ما شاء الله
Mā shāʾa Allāh
“What God has willed”: said on seeing something good or admirable, to credit it to God.
What it means
The phrase means “what God has willed” and is said when a person sees something good, beautiful or impressive: a child, a harvest, a skill, a new home. It acknowledges that the good thing exists because God willed it. The Quran gives its origin in the story of the man with two gardens, where his companion tells him that on entering his garden he should have said, “What God has willed! There is no strength but in God” (18:39).
In use it often serves as praise for a person or thing without pride and as a reminder that the blessing is from God. It differs from inshāʾ Allāh, “if God wills”, which speaks of the future, while mā shāʾa Allāh speaks of what already is. It keeps praise from turning into pride, because the speaker names God as the one who gave the good thing.
Often misunderstood as
It is often confused with inshāʾ Allāh, and English glosses such as “wonderful” miss that the phrase credits the good thing to God’s will.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 58, listed as MĀ SHĀ’A ALLAH.. The definition is restated here.