Mashallah
intj, name ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Expressing the speaker's gratitude for a blessing or their recognition of divine intervention in its occurrence. God willed it.
"Mashallah, I hear Akhmad say. Mashallah. I ask him what it means. “Mashallah, it's to be thankful. Something wonderful.” It means, literally, “God wills it.” And yet it seems, there's a kind of joy inside the word, too. Some large, cosmic gratitude."
- 2 Expressing the speaker's wish for a fortune to be maintained, especially against the evil eye; used in congratulation.
"'Mashallah, fine set of boys you've got here, sir,' he smiled, shaking us all by the hand, and giving Jamal a mock punch on the shoulder. 'Y'all new to the masjid?' ' Yes, we are,' Dad answered him. 'It's our first time here as a family.'"
- 3 An indication of excitement, surprise or astonishment. Wow!
- 1 A male given name from Arabic مَا شَاءَ ٱللَّه (mā šāʔa l-lah, “God willed it”).
"At this early stage of the narrative, this manner of describing Mashallah's state of mind foreshadows a more radical loss of self, i.e., a journey that transforms him from an ordinary and insignificant bank guard to a visitor to the court of Harun..."
Example
More examples"Mashallah, I hear Akhmad say. Mashallah. I ask him what it means. “Mashallah, it's to be thankful. Something wonderful.” It means, literally, “God wills it.” And yet it seems, there's a kind of joy inside the word, too. Some large, cosmic gratitude."
Etymology
From Arabic مَا شَاءَ ٱللّٰه (mā šāʔa llāh).
From Arabic مَا شَاءَ ٱللَّه (mā šāʔa l-lah).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.