّ in a إِضافة-construction, they have the meaning of the superlative.

(the) best studentخَيْرُ طَالِبٍ
  • In Arabic, you don't use the definite article, although it has a definite meaning in English.
  •  As it is a إِضافة-construction, the word خَيْر doesn't get nunation.

The special line of the morning prayer call in other languages:

  • Hindi: नमाज़ नींद से बेहतर है (namaz neend se behtar hai)
  • Deutsch: Das Gebet ist besser als der Schlaf

If you are interested – here is more about grammar:

Picture credit: Image by Mücahit Yıldız from Pixabay

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
4 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
muzammil
muzammil
1 year ago

You have written a very helpful post
, I appreciate it if you continue to write in the same way and solve people’s problems

dk
dk
4 years ago

I’m curious then how ‘better’ gets translates into ‘wealth’ Surah Al-Adiyat. (وَإِنَّهُ لِحُبِّ الْخَيْرِ لَشَدِيدٌ – 100:8) Any thoughts?

Islam
Islam
5 years ago

The prayer is the standard of Islam. Whosoever loves prayers, and observes their limits, timings and methods, is a true believer. https://www.dawateislami.net/blog/islam

Previous Article
cropped dots 1

Arabic letters without dots - Does it work?

Next Article
thinking

What is a masdar mu'awwal in Arabic?

Related Posts
egypt man
Read More

How do you spell لكن in Arabic?

Many students are confused why words like هذا, ذلك or لكن are written with a dash (dagger Aleph). Should they be pronounced with a long vowel ("aa")? Yes.

Subscribe to our FREE newsletter

Don't miss any updates and get your regular dose of Arabic.