11 Essential Ways to Say Goodbye in Arabic

Saying goodbye in Arabic can be complicated because there is some etiquette involved.

When you’re parting with friends and family, a meeting, or getting off the phone it’s essential to know how to say goodbye.

Arabs often say goodbye more than once. Sometimes it seems like it will never stop!

From a social perspective, it can be perceived as a bit rude to leave in an abrupt way. It could also be because they simply don’t want to leave good company and therefore like to draw it out.

In any case, here are all the ways to say goodbye in some of the commonly spoken Arabic dialects as well as in Modern Standard Arabic.

Read next: 10 Best Ways to Say Hello in Arabic and How to Respond

Goodbye in Arabic at a Glance

Goodbye in Arabic (Spoken)

We’ll start first with how to say goodbye in spoken Arabic. This is what you’ll hear the most often and is what you’d actually use in everyday life.

مع السلامة Ma’a salama

مع السلامة Ma’a salama literally means “with safety” or “with peace”. It’s meant to mean something like “may you be accompanied with safety/peace”. It’s the most common way of saying goodbye in Arabic.

The phrase ma’a salama is recognized in most Arab-speaking countries. It is also very versatile and you can use it in most situations, formal and informal.

Read next: 12 Ways to Say How Are You in Arabic + Responses

بسلامة Bisalama

بسلامة Bisalama carries the same meaning as مع السلامة ma’a salama. It is used to say goodbye in Tunisia and Morocco.

بخاطرَك Bkhatrak

بخاطرَك Bkhatrak is used as way to say goodbye in the Levantine Arabic dialect. It means ‘I am leaving with your acceptance’. When addressing a male, you would use بخاطرَك bkhatrak. When addressing a female, you would say بخاطرِك bkhatrek. If the talking to more than one person, you use the term “بخاطركن bkhaterkon”. Note that this is used when you’re leaving someone’s home or someone’s place.

الله معَك Allah ma’ak

الله معَك Allah ma’ak is the corollary to بخاطرَك bkhatrak. It is also used in Levantine Arabic and is the phrase you use to the person who is leaving your home, work, etc.

Saying Allah ma’ak means “May God be with you”.

It also needs to be conjugated depending on who you’re speaking with. الله معَك Allah ma’ak is said when speaking to a male, الله معِك Allah ma’ik is used when speaking to a female, and الله معكن Allah ma’kon is used when wishing multiple people farewell.

باي Bye and يلا باي Yala bye

You might recognize this next expression if you’ve spent any time in social situations in the middle east. باي Bye and يلا باي yalla bye has been adapted from English.

If you’re learning Arabic, يلا yalla is something you’ll hear often. It simply means “let’s go”. Both باي bye and يلا باي yalla bye are very informal ways of saying bye in Arabic. You can use it in casual situations with familiar friends.

بشوفَك بعدان Bshofak ba’dan

You can also leave saying the term بشوفَك بعدان bshofak ba’dan which means ‘see you later’ when talking to a male, or “بشوفِك بعدان bshofik ba’dan when talking to a female, or بشوفكن بعدان bshofkon ba’dan when talking to more than one person. Certain regions may have variations in saying this. For example, in Egypt, they omit the b, so it is pronounced اشوفك بعدين ashofak baden .

بشوفَك بكرا Bshofak bokra

If you know you’ll see them the next day, you can say بشوفَك بكرا bshofak bokra , which means see you tomorrow. You can probably notice a pattern and see that بشوفَك bshofak simply means “see you” and بكرا bokra means “tomorrow”.

Similar to the conjugations from the last phrase, the phrase when addressing a male is بشوفَك بكرا bshofak bokra, بشوفِك بكرا bshofik bokra when speaking to a female, and “بشوفكن بكرا bshofkon bokra” for multiple people. 

Again similar to the last case, in Egyptian Arabic, you omit the “b” and say اشوفك بكرة ashofak bokra .

Read next: Forty Basic Egyptian Arabic Phrases to Sound Local

تصبح على خير Tosbah ala kheir

If you’re leaving a place for the night, and want to wish your hosts and friends goodnight, you can say تصبح على خير tosbah ala kheir , which is goodnight in Arabic. The translation is “may you reach your morning safely”. When speaking to a male, you say تصبح على خير tosbah ala kheir, تصبحي على خير tosbahi ala kheir when addressing a female, and تصبحو على خير tosbaho ala kheir for two or more people.

“Learn Arabic with Maha” has a nice video on some says to say goodbye in Arabic. Some we’ve listed on the list, and some we haven’t! Take a look.

Read next: 5 Useful Ways of Saying Good Night in Arabic

Goodbye in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA)

Modern Standard Arabic is recognized in all Arab-speaking countries. It is also known as fusha and is also abbreviated to MSA. It is used in literature, news broadcasts, and religious contexts. It is not used in day-to-day conversation.

Read next: How to Learn Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and Why — And What to Ignore

وداعاً Wada’an

The way to say goodbye in Modern Standard Arabic is “ وداعاً wada’an ”. There is no need to conjugate it depending on the speaker.

إلى اللقاء Ela al lika’a

If you see someone often, and you want to say see you later instead, you can say إلى اللقاء ela al lika’a .

أراكَ غداً Araka ghadan and أراكَ لاحقاً araka lahikan

On the other hand, the terms “ أراكَ غداً araka ghadan ” meaning ‘see you tomorrow’ and “ أراكَ لاحقاً araka lahikan ” meaning ‘see you later’ differ slightly depending on who you’re speking with. See the table below.

	See You Tomorrow	See You Later
Singular male	أراكَ غداً araka ghadan	أراكَ لاحقاً araka lahikan
Two males	أراكما غداً arakoma ghadan	أراكما لاحقاً arakoma lahikan
Plural Males	أراكم غداً arakom ghadan	أراكم لاحقاً arakom lahikan
Singular female	أراكِ غداً araki ghadan	أراكِ لاحقاً araki lahikan
Two females	أراكما غداً arakoma ghadan	أراكما لاحقاً arakoma lahikan
Plural females	أراكُنَّ غداً arakonna ghadan	أراكُنَّ لاحقاً arakonna lahikan

Final thoughts

In this essay, we presented the main terms and phrases Arabs use to say ‘goodbye’ when they want to leave politely. We also presented how to reply if someone is saying goodbye. Whether in your beginner, intermediate, or advanced level in your Arabic learning journey, you should be able to say ‘goodbye’ and understand its terms when used in real conversations. مع السلامة Ma’a salama!