astaghfirullah

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللّٰهَ (ʔastaḡfiru llāha, literally “I ask forgiveness from Allah”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌæs.tæɡ.fɪ.ɹəˈlɑː/
• Rhymes: -ɑː

Interjection

astaghfirullah

1. (Islam, literally) A short prayer of redemption; I seek forgiveness from Allah; God forgive me.
2. (Islam) An expression of guilt or shame.

   I should not have done that, astaghfirullah.

4. (MLE, slang) An expression of disbelief, disapproval, surprise, shock, etc.

   Astaghfirullah! Look at the state of your room.

Usage notes

• In sense 3, roughly equivalent to Jesus Christ, although lacking any blasphemous connotation.

Coordinate terms

• istighfar

Translations

Translations

• Albanian: estagfirullah
• Arabic: أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ m (ʔastaḡfiru llāha)
• Azerbaijani: əstəğfirullah
• Bengali: আস্তাগফিরুল্লাহ (astagphirullah), আস্তাগফিরুল্লাহ্ (astagphirullah)
• French: starfallah (fr), starfoullah
• Hindi: अस्तग़्फ़िरुल्लाहु (astaġfirullāhu), अस्तग़्फ़िरुल्लाह (astaġfirullāh), अस्तग़फ़िरुल्लाह (astaġfirullāh)
• Indonesian: astagfirullah
• Japanese: アスタグフィルッラー (asutagufirurrā)
• Malay: astaghfirullah (ms)
• Persian:

  Classical Persian: اَسْتَغْفِرُاللّٰه (astaġfiru-l-lāh)

  Dari: اَسْتَغْفِرُاللّٰه (astaġfiru-l-lāh)

  Iranian Persian: اَسْتَغْفِرُاللّٰه (astaġfero-l-lâh)

• Polish: astaghfirullah
• Punjabi: [script needed] (astaġfirullāh)

  Gurmukhi: ਅਸਤਗ਼ਫ਼ਿਰੁੱਲਾਹ

  Shahmukhi: استغفراللہ

• Tajik: астағфируллоҳ (astaġfirulloh)
• Turkish: estağfurullah (tr)
• Urdu: اَسْتَغْفِرُاللّٰہ (astaġfirullāh)
• Uzbek: astagʻfirulloh (uz)

Malay

Alternative forms

• astaga, astagha (slang)

Etymology

From Arabic أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللّٰهَ (ʔastaḡfiru llāha, “I seek forgiveness from God”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [as.taɣ.fi.ruɫ.ɫɑh]
• Rhymes: -ɫɑh, -ɑh
• Hyphenation: as‧tagh‧fi‧rul‧lah

Interjection

astaghfirullah (Jawi spelling استغفرالله)

1. (Islam, literally) A prayer seeking for forgiveness from God.
2. Oh my God:
   1. Used to express shock.

      Astaghfirullah, jangan main-main macam tu lagi!

      Oh my God, don't joke around like that ever again!

   2. Used to express frustration.

      Synonyms: isy, alah

      Astaghfirullah, dah berjam-jam lalu tapi kau baru kat soalan nombor 5 je?!

      Oh my God, hours have passed but you've just got to question number 5?!

3. An exclamation or expression of alarm about a problem or error; oh no.

   Synonym: alamak

   Astaghfirullah, aku tertinggal telefon kat rumah!

   Oh no, I left my phone at home!

Further reading

• "astaghfirullah" in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu (PRPM) [Malay Literary Reference Centre (PRPM)] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017