# الله يستر



## Andrew___

Hello,

I have heard this phrase الله يسطر several times, although I'm not sure I know exactly what it means.  Could someone please give me an example of how we can use this phrase in a sentence?

For example, could I say:  "I hope our country wins the war soon الله يسطر?

Andrew


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## licinio

I think it should be
الله يستر


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## Andrew___

Oh I see.  Thanks Licinio.

May I ask how one could use this nice phrase in a sentence in everyday life?

Thanks,
Andrew


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## المعتصم

الله يستر means "god blesses" or "god prevents (us)", sth like this

سامع صوت طخ، الله يستر
I've heard shooting sound, god blesses (us) (or as Josh said in next post)


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## Josh_

Actually, I think it is more like "God protect us."


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## Mahaodeh

I think you can loosly translate it to "God protect" as Josh suggested.


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## المعتصم

Thanks, Josh and Maha, yes, I meant "God protect us".
I was searching for a similar word but I didn't get it..


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## londonmasri

_Allah yustur_ as far as I know means 'may Allah cover' - _sattar_ meaning the coverer (of defects/faults) i.e. may he cover our defects.

I could be wrong but this is what I was told previously.


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## Faylasoof

Mahaodeh said:


> I think you can loosly translate it to "God protect" as Josh suggested.



Is this in fus7a or dialect or both? 

Because in fus7a: سَتَرَ =  to veil, cover, conceal, rather than protect. 

On the other hand: اِستَتَرَ = to be covered, shielded , protected.  As in this usage:

هو لا يستتر من اللّه بستر


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## Josh_

"Covering" is related to protecting, as when one is covered s/he is protected from something, figuratively or literally.  When a woman is veiled, she is covered, and thus her reputation, decorum, etc. is protected, from an Islamic point of view.

Anyway, I was thinking about this and the expression could also be translated as "God preserve us" which I believe is more common an expression than "God protect us." However, that may also be a loose translation, but probably would be the one I'd choose if I were translating idiomatically.


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## Faylasoof

Josh_ said:


> One of the meanings of the verb is "to cover," which is related to protecting, as when one is covered s/he is protected.



Yes, I think I can relate to this!



> Anyway, I was thinking about this and the expression could also be translated as "God preserve us" which I believe is more common an expression than "God protect us," but that may also be a loose translation, but would probably be the one I'd choose if I were translating idiomatically.



Ditto!


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## cherine

I agree with Josh.
And, in Egypt, we say ربنا يستر (rabbena yostor) rather than الله يستر as a دعاء or a wish.
There's also ربنا ستر which we say when something bad was about to happen but didn't:
حصلت حادثة كبيرة بس الحمد لله ربنا ستر وما حدش جرا له حاجة
7aSalet hadsa kbira, bass el7amdo lellah rabbena satar we ma7addesh garaalo 7aga.

It was also used in a movie or a theatrical play and became very famous. Unfortunately I don't remember the context very well, but the sentence goes
كنا حنروح في داهية لكن ربنا ستر
konna 7anruu7 fe dahya laken rabben satar
And the whole sentence is used commonly when, for example, we were about to get caught with something bad or naughty we did but "rabbena satar".


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## Andrew___

Many thanks Cherine for your lovely explanation of this phrase and its practical applications.


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## cherine

You're most welcome, Andrew.

Here are some more examples with the present/prayer/wish form:
ربنا يستر والامتحان ييجي سهل
rabbena yostor wel-emte7an yigi sahl 
Obviously said the day of an exam  and can be roughly translated as: Hopefully the exam will be easy.

دا خرج متأخر قوي. ربنا يستر ويلحق القطر
da kharag met2akhkhar awi. rabbena yostor we yel7a2 el aTr
He went out very late. Hopefully, he will be able to catch the train.

حيعملوا الفرح في الجنينة؟! طب ربنا يستر بقى والجو يفضل حلو.
7aye3melo el-fara7 fel-geneena?! Tab rabben yostor ba2a wel-gaww(e) yefDal 7elw
They'll have the wedding ceremony in the garden?! Well, I hope the weather will stay clear.

Note that the translations are not literal.


As you can see, the expression is very common and can be used in almost any situation where you fear a bad outcome and hope for the best.


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## londonmasri

Just saw this - many thanks for these useful statements!!


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## Idris

*Moderator note:*
*I merged this new thread to the existing one. Please remember to search the forum before opening a new thread. Thanks.*

In Saudi Arabia I've heard this phrase many times:

الله يستر عليك​ 
Why and when is this said to someone? Also, what it means if it said to oneself, as "Allah yastir alayy"?

Is this widespread in other dialects as well?


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## Amr_LorD

i think its mean 

''God Help you''


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## dakaplo

Assalam 'aleikum!

I'm joining this thread very, very late it seems, but I thought I would add a bit of regional diversity 

I've spent a lot of time in Morocco, and there, the expression الله يستر or الله يستر عليك is very common, and it's used whenever you see something crazy, shameful, taboo, sinful, etc. Sometime's it's used slightly jokingly.

I believe the source is this hadith from Sahih al-Bukhari:


> Narrated Abu Huraira: I heard Allah's Messenger saying, "All the sins of my followers will be forgiven except those of the Mujahirin (those who commit a sin openly or disclose their sins to the people). An example of such a disclosure is that a person commits a sin at night and though Allah screens it from the public (*ستره* الله), then he comes in the morning and says, 'O, so-and-so, I did such-and-such (evil) deed yesterday,' though he spent his night screened by his Lord (قد بات *يستره* ربه) (none knowing about his sin) and in the morning he removes Allah's screen (*ستر* الله) from himself." (8:95-O.B)


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## إسكندراني

وعليكم السلام
It's a commonly known word, I doubt it's from a particular narration.
It essentially means to _prevent the worst from happening_ or to _cover_, depending on context. The meanings are related. Even in English there is the expression _to cover one's back._


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## dakaplo

Hi,
I didn't mean to imply that the word comes from that hadith in particular--sorry. I only meant to give the religious background to the expression, as it was explained to me by someone in Morocco.
For some more context, in Morocco the way people generally say "God save you," or "God protect you," is الله يحفظك.


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## bu_rashid

Hi, 

Just came across this, but for what it's worth, 

The meaning is more, 'I just hope that...', or 'I hope for your sake that...', just like إسكندراني said. It's used when one is fearful of the outcome of current or impending circumstance. 

Be wary of translating everything to 'God protect you', الله يستر is closer to 'May God ensure that...' followed by a negative. 

I guess it's 'cover', in the sense of insurance, just as in English.


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