I love you in Arabic, for family and for the sake of Allah

To say I love you in Arabic, say uḥibbuka (أُحِبُّكَ) to a man or boy, uḥibbuki (أُحِبُّكِ) to a woman or girl, and uḥibbukum (أُحِبُّكُمْ) to a group, such as your whole family. The word for love is ḥubb, and the ending of uḥibbu-ka, -ki or -kum is the "you".

The forms at a glance

To your parents and children

Add the person after yā, "O": uḥibbuki yā ummī, "I love you, my mother", or uḥibbuka yā abī, "I love you, my father". To a son, uḥibbuka yā-bnī, and to a daughter, uḥibbuki yā-bnatī. In everyday speech, children often say māmā and bābā, and parents call their children ḥabībī and ḥabībtī. The family words are on family words in Arabic.

To your husband or wife

Saying it to your spouse is part of a kind home. When the Prophet ﷺ was asked who was the most beloved person to him, he named his wife Aishah, openly (Sahih al-Bukhari 3662). To your husband: uḥibbuka yā zawjī. To your wife: uḥibbuki yā zawjatī. For a dua to say for each other, see the dua for your spouse.

Uhibbuka fillah: love for the sake of Allah

Anas ibn Malik reported that a man was with the Prophet ﷺ when another man passed by. He said: "Messenger of Allah, I love this man." The Prophet ﷺ asked: "Have you told him?" He said no. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Tell him." So he caught up with him and said: innī uḥibbuka fillāh, "I love you for the sake of Allah." The man replied: aḥabbaka-lladhī aḥbabtanī lah, "May the One for whose sake you love me love you" (Sunan Abi Dawud 5125, graded hasan).

Muslims say it to a friend, a teacher, a brother or a sister in faith. Among the seven people Allah shades on the Day of Judgement are "two men who love each other for Allah's sake, meeting for that and parting for that" (Sahih al-Bukhari 660, Sahih Muslim 1031).

How to write it

Arabic is written right to left, and the short vowels are small marks: أُحِبُّكَ is alif with hamza, ḥa, ba with a shadda (doubled), and kaf. Without the vowel marks, as most people type it, it is أحبك, and the reader knows from context whether it is to a man or a woman.

1. Sunan Abi Dawud 5125, from Anas ibn Malik, graded hasan.
2. Sahih al-Bukhari 3662 and Sahih Muslim 2384, from Amr ibn al-As.
3. Sahih al-Bukhari 660 and Sahih Muslim 1031, from Abu Hurayrah.