Novena to Saint Charbel in Arabic
The novena to Saint Charbel is prayed around the world in a dozen languages, but its home language is Arabic. These are the words said at the tomb in Annaya, in the villages of the mountain, and in Lebanese kitchens from Beirut to Sydney at the same nine-day rhythm.
This page gives the complete novena in Arabic, day by day, with a transliteration of the first day and of the prayers that repeat daily, so that those who grew up hearing the words without reading them can pray them aloud. If you want the full novena in English instead, it lives on our main Novena to Saint Charbel page.
Prefer to pray on paper? Download the full Arabic novena as a free printable PDF. It contains all nine days in a clean print layout, ready to keep in a Bible or to hand to a parent who prefers the page to the screen.
How to Pray This Novena
A novena is nine consecutive days of the same prayer, carried by one intention. The practice needs no special preparation:
- Choose your intention before day one: a healing, a decision, a person.
- Begin with the sign of the cross.
- Pray the day's prayer from the nine below.
- State your intention where the text says (قول نيّتك), in any language.
- Close with the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and the Glory Be: أبانا الذي، السلام عليك يا مريم، المجد للآب.
- Repeat for nine days. If you miss a day, pray twice the next day and continue.
If you do not want to count the days yourself, the Charbel app has a built-in novena tracker: start the novena once and it keeps your place through the nine days and reminds you daily.
The Recurring Prayers, Transliterated
Two short lines thread through the whole novena. Learn these two and you can pray the frame of every day in Arabic:
يا مار شربل، صلِّ من أجلي.
Ya Mar Sharbel, salli min ajli.
Saint Charbel, pray for me.
يا مار شربل، اشفعْ فيّ.
Ya Mar Sharbel, ishfaʿ fiyya.
Saint Charbel, intercede for me.
For more of the core Arabic prayers with full transliteration, including the prayer printed on the holy cards at Annaya, see our page on the Saint Charbel prayer in Arabic.
The Nine Days in Arabic
Day 1: اليوم الأوّل
أيّها القدّيس شربل العجائبيّ، يا من ينبعث من جسده الطاهر الذي قهر الفساد، عبير السماء، أَسرعْ إلى نجدتي وامنحني من الله الطلبة (الطلبات) التي أحتاج إليها. يا مار شربل صلِّ من أجلي. يا الله، يا كلّيَّ الصلاح، يا من شرّفت مار شربل بنعمة صنع العجائب، ارحمني وامنحني ما أطلبه منك بشفاعته. يا مار شربل، يا إناء العطر، اشفعْ فيّ.
Ayyuha l-qiddisu Sharbel al-ʿajaʾibi, ya man yanbaʿithu min jasadihi t-tahiri lladhi qahara l-fasad ʿabiru s-samaʾ, asriʿ ila najdati wa-mnahni mina Llahi t-talibata (t-talibat) allati ahtaju ilayha. Ya Mar Sharbel, salli min ajli. Ya Allah, ya kulliyya s-salah, ya man sharrafta Mar Sharbel bi-niʿmati sunʿi l-ʿajaʾib, irhamni wa-mnahni ma atlubuhu minka bi-shafaʿatih. Ya Mar Sharbel, ya inaʾa l-ʿitr, ishfaʿ fiyya.
Miraculous Saint Charbel, from whose pure body, victorious over corruption, rises the fragrance of heaven: hasten to my help and obtain for me from God the favor I need. Saint Charbel, pray for me. O God, all-good, who honored Saint Charbel with the grace of working wonders, have mercy on me and grant what I ask through his intercession. Saint Charbel, vessel of fragrance, intercede for me.
(State your intention.) Our Father... Hail Mary... Glory Be...
Day 2: اليوم التاني
يا مار شربل المحبوب، يا من تشعّ كنجمة لامعة في سماء الكنيسة، أنرْ دربي وقوِّ رجائي. منك أطلب الطلبات. اطلبها من يسوع المصلوب الذي تعبده دائماً. يا مار شربل، يا مثال الصبر والصمت، اشفعْ فيّ. يا ربّ يسوع، يا من قدّست مار شربل وأعنته على حمل صليبه، امنحني الشجاعة لاحتمال صعوبات الحياة بصبر وخضوع لإرادتك الإلهية بشفاعة مار شربل، لك الشكر إلى الأبد.
