How to Say Good Morning, Good Evening and Good Night in Arabic

Common Arabic Phrases > Good Morning in Arabic

Good morning in Arabic is صباح الخير (sabah al-khayr), literally "morning of goodness". The standard reply is صباح النور (sabah an-nur), "morning of light". Both work in every Arabic-speaking country. Friends often answer with something sweeter instead, such as sabah el-ward (roses) in the Levant or sabah el-full (jasmine) in Egypt.

Below are 11 replies with where each one is said, then a table of morning, afternoon, evening and bedtime greetings in Modern Standard Arabic, Egyptian, Levantine and Gulf Arabic, each with its reply. Transliteration follows our common Arabic phrases in three dialects: kh is the ch of Scottish loch, ʿ is ع, ʾ is a glottal stop, and there are no dots under emphatic letters. Dialect forms are written as they are said: Modern Standard khayr is kheir in the dialects, and the article al is el in Cairo and the Levant. That is why the same greeting turns up spelled sabah al khair, sabah el kheir and sabah al-khayr. Last reviewed October 2026.

Good morning in Arabic and the replies you will hear

The reply to good morning in Arabic keeps the word sabah and swaps "goodness" for something better. Sabah an-nur, "morning of light", is the safe answer. The Living Arabic Project's dialect dictionaries note that the second word can be replaced by almost any good thing, which is where the flowers, honey and cream below come from. Sabah an-nur is the reply recorded in Wiktionary and in Playaling's Levantine morning greetings. The playful replies after it are informal usage that varies by family and town, so if you are unsure, answer sabah an-nur. The last column is our own guidance on register.

Most of these work as the opening line too. An Egyptian can greet you with sabah el-full and you answer sabah en-nur, or top it with sabah el-ʿasal. The Egyptian dictionary also lists صباح العندليب (sabah el-ʿandalib, morning of the nightingale), marked as old-fashioned.

Pick the reply by who you are talking to. Sabah an-nur is right with a shopkeeper or an official. Sabah el-ʿasal is too familiar for a colleague you barely know. For the full range of words you say to a partner, see our page on saying I love you in Arabic and the terms of endearment that go with it.

Greetings for every time of day, in four varieties

Good evening in Arabic is مساء الخير (masaʾ al-khayr), answered with مساء النور (masaʾ an-nur). Arabic has greetings for the morning, the evening and bedtime, but no separate everyday "good afternoon". Speakers switch from sabah to masa (evening) around midday, which is where Playaling puts the cut-off, so masaʾ al-khayr covers the whole afternoon. Formal Modern Standard Arabic also has نهاركم سعيد (naharukum saʿid, have a good day), which Wiktionary lists for good afternoon.

The table gives the form you say to one man. To a woman in Egypt or the Levant, the -ak ending becomes -ik (sabahik), tisbah becomes tisbahi, and w-inta becomes w-inti. To a group, use tisbahu and w-intu. The last two rows list only the varieties where we found a published source for the phrase; elsewhere, tisbah ʿala khayr does the job.

Gulf forms are from the Gulf dictionary of the Living Arabic Project. The Levantine evening pair is from Wiktionary's good evening entry. The Egyptian sahh en-nom exchange is from Egyptian Streets' guide to Egyptian courtesies. To say the hour itself, nine in the morning or eight at night, see telling the time in Arabic.

Good night in Arabic

Good night in Arabic is تصبح على خير (tisbah ʿala khayr), which literally means "may you wake up to goodness". The reply is وانت من أهله (w-inta min ahlu), "and you are one of its people", meaning you deserve that good too. It is the bedtime phrase in every dialect in the table.

The Arabic good night looks ahead to the morning. It pairs with sabah al-khayr the next day: at night you wish someone a good waking, and in the morning you greet them with one. According to Wiktionary's entry for tisbah ʿala khayr, Hijazi speakers in western Saudi Arabia even have a daytime version, تمسي على خير (timsi ʿala kheir), for someone going down for an afternoon sleep.

Three other night phrases are worth knowing:

• ليلة سعيدة (layla saʿida), happy night. This is the Modern Standard phrase; in conversation you will hear tisbah ʿala khayr far more. In Palestine, ليلة سعيدة (lele saʿide) is used as good evening from late afternoon on.
• أحلام سعيدة (ahlam saʿida), sweet dreams. Say it to children and partners.
• نوم العوافي (nom el-ʿawafi), Egyptian for "sleep soundly".

Tisbah ʿala khayr is for bedtime or for leaving someone late at night. Don't use it as a greeting when you walk in at nine in the evening; that is masaʾ al-khayr.

