Level 4 · Most common Quran words

What Does Ma (مَا) Mean in the Quran?

مَا
ma
what, whatever, that which
Word type
question or relative word

This page studies مَا as the written form shown in the mushaf. Attached letters and related inflections are studied separately so the examples stay precise.

In the Quran
1,010 times

Counted from Barakah’s bundled word-by-word Quran data for this exact written form after vowel marks are removed. Forms with attached letters or pronouns may have their own separate count.

Inside the Quran

مَا (ma) means what, whatever, that which. Its meaning changes with the sentence. It can ask what, refer to whatever, or make a statement negative.

Read it inside the complete ayat below. The surrounding words decide the most natural English rendering, so the translation may use more than one English phrase for the same Arabic form.

See it in real ayat
مِن شَرِّ مَا خَلَقَ

From the evil of that which He created

Arabic quoted letter for letter from the Uthmani text of our Quran reader. Translation: Saheeh International.

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