This document provides information about a book titled "Essentials of Arabic Grammar for Learning Quranic Language" by Brig. (R) Zahoor Ahmed. It includes the book's title, author, publisher, and availability at bookstores in major Pakistani cities. It also notes that the material from this book can be freely used to learn the Holy Quran. The document contains acknowledgments from the author and an outline of the book's contents across 19 lessons on topics of Arabic grammar.

1. ‫إ أ ْ َ ْ َ ُ ُ ْ ً َ َ ِ َ َ ُ ْ َ ْ ُِ ن‬
َ َ ِ
Essentials of Arabic Grammar
for
Learning Quranic Language
Brig.(R) Zahoor Ahmed
(M.A, M.Sc)
This material may be freely used by any one for learning the Holy Qur’an.

2. “This material may be used freely by any
one for learning the Holy Qur’an.”
Name of Book : Essentials of Arabic Grammar for
Learning Quranic Language
By : Brig. (R) Zahoor Ahmed
593 – Chaklala-III, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Tel:+92-51-5766197, Cell:+92-334-5380322
E-mail: zahoorahmad50@yahoo.com
Composed by : Muhammad Irshad
Tel:+92-51-2875371, Cell:+92-333-5252533
First-Edition : 2008
ISBN : 978-969-9221-00-1
Available at:
ISLAMABAD DARUSSALAM Publishers & Distributors
Shawaiz Center, F-8 Markaz, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Tel/Fax:+92-51-2281513, Cell:+92-321-5370378
E-mail: Islamabad@darussalampk.com
DAR-UL-ILM Publishers, Booksellers & Translators
699 – Aabpara Market, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Tel/Fax:+92-51-2875371, Cell:+92-321-5175371
E-mail: dar-ul-ilm@hotmail.com
RAWALPINDI STUDENT BOOKS
Shop M-44/F, Bank Road, Saddar, Rawalpindi,Pakistan
Tel:+92-51-5516918, Cell:+92-321-5161772
E-mail: studentbooks@gmail.com
Mr. MOHSIN MANZOOR BHATTI
148 – Chaklala-III, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Tel:+92-51-5598658, Cell:+92-321-5181937
E-mail: mohsin8189@hotmail.com
LAHORE DARUSSALAM Publishers & Distributors
36 – Lower Mall, Secretariat Stop, Lahore, Pakistan.
Tel:+92-42-7240024, Fax:+92-42-7354072
E-mail: info@darussalampk.com
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Z110 (DCHS), Main Tariq Road, Karachi, Pakistan.
Tel:+92-21-4393936, Fax:+92-21-4393937
E-mail: info@darussalampk.com
edition:
Price of printed edition:
200/- 10/-
In Pakistan Rs. 200/- Abroad US$ 10/-

3. Official website of the author, Brig. (R) Zahoor Ahmed
where some more free Arabic learning resources are
available is:
www.sautulquran.org
Important Abbreviations:
SWT = Subhaanahu Wa Ta’aala
SAW = SallAllaahu `alaihi wa sallam
RA = RadiyAllaahu `anhu
Note:
Some pages in the original hard copy were blank,
since new chapters started from the right page and if
the previous chapter ended in a right page, the next
left page was omitted and the next chapter was started
from the right page.
(Left Page) (Right page)
So these blank pages which have been omitted from
the online version to save file size and allow quicker
download include pages numbered: 6, 28, 38, 44, 52,
74, 86, 94, 128, 140, 144, 148, 158 and 176.
Insha’Allah!, soon, even more additional supplements
for this book will be available at the official website of
the author.
Spread this book as much as possible!

4. Acknowledgement
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
All the praises and thanks be to Allah (SWT) with Whose
help, guidance and blessings have I been able to
accomplish this work. My sincere thanks and prayers for
my parents who afforded me the understanding of true
Islamic values. ﴾‫א‬ ‫ א‬ª ﴿ I whole-
heartedly thank Muhammad Irshad for the laborious
work of typesetting, and extend my sincere thanks to
Ubaid-ur-Rahman for carrying out the strenuous work
of vetting the book. I am grateful to Zeenat Ullah Khan
for proof reading of the book, as also Mohsin Manzoor
Bhatti for his forthcoming assistance.
I acknowledge with appreciation and thanks the
contribution made by my wife, Tahira Ahmed, in her
own domain. And finally I am most grateful to my
Arabic teachers, including Dr. Idrees Zubair (Al-Huda
International), Professor Abu Masood Hassan Alvi
(Islamic Research Academy), Ubaid-ur-Rahman (Vice
Principal, Institute of Arabic Language), Professor
Abdus-Sattar (Allama Iqbal Open University), and
Professor Asma Nadeem (National University of
Modern Languages), who taught me the language of
the Glorious Quran. May Allah (SWT) reward them all
with the highest reward. ‫ א‬ª ‫و د א نא‬

I

5. Contents
CONTENTS
Preface – .....................................
................................ ..... 1
Lesson–
Lesson–1: Parts of Speech – ‫................... م א‬ 7
The Noun ............................................ 7
The Verb.............................................. 8
The Harf .............................................. 8
The Vowels.......................................... 9
The Verbal Noun ................................. 10
Lesson–
Lesson–2: The Gender of Noun – ‫................. א‬ 13
Real Gender......................................... 13
Formal Gender..................................... 13
Exceptional Cases ................................ 14
Common Gender ................................. 16
Lesson–
Lesson–3: The Number of Nouns – Ú ‫......... د א‬ 17
Wahid or Mufrad ................................. 17
Tathniyah............................................. 17
The Plural of Nouns and Adjectives...... 17
The Sound Plural in Arabic................... 18
The Broken Plural ................................ 19
Lesson–4:
Lesson– The Pronouns – ‫.......................... א‬ 21
Pronouns Attached to a Verb................ 23
Possessive Pronouns ............................ 25
Demonstrative Pronouns...................... 26
The Relative Pronouns ......................... 26
Interrogative Pronouns ......................... 27
I