How to answer "how are you" after good morning

Good morning is usually followed by "how are you", and the usual answer is "fine, praise God". In Modern Standard Arabic that is بخير، الحمد لله (bi-khayr, al-hamdu lillah). Egyptians say كويس (kwayyis), or kwayyisa from a woman. Levantine speakers say منيح (mnih), or mniha. Gulf speakers say زين (zain).

In the Levant the morning version is often نمت منيح؟ (nimit mnih?), did you sleep well. It is for family and friends, not the office. The how-are-you question splits three ways by dialect (kayfa haluk, kifak, izzayyak), and our hello, how are you and goodbye tables give the full set with thank you and please.

Courtesies in Arabic come in pairs: a set phrase and a set reply. Birthdays, weddings and Eid have their own pairs, and our guide to happy birthday in Arabic and the reply for each occasion lists them.

Good morning in Islam

Islam has no separate good morning greeting. A Muslim greets with السلام عليكم (as-salamu ʿalaykum, peace be upon you) at any hour, and sabah al-khayr can follow it. Arab Christians and Muslims say sabah al-khayr the same way.

What Islam does have is a morning remembrance. Sahih Muslim records that the Prophet said أصبحنا وأصبح الملك لله (asbahna wa asbaha al-mulku lillah), "we have entered the morning, and the kingdom belongs to God", at the start of each day (Sahih Muslim 2723). It is said to God, not to the person next to you. For as-salamu ʿalaykum and its reply, and the other phrases Muslims use every day, see our list of Islamic phrases in Arabic with their replies.

Notes and common mistakes

Forgetting who you are talking to

The replies with -ak at the end change for a woman: yisʿid sabahik, allah ysabbhik, w-inti min ahlu. You will be understood either way. The fix is one vowel.

The q in ishta

Sabah el-ishta is written with a qaf, قشطة (qishta). Cairo pronounces qaf as a glottal stop, so you hear ʾishta. Ishta is the clotted cream used in Egyptian desserts, so the greeting means you wish someone a rich, sweet day. Our six-month plan for learning Egyptian Arabic covers this and the other Cairo sound changes.

Sahh en-nom can be a tease

Sahh en-nom means "may your sleep have been healthy" and is said to someone who has just got up. Said at noon, it means "finally". The phrase is famous enough that a 1972 Syrian comedy series is named Sah Al-Noom.

The oldest good morning

Classical Arabic had عم صباحا (ʿim sabahan), "be well this morning". The pre-Islamic poet Imru' al-Qays opens a poem with it, greeting the ruins of a lover's camp: ألا عم صباحا أيها الطلل البالي (ala ʿim sabahan ayyuha at-talalu al-bali), "good morning, worn-out ruin" (full text on Arabic Wikisource). Today it belongs to poetry rather than conversation.

If you are heading to one country, learn its column and ignore the rest. Our Levantine Arabic courses and Gulf dialect courses and books pages say where to go after the greetings.

Frequently asked questions

What is subah al noor in Arabic?

Subah al noor is sabah an-nur, written صباح النور. It means morning of light, and it is the standard reply to sabah al-khayr, good morning. It works in every Arabic-speaking country, with strangers and friends alike. In Egypt and the Levant it is pronounced sabah en-nur.

How to reply صباح الخير?

Reply sabah an-nur (صباح النور), morning of light. That is correct everywhere. Friends often swap in something sweeter: sabah el-ward (roses) in the Levant, sabah el-full (jasmine), sabah el-ʿasal (honey) or sabah el-ishta (cream) in Egypt. In the Gulf a respectful greeting is sabbahak allah bil-kheir, and sabah an-nur is always a safe answer.

How to reply "I am good" in Arabic?

In Modern Standard Arabic say bi-khayr, al-hamdu lillah: well, praise God. Egyptians say kwayyis (a woman says kwayyisa), Levantine speakers say mnih (a woman says mniha), and Gulf speakers say zain. Adding al-hamdu lillah after any of them is normal and expected.

How to say good morning in Islam?

Islam has no separate good morning greeting. Muslims greet with as-salamu ʿalaykum at any hour and then add sabah al-khayr if they like. The religious morning formula is a remembrance rather than a greeting: asbahna wa asbaha al-mulku lillah, we have entered the morning and the kingdom belongs to God, reported in Sahih Muslim 2723.

How do you say good night in Arabic?

Say tisbah ʿala khayr (تصبح على خير), literally may you wake up to goodness. The reply is w-inta min ahlu, and you are one of its people. To a woman say tisbahi ʿala khayr, to a group tisbahu ʿala khayr. Layla saʿida, happy night, also exists but is more formal and more common in writing.

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