Congratulations and good wishes
Mabruuk and its many companions — for a wedding, a birth, a new job, a new house, and the holidays.
The default Arabic congratulation is مبروك (mabruuk) — used for weddings, births, new jobs, new houses, new cars, exams passed, anything good. It is universal and almost never wrong. There is, however, a small linguistic argument that learners should be aware of: strict MSA grammarians point out that mabruuk is a passive participle of baraka ("to kneel," in the original sense of camels kneeling) and that the correct form for "blessed" is مبارك (mubaarak). In practice, mabruuk won; everyone says it, no one corrects it in conversation, and the word appears on greeting cards, in newspaper announcements, and in the speech of every Arabic speaker. mubaarak survives in fixed religious phrases (Ramadaan mubaarak) and in formal writing.
What you should know: both are correct in their registers. mabruuk is the spoken default. mubaarak is what you write in a formal congratulatory letter and what you hear in religious phrases tied to holidays. If a grammar pedant tells you mabruuk is wrong, they are technically correct in classical Arabic and socially out of step with every modern speaker.
The basic congratulation
Congratulations
مبروك
mabruuk
The universal congratulation. Reply: allaah ybaarik fiik / fiiki ("may God bless you").
A thousand congratulations
ألف مبروك
alf mabruuk
More elaborate. Used for the bigger occasions — weddings, graduations, new babies.
Congratulations (formal / written)
تهانينا / تهانيّ
tahaaniinaa / tahaaniyya
"Our congratulations." The formal register — used in cards, in newspaper announcements, and in formal speech.
May God bless you (reply)
الله يبارك فيك
allaah ybaarik fiik / fiiki
Weddings
Congratulations on your wedding
مبروك الزواج
mabruuk az-zawaaj
A blessed wedding
عرس مبارك
ʿurs mubaarak
May you have happiness and children
بالرفاه والبنين
bi-r-rafaa' wa-l-baniin
A traditional wedding blessing — "with comfort and sons." The phrase is conventional rather than literal; the gendered "sons" reads as old-fashioned to many modern speakers.
May your union last (literally)
عقبال ما تتربّى أولادكم
ʿuqbaal maa titrabbaa awlaadkum
Said to a newly married couple — "may you live to raise your children." Warm, conventional.
Births and new babies
Congratulations on the new baby
مبروك المولود
mabruuk al-mawluud
May God protect him / her
الله يحميه / يحميها
allaah yiHmiih / yiHmiihaa
May he / she grow up under your care
يتربّى بعزّكم
yitrabbaa bi-ʿizzkum
May God preserve him / her for you
الله يخلّيلكم ياه / ياها
allaah ykhalliilkum yaah / yaahaa
Work, school, success
Congratulations on the new job
مبروك الشغل الجديد
mabruuk ash-shughl al-jadiid
Congratulations on graduating
مبروك التخرّج
mabruuk at-takharruj
Good luck (going forward)
بالتوفيق
bi-t-tawfiiq
"With success" — used for someone starting a new job, a new project, an exam. Almost always paired with in shaa' Allaah.
May God grant you success
الله يوفّقك
allaah ywaffqak / ywaffqik
Congratulations on the promotion
مبروك الترقية
mabruuk at-tarqiya
New home, new car, new purchase
Congratulations on the new house
مبروك البيت الجديد
mabruuk al-bayt al-jadiid
May God bless it for you
الله يبارك لك
allaah ybaarik lak / lik
Congratulations on the new car
مبروك السيّارة
mabruuk as-sayyaara
Congratulations on the new clothes / appearance
مبروك / نعيماً
mabruuk / naʿiiman
naʿiiman is said specifically after a haircut, a shave, or a shower. The reply is allaah yinʿim ʿalayk. A nice piece of register-specific vocabulary that has no English equivalent.
Eid, Ramadan, holidays
Blessed Eid
عيد مبارك
ʿiid mubaarak
The pan-Arab Eid greeting. Used for both Eid al-Fitr (the end of Ramadan) and Eid al-Adha (the festival of sacrifice).
Happy Eid
عيد سعيد
ʿiid saʿiid
May every year find you well
كلّ عام وأنت بخير
kull ʿaam wa-anta bi-khayr
Used for any annual occasion — Eid, New Year, birthdays, religious holidays of any tradition. The all-purpose annual blessing.
Blessed Ramadan
رمضان مبارك
Ramadaan mubaarak
A generous Ramadan
رمضان كريم
Ramadaan kariim
The most common Ramadan greeting. Reply: Allaahu akram ("God is more generous").
Merry Christmas
عيد ميلاد مجيد
ʿiid miilaad majiid
"Glorious Nativity feast." Used among and toward Arab Christians. A more religiously neutral form is kull ʿaam wa-anta bi-khayr.
Happy New Year
سنة سعيدة
sana saʿiida
Birthdays
Happy birthday
عيد ميلاد سعيد
ʿiid miilaad saʿiid
Many happy returns
كلّ سنة وأنت طيّب
kull sana wa-anta Tayyib
"Every year and you are well." Used at birthdays and at the New Year.
Common mistakes
- Correcting someone who says mabruuk. Don't. The classical-grammar argument is real but socially settled — everyone says mabruuk, and pointing out that mubaarak is more correct will not earn you any goodwill.
- Replying to mabruuk with shukran. Not wrong, but flat. The expected reply is allaah ybaarik fiik ("may God bless you"), which carries the warmth back.
- Forgetting naʿiiman. A small piece of vocabulary that pays off. Saying it to someone who has just had a haircut or come out of the shower is a small social win — recognising that the moment has its own register.
- Mistaking mabruuk for mabarak. A common transliteration slip. The word is mabruuk (passive participle pattern maC1C2uuC3); mubaarak is the alternative. There is no mabarak.