Arabic Greetings and How to Answer Them

The most useful greeting in Arabic is السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ (as-salāmu ʿalaykum, peace be upon you), and its answer is وَعَلَيْكُمُ السَّلَام (wa-ʿalaykumu s-salām, and upon you be peace). It works everywhere, with anyone, at any time of day. Arabic greetings come in pairs like this: each one has a reply that people expect, and often the reply is a little warmer than the greeting.

The greetings at a glance

Greeting	Transliteration	Meaning	Reply
السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ	as-salāmu ʿalaykum	peace be upon you	وَعَلَيْكُمُ السَّلَام (wa-ʿalaykumu s-salām)
مَرْحَبًا	marḥaban	hello	مَرْحَبًا (marḥaban) or أَهْلًا (ahlan)
أَهْلًا وَسَهْلًا	ahlan wa-sahlan	welcome	أَهْلًا بِكَ (ahlan bika, to a man), أَهْلًا بِكِ (ahlan biki, to a woman)
صَبَاحُ الْخَيْر	ṣabāḥu l-khayr	good morning	صَبَاحُ النُّور (ṣabāḥu n-nūr)
مَسَاءُ الْخَيْر	masāʾu l-khayr	good evening	مَسَاءُ النُّور (masāʾu n-nūr)
كَيْفَ حَالُكَ؟	kayfa ḥāluka?	how are you?	بِخَيْر، وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّه (bi-khayr, wal-ḥamdu lillāh)
تَشَرَّفْنَا	tasharrafnā	nice to meet you	الشَّرَفُ لِي (ash-sharafu lī)
مَعَ السَّلَامَة	maʿa s-salāma	goodbye	مَعَ السَّلَامَة or إِلَى اللِّقَاء (ilā l-liqāʾ)
تُصْبِحُ عَلَى خَيْر	tuṣbiḥu ʿalā khayr	good night	وَأَنْتَ مِنْ أَهْلِه (wa-anta min ahlih)

The letter ʿ in the transliterations is ع (ʿayn), a sound made deep in the throat. Our alphabet plan shows how to practise it.

The greetings one by one

As-salamu alaykum

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ is the universal greeting across the Arab world and among Muslims everywhere. You can use it entering a shop, an office or someone's home. Notice that عَلَيْكُمْ (ʿalaykum) is plural: you say it the same way to one person or a crowd. The reply simply turns it around, "and upon you be peace". The word سَلَام (salām, peace) comes from the root س ل م, which also gives سَلَامَة (salāma, safety) in maʿa s-salāma, "goodbye", literally "with safety". More in our post on roots and patterns.

Marhaba and ahlan

مَرْحَبًا (marḥaban) is a plain, friendly "hello", common in shops, on the phone and among friends. أَهْلًا (ahlan) is just as casual. Put together with سَهْلًا, it becomes أَهْلًا وَسَهْلًا (ahlan wa-sahlan), "welcome", the phrase a host uses when you arrive. The polite answer is أَهْلًا بِكَ (ahlan bika) to a man or أَهْلًا بِكِ (ahlan biki) to a woman: "welcome to you too".

Good morning, good evening

Here the reply plays with the greeting. صَبَاحُ الْخَيْر (ṣabāḥu l-khayr) is "morning of goodness"; the answer, صَبَاحُ النُّور (ṣabāḥu n-nūr), is "morning of light". The evening pair, مَسَاءُ الْخَيْر and مَسَاءُ النُّور, works the same way. You'll also hear people top each other playfully with other words in place of النُّور, but n-nūr is the standard reply.

Listen to the article in l-khayr and n-nūr: خ is a moon letter, so the l stays, while ن is a sun letter, so it doubles. That's the rule we explain in Arabic sun and moon letters.

How are you?

In Modern Standard Arabic, كَيْفَ حَالُكَ؟ (kayfa ḥāluka?) changes with the person you're asking:

To	Arabic	Transliteration
a man	كَيْفَ حَالُكَ؟	kayfa ḥāluka?
a woman	كَيْفَ حَالُكِ؟	kayfa ḥāluki?
several people	كَيْفَ حَالُكُمْ؟	kayfa ḥālukum?

The usual answer is بِخَيْر (bi-khayr, well), often with الْحَمْدُ لِلَّه (al-ḥamdu lillāh, thank God), which people of every background say as a natural part of the reply. Then ask back with وَأَنْتَ؟ (wa-anta?, and you?) to a man or وَأَنْتِ؟ (wa-anti?) to a woman. The ending that changes here is an attached pronoun.

Nice to meet you

تَشَرَّفْنَا (tasharrafnā) means "we are honoured". The gracious answer is الشَّرَفُ لِي (ash-sharafu lī), "the honour is mine".

Goodbye and good night

مَعَ السَّلَامَة (maʿa s-salāma) is the everyday goodbye, and the usual reply is the same phrase. إِلَى اللِّقَاء (ilā l-liqāʾ) means "until we meet". At night, تُصْبِحُ عَلَى خَيْر (tuṣbiḥu ʿalā khayr) wishes someone to wake up to goodness. The reply, وَأَنْتَ مِنْ أَهْلِه (wa-anta min ahlih), means roughly "and may you be among those who do too".

How "how are you?" sounds in the dialects

In everyday conversation, most Arabs greet each other in their own dialect. The standard greetings above are understood everywhere, but "how are you?" is where dialects differ most:

Where	How are you? (to a man)
Modern Standard Arabic	kayfa ḥāluka?
Egypt	izzayyak?
Levant (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine)	kīfak?
Gulf	shlōnak?
Morocco	lā bās?

We look at the bigger picture in MSA or dialect: which Arabic to learn.

A few habits worth knowing

• Answer generously. A reply slightly warmer than the greeting is the polite norm, which is why "morning of goodness" earns "morning of light".
• Greet before you ask. Walking into a shop and asking for something straight away sounds abrupt. Start with as-salāmu ʿalaykum or marḥaban.
• Mind the gender. Many greetings and replies change for a man or a woman. If you're not sure, as-salāmu ʿalaykum and marḥaban don't change.

Practise them

Our free word list for simple conversations has these phrases and more, with audio and a quiz, and first steps covers the basics like شُكْرًا (shukran, thank you).

Our Learn Arabic app starts with the alphabet and has its vocabulary sorted by topic with audio, greetings included. It arrives on 1 December. Join the waitlist, and the first Arabic you hear from us can be ahlan wa-sahlan.