Beloved Saint Charbel, shining like a bright star in the sky of the Church: light my path and strengthen my hope. From you I ask my requests; ask them of the crucified Jesus whom you adore without ceasing.
(State your intention.) Our Father... Hail Mary... Glory Be...
Day 3: اليوم التالت
يا أبانا، يا مار شربل الحنون، إليك ألجأ. ثقتي بك تملأ قلبي. بقوّة شفاعتك عند الله، أنا منتظر الطلبة (الطلبات) التي أطلبها منك. أَظهرْ لي حنانك مرّةً جديدة. يا مار شربل، يا روضة الفضائل، اشفعْ فيّ. يا الله، يا من منحت مار شربل نعمة مشابهتك، امنحني العون لأنمو في الفضائل المسيحية، وارحمني لأقدر أُسبّحك إلى المنتهى.
Tender father Saint Charbel, to you I run; my trust in you fills my heart. Through the power of your intercession with God, I await the favor I ask. Show me your tenderness once more. Saint Charbel, garden of virtues, intercede for me.
(State your intention.) Our Father... Hail Mary... Glory Be...
Day 4: اليوم الرابع
يا مار شربل، يا حبيب الله، أَنِرني، وأَعنّي، وعلِّمني كيف أُرضي الله. أَسرعْ إلى نجدتي. يا أبتاه الحنون، أتوسّل إليك أن تطلب من الله هذه الطلبة (الطلبات). يا مار شربل، يا صديق المصلوب، اشفعْ فيّ. يا الله، استجبْ طلبتي بشفاعة مار شربل. خلِّصْ قلبي المسكين، وامنحني السلام. هدِّئْ اضطرابات نفسي. لك المجد إلى المنتهى.
Saint Charbel, beloved of God: enlighten me, help me, and teach me how to please God. Hasten to my aid, friend of the Crucified, and calm the storms of my soul.
(State your intention.) Our Father... Hail Mary... Glory Be...
Day 5: اليوم الخامس
يا مار شربل المُكلّل بالمجد، اشفعْ فيّ. يا ربّ، يا من سمعت صلوات مار شربل، وأتممتَ نعمة اتّحاده بك، ارحمني في وقت ضيقي. خلِّصْني من الشرّ الذي لا أَقوى على احتماله. لك المجد والشكر إلى المنتهى.
Saint Charbel, crowned with glory, intercede for me. Lord, you who heard Charbel's prayers and granted him the grace of union with you, have mercy on me in my distress and deliver me from the evil I cannot bear.
(State your intention.) Our Father... Hail Mary... Glory Be...
Day 6: اليوم السادس
يا مار شربل، يا مثال الصبر والصمت، اشفعْ فيّ. يا ربّ يسوع، يا من قدّست مار شربل وأعنته على حمل صليبه، امنحني الشجاعة لاحتمال صعوبات الحياة بصبر وخضوع لإرادتك الإلهية بشفاعة مار شربل.
Saint Charbel, model of patience and silence, intercede for me. Lord Jesus, give me courage to bear the hardships of life with patience and surrender to your divine will.
(State your intention.) Our Father... Hail Mary... Glory Be...
Day 7: اليوم السابع
يا مار شربل، يا فرح السماء والأرض، اشفعْ فيّ. يا الله، يا من اخترتَ مار شربل ليدافع عنّا أمام قدرتك الإلهية، امنحني بشفاعته هذه الطلبة (الطلبات) لأُمجّدك معه إلى المنتهى.
Saint Charbel, joy of heaven and earth, intercede for me. O God, who chose Charbel to plead for us before your divine power, grant me through him this favor, that I may glorify you with him forever.
(State your intention.) Our Father... Hail Mary... Glory Be...
