How to say "welcome" in Arabic
LoanwordMeaningwelcome
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
ahlan wa-sahlanאהלן וסהלן
أهلا وسهلا
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
barukh habaبَارُوخ هَابَا
How the two words are related
Borrowed between the languages (or by both from a third).
Arabic root
أ-ه-لIsraeli slang אהלן is this exact greeting, borrowed straight from Arabic. It literally means '[you have come to] kin and level ground' — and ahl, family, is widely linked to Hebrew אוהל, the tent a clan lives in.
Related Hebrew word:אהלןahlanأَهْلَان
Learn it
On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Levantine · Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria
Often shortened to just ahla! in speech.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
Darija's welcome is merḥba bīk — the very word that means hello elsewhere.
In a phrase
welcome to you
More words from this root
More in Greetings & Essentials
- good morningṣabāḥ al-khayrصَبَاح الْخَيْرבוקר טוב
- good morning (reply)ṣabāḥ an-nūrصَبَاح النُّورבוקר אור
- good eveningmasāʾ al-khayrمَسَاء الْخَيْرערב טוב
- peace be upon youas-salāmu ʿalaykumالسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمשלום עליכם
- goodbyemaʿa s-salāmaمَعَ السَّلَامَةלהתראות
- see you / until we meetilā l-liqāʾإِلَى اللِّقَاءנתראה