Learn Arabic › B2 › سَلَف
سَلَف
predecessor (forefather, one who came before) /ˈsa.laf/
nounB2#3291 most common
Also: ancestor, forerunner, advance payment (Islamic finance term)
Example sentences
هؤلاء أسلافي.
These are my ancestors.
نحترم سَلَفنا الصالح.
We respect our righteous predecessors.
تعلّمنا هذه العادات من أسلافنا.
We learned these customs from our ancestors.
يُعتبر السَّلَفُ الصالح قدوةً للمسلمين.
The pious predecessors are considered a role model for Muslims.
يرجع أصل هذه القبيلة إلى سَلَفٍ مشترك عاش قبل قرون.
This tribe traces its origin to a common ancestor who lived centuries ago.
يُستخدم عقد السَّلَف في الفقه الإسلامي لوصف بيع سلعة مؤجلة التسليم مقابل دفع مسبق.
The salaf contract is used in Islamic jurisprudence to describe the sale of a good with deferred delivery in exchange for advance payment.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | سَلَفٌ | أَسْلَافٌ |
| Genitive | سَلَفٍ | أَسْلَافٍ |
| Accusative | سَلَفًا | أَسْلَافًا |
| Vocative | يَا سَلَفُ | يَا أَسْلَافُ |
Word family
أَسْلَفَto advance payment, to lend
سُلْفَةadvance, installment loan
سَالِفpreceding, former
سَلَفِيّSalafi, follower of Salafism
تَسَلَّفَto borrow, take an advance
Etymology
The word comes from the Arabic triliteral root س-ل-ف (s-l-f), which carries the sense of preceding, going before, or time elapsing. As a noun, سَلَف names a person who came earlier, an ancestor or predecessor. Islamic legal and religious writing extended the word to a contract in which payment precedes delivery of goods, since the buyer's money goes first. No Indo-European cognates apply, since Arabic is a Semitic language.
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