6. Contents
Lesson–5: The Irab of Nouns – ª‫א‬
Lesson– ‫92 ..................... א‬
ª‫03 ..................................... א א‬
ú‫ א و‬ª‫23 ....................................... א א‬
Declinable ........................................... 34
Indeclinable......................................... 36
Lesson–
Lesson–6: The Adjective Phrase – ...... 39
.......................................... 39
‫م‬ .............................................. 39
Lesson–
Lesson–7: The Relative Phrase – .......... 45
Lesson–
Lesson–8: The Demonstrative Phrase–
Phrase– ... 49
Lesson–
Lesson–9: The Genitive Phrase – ........... 53
Inseparable Prepositions....................... 53
Separable Prepositions ......................... 55
Lesson 10:
Lesson–10: The Sentence – ‫95 ............................ א‬
The Nominal Sentence......................... 59
The Verbal Sentence ............................ 59
Types of the Mubtada........................... 61
The Omission of the Mubtada/ the
Khabar................................................. 65
Types of the Khabar ............................. 65
Lesson–11:
Lesson–11: Some Particles of Various Origin ............. 69
Lesson–12:
Lesson–12: The Verb – Perfect Tense –
Tense ‫א‬ ‫57 .... א‬
The Active and Passive of Madi............ 82
Lesson–13:
Lesson–13: The Verbal Sentence – ‫א‬ ‫78 ........ א‬
The Nominal Sentence......................... 87
The Verbal Sentence ............................ 87
The Object .......................................... 88
Lesson–14: The Imperfect Tense - ‫א ع‬
Lesson–14: ‫59 ........... א‬
Six Groups of Triliteral Verbs ............... 101
Moods of Verb..................................... 104
II

7. Contents
Lesson–15:
Lesson–15: The Imperative Tense – ‫511 .............. א‬
Lesson–16:
Lesson–16: Form-
The Derived Verbal Form-I– ... 121
Lesson–17:
Lesson–17: The Derived Verbal Form-II – ْ ª ...... 129
Form-
Lesson–18:
Lesson–18: Form-
The Derived Verbal Form-III – ª ..... 133
Lesson 19:
son–
Lesson–19: Form-
The Derived Verbal Form-IV – ª .... 137
Lesson–20:
Lesson–20: Form-
The Derived Verbal Form-V – ª .... 141
Lesson–21:
Lesson–21: Form-
The Derived Verbal Form-VI – ‫ א‬ª ... 145
Lesson–22:
Lesson–22: Form-
The Derived Verbal Form-VII – ْ ‫ א‬ª ... 149
Lesson–23:
Lesson–23: The Derived Verbal Form-VIII – ْ ‫ א‬ª ... 153
Derived Form-
Lesson–24:
Lesson–24: The Derived Verbal Form-IX – ْ ‫ א‬ª . 155
Form-
Lesson–25:
Lesson–25: The Unsound Verbs – ‫951 ..................... א‬
The Sound Verbs.................................. 159
The Weak Verbs .................................. 159
The Mahmuz ....................................... 160
The Muda’af ........................................ 160
Lesson–26: Duplicated
Lesson–26: The Hamzated and Duplicated Radical
Verbs – ‫771 ............................ א ز وא‬
The Mahmuz ....................................... 177
The Muda’af ........................................ 179
Lesson–27: The Numerals – ‫581 ............................. א د‬
Lesson–27:
Lesson–28: The Nouns in Accusative – ª
Lesson–28: ‫391 ........ א‬
...........................................
Conclusion ................................ ........... 203

III

8. Preface
‫א‬ ‫א א‬
(In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious,
the Most Merciful)
Islam is the divine system of guidance for all human being
on the earth, and the Prophet, Muhammad (SAW) is the
universal messenger of Allah (SWT), as revealed in chapter
34,verse 28 of the Holy Quran.
‫س‬ ً ¯ ْ ‫﴿و‬
﴾‫ن‬ ‫ْ א س‬ ‫אو אو‬
ً ً
“And We (Allah) have not sent you (O Muhammad (SAW))
except as a giver of glad tidings and a warner (against sin)
to all mankind. But most of people know not”
Likewise, the book of guidance, al-Quran is a divine
treasure of knowledge and a universal code of conduct in
Arabic for salvation of the entire humanity, as revealed in
the following two verses of the Holy Quran:
﴾‫ن‬ ً ْ ﴿
“Verily, We (Allah) have sent it down as an Arabic Quran
in order that you may learn wisdom”. [12/1]
‫ل‬ ‫نא‬ ﴿
﴾‫ن‬ ْ ‫وא‬ ْ‫א‬ ª ‫سو‬ ‫אْ ن‬
“Ramadan is the month in which was sent down the
Quran, a guidance for mankind and clear proofs
1

9. Preface
for the guidance and the criterion (between right
and wrong)”. [2/185]
We can derive benefits from this divine source of
knowledge and guidance only if we learn the Quranic
language. It must be clearly understood that reading of
translation of the Book is, at best, a poor substitute to
learning the Quranic language. One cannot understand the
exact meaning and the spirit of the divine revelation
without understanding the text of the Book. Infact, Allah
(SWT) has repeatedly stressed on the ponderability of His
message, which is not possible without having an insight
knowledge of the language. The following two verses
necessitate the understanding of the divine message
directly from the Arabic text.
﴾ª ْ ‫و א‬ ‫و‬ ‫وא‬ ¯ ْ ª ﴿
“(This is) a Book (the Quran) which we have sent down
to you, full of blessings that they may ponder over its
message, and that men of understanding may
receive admonition.” [38/29]
﴾ ْ ª ‫ون א ْ ن م‬ ﴿
“Do they not then think deeply in the Quran, or are their
hearts locked up (from understanding it).” [47/24]
In truth, it is the ‘Haq’ (right) of the divine message to be
recited in the best possible manner, and be understood in
the right perspective, as has been highlighted in the
following verse:
2

10. Preface
‫و‬ ª ْ‫א‬ ‫﴿א‬
﴾‫ون‬ ْ‫א‬ ‫و‬ ْ ‫و‬ ‫ن‬ ‫و‬
“Those to whom we have sent the Book recite it (obey its
orders and follow its teachings) as it should be recited they
are the ones who believe therein. And those who
disbelieve in it (the Quran) those are they
who are the loosers.” [2/121]
In this verse the Arabic verb ‘yatlu’, in fact, cannot be
translated in one word in any other language, which
implies ‘recitation, understanding and obeying’. This verse
has emphasized the understanding of the text of the Book
by the believers, and further added that ‫ن‬ ‫و‬
‘they are the ones who (really) believe therein’, implying
thereby that, those who do not recite it as it deserves to be
recited, they do not have sincere faith in the Holy Quran.
Unfortunately, most of the non-Arab believers, particularly
the Pakistanis, do not understand the Arabic text of the
Book.
It is important for the learner to know that the Arabic is
very easy to learn as it is a highly sophisticated language
based on very refined and systematic set of rules and
patterns. This fact is confirmed by Allah (SWT) in the
following verse:
﴾ ْ ‫אْ ن‬ ‫﴿و‬
“And we have indeed made the Quran easy to understand
and remember, then is there any that will remember
(and receive admonition)”. [54/17]
3

