“Turn Your Wounds Into Wisdom” in Arabic – 3 Tattoo Designs

Posted on: Wednesday, May 28th, 2014 5 comments

“Turn your wounds into wisdom” is a quote that seems to be attributed to US talk show host Oprah Winfrey (e.g. by BrainyQuote). While I haven’t been able to find the context in which Winfrey uttered these words, I would assume that one should learn from one’s personal setbacks in … Continue reading

No Regrets, I don’t regret anything: Arabic translations

Posted on: Wednesday, June 19th, 2013 3 comments

Today Selina requested in the comments that I translate “I don’t regret anything” into Arabic for a tattoo. Relatedly, there is also a design for “no regrets” in Arabic here. There are two translations that I would consider for this. No Regrets First, one could simply say: لا ندم (la … Continue reading

Arabic Tattoos Still Popular Among Celebrities

Posted on: Sunday, May 12th, 2013 30 comments

Back in 2009 I posted about celebrities such as Rihanna and Angelina Jolie getting Arabic tattoos. While it’s still rare enough to be seen as exotic, the trend has continued since then. Let’s take a look at some of the newcomers to the Arabic tattoo scene: Zayn Malik Zayn Malik … Continue reading

Destiny in Arabic

Posted on: Monday, May 7th, 2012 7 comments

A reader requested that I translate the word “destiny” into Arabic. In fact, there are a number of alternative translations that are all correct, but might have slightly different meaning nuances. al-maSeer The Arabic word المصير al-maSeer can mean both destiny and fate. For example مصير الكون would translate as … Continue reading

Arabic Tattoos, Mistakes and Art

Posted on: Wednesday, September 15th, 2010 9 comments

In one of my previous articles on this blog I discussed what I considered to be the most embarrassing Arabic tattoo mistakes – disconnected letters, written in the wrong direction and offensive tattoos. I thought it was pretty clear that most people would like to steer clear of these pitfalls. … Continue reading

The Truth Will Set You Free

Posted on: Friday, July 2nd, 2010 1 comments

Here is the Arabic translation of the famous quote from the Bible “The truth shall/will set you free” (John 8:32): الحق يحرركم Pronunciation: al-Haqqu yuHarrirukum In picture format: With all the tashkeel and harakaat: Of course, if you are looking to get this phrase as a tattoo, then you should … Continue reading

Mysterious Arabic Calligraphy #2

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

“How To Write My Name In Arabic”

Posted on: Friday, May 7th, 2010 60 comments

5 crucial tips to get the correct translation of your name in Arabic Whether you are thinking about getting your name in Arabic as a tattoo or you just want to know what your name would look like written in Arabic letters, you will know exactly what to do after … Continue reading

Miracle

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

Arabic Calligraphy Design: Poetess

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

Arabic Tattoo – Fighter

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

Compassion In Arabic

Posted on: Monday, January 4th, 2010 5 comments

Randa asked for the translation of “compassion” in Arabic. There are quite a number of Arabic words that have the meaning of “compassion”, for example: الرأفة (ar-ra’fa) الشفقة (ash-shafaqa) الحنان (al-Hanaan) However, the most standard way of translating compassion is probably الرحمة (ar-raHma). Below is this word in three different … Continue reading