Learn Arabic › B1 › فَقِير
فَقِير
poor /faˈqiːr/
adjectiveB1#2614 most common
Also: needy, pauper (used as a noun), mendicant, ascetic (Sufi sense, borrowed into English as 'fakir')
Example sentences
هُوَ رَجُلٌ فَقِيرٌ.
He is a poor man.
الرَّجُلُ الفَقِيرُ يَعِيشُ فِي القَرْيَةِ.
The poor man lives in the village.
سَاعَدَتِ الجَمْعِيَّةُ الأُسْرَةَ الفَقِيرَةَ.
The charity helped the poor family.
عَلَى الرَّغْمِ مِنْ أَنَّهُ فَقِيرٌ، فَإِنَّهُ سَعِيدٌ بِحَيَاتِهِ.
Although he is poor, he is happy with his life.
يَنْبَغِي أَنْ تُوَزَّعَ الزَّكَاةُ عَلَى الفُقَرَاءِ وَالمَسَاكِينِ.
Zakat should be distributed to the poor and the needy.
لَمْ يَكُنِ الفَقِيرُ يَشْكُو مِنْ فَقْرِهِ بَلْ كَانَ يَتَبَاهَى بِقَنَاعَتِهِ رَغْمَ ضِيقِ ذَاتِ يَدِهِ.
The poor man did not complain about his poverty; instead he took pride in his contentment despite his hardship.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | فَقِيرٌ | فُقَرَاءُ |
| Genitive | فَقِيرٍ | فُقَرَاءَ |
| Accusative | فَقِيراً | فُقَرَاءَ |
| Vocative | يَا فَقِيرُ | يَا فُقَرَاءُ |
Word family
فَقْرpoverty
افْتَقَرَto become poor, to be in need of
فُقَرَاءpoor people (plural)
فَاقَةdestitution, dire need
Etymology
The root ف ق ر (f-q-r) covers poverty and need, and it also gives fiqrah, a vertebra of the spine. Classical Arabic dictionaries link the two: a poor man is pictured as someone whose back has been broken by hardship. The word takes the pattern فَعِيل (faʿīl), the same adjective template as kabīr (great) and ṣaghīr (small). Arabic is a Semitic language, so no Indo-European root applies here.
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