11. Preface
It is an open challenge for all those who are in search of
truth. Nevertheless, it does require consistent effort, with a
sense of purpose and commitment, to attain this most
important treasure of knowledge for the mankind, and the
following tradition of the prophet (SAW) rightly accords a
very high status to the learner of the Holy Quran.
W‫ن ل‬ ‫ن‬ FF
EE? ‫אْ ن و‬ ?W ‫لא‬ ‫ل‬
Uthman ibn ‘Affan (RA) relates that the messenger (SAW) of
Allah said: “The best among you
are those who have learnt the Quran and teach it
(to others)“. [Al-Bukhari]
The aim of this book is to enable the learner to acquire an
insight knowledge of the Quranic language with a view to
understanding the text of the Holy Quran.
In all, this book has 28 lessons. I have tried to make it as
simple as I could. During the course of study the learner
should acquire the vocabulary right from the start of the
book. All the words and phrases used in the lessons should
be understood and remembered so that he or she can
muster sufficient vocabulary to enable him or her to
construct simple phrases and sentences from an early stage
of the study. Besides, the learner should recite a page or
two from the Holy Quran regularly, and try to apply the
grammatical aspects of the language to the verses of the
Quran as an exercise.
4

12. Preface
The verbal forms and pronouns of Arabic grammar are
generally considered difficult to understand or remember.
The learners are advised to concentrate in the beginning
only on the third person masculine singular and plural
forms, the second person masculine singular and plural
forms and both the first person forms in the given tables,
and skip over the verbal forms and pronouns of the
feminine gender (except the singular forms) and the dual
forms E F, as these forms are not frequently used in the
Holy Quran. In the given tables of conjugation I have
included all the forms of the verbs and the pronouns,
essentially as ready reckoners for the learners.
And finally the most important advice to the learner is that
he or she should seek the guidance and help of Almighty
Allah through supplications such as:
﴾ ‫و‬K ª ‫א‬ª ﴿
“O my Lord! Expand for me my chest (grant me self-
confidence, contentment, and boldness). And
ease my task for me”. [20/25-26]

5

13. ‫س א ول‬ ‫ א‬Lesson 1
ْ‫ْ م א‬
PARTS OF SPEECH
We start the Arabic lessons from the very beginning. A
meaningful word in Arabic is called Kalimah ( ). It has
only three parts. In other words there are only three parts of
speech in Arabic. These are;
‫( א‬Noun, literally ‘name’):
It is that word which does not need the help of another
word to explain its meaning. It is the name of a person,
a place or a thing, and the term Ism includes the
adjective nouns ‫ א‬as well, e.g.
‘Muhammad’,
‘Ahmad’, ْ ‫‘ و‬William’, ‫ج‬ ‘George’, ‫ز‬
‘Zenab’, ‘Aishah’, ‘Maryam’, ‘Tahirah’,
‫ن‬ ‘Pakistan’, ‫ن‬ ‘London’, ‘France’, ْ‫א‬
‘the house’, ‫‘ א‬the Mosque’, ‘a pen’, ª ْ ‫‘ א‬the
book’, ‫‘ א‬the garden’, ‘Kaba’, ‫‘ א ْ ق‬the paper/
leaf’, ‫م‬ ‘food’, ‘a shade’, ‫‘ א‬the body’, ‘a
hand’, ‘a shirt’, ‫‘ א‬the cave’, ‫‘ א‬the chair’,
‫‘ م‬a foot’, ‫‘ א‬the girl’, ‫‘ و‬a boy’, ‘a student’,
‘a man’, ‫‘ س‬a horse’, ‫‘ א‬the eye’, ‫‘ ذن‬an ear’,
‫‘ א‬the Muslim’, ‫‘ א‬the non-believer of Islam’,
‫א‬ ‘a Christian’, ‫د‬ ‘a Jew’.
7

14. Parts of Speech
‫א‬ ‘the pious/ righteous person’, ‘a
disobedient’, ‘a helper’, ‘a poet’, ‫‘ א‬the
Knowledgeable’, ‫‘ א‬the Ignorant’, ‫‘ א‬the new’,
‫‘ א‬the old’, ‫‘ א‬The All Hearing’, ‫‘ א‬The All
Knowing’, etc.
(Verb):
It is that word by which we understand some work or
action being done. It is of three kinds/ tenses:
1 The perfect tense, the Madi E ‫א‬F is used for an
action which is completed, e.g. ‘he did’,
‘he wrote’, ‫‘ د‬he entered’.
2 The imperfect tenses the Madari E‫ع‬ ‫א‬F used when
an action is not completed, e.g. ْ ‘he does or he
is doing or he will do’, ْ ‘he writes/is writing/
will write’, ‘he enters/is entering/will enter’.
3 The imperative tense or the Amr E ‫א‬F which
signifies command, request or supplication, e.g. ْ ‫א‬
‘do’, ْ ‫‘ א‬write’, ‫‘ אد‬enter’.
ú (Harf):
The particle, preposition and conjunction are called
harf. It is that word which is used with noun or verb to
complete the meaning of the sentence; its meaning will
depend on the word with which it is used, e.g. ‘on’,
‘in’, ‘regarding’, ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘that/ what’,
etc.
8

15. Parts of Speech
(Meaningful Word)
ú ‫א‬
Particle, Preposition, (Verb) (Noun)
Conjunction
Further explanation and information about the Ism, the
Fail and the Harf will follow in the subsequent lessons.
Vowels (ª –Harkaat):
Harkaat):
The vowels used in Arabic are called ª ‫ א‬which
are explained below:
1 (Fathah): Signed as ‫ ﹷ‬on top of a letter and
pronounced as ‘a’ in ‘above’.
2 (Kasrah): Signed as ‫ﹻ‬ under a letter and
pronounced as ‘i' in ‘if’.
3 (Dammah): Signed as ‫ ﹹ‬on top of a letter and
pronounced as ‘u’ in “put”.
4 ‫ن‬ (Sukun): Signed as ‫ ﹿ‬on top of a letter as ‘stop’
or ‘stress’; it indicates that the consonant is
vowelless, e.g, (kun), ª (abb), (mun).
5 (‘N’ sound): Signed as double vowel ‫– ,– ,ﹱ‬
ٍ ٌ
as indicated is called tanwin, e.g. ً (kitaban),
ª (kitabin), ª (kitabun). Remember that a
word with tanwin is always a noun E ‫א‬F, also a
word having (al) ‫ אل‬in the beginning is an indication
of its being a noun, however, it does not necessarily
9

