استحب

اِسْتَحَبَّ • (istaḥabba) X (non-past يَسْتَحِبُّ (yastaḥibbu), verbal noun اِسْتِحْبَاب (istiḥbāb))

1. (transitive) to deem something recommendable
2. (transitive) to prefer, to favour, to love more than

   Synonyms: فَضَّلَ (faḍḍala), آثَرَ (ʔāṯara)

   اِسْتَحَبَّ الصَّمْتَ عَلَى الْكَلَامِ حِينَ ٱحْتَدَمَ الْجَدَلُ

   istaḥabba aṣ-ṣamta ʕalā l-kalāmi ḥīna ḥtadama l-jadalu

   (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   He preferred silence than speaking when the debate escalated.

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 41:17:

     وَأَمَّا ثَمُودُ فَهَدَيْنَاهُمْ فَٱسْتَحَبُّوا ٱلْعَمَى عَلَى ٱلْهُدَى

     waʔammā ṯamūdu fahadaynāhum fastaḥabbū l-ʕamā ʕalā l-hudā

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

     As for Thamud, We have indeed guided them . Yet they favored blindness over guidance.