Arabic Greetings You Can Copy and Use
The greetings people actually use — the salam and its replies, morning and evening greetings, welcomes, and the Friday greeting — with what each one suits.
Most Arabic messages open with a greeting, and picking the right one is mostly a question of who you are writing to and what time it is. This page collects the ones in common use, with what each suits, so you can take one and get on with your message.
Every phrase here has its own page in the phrase library, where you can read the usage in full and insert it straight into the keyboard. Inserting rather than retyping is worth the habit — the library’s spelling is the reviewed one.
The salam, and how full to make it
The standard greeting comes in lengths, and longer is warmer:
| Arabic | Say it as | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| سلام عليكم | salamun alaykum | Peace be upon you |
| السلام عليكم | as-salamu alaykum | The everyday full form |
| السلام عليكم ورحمة الله | as-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah | Fuller, warmer |
| السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته | as-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh | The fullest common form |
It works in any setting, formal or casual, with elders and with friends, and the plural ending addresses a group — or one person, which is simply how it is said.
The reply mirrors it, starting with وعليكم السلام — wa alaykum as-salam. Etiquette encourages answering at least as fully as you were greeted, so a fuller greeting invites a fuller reply. Arabic replies sets out the pairs.
Times of day
| Arabic | Say it as | When |
|---|---|---|
| صباح الخير | sabah al-khayr | Morning |
| مساء الخير | masa’ al-khayr | Afternoon and evening |
Both have a standard reply that swaps the second word: صباح الخير is answered with صباح النور, and مساء الخير with مساء النور.
The morning one has warmer variants people use with friends and family — صباح الورد and صباح الفل, naming flowers rather than light. They are affectionate rather than formal, and they are a nice touch in a message to someone you know well.
Hello and welcome
| Arabic | Say it as | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| مرحباً | marhaban | Hello — friendly, unmarked |
| مرحبا بك | marhaban bik | Welcome (to one person) |
| مرحبا بكم | marhaban bikum | Welcome (to a group) |
| حياك الله | hayyak Allah | A warm welcome — literally “may God give you life” |
| حياكم الله | hayyakum Allah | The same, to a group |
مرحباً is the safe general-purpose hello, and the one to reach for when the salam feels heavier than the moment needs — a quick message, a colleague, a shop.
The Friday greeting
Friday has its own greetings, exchanged during the day:
| Arabic | Say it as |
|---|---|
| جمعة مباركة | jumu’ah mubarakah |
| جمعة طيبة | jumua tayyiba |
| طابت جمعتكم | tabat jumuatukum |
They are warm and widely used, and they suit a message to family, friends, or a group chat. If you want to send one as an image, Jumu’ah cards covers that.
Choosing between them
A rough guide rather than a rule:
- Writing to someone you do not know, or in a formal setting — the full salam.
- A quick message to a friend — مرحباً, or a short salam.
- Opening a message in the morning — صباح الخير, then whatever you were going to say.
- Welcoming someone — مرحبا بك, or حياك الله for warmth.
- A Friday message — جمعة مباركة.
Phrases and customs vary by region and community, so choose wording that feels right for your context. What is unremarkable in one country can read as formal or unusual in another.
Using them
From the Arabic keyboard, expand Insert Greetings & Phrases, find the greeting, and insert it — then carry on typing your message around it. Star the ones you use often and they will be one click away.
If you want to open with a greeting and then add a wish, the message builder assembles several phrases into one line.
Next step
Open the phrase library and read the page for السلام عليكم — it covers the reply, the fuller forms, and when each is used. That one greeting covers most of what you will need.