16. Parts of Speech
mean that a word without ‘al’ or tanwin will not be
a noun ‫ .א‬This is evident from the examples of
nouns mentioned above where certain words have
neither tanwin nor ‘al’, yet they are nouns. It should
be noted that the tanwin and ‘al’ never come
together on a noun. If ‘al’ comes in the beginning of
a noun then its case-ending will be single vowel,
not tanwin, e.g.. it may be ª (a book) or ª ْ ‫א‬
(the book). It is incorrect to say ª ‫.א‬
The Verbal Noun E ‫א‬F
‫א‬F:
The verbal noun or noun of action may also be used as
‫ ,א‬e.g. ‘help’ (literally helping), ª ‘a blow’
(literally striking), ‫د‬ ‘prayer’ (literally praying),
‘order’ (literally ordering).
The Arabic definite article ‘‫( ’אل‬al) corresponds to the
English definite article ‘the’. The Arabic indefinite article
tanwin is dropped when the definite article ‘al’ is prefixed
to a noun, e.g. (baitun) ‘a house’ becomes ‫( א‬al-
baitu) ‘the house’, (jamalun) ‘a camel’ to ‫א‬
(aljamalu) ‘the ‘camel’.
Arabic has 28 alphabets or letters; of these, 14 are called
the Sun Letters E ‫ א‬ú‫א و‬F and the other 14 are called
the Moon Letters E ‫ א‬ú‫א و‬F. In the moon letters the
lam E‫ل‬F of al is pronounced, e.g. ‫( א‬al-qamaru’). While
in the sun letters the lam of al is assimilated to the first
letter of the noun, e.g. ‫( א‬ash-shamsu). The
assimilation is indicated by (shadda, –) on the first letter
ّ
10

17. Parts of Speech
of the noun. A table showing the moon letters and the sun
letters is given below.
Lunar Letters - ‫ א‬ú‫و‬ ‫א‬
The mother al-ummu – ‫א م‬ J 1
The door al-baabu – ª ْ ‫א‬ ª J 2
The garden al-Jannatu – ‫א‬ ‫ج‬ J 3
The donkey al-himaru – ‫א‬ ª J 4
The bread al-khubzu – ‫א‬ J 5
The eye al-ainu – ‫א‬ ‫ع‬ J 6
The lunch al-ghadau – ‫א א‬ ‫غ‬ J 7
The mouth al-famu – ‫א‬ ú J 8
The moon al-qamaru – ‫א‬ ‫ق‬ J 9
The dog al-kalbu – ْ ‫א‬ ¯ J 10
The water al-maau – ‫א‬ ‫م‬ J 11
The boy al-waladu – ‫א‬ ‫و‬ J 12
The air al-hawau – ‫א א‬ J 13
The hand al-yadu – ‫א‬ J 14
Solar Letters - ‫ א‬ú‫و‬ ‫א‬
The trader at-taajiru – ‫א‬ ª J 1
The clothing ath-thoubu – ª ‫א‬ J 2
The house ad-daaru – ‫א א‬ ‫د‬ J 3
The gold ad-dahbu – ‫א‬ ‫ذ‬ J 4
The man ar-rajulu – ‫א‬ J 5
The flower az-zahratu – ‫א‬ ‫ز‬ J 6
The fish as-samaku – ‫א‬ ‫س‬ J 7
11

18. Parts of Speech
The sun ash-shamsu – ‫א‬ ‫ش‬ J 8
The chest as-sadru – ‫א‬ ‫ص‬ J 9
The guest ad-daifu – ‫א‬ ‫ض‬ J 10
The student at-talibu – ‫א‬ ‫ط‬ J 11
The injustice az-zulmu – ْ ‫א‬ J 12
The meat al-lahmu – ‫א‬ ‫ل‬ J 13
The star an-najmu – ‫א‬ ‫ن‬ J 14

12

19. ‫سא‬ ‫ א‬Lesson 2
ْ‫א‬
THE GENDER OF NOUNS
This lesson explains the different categories of gender used
for Arabic nouns. According to the Arabic grammar the
gender is classified into the following four categories:
ْ‫א‬ ‫( א‬Real Gender):
The words related to the male sex are (♂)
masculine, and those related to the female sex are
(female ♀), e.g. ‘man’ is a real masculine and ‫א‬
‘woman’ is a real feminine, ‫‘ د‬cock’, ‫‘ د‬hen’, ‫و‬
‘boy’, ‘girl’, ª ‘father’, ‫‘ م‬mother’, ‘brother’,
‘sister’, etc.
‫ز‬ ْ‫א‬ ‫( א‬Formal Gender):
The nouns which do not have the ‘concept of pair’ are
termed as feminine or masculine by form ‫א‬F
E ‫ ز‬Ó‫ .א‬The identification of gender for such noun is
that the words ending with ‘round-ta’ E F are
generally feminine, and those ending with some other
letter are assumed as masculine gender, e.g.
‘watch’, ‫و‬ ‘fan’, ‘tree’, ‘car’,
‘garden’, ‘sign’, ‘life’, ‘window’ are
13

20. The Gender of Nouns
feminine gender by form, and ‫א‬ ‘wall’, ª ‘book’,
‘pen’, ‫אط‬ ‘path’, ‘mosque’, ‘house’,
‘chair’, ‘canal’, ª ‘door’, etc. are considered
masculine gender by form.
It may also be understood that feminine gender is often
formed from the masculine by suffixing ‘ ’, e.g.
‘Muslim’ (♂), ‘Muslim’ (♀), ‘disbeliever’
(♂), ‘disbeliever’ (♀), ‫دق‬ ‘truthful’ (♂), ‫د‬
‘truthful’ (♀), ‘pious’ (♂), ‘pious’ (♀), ‫א‬
‘son’ (♂), ‫‘ א‬daughter’ (♀), ‘student’ (♂),
‘student’ (♀), ‘new’ (♂), ‘new’ (♀), ‘old’
(♂), ‘old’ (♀), ‘long’ (♂), ‘long’ (♀),
‘many’ (♂), ‘many’ (♀), etc.
ْ ‫א‬ ْ ‫( א‬Exceptional Cases):
The nouns which do not fall under the above-
mentioned two categories are termed as exceptional
cases. The following nouns are feminine by usage even
though they have no ‘ ’ (ta) ending nor have they ‘pair-
concept’.
1 ‘sky’, ª ‘war, battle’, ‘sun’, ‘fire’,
‘hell’, ‘wind’, ‘wine’, ْ ‘soul,
person, self’, ‫‘ دא‬house’, ‘well’, ‫‘ ْس‬cup’, ً
‘staff’, ª ‘an idol, a tyrant, devil’, ‘dream’,
‫‘ ض‬earth’, ‘path’, ْ ‫‘ د‬bucket’.
2 Proper names of countries and towns are feminine
by signification, e.g. ‘Egypt’, ‫ن‬
14

