How to say "the future" in Arabic
Shifted meaningMeaningthe future
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
الْمُسْتَقْبَل
al-mustaqbalאל-מסתקבל
المستقبل
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
עתיד
atidأَتِيد
How the two words are related
Shifted meaning
Same root as a Hebrew word, but the meaning drifted over the centuries.
Arabic root
ق-ب-لHebrew root
ק-ב-לRoot q-b-l, 'front, receive', turns up in Hebrew קבל, 'to receive' — regular ق↔ק, ب↔ב, ل↔ל. Arabic built مستقبل, 'the future', on the same idea: literally 'that which one faces towards'. Hebrew kept the 'receiving' sense; Arabic kept the 'facing forward' sense — two branches of the same root.
Related Hebrew word:קבלkibelكِبِل
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In a phrase
فِي الْمُسْتَقْبَل
fī l-mustaqbalפי אל-מסתקבלin the future