B1noun
حَيَاة
ḥayāh
life
Example
الحَياةُ قَصِيرَة.
al-ḥayātu qaṣīra.
Life is short.
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Arabic root
ح-ي-ي
4 words from this root family
B1noun
حَيَوَان
ḥayawān
animal
Example
يَجِبُ أَنْ نَحمِيَ الحَيَوانات.
yajibu an naḥmiya l-ḥayawānāt.
We must protect animals.
A2noun
الْحَيُّ
al-Ḥayy
The Ever-Living (divine name)
Example
اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ
Allāhu lā ilāha illā huwa al-Ḥayyu al-Qayyūm
Allah — there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of existence (2:255)
Grammar
Adjective (faʿʿ pattern with doubled final radical). Noun: حَيَاةٌ (life). Often paired with الْقَيُّومُ (the Self-Sustaining).
Culture
Āyat al-Kursī (2:255), the Throne Verse, is considered the greatest verse in the Quran. الحَيّ القَيُّوم opens its description of God.
A1noun
حَيَاةٌ
ḥayāh
life
Example
وَمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلَّا مَتَاعُ الْغُرُورِ
wa-mā al-ḥayātu ad-dunyā illā matāʿu al-ghurūr
And the life of this world is nothing but the enjoyment of delusion (3:185)
Grammar
Feminine noun. No broken plural — الحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا (worldly life) vs. الحَيَاةُ الآخِرَة (the afterlife). From حَيَّ (to live). Related: الحَيُّ (q186).
Culture
The Quran consistently contrasts the fleeting worldly life (dunyā) with the eternal afterlife (ākhirah), urging investment in the permanent over the temporary.