21. The Gender of Nouns
‘Pakistan’, ‘Lahore city’, ‘America’,
‫‘ وא‬Washington’, ‫‘ א אق‬Iraq’, etc.
3 Many parts of the body, especially those that are in
pair, are termed as feminine, e.g. ‘hand’,
‘eye’, ‫‘ م‬foot’, ‘leg’, ‫‘ ق‬shin’, ‫‘ ذن‬ear’,
‘cheek’.
4 The nouns ending in ‘ ’, ‘ ’ called ْ
(short alif) or ‫ _א‬called ‫ود‬ (lengthened alif)
are also feminine, e.g. ‘good, beautiful’,
‘great’, ‘small’, ‘good news’, ‫א‬
‘desert’, ‫א‬ ‘harm’, ‫‘ ز א‬blooming’, ‘white’,
‫א‬ ‘green’, ‫‘ ز‬blue’, etc.
5 All Arabic letters of alphabet are considered as
feminine.
6 Some broken plurals, e.g. ‫د‬ ‫‘ א‬the Jews’, ‫‘ א‬the
messengers’, ‫‘ א‬the Christians’ are treated as
feminine.
7 Some collective nouns, e.g. ‫‘ م‬people’, ‘tribe’
are used as feminine. However, ‘family’, ‫ل‬
‘progeny’ are masculine.
8 Exceptional Masculine: Some nouns have ta ‘ ’
ending but they are used as masculine, e.g.
‘caliph’, ‘learned’, ‘a male name’, ‘a
male name’. Some parts of body (single), e.g. ‫ْس‬
‘head’, ‘tooth’, ْ ‘belly’, ‘chest’, etc. are
also considered exceptional masculine.
15

22. The Gender of Nouns
ْ‫א‬ ‫( א‬Common Gender):
Gender):
Some nouns are used as masculine as well as feminine.
These are termed as ْ ‫ ,א א‬e.g. ª ‘clouds’,
‘cattle’, ‫‘ אد‬locust’, ‫‘ ذ‬gold’, ‘bees’, ‘trees’.
These are masculine by form, feminine by signification.
An Explanation Regarding Exceptional Cases:
Here, I would like to clarify an important point regarding
the exceptional cases in the grammatical rules. The learner
should be mindful of the fact that the languages have not
come into being through an academic process based on
some predetermined sets of grammatical rules and forms
but, on the contrary, the languages are spoken by the
natives of the region long before the grammarians form the
grammatical rules applicable to them. And the object of
framing grammatical rules is essentially to facilitate the
learning and better understanding of the languages by the
non-natives or the foreigners. But, where they fail to apply
uniform sets of grammatical rules, they categorize that as
exceptional case. Hence, the exception-rule is a common
feature to all the languages. Having said that, I must hasten
to emphasis that the grammarians of Arabic language have
contributed tremendously in facilitating the learning
process of the language. In fact, they have developed an
easy and effective method of learning the classic Arabic of
the Holy Quran. Hence, their efforts cannot be undermined
in any way.

16

23. ‫سא‬ ‫ א‬Lesson 3
Ú ‫دא‬
THE NUMBER OF NOUNS
Unlike English, Arabic has three numbers: singular is
termed wahid E ‫وא‬F or Mufrad E‫ ْ د‬F, the dual or two of
anything is termed tathniyah E F, and more than two is
plural called Jam E F.
Wahid E ‫وא‬F
‫وא‬F or Mufrad E‫ ْ د‬F:
‫و‬
Examples of Wahid E ‫وא‬F or Mufrad E‫ ْ د‬F are: ª ‫,א‬
‫,א‬ ‫,א‬ , , , , ‫,א‬ ‫,א‬ ‫,א‬
‫, د ق ,و‬ ‫,א‬ , ‫,א‬ ‫ ,א‬etc.
Tathniyah E F:
The dual form ends in aani E‫ ن‬F, e.g. ‫ن‬ ‫ن ,א‬ ‫,א‬
‫ن‬ ‫ن ,א‬ , ‫ن , אن , ن‬ , ‫ن‬ ‫ن ,א‬ ‫,א‬
‫ن‬ ‫ن , د ن ,و אن ,א‬ ‫ن ,א‬ , ‫ن‬ ‫,א‬
‫אن‬ ‫ ,א‬etc.
The Plurals of Nouns and Adjectives:
In English, adjectives have no plural form. We say
“good man” and “good men”. But in Arabic even
adjectives have dual and plural form. In English we
have two kinds of plural form:
17

24. The Number of Nouns
1 Sound Plural: In sound plural the word retains its
original form, e.g. book books, pen pens.
2 Broken Plural: The original form of the word is
changed to a great extent, e.g. Man men, woman
women.
In Arabic too, we have these two kinds of plural forms;
Sound and Broken.
The Sound Plural in Arabic E ‫א‬ ‫א‬F
ْ ‫א‬F:
1 The masculine plural of nouns are formed by adding
‫ _ون‬to the singular form e.g. ‫ن‬ , ‫א‬
‫‘ ق ,א ن‬thief’ ‫ن‬ , ‘ignorant’
‫ن‬ , ‘wise’ ‫ن‬ , ‫ن‬ , ‫א‬
‘patient’ ‫ون‬ ‫‘ א دق ,א‬truthful’ ‫ ,א د ن‬etc.
2 The feminine plural of nouns which end in _, are
formed by changing ‘ ’ (ta) into ‘ª ’ (aat) as,
‘♀ thief’ ª (plural), ª ,
ª‫א‬ , ‘watch’ ª , ª ,
‘protector’ ª , ‘word’ ª ,
ª , ‘window’ ª‫‘ و , א‬fan’
ª ‫, و‬ ‘evil’ ª , ‫‘ د‬step/status’
ª ‫.د‬
The ♀ plural of nouns which do not end in _ are
also formed by adding ‘ª‫ ’א‬to the singular as in
(name) ª , ‘sky’ ª‫وא‬ .
18

25. The Number of Nouns
The Broken Plural E ْ ‫א‬ F:
Unlike English, the broken plural is very widely used in
Arabic. It is formed from the singular by the addition or
elision of consonants, e.g. from ‫ل‬ , from
‫ل‬ , or by the change of vowels, e.g. .
There are many patterns of the broken plural. The
following are commonly used patterns:
No Bab Singular Broken Plural
ª ‫د‬ Ù ‫ א‬
1 ‫ل‬ as from ‘star’ ‫م‬
2 as from ª ‘book’
3 ‫ل‬ as from ‘man’ ‫ل‬
4 ‫ْ ل‬ as from ‘pen’ ‫ْ م‬
5 ْ as from ‘eye’
6 as from ‘poor’ ‫א‬
7 ْ as from ‘rich’ ْ
8 as from ‫ن‬ ‘Satan’
9 as from ‘building’ ‫زل‬
10 ‫ن‬ as from ‘country’ ‫ْ אن‬
11 as from ‘brother’
12 ‫ل‬ as from ‘trader’
Note:
It is quite common for a noun in Arabic to have more
than one broken plurals, e.g. the plural of ‘brother’
are ‫, אن‬ , ‫, אن‬ , or in some cases to have
19

26. The Number of Nouns
both the sound plural and broken plural e.g. in the case
of (prophet), its sound plural is ‫ن‬ and broken
plural is .

