bariki
verb
to bless.
Its passive form, barikiwa, means “to be blessed.”
Forms
- barikiwa
- to be blessedpassive
Origins
Bariki comes from Arabic verbs for blessing: بَرَّكَ (barraka, “to invoke a blessing”) or بَارَكَ (bāraka, “to bless”). Both are recorded as possible source forms. You can hear the Swahili verb in Tanzania’s national anthem, Mungu ibariki Afrika (“God bless Africa”).
Sources9
Tanzania Parliament, Official Report, 28 January 2026 (2026), 112, closing blessing; 76, resources discussion.
Attests the plural blessing clause and passive use about natural resources.
Fidèle Mpiranya, English-Swahili Swahili-English Immersive Dictionary (Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 2024), 41, bless (a); PDF page 55.
Supports bariki, “to bless,” its passive form barikiwa, and the example Mungu akubariki! Does not establish standalone barikiwa as a farewell or well-wish.
Grace Wairimu Mutai, Muundo na Uamilifu wa Chagizo katika Virai na Vishazi vya Kiswahili Sanifu (University of Nairobi, 2019), 56, example 107; PDF 64.
Attests Mama alibariki mtoto wake.
Tanzania Parliament; Oliver D. Semuguruka, Official Report, 4 May 2016 (2016), 38.
Attests the passive example about fertile land, weather and rain in Kagera.
Bible Society of Tanzania and Bible Society of Kenya, BIBLIA KISWAHILI · Revised Union Version (2013), Wimbo ulio Bora, introductory prose.
Attests Mungu amebariki upendo wa ndoa. This example is introductory prose.
Thilo C. Schadeberg, World Loanword Database · Swahili vocabulary (Max Planck Institute / Lexibank, 2009), forms.csv Swahili-22-23-1; borrowings.csv 8417.
Identifies Arabic barraka (II) and bāraka (III) as possible immediate sources of -bariki, “bless.”
Edward William Lane, Arabic-English Lexicon (1863–1893), Root برك, forms II and III.
Supplies the Arabic spellings and blessing usages of the recorded donor verbs.
Tanzania High Commission in Kampala, People and Culture, Music, national anthem title.
Identifies Tanzania’s national anthem as Mungu Ibariki Afrika, “God Bless Africa.”
CBM Sunday School, Kiswahili Level 1, Lesson 9: Yakobo na Esau, PDF 1, question 7.
Attests Isaka alibariki nani?
Examples
Mungu akubariki!
God bless you!
Mungu awabariki sana.
May God bless you all abundantly.
Mama alibariki mtoto wake.
The mother blessed her child.
Mungu amebariki upendo wa ndoa.
God has blessed love within marriage.
Isaka alibariki nani?
Whom did Isaac bless?
Tumebarikiwa kuwa na ardhi yenye rutuba.
We are blessed with fertile land.
