How to say “Goodbye” in Egyptian Arabic
So by speaking M3 el salama to someone you are wishing that their parting (e.g., they may be travelling somewhere) is done with safety.
There are many ways to say Goodbye in Egyptian Arabic. In this article we’re going to explore this topic more and provide you written translations (Latin and Arabic scripts) and recordings so that you can learn how to communicate all of these wonderful Egyptian expressions.
(And if you wish to learn how to say “Goodbye” in another Arabic dialect, IBL has created the extensive article for you: How to say “Goodbye” in Tunisian Arabic)
This article is divided into three sections:
General farewells
In Egyptian Arabic, there are several ways to say “Goodbye” to someone in a general sense. Here are the most common with accompanying translations:
M3 el salama / مع السلامة
“May you part with safety”
In Egyptian Arabic, M3 / مع is a preposition that means “With” (when relating to people, not objects) And salama / سلامة means “safety”. So by speaking M3 el salama to someone you are wishing that their parting (e.g., they may be travelling somewhere) is done with safety. You may remember from the IBL article How to say “Hello” in Egyptian Arabic that the Salam / سلام in the greeting El salam 3lekom / السلام عليكم actually means “Peace”. So whereas Salam means “Peace”, Salama means “Safety”.
IBL contributor, Samar A. pronounces M3 el salama:
Salam / سلام
“May peace be upon you”
A very simple and common way to say “Goodbye” in Egyptian Arabic is Salam / سلام. Salam means “Peace”. So by saying Salam to another you are wishing peace upon them. As you’ll learn from the IBL article, How to say “Hello” in Tunisian Arabic, Salam actually means “Hello” in Tunisian Arabic.
Ashofk 3la 5er / Ashofek 3la 5er
“See you with goodness”
Ashofk 3la 5er / اشوفك على خير in the masculine form and Ashofek 3la 5er / اشوفك على خير in the feminine form (both phrases use the same Arabic script) means “See you with goodness”. Ashofk / Ashofek means “See you”, 3la is a preposition that means “on” or “upon” and “5er” means “good” or “goodness”. In the plural form (speaking this farewell to more than one person) you would say Ashofko 3la 5er / اشوفكوا على خير.
Samar shares Ashofk 3la 5er, Ashofek 3la 5er, & Ashofko 3la 5er:
5ly balk mn nfsk / 5ly balek mn nfsek
“Take care of yourself”
5ly balk mn nfsk / خلي بالك من نفسك in the masculine form and 5ly balek mn nfsek / خلي بالك من نفسك (Like the farewell above, both of these phrases use the same Arabic script) is a common greeting that means “Take care of yourself.” 5ly means “Take”, balk / balek means “yourself” and nfsek means “yourself”. So this phrase has the effect of: “Be mindful of what’s happening around you.” or “Take care of yourself.” In the plural form this phrase is 5lo balko mn nfsko / خلوا بالكم من نفسكوا.
Samar pronounces 5ly balk mn nfsk, 5ly balek mn nfsek & 5lo balko mn nfsko:
Nighttime
Tsb7 3la 5er / Tsba7y 3la 5er
“Good night”
At night, conventionally, the most common farewell is (m) Tsb7 3la 5er / تصبح على خير (m) Tsba7y 3la 5er / تصبحي على خير. This is a conventional and popular Arabic farewell (based on Standard Arabic (Fos7a / الفصحى)) that means “Good night”. It’s longer form translation would be something similar to, “I wish you a good day when you wake up tomorrow.”
In the plural form it is Tsb7o 3la 5er / تصبحوا على خير.
Samar pronounces Tsb7 3la 5er, Tsba7y 3la 5er & Tsb7o 3la 5er:
There are no other common nighttime farewells in Egyptian Arabic. However, any of the general farewells noted above are perfectly normal to use.
Derived from English
Bye & Bye Bye
Amongst Egyptian Arabic speakers, the farewells Bye / باي and Bye bye / باي باي are both reasonably common, but of which, are obviously derivatives of English.
Travel-related farewells
Travelling is a part of life—Whether you’re doing the travelling or you’re sending good wishes to a friend or loved one who is travelling. Below are the two common Egyptian Arabic farewells to send good wishes to another who is about to travel.
Twsl bel salama & Twsly bel salama
“Arrive safely”
(m) Twsl bel salama / توصل بالسلامة (f) Twsly bel salama / توصلي بالسلامة means “Arrive safely”. Twsl / Twsly means “Arrive” in the You form, b is a preposition that means “with” and you’ll remember from the M3 el salama farewell above that salama means “safety”.
In the plural form this farewell is Twslo bel salama / توصلوا بالسلامة.
Listen to Samar pronounce Twsl bel salama, Twsly bel salama & Twslo bel salama:
Re7la sa3eda
“May your trip be pleasant”
And finally, a suitable farewell to wish someone a good flight is Re7la sa3eda / رحلة سعيدة. Both of these words—Re7la and sa3eda—are based on Fos7a. Re7la / رحلة means “Trip” and Sa3eda / سعيدة means “Pleasant”, when referring to an abstraction. In Egyptian Arabic, it’s conventional to say this phrase to someone who is about to more extensively travel—E.g., by air or boat. It’s not suitable in other contexts of travel. (E.g., By car, etc.)
And this farewell is gender and unit neutral—It doesn’t change with the gender or if sending the good tidings to one or multiple people.
Samar speaks Re7la sa3eda:
In closing
Egyptian Arabic has several ways to express “Goodbye”. As mentioned, you can contrast the above farewells against the ways that Tunisian Arabic speakers say farewell. And if you want to learn the ways to say “Hello” in Egyptian Arabic, read the IBL article, How to say “Hello” in Egyptian Arabic. Ithaca Bound Languages is documenting the languages and dialects of the Mediterranean Basin which includes Egyptian Arabic. Here is the catalogue if you want to study and learn Egyptian Arabic: IBL: Egyptian Arabic. (Over 600 pages of content with recordings and over 3,000 statements available)
As always, we wish you a marvellous journey!
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