20

27. ‫سא א‬ ‫ א‬Lesson 4
‫א‬
THE PRONOUNS
The pronoun is a word used in place of a noun, e.g.
‘he’, ‘they’, ‘she’, ‘you’, ‘we’, ‘his’, ‘her’,
¯ ‘your’, ‘my’, etc. They are of two kinds; the Detached
Pronouns, called , e.g. ‘he’ ‘he
is a student’ and the Attached Pronouns, called
, e.g. ‘his’ ‘his book’, etc.
For detailed conjugation of the detached pronouns see
Table-1. The attached pronouns are either attached to a
noun or a verb, as shown in tables 2 3.
Table – 1
Detached Personal Pronouns
SINGULAR DUAL PLURAL
‫ن‬ ª
3rd Person
Person
he is a they are they are
(♂)
)
student students students
‫ن‬ ª
3rd Person
Person
she is a they are they are
(♀)
)
student students students
21

28. The Pronouns
‫ن‬ ª
2nd Person
Person
you are a you are you are
(♂)
)
student students students
‫ن‬ ª
2nd Person
Person
you are a you are you are
(♀)
)
student students students
L L‫ن‬ Lª
1st Person
Person
‫ن‬ ª
(♂♀)
)
I am a student we are students we are students
Note:
Concentrate on the underlined forms only in the beginning,
and skip over the remaining forms as these are not
frequently used in the Holy Quran.
Table – 2
Pronouns attached to a noun with
E ‫א‬FPossessive Relations
SINGULAR DUAL PLURAL
3rd Person
Person
(♂)
) his book their book their book
3rd Person
Person
(♀)
) her book their book their book
nd
Person
2 Person ¯
(♂)
) your book your book your book
nd
Person
2 Person ¯
(♀)
) your book your book your book
st
Person
1 Person
(♂♀)
) my book our book our book
22

29. The Pronouns
Note:
Concentrate on the underlined forms only in the beginning,
and skip over the remaining forms as these are not
frequently used in the Holy Quran.
Pronouns Attached to a Verb:
Pronouns attached to a verb become its Direct Object,
e.g. ª means ‘he struck’, ‘he’ is a subject and ‘struck’
is a verb; with the addition of an attached pronoun
‘him’ would become the object of the verb ª . For
usage of Attached Pronouns to a verb see Table 3.
Table – 3
Object.
Pronouns Attached to a Verb as its Direct Object.
SINGULAR DUAL PLURAL
3rd Person
Person
He struck He struck He struck
(♂)
)
him/it. them. them.
3rd Person
Person
He struck He struck He struck
(♀)
)
her/it. them. them.
¯
2nd Person
Person
He struck He struck He struck
(♂)
)
you.. you. you.
¯
2nd Person
Person
He struck He struck He struck
(♀)
)
you. you. you.
1st Person
Person
He struck He struck He struck
(♂♀)
)
me us. us.
23

30. The Pronouns
Note:
Concentrate on the underlined forms only in the beginning,
and skip over the remaining forms as these are not
frequently used in the Holy Quran.
Some other examples of frequently used Attached
pronouns are given below:
– ‘my hand’, e.g. ª ‫‘ א‬the book is in my
hand’.
– ‫‘ א‬my two hands’, e.g. ْ ْ ‫א‬ ‫‘ א‬my two
hands are on the table’.
– literally ‘between my hands’ i.e. ‘in front of
me’, e.g. ‫‘ א‬the tree is in front of me’.
– ‘on me or my responsibility’, e.g. ‘his
account is on me’.
– ‘with them/by them’, e.g. ‫‘ א‬the
books are with them’.
– ‘to me or for me’, e.g. ‘my action is for
me’ i.e. I am responsible for my action.
– ‘to you or for your’, e.g. ‫‘ و‬and your
action is for you’ i.e. you are responsible for your
action.
– ‘to him, for him’, e.g. ْ ‫‘ א ْ ْ و א‬to Him
(Allah) belongs the universe and for Him is all the
Praise’, ْ ‫‘ א‬he is right or he has the right’.
– ‘with’, e.g. ‘we have books’,
‘I have a car’.
Note that in Tables 1, 2 3 the second persons ♂♀
dual and the third persons ♂♀ dual are identical.
24

31. The Pronouns
Important Note:
Concentrate in the beginning only on the 3rd Person
masculine singular plural forms, the 2nd Person
masculine singular plural forms, and both the 1st
person forms, and skip over the verbal forms and
pronouns of the feminine gender (except the singular
forms) and the dual forms as these are not frequently
used in the Holy Quran.
Possessive Pronouns:
The word ‫ א‬is prefixed to the Attached Pronouns. The
word ‫ א‬confines the meaning to ‘only/alone’, e.g. ¯ ﴿
﴾ ¯ ‫و‬ “You (Alone) we worship, and You
(Alone) we ask for help”[1/4]. For usage of Possessive
Pronouns with see Table 4.
Table – 4
Possessive Pronouns
SINGULAR DUAL PLURAL
rd
Person
3 Person
(♂)
) He alone Both of them They alone
3rd Person
Person
(♀)
) She alone Both of them They only
2nd Person
Person ¯ ¯
(♂)
) You alone Both of you All of you
2nd Person
Person ¯ ¯
(♀)
) You alone Both of you All of you
st
Person
1 Person
(♂♀)
) I alone We alone We alone
25

