Congratulations in Arabic: Mabruk, Replies and Every Occasion

Quick answer "Congratulations" in Arabic is mabruk (مبروك), and it works for almost any good news, in every country and every dialect. For extra warmth say alf mabruk (ألف مبروك), "a thousand congratulations." The standard reply is allah yibarik fik (الله يبارك فيك), "may God bless you," or allah yibarik fiki to a woman.

Someone in the family group chat just got engaged. A colleague passed a big exam. Your partner's cousin had a baby. If you are looking for how to say congratulations in Arabic, the good news is that one word carries you through all of it, and people light up when they hear it from a learner.

The part most lists skip is what happens next. In Arabic, a congratulation is the first half of an exchange: the other person answers with a blessing, and sometimes with a wish aimed back at you. Weddings, babies and new homes also have their own extra phrases that families expect to hear. This guide covers the word, the replies, the phrases for each occasion, the dialect versions, and a few messages you can send as they are.

A note on spelling: "ʿ" is the Arabic letter ʿayn (ع), a squeeze in the throat; "ḥ" is a breathy h from deep in the throat; "kh" is the rough sound in Scottish "loch"; and "ʾ" marks a short catch in the voice, like the break in "uh-oh."

How to say congratulations in Arabic: mabruk

Mabruk (مبروك) literally means "blessed." It comes from the root b-r-k (ب ر ك), the same root as baraka, blessing, and as mubarak in ʿid mubarak. When you say mabruk to someone, you are telling them: what happened to you is blessed.

That is why the word fits so many situations. A wedding, a new job, a new car, a graduation, a baby, a new apartment, a new phone your friend is proud of: all of it gets mabruk. You will see it spelled mabrouk, mabrook or mabruk in Latin letters. They are the same word.

Three ways to make it bigger:

• Alf mabruk (ألف مبروك), "a thousand congratulations." The everyday way to sound genuinely happy for someone.
• Alf alf mabruk (ألف ألف مبروك), "a million congratulations." Common in messages and comments, often with a row of hearts.
• Mabruk ʿalek (مبروك عليك), "congratulations to you," or in Egyptian mabruk ʿaleik to a man and mabruk ʿaleiki to a woman. It makes the wish personal.

Mabruk itself never changes for a man, a woman or a group. That makes it the safest word in this whole guide: if you remember nothing else, remember mabruk.

Tahanina: the written, formal congratulations

In Modern Standard Arabic you will also meet tahanina (تهانينا), "our congratulations," from tahniʾa (تهنئة), a congratulation. It belongs to cards, company emails, official posts and the news: tahanina ʿala al-najah, "congratulations on the success." It is correct, but in a living room it sounds like a greeting card read out loud. When you speak, say mabruk.

How to reply when someone says mabruk

This is the part people remember. When you hear mabruk, answer with a blessing, not just "thanks."

• Allah yibarik fik (الله يبارك فيك), "may God bless you," to a man. To a woman it is allah yibarik fiki, to a group allah yibarik fikum. This is the standard answer everywhere, with small differences in sound: allah ybarek fik in Moroccan Darija, allah yebarek fik in Egypt.
• Shukran (شكرا), "thank you," on its own is fine with a colleague or in a quick message. Add the blessing and it sounds native. More ways to thank someone are in our guide to thank you in Arabic.
• ʿUʾbalak (عقبالك), "may it be your turn next," to a man, ʿuʾbalik to a woman. This is the reply you will hear most at engagements and weddings: the couple wishes the same happiness on the person congratulating them. In Egypt and the Levant, unmarried guests get it all night, usually with a grin.

So a full, natural exchange at an engagement party sounds like this: Alf mabruk! "A thousand congratulations!" Allah yibarik fik, ʿuʾbalak! "God bless you, your turn next!" Two lines, and you have done exactly what everyone around you is doing.

Congratulations for every occasion

Mabruk works everywhere, but each big life event has a phrase or two that people add. Knowing them is what makes you sound like you have been to these events before.