Day 8: اليوم التامن
يا مار شربل، يا محبوب الجميع، يا معين المحتاجين، رجائي ثابت بشفاعتك أمام الله. تمِّمْ لي هذه الطلبة (الطلبات).
Saint Charbel, beloved of all and helper of the needy: my hope in your intercession before God is firm. Obtain for me this favor.
(State your intention.) Our Father... Hail Mary... Glory Be...
Day 9: اليوم التاسع
يا أبتاه، يا مار شربل، ها أنا في ختام التساعية. قلبي يتغذّى حين أُكلّمك. لي رجاء عظيم بأني سأنال من يسوع الطلبة (الطلبات) التي طلبتها بشفاعتك. أتوب، وأَعِد بأنّي لن أعود أبداً إلى الخطيئة. أرجوك أن تُتمّم لي طلبتي. آمين.
Father Saint Charbel, here I am at the close of the novena. My heart is fed when I speak with you, and my hope is great that I will receive from Jesus the favor I have asked through your intercession. I repent, and I promise not to return to sin. Complete my request, I beg you. Amen.
(State your intention.) Our Father... Hail Mary... Glory Be...
Why Pray It in Arabic
Not because God prefers it. Because the words carry the people who said them before you. This novena in Arabic is the sound of the crowds at Annaya on the eve of the feast, of the 22nd of every month, of a grandmother's kitchen with the radio off and the candle lit.
For many in the diaspora, praying even one day of it in Arabic is a homecoming: the language of your family's faith, in your own mouth, asking for what your family always asked, the help of Mar Sharbel. If the script defeats you, pray the transliteration; if that defeats you, pray in English and keep one line in Arabic. The novena counts nine days, not vocabulary.
When to Pray It
Any nine days, whenever the need arrives. Two seasons carry it especially: the nine days leading to the feast of Saint Charbel in July, prayed by the whole Maronite world at once, and the days before the 22nd of the month, Charbel's monthly day. Some pray it perpetually, ending each cycle and beginning again, the way the candles at Annaya never quite go out. See also the Saint Charbel chaplet for the shorter daily devotion.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a PDF of the Saint Charbel novena in Arabic?
Yes. You can download the full nine-day novena in Arabic as a free printable PDF, formatted for home printing, so you can keep it in a Bible or hand it to a parent or grandparent who prefers paper. An English PDF of the same novena is on our main novena page.
Can I pray the Arabic novena if I cannot read Arabic script?
Yes. This page gives a transliteration of the first day and of the short prayers that repeat every day, so you can pray the sounds aloud even without the script. Many people in the diaspora pray the daily prayer in English and keep just the invocation in Arabic, Ya Mar Sharbel, salli min ajli, Saint Charbel, pray for me. God is not grading pronunciation; the grandmother you learned it from was not either.
Is the Arabic version the original novena to Saint Charbel?
Arabic is the language in which this novena has been prayed at Annaya and across Lebanon, and the versions circulating in English and other languages are translations from the Arabic devotional tradition. Charbel himself prayed in Arabic and chanted the liturgy in Syriac. Praying the novena in Arabic joins you to the words as generations of Lebanese families have actually said them.
How do I say my intention during the novena?
Each day's prayer contains the word الطلبة, at-talba, the request. Where the text says to state your intention, simply say what you are asking for, out loud or silently, in any language. The same intention is carried through all nine days. If you are praying for several needs, the plural at-talibat is already provided for in the traditional text.
Can I mix Arabic and English when praying the novena?
Freely. Many families in Sydney, São Paulo and Detroit pray the daily prayer in English, the Our Father and Hail Mary in Arabic, and the intention in whatever language their heart produces. A novena is nine days of faithfulness, not a language exam, and Saint Charbel belonged to a Church that has always prayed in more than one tongue at once.
See also: Novena to Saint Charbel (English). Saint Charbel Prayer in Arabic. The Saint Charbel Chaplet. The 22nd of the Month. Saint Charbel Feast Day. Annaya Monastery.