32. The Pronouns
Note:
Concentrate on the underlined forms only in the beginning,
and skip over the remaining forms as these are not
frequently used in the Holy Quran.
Demonstrative Pronouns ‫א‬ ‫:א‬
The demonstrative pronouns are listed below:
‫א‬ ‫א‬ Singular Dual Plural
Near ‫א‬ ♂ this ‫אن‬ ♂ these two
ْ ♀ this ‫ن‬ ♀ these two (♂♀) these
Distant ‫ ♂ ذ‬that ‫ ♂ ذא‬those two ‫و‬
ْ ْ ♀that ♀ those two (♂♀) these
Note:
Concentrate on the underlined forms.
The Relative Pronouns ‫ل‬ ‫א‬ ‫:א‬
The relative pronouns ‫,א‬ ‫ ,א‬etc. are used as
conjunction, meaning ‘that, which, who, whom’. They
serve the purpose of joining nouns/pronouns or verbs to
other nouns or verbs. They have a definite form as
given below:
SINGULAR DUAL PLURAL
For Male ‫א‬ ‫אن‬ ‫א‬ ‫א‬
For Female ‫א‬ ‫ن‬ ‫א‬ ‫א‬L ‫א‬
Note:
Concentrate on the underlined forms.
26

33. The Pronouns
Examples:
– ْ‫א‬ ‫ج‬ ‫א‬ ْ ‫‘ א‬The boy who went out
of the Mosque is a student’.
– ‫ن‬ ْ ْ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‫لא‬ ‫‘ א‬The men who left
the office are teachers’.
– ْ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ْ ‫‘ א‬The girl who left the
house is a student’.
– ﴾ ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ﴿ “He is Allah, beside Whom la
Ilaha illa Howa (none has the right to be worshipped
but He)”. [59/293]
– ﴾‫ن‬ ‫ن א‬ ْ‫א‬ ْ ﴿
“Successful indeed are the believers, those who offer
their Salah (prayers) with all solemnity and full of
submission”. [23/182]
Interrogative Pronouns ‫ْ م‬
Interrogative ‫א‬ :
These are given below:
‘who’ ‘what’ ‘where’ ‘how’ ‘when’
‘how much, how many’, ‘which, from where’
‘why’, ‫‘ ذא‬for what’ ‫‘ ذא‬what’

27

34. ‫سא‬ ‫ א‬Lesson 5
‫ א‬ª‫א‬
THE IRAB OF NOUN
The Irab of words is a peculiar characteristic of Arabic
language, which does not have an equivalent in English.
Therefore, it requires particular attention to grasp the
subject. The Arabic noun changes its original form or the
case ending under different grammatical conditions, e.g.
‫ א‬being the original form in nominative case, called
ْ ‫ ,א‬may change to ‫ ,א‬the accusative case, called
‫ א‬or ‫ ,א‬the genitive case, called ْ ‫א‬ . Likewise,
, being the original form, may change to ‫א‬ ً or
, e.g.
in the Shahadah E ‫د‬ ‫א‬F ‘declaration of faith’ the first part
is ‫א‬ ‫ א‬where ‫ א‬is the original form in nominative
case and the second part is ‫ل א‬ where ‫ א‬is in
the genitive case, while in the verse ٍ ‫﴿ن א‬
﴾ , the noun ‫ א‬is in the accusative. Similarly, in the
first part of the Shahadah the noun is in the original
form, but in ‫ א‬the noun is in
genitive form and in ‫ل א‬ ‫א‬
ً ‫ن‬ it is in the
accusative.
29

35. The Irab of Noun
Similarly, we use ª ْ ‫ ,א‬ª ْ ‫ ,א‬ª ْ ‫ א‬as also we read in the
Holy Quran: ª ‫ ,א‬ª ‫,א‬ ْ ‫,א ْ ون ,א‬ ‫,א‬
‫ن‬ ‫ .א‬These changes in the case-endings of the noun are
called ‫ א‬ª‫( א‬Irab of noun).
It is important to remember that the literal meaning of the
words/nouns remain the same in all the different
conditions; however, their function in a sentence changes
according to the different grammatical considerations,
which are explained later in the book.
This change/declension in Irab is effected in two ways as
explained below:
ْ ª‫א‬ ‫:א‬
Case-ending with vowel marks, e.g. ‘a man’ is the
original form in nominative E ْ ‫א‬ F and with the
change of vowels it may become ً in accusative
E ‫א‬ F or ٍ in genitive case E ‫א‬ F or ‫,א‬
‫,א‬ ‫ ; א‬and from ‘books’, which is in the
original nominative form E ْ ‫א‬ F, it may become
ً , or ْ ‫,א‬ ْ ‫,א‬ ْ ‫ ,א‬and from ‫‘ א‬the
women’ ‫,א‬ ‫ ;א‬from ª ª (only
one change is used in this case which represents both
the accusative as well as genitive form). In all these
cases the vowel of the last consonant is changed.
Note that the original form of a noun in all such cases is
always indicated with dammah E _F or tanwin
30

36. The Irab of Noun
E _F, and is called ‫א‬ (halatur-rafha), i.e.
nominative case. And the declined form of ª‫א‬
ْ(Irab bil harkah) is fathha E _F, i.e. single
short vowel or tanwin E _F above the last
consonant, which is called ‫א‬ (halatul nasb) i.e.
accusative case, and kasrah F _F or tanwin ( –)
below the last consonant, which is called ْ‫א‬
(halatul-Jarr).
The declension by Irab bil hakah is effected in the
following three categories of noun.
1 All singular nouns, both masculine and feminine,
e.g.
ْ‫א‬ ْ‫א‬ ْ‫א‬ or ٍ ً
ْ‫א‬ ْ‫א‬ ْ‫א‬ or ً
2 All broken plural nouns, both masculine and
feminine, e.g.
‫ل‬
ٍ ,ً ‘men’ ‫ل‬ or ‫ل‬ ‫ل ,א‬ ‫ل ,א‬ ‫א‬
, ‘women’ or ‫,א‬ ‫,א‬ ‫א‬
3 All feminine sound plural nouns, e.g.
ª , ª ‘Muslim women’ or ª ْ ‫,א‬
ª ْ ‫( א‬There is only one change in this category
which represents both the accusative and the
genitive case.)
31

37. The Irab of Noun
ú‫ ْ و‬ª‫א‬ ‫:א‬
Change of Irab with letter. The change of Irab with
letter is effected in the following two categories of
nouns:
1 All dual E F, both masculine and feminine are
changed with letter, e.g. ‫ن‬ ‘two Muslim men’,
which is the original/nominative case, is changed to
, representing both the accusative and the
genitive forms. In this case ‫( _ ن‬aani) is changed to
_ (aini).
In case of feminine gender, the dual of ‘a
Muslim woman’ is ‫ن‬ ‘two Muslin women’,
which is the original/nominative case, can be
changed to , representing both the
accusative and genitive forms. Here ‫ _ ن‬is changed
to .
2 All sound masculine plural nouns EÍ F
are also changed with letter, e.g. ‫ن‬ (Muslin
men) is the nominative/original form, and it is
changed to , representing both the conditions
of accusative and genitive forms. Here ‫( _ ون‬u’-na) is
changed to - (i’-na).
Note that ‫( ن‬ni) (nu’n at the end with kasra) is
indicative of a dual noun while ‫( ن‬na) (nun with
fatha) is indicative of a sound plural noun.
The different conditions of Irab are summed up in Table 5.
32

