Lesson 69 · نِعْمَ
What an excellent…! نِعْمَ and بِئْسَ
نِعْمَ means “what an excellent…” and بِئْسَ means “what a terrible…”. They do not change for tense or person. After them comes a noun with الـ, then the person or thing praised or blamed: نِعْمَ الطَّالِبُ أَحْمَدُ (what an excellent student Ahmad is!).
Learn with pictures
Tap a picture to hear the sentence.
Examples
نِعْمَ الصَّدِيقُ الْكِتَابُniʿma ṣ-ṣadiiqu l-kitaabuWhat an excellent friend a book is!
نِعْمَ الطَّالِبُ أَحْمَدُniʿma ṭ-ṭaalibu aḥmaduWhat an excellent student Ahmad is!
نِعْمَ الْمَشْرُوبُ الْمَاءُniʿma l-mashruubu l-maa’uWhat an excellent drink water is!
بِئْسَ الْخُلُقُ الْكَذِبُbi’sa l-khuluqu l-kadhibuWhat an evil trait lying is!
حَسْبُنَا اللّٰهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُḥasbuna llaahu wa niʿma l-wakiiluAllah is enough for us, and He is the best Guardian.
حَبَّذَا الصِّدْقُḥabbadhaa ṣ-ṣidquHow lovely honesty is!
Key points
- With a feminine noun you may add ـتِ: نِعْمَتِ الْأُمُّ فَاطِمَةُ or simply نِعْمَ الْأُمُّ فَاطِمَةُ (what an excellent mother Fatima is).
- The Quran uses it often: حَسْبُنَا اللّٰهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ (Allah is enough for us, and what an excellent Guardian) · نِعْمَ الْمَوْلَىٰ وَنِعْمَ النَّصِيرُ.
- حَبَّذَا (how lovely) works the same way: حَبَّذَا الصِّدْقُ (how lovely honesty is). لَا حَبَّذَا is its opposite.
Practice
Tap a question to see the answer.
Say “What an excellent friend Khalid is!”
نِعْمَ الصَّدِيقُ خَالِدٌ niʿma ṣ-ṣadiiqu khaalidun
Say “What a bad habit laziness is!” (الْعَادَةُ, الْكَسَلُ)
بِئْسَتِ الْعَادَةُ الْكَسَلُ bi’sati l-ʿaadatu l-kasalu
بِئْسَ الْعَادَةُ الْكَسَلُ is also correct.
Say “How lovely knowledge is!” (الْعِلْمُ)
حَبَّذَا الْعِلْمُ ḥabbadha l-ʿilmu