While Arabic tattoos can be aesthetically pleasing if the right calligraphy is used, there are a huge number of cases where neither the person getting the tattoo done nor the tattooist have the slightest idea of Arabic. The result is often disastrous: incorrect or ugly Arabic writing.
I’ll show you some bad examples and help you avoid some of the common mistakes. The same considerations apply equally to Persian, Urdu or Pashto tattoos, because these languages too use some form of Arabic script.
1 Disconnected letters
I guess the main culprits for this are people’s word processors that are not equipped to deal with the Arabic script. They don’t know how to interpret the letters and just represent them each individually. Arabic is a cursive script: the majority of letters are connected, like in handwriting. For example, below you can see the Arabic for “television” as it should be written:
The word "television" written in Arabic in the correct way
And here the same word, but written incorrectly, with the letters disconnected:
The Arabic for "television" written incorrectly with disjointed letters
Let’s see an example of this “in the wild”:
Disconnected letters
To be honest, I can’t even have a guess at what the word is supposed to mean.
2 Disconnected AND written from left to right instead of from right to left
Well, most people know that Arabic – unlike European languages – is written from right to left. However, some people don’t take notice of that and try to write Arabic from left to write.
Like this person here: 
3 Offensive tattoos
This is probably the worst kind of mistake. While the other errors can make you look foolish or silly in the eyes of Arabic native speakers, having offensive words tattooed on your body can get you in a whole lot of trouble. Many Arab societies are highly conservative and will frown upon those insulting the culture or religion. Here are two particularly bad examples of this:
Kafir, or "unbeliever"
The Arabic reads كافر (kaafir) or “unbeliever” in English. This is an offensive term used derogatively for followers of religions other than Islam or atheists. Someone professing to be a kaafir himself would be seen as attempting to mock Islam and this is not taken lightly in most Arabic countries.
Can it get worse? Well, judge for yourself:
This lady seems to think it’s a good idea to have the Arabic word for “female dog” (bitch!) engraved on her body. Although the Arabic doesn’t quite have the same meaning as the English word “bitch”, nevertheless “dog” has a pretty negative connotation in the Arab world and is used to insult someone.
Avoid the mistakes
So, what should you do if you are thinking of getting an Arabic tattoo? Well, most importantly try to avoid the four mistakes I described. If you are really serious about getting an Arabic word tattooed on your skin, then you should consider learning the Arabic writing system. It’s much easier than it seems and it is well worth the time and effort spent on it to know with certainty that your beautiful Arabic tattoo is written correctly.
Apart from learning the Arabic script yourself, you should make sure the source for your Arabic tattoo is reliable and trustworthy. For example, you can get my Arabic Tattoos eBook or have me make a custom tattoo for you.
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HI,
I want to get a tattoo in Arabic and i was wondering if you can translate the words
passionate and wisdom in the girl form. thank you so much.
Great post! It’s very true that many of the Arabic tattoos out there have mistakes in them, and are sometimes completely meaningless as a result.
This is why it’s always a good idea to use a professional service for translating and designing your Arabic tattoo. That way you know the language was translated by native speakers, and the writing designed by people who understand the subtleties of Arabic orthography and use software that support it.
I just got my Arab boyfriend to translate for me as the phrase means alot to both of us . Theres bound to be someone out there you know that speaks Arabic . Ask around instead of paying for translations.
Hi,
I really want tattoo in arabic letters, if you can translate me : NO REGRETS and my name AJIDA please.
thank you so much.
Hello
I am looking to get an arabic tattoo with the word wisdom. I have discovered that the arabic word is hikmah. Do u i have to have the AL in front to get it right or is just hikmah correct?
Also are you able to include the arabic writing of the word.
Thank you
I would put the Arabic article “al” in front of it when you are talking about “wisdom” in general as an abstract concept.
The Arabic spelling is:
الحكمة
In my new book I have included 6 different designs for this word.
I wanted to get Jalas and ended up getting mamul……. can someone help me with arabic letters for jalas (as “enough is enough” for english”)
Thanks
hi,
i wonder if someone who can write arabic would be good enought to let me know which is the correct translation of “Fighter” i have researched and found four different versions, could any one help please? المقاتل مقاتلة المقاتل مقاتل or have i got it completely wrong?
also if anyone could jsut tell me if “fighter” would liklely cause offence to arabic speakers/writers.
thank you very much
مقاتل means fighter
المقاتل is the same word just with the prefix ال in front of it (meaning “the” so it just says the fighter)
مقاتلة means female fighter
and the fourth word is exactly the same as the second one you wrote.
Now I’m not a native Arabic speaker so you might want to double check this but I don’t think the word مقاتل is the best word to use. مقاتل comes from the root قتل which means to kill. I would translate مقاتل to mean like combatant or militant in a war more so than fighter in general.
Maybe المجاهد or محارب would be a better word.
Thanks for contributing Nick! You’re right: the word مقاتل (muqaatil) derives from the root قتل (q-t-l), but it does not necessarily imply “fight to kill”. For example, someone taking part in a boxing match might be referred to as المقاتل (al-muqaatil). The word مجاهد (mudjaahid) has religious connotations, as in “holy warrior” and محارب (muHaarib) implies someone engaged in war. All three words can be used to translate “fighter”, though.
Ross, perhaps you could specify the sense of “fighter” you would like to convey? In the absence of any specification I would go with المقاتل (al-muqaatil) rather than with any of the other possible translations. Let me know if you need a tattoo design made using different fonts for this word. There are six designs for this word in my Arabic Tattoos eBook too.
thank you very much for your replies.
my sons name basically means “fighter” so that is the sense of what i am trying to translate.
it would seen that المقاتل is the best translation from what you have said. on the translation i have the “J” shaped letter at the end on the word is further away from the “i” shaped letter, just a straight horrizontal line. however when i copy and paste this does not show up.
just wondered if my translation is correct?
Arabic seems just a beautiful language, and i just want to get it right! please excuse my ignorance and again thanks for your help!
ross
Dear Ross,
I have now published a new blog post, with the word al-muqaatil in picture format. This way your PC won’t mess up the formatting when you copy and paste.
I would like to have my name tattooed in arabic. Can you please translate: Idalia. Thank You So Much!
Hello, I really want a tattoo that says happiness or one illustrating my horoscope (libra) could anyone help me. And another thing, doesn´t computer mess up the letters in arabic alphabet?
thanks, for your help.
Hi Maria! I’ve translated happiness and libra already. You can also find high quality tattoo designs for these two phrases in my Arabic Tattoos book. And yes, many computers don’t have the proper support for the Arabic script installed and will mess up Arabic writing. That’s why I always provide the designs in picture format. That way they won’t change their appearance when copied.