Engagement and wedding

• Mabruk or alf mabruk to the couple and their families. At a wedding, the parents receive as many congratulations as the couple.
• Bi-l-rifaʾ wa-l-banin (بالرفاء والبنين), a classic Standard Arabic wedding wish, "with harmony and sons." You will see it on wedding cards. It sounds old-fashioned and formal, so use it in writing rather than at the party.
• Rabbena yitammim bi-khir (ربنا يتمم بخير), Egyptian, "may God complete it well." Said at an engagement, wishing that the marriage goes ahead happily.
• Expect ʿuʾbalak or ʿuʾbalik in reply if you are not married yourself.

A new baby

• Mabruk ma jakum (مبروك ما جاكم), "congratulations on what came to you," heard in the Levant and the Gulf, where the j often sounds like a y: mabruk ma yakum.
• Yitrabba fi ʿizzak (يتربى في عزك), "may he grow up in your care and honor," to the father; fi ʿizzik to the mother. Common in Egypt and the Levant.
• Ḥamdilla ʿa-s-salama (حمد الله على السلامة), "thank God you are safe," said to the mother after the birth. The same phrase greets someone back from a trip or out of hospital.
• When you admire the baby, add mashallah (ما شاء الله), "what God has willed." Many families expect it when someone praises a child. Our guide to Islamic phrases in Arabic explains why.

A new job, an exam or a graduation

• Mabruk ʿa-n-najah (مبروك على النجاح), "congratulations on passing," or Egyptian mabruk en-nagaḥ, where the j becomes a g.
• Mabruk ʿa-sh-shughl il-jdid (مبروك على الشغل الجديد), Levantine, "congratulations on the new job." In Egypt: mabruk ʿa-sh-shoghl eg-gedid.
• Mabruk it-takharruj (مبروك التخرج), "congratulations on graduating." In Egyptian, mabruk et-takharrug.

A new home or a new car

Here mabruk does the job alone, followed by the thing: mabruk il-bet il-jdid (مبروك البيت الجديد) in the Levant, mabruk esh-shaʾʾa (مبروك الشقة), "congratulations on the apartment," in Egypt, mabruk is-sayyara (مبروك السيارة) for a car. Bring something sweet when you visit a new home; the words are only half of it.

Eid and Ramadan: not mabruk

Religious holidays use a different family of wishes. For Eid you say ʿid mubarak (عيد مبارك), "blessed Eid," or kull ʿam wa-antum bi-khayr (كل عام وأنتم بخير), "may you be well every year." Ramadan gets ramadan karim (رمضان كريم). Mabruk is for something that happened to someone; the yearly blessings are for something that comes back. The same logic applies to birthdays, which we cover in our guide to happy birthday in Arabic.

Congratulations in Egyptian, Levantine, Gulf and Moroccan Arabic

Mabruk is shared by every dialect. What changes is the sound, the add-ons and the replies. If you want to compare a whole sentence across dialects in one go, paste it into our Arabic dialect translator.

• Egyptian: mabruk ʿaleik (m) or mabruk ʿaleiki (f), alf mabruk, and for an engagement rabbena yitammim bi-khir. Replies: allah yebarek fik and ʿuʾbalak. Our plan for how to learn Egyptian Arabic covers the rest of the Cairo sound.
• Levantine (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine): mabruk, alf mabruk, mabruk ma jakum for a baby. Replies: allah ybarik fik and ʿuʾbalak.
• Gulf (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar): mabruk and alf mabruk. For a baby, mabruk ma yakum. Reply: allah ybarik fik.
• Moroccan Darija: mbruk (مبروك), with the first vowel almost swallowed, and mbruk ʿlik, "congratulations to you." Reply: llah ybarek fik. You also heard it in mbruk ʿid miladek, "happy birthday."

The pattern is the same everywhere: say mabruk, receive a blessing back, and at weddings receive a "your turn next." Once you know that pattern, a new dialect only changes the accent.

