fisebilillah

Turkish

Etymology

Inherited from Ottoman Turkish فی سبیل الله (fi sebili llah), from Arabic فِي سَبِيلِ ٱلله (fī sabīli llāh, “in the cause of God”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfiː.se.biː.lil.lah/
• Hyphenation: fi‧se‧bi‧lil‧lah

Adverb

fisebilillah (archaic)

1. expecting nothing in return
   • Şenol Onay, Vatansavar, page 32:

     Programsızlık sanısına kapıldım, u dönüşüyle yön değiştirdim, çeperli duraktaki neşesiz otostopçuya acıdım, fisebilillah seslendim, şoför mahalline aldım.

     I was under the illusion of not having a program, with a U-turn I changed direction, I felt sorry for the sad hitchhiker at the fenced stop, I called out expecting nothing in reaturn, and took him into the driver's seat.

Related terms

• sebil

 

Further reading

• “fisebilillah”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu
• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007) “fisebilillah”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 1590b
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “sebil”, in Nişanyan Sözlük