شفاكم الله وعافاكم
Shafākum Allāh wa ʿāfākum
May God heal you and grant you well-being: a wish said to a person who is ill, especially when visiting the sick.
What it means
The phrase shafākum Allāh wa ʿāfākum means “may God cure you and give you health”. The first verb, shafā, is to heal, and the second, ʿāfā, is to grant safety and well-being. Muslims say it to someone who is ill, and it is often heard when visiting the sick, in the form shafāka Allāh to one person. Visiting the sick is a duty of one Muslim toward another, and the visitor is encouraged to pray for the patient and to speak with hope. In the Quran, Abraham says of God, “When I am ill, it is He who heals me” (26:80), which gives the believer the sense that healing comes from God, while the physician is the means.
Often misunderstood as
English “get well soon” is a wish about the patient, but the Arabic form turns it into a prayer to God for healing and for well-being.
What the sources say
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) listed visiting the sick among the rights of a Muslim over another (Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim). He used to pray over a sick person, “Remove the harm, O Lord of the people, and heal; You are the Healer, and there is no healing except Your healing” (Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim).
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 60, listed as SHAFĀKUM ALLAH WA ‘AFĀKUM.. The definition is restated here.