Congratulations messages you can send in Arabic

Most people looking up congratulations in Arabic want to write it: a WhatsApp message, an Instagram comment, a card. Short is better than long, and a dialect touch is better than a perfect formal sentence.

• Alf mabruk! Allah yisʿidkum. (ألف مبروك! الله يسعدكم) "A thousand congratulations! May God make you happy." Works for any couple, any country.
• Mabruk ʿa-n-najah, tistahil kull khir. (مبروك على النجاح، تستاهل كل خير) "Congratulations on passing, you deserve every good thing." To a woman: tistahli kull khir.
• Mabruk ma jakum, yitrabba fi ʿizzkum. (مبروك ما جاكم، يتربى في عزكم) "Congratulations on the baby, may he grow up in your care." For a new baby, Levantine.
• Mabruk il-bet il-jdid, inshallah bet il-farah. (مبروك البيت الجديد، إن شاء الله بيت الفرح) "Congratulations on the new home, may it be a house of joy." For a new home.

If you are writing to your partner's family, a single alf mabruk with their names is already more than most people send in a language they are learning. The effort is the message.

How to pronounce mabruk and the replies

• Mabruk: mab-ROOK, stress on the long second syllable. The first a is short, the b is firm, and it is one quick word, not two.
• Alf: ALF, one syllable, like "Alf" the name.
• Allah yibarik fik: al-LAH yi-BAA-rik FEEK. In speech it often runs together as allah ybarik fik.
• ʿUʾbalak: starts with ʿayn, a squeeze in the throat, then a short catch for the ʾ: ʿUʾ-ba-lak. The word is written with a q (ق), and in Cairo and Beirut that q turns into the catch.
• Ḥamdilla: the ḥ is a breathy, hot h from the throat, as if you were fogging up a mirror. Not a plain h.

Our guide on how to pronounce Arabic letters walks through ʿayn, ḥ and the glottal stop with simple exercises. Those three sounds are what make your mabruk sound like it came from someone who speaks, not someone who read a list.

The quickest way to say mabruk with confidence

A word on a list is easy. Saying alf mabruk at a crowded engagement party, hearing ʿuʾbalak shot back at you, and laughing along without freezing is the real skill, and it only comes from speaking. Pick the dialect of the people you will be celebrating with, and practice the exchange out loud for fifteen minutes a day. Yallah Speak gives you short AI conversations in Egyptian, Levantine, Gulf, Moroccan and more, with pronunciation feedback after every sentence. Start practicing your first mabruk today.

Frequently asked questions

How do you say congratulations in Arabic?

Say mabruk (مبروك), which literally means "blessed." It works for weddings, babies, new jobs, exams and new homes in every Arabic-speaking country. For more warmth, say alf mabruk, "a thousand congratulations."

What do you reply to mabruk?

Say allah yibarik fik (الله يبارك فيك), "may God bless you," to a man, or allah yibarik fiki to a woman. At engagements and weddings the couple often adds ʿuʾbalak, "may it be your turn next."

How do you say congratulations on your wedding in Arabic?

Alf mabruk is what people say at the wedding itself. On cards you will also see the formal wish bi-l-rifaʾ wa-l-banin, "with harmony and sons." In Egypt, rabbena yitammim bi-khir is common at engagements.

How do you say congratulations on the baby in Arabic?

Say mabruk ma jakum (مبروك ما جاكم), "congratulations on what came to you," in the Levant and Gulf. In Egypt and the Levant people also say yitrabba fi ʿizzak, "may he grow up in your care." To the mother, ḥamdilla ʿa-s-salama, "thank God you are safe," is customary.

Is mabruk the same as mubarak?

They come from the same root, b-r-k, which means blessing. Mabruk is what you say to a person for good news, while mubarak appears in fixed wishes like ʿid mubarak, "blessed Eid." For Eid, say ʿid mubarak, not mabruk.