Posted on: Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013 53 comments
I have seen my fair share of bad Arabic tattoo translations. But, in recent weeks one of them has especially caught my eye. The Arabic phrase انا معفن ana mu3affan is purported to mean “I appreciate life” whereas it actually means “I am rotten” or “I am putrid”. The trouble … Continue reading
Posted on: Sunday, March 24th, 2013 2 comments
I have seen a lot of interest recently in the tattoo phrase “Love Yourself First” in Arabic. Below is just one possible calligraphic rendition of the phrase:
Posted on: Friday, May 14th, 2010 5 comments
Firdaus sent me the following picture with the request to identify the Arabic writing in this tattoo: The writing is an artistic calligraphic rendering of on top: حب (Hubb) and on bottom: سلام (salaam) which mean “love” and “peace” respectively. Confusingly, the dot that belongs to the letter baa’ is … Continue reading
Posted on: Tuesday, May 4th, 2010 4 comments
Kitty sent me the following e-mail to ask for a tattoo design in Arabic for “miracle”: Hi! My name is Kitty! I saw on internet that you translate from english to arabic! I would like to make a tattoo with the word “miracle”! I have been searching for it for … Continue reading
Posted on: Saturday, April 10th, 2010 0 comments
“Sweeter than honey” is a commonly used Arabic expression. In plain text: أحلى من العسل (aHla min al-3asal) And here are two Arabic tattoo designs of this phrase using two different fonts: If you want more designs of this phrase, you can hire me for a custom Arabic tattoo … Continue reading
Posted on: Saturday, April 10th, 2010 5 comments
Recently, I received a request from a potential client for a crescent-shaped tattoo design of “poetess” (woman poet). The order didn’t materialize in the end but I went ahead and did a preliminary design anyways. Here is the result: In plain text: شاعرة Note that a lot of … Continue reading
Posted on: Monday, February 8th, 2010 3 comments
Today I received an e-mail from a reader of this blog who is struggling to decipher a piece of Arabic calligraphy. Here are the picture and the e-mail: Hi I’m planning on getting a tattoo. I have found this design but I don’t know what it says. I have even … Continue reading
Posted on: Friday, January 22nd, 2010 0 comments
Here is the name “Rachel” in Arabic. “Rachael” with an “a” is just the same, because the pronunciation is the same. You might be interested to know that there are four more designs for “Rachel” in my Arabic Tattoos book, as well as designs for around 120 more male and … Continue reading
Posted on: Sunday, January 10th, 2010 5 comments
I’ve received a few requests for the Arabic translation of the word “fighter”. As always, there are many possible translations and I just want to give a brief overview of some of them. The word مقاتل (muqaatil) derives from the root قتل (q-t-l), but does not necessarily imply “fight to … Continue reading
Posted on: Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009 13 comments
Maggie sent me the following question in a blog comment: keefakkk my name is maggie (ghaleb) just want to make sure of something… getting my 3th arabic tattoo! (proud to be libanease!) its the word believe (faith) in the way, i believe i will get trough this, or i believe … Continue reading
Posted on: Saturday, December 12th, 2009 12 comments
A reader of my blog wrote this request in a comment: hi im helal i wanted 2 get a tattoo saying (forgive me mum) could you please translate in arabic writing for me ? In Arabic “to forgive” can be expressed by many verbs, e.g. غفر (ghafara), عذر (‘adhara), or … Continue reading
Posted on: Friday, November 27th, 2009 0 comments
I’ve just finished recording and uploading a short video in which I show you some of the unique Arabic tattoo designs. This will give you a taste of the breadth and variety of the designs and the quality of the collection. View the video here: I hope you guys enjoy … Continue reading
Posted on: Wednesday, October 7th, 2009 7 comments
Today a Portuguese speaker asked me for a tattoo translation: Bom dia Max, gostaria de fazer uma tatuagem escrito Perseverar, Perseverança. Poderias me enviar pra eu poder fazer? A tatuagem da Angelina Jolie? o que significa? como escrevo? Obrigada, Nana I don’t speak any Portuguese, but from my knowledge of Spanish … Continue reading
Posted on: Sunday, September 27th, 2009 68 comments
Another round of Arabic tattoo translations: I was just looking on your website and wondered if you could possibly translate these words for me. I have wanted an Arabic tattoo for some time now, but I have been so busy, and also trying to find the correct translation has been … Continue reading
Posted on: Saturday, September 19th, 2009 116 comments
Note: if you are looking for love in Arabic please click here. Today I received the following email from Paige, a reader of this blog: Hey! I’ve been searching all over the web for a translation. I want to get “faith, hope, love, but the greatest of these is love” … Continue reading
Posted on: Tuesday, September 1st, 2009 189 comments
Today I received another request for a translation of a few English phrases into Arabic for the purpose of an Arabic tattoo: Hi Max, I have been reading your blog from australia and its fantastic, i really enjoy it. I noticed that you did a translation for one of your … Continue reading
Posted on: Saturday, August 29th, 2009 23 comments
Today a reader sent me a request for two specific translations of English words into Arabic: Hi Max! I am writing you from Hungary, I have seen your e-mail adress in your webpage. I have a problem, exactly that I want an arabic tattoo, but I am a bit unknown … Continue reading
Posted on: Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 104 comments
While Arabic tattoos can be aesthetically pleasing if the right calligraphy is used, there are a huge number of cases where neither the person getting the tattoo done nor the tattooist have the slightest idea of Arabic. The result is often disastrous: incorrect or ugly Arabic writing. I’ll show you … Continue reading
Posted on: Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 322 comments
Arabic tattoos are definitively in fashion in the world of the rich and the famous. And I don’t mean temporary tattoos done with henna. This is perhaps surprising, because there are hardly any tattoos to be seen in the Arab World. In the West, however, tattoos have come a long … Continue reading
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