38. The Irab of Noun
Table – 5
Different Conditions of Irab E ‫ א‬ª‫א‬ F
ْ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ْ ‫א‬
Number
Gender
No.
(Genitive case) (Accusative Case) (Nominative case)
‫د‬
Changed Form II Changed Form I Original Form
* ْ ‫א‬Lٍ * ْ ‫א‬Lً ْ ‫א‬L ‫وא‬
1
Singular
♂ Masc.
‫א‬L ‫ א‬L L‫ن‬
2
Same as CF-I Muslemaine ‫ن‬ ْ‫א‬ Dual
‫ א‬L ‫ א‬L L‫ن‬
‫ن‬ ‫א‬
3 Í
Same as CF-I Muslemeena
Plural
* ْ‫ א‬L * ْ ‫ א‬Lً ْ ‫א‬L ‫وא‬
4
Singular
♀ Fem.
‫א‬L ‫א‬L L‫ن‬
5
same as CF-I Muslemataine ‫ن‬ ‫א‬ Dual
Lª Lª Lª
*ª ْ‫א‬ *ª ْ‫א‬ ª ْ‫א‬
6 Í
Plural
L Lً L ♂
Broken Plural
* ْ‫א‬ * ْ‫א‬ ْ‫א‬ Masc.
7
L L L ♀
Ù
‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‫א‬ Fem.
Notes
Notes:
te
(1) * — In serial (1, 4, 6, 7) the declension of Irab is
effected by the vowel marks ª ْ ª‫.א א‬
(2) — In serial (2, 3, 5) the declension of Irab is effected
by the letters ú‫ ْ و‬ª‫א‬ ‫.א‬
33

39. The Irab of Noun
(3) — In serial (2, 3, 5, 6) the Changed Form I II are the
same.
(4) — The accusative ending with tanwin (e.g. ً ً )
contains an alif. Exception to this rule being the ً and
, i.e. alif maqsurah E ْ F.
According to Irab the noun is of two kinds; Declinable
Eª F and Indeclinable E F Nouns.
Declinable Eª F:
It is further divided into two kinds;
1 ú - First declension or triptote: The Irab at its
ends change under all the different conditions as
shown in Table 5 above.
2 ú - Second declension or diptote: In this
category the noun does not accept tanwin ( --)
and, in the genitive case-ending, it does not accept
- i.e. it has only two case-endings namely,
nominative/ original form (represented with _)
and accusative (represented with _), which is
also representative of genitive case. Diptotes F
Eú include the following categories:
– Names of women, e.g. ْ ,
etc.
– Names of Prophets and Angels (peace be upon
them), e.g. ‫ون‬ ‫א‬ ª‫و‬ ª‫و‬
‫א‬ , etc.
34

40. The Irab of Noun
– Nouns on ْ pattern, e.g. ْ , , ْ ,
, , ‫د‬ ‘black’, ‘red’, ‫‘ ز ق‬blue’,
‘white’, etc.
– The broken plurals nouns on
patterns, e.g. ‘bed’, , ‘graves’,
‫‘ د א‬Dirhams’, ‫‘ א‬glass’
– Names of men on the pattern of ‫ن‬ , e.g.
‫ن‬ ,‫ن, ْ ن‬ ,‫ن‬ , etc.
– Names of men ending with ? ? (closed ta),
e.g. ْ , , ‫, و‬ , etc.
– Names of most of the countries and cities, e.g.
,‫ن‬ ,‫, ن‬ , , , etc.
– Nouns ending with ‫ א‬or ْ (short ),
e.g. ‫‘ د‬world’, ‫‘ אد‬near’, ْ ‘distant’, ,
, etc.
– Nouns ending with ‫ _א‬E ‫ود‬ F ‘prolonged
vowel’, e.g. ‘merciful’, ‘nobles’, ‫א‬
‘poor’, ‫دא‬ ‘black ♀’, ‘white ♀’, ‫א‬
‘red ♀’, ‫‘ ز‬blue ♀’, ‫א‬ ‘green ♀’.
– Some additional nouns, e.g. ‘hell’,
‘Satin’, ‫ن‬ ‘Pharaoh’, ‫ج‬ ْ ‫ْ ج‬ ‘Gog
Magog’, etc.
Note 1:
With the definite article ‘‫ ’אل‬or with annexed noun
Eú F the diptote Eú F accepts - in
genitive case-ending, e.g. ‫א א‬ ‘In the
35

41. The Irab of Noun
name of Allah, the Most Gracious’, ْ‫א‬
‘from the beds’, ‫א‬ ‘among the Signs of
Allah’, ْ ‘in the best stature/mould’.
Note 2:
The occasions as to when and why a noun changes
its form from nominative to accusative or genitive
case will be studied later.
Indeclinable E F:
Most of the Arabic nouns (about 90%) are declinable
Eª F. However, some nouns/ pronouns called
indeclinable E F, remain static or stationary on their
original form under all the varied conditions. These
include the following:
– Personal pronouns, e.g. , , , , , etc.
– Demonstrative pronouns, e.g. , ‫,و‬ ْ ,
‫ , א‬etc. except the dual , e.g. L ,
‫ אن‬L .
– Relative pronouns E‫ل‬ ْ ‫א א‬F, e.g. ‫,א‬ ‫,א‬
‫,א‬ ‫ ,א‬etc. except the dual E F, e.g.
‫א ن‬L ‫,)♀( א‬ ‫.)♂( א אن ,א‬
– Interrogative pronouns E‫ْ م‬ ‫א‬ F, e.g. , ,
, , , L‫ , ذא‬etc.
– Possessive pronouns, e.g. , , , etc.
– Nouns with alif E F or ْ (short alif)
ending, e.g. ‫,د‬ , ‫‘ د‬near’, ْ ‘distant’.
36

42. The Irab of Noun
– Nouns with personal pronouns, e.g. , ,
, etc.
– Cardinal numbers from eleven to nineteen, e.g.
, ‫,א‬ , .
Important Note:
The learners should not get discouraged if he or she
does not understand this lesson fully at this stage. He or
she should continue with the subsequent lessons,
which would definitely help in better understanding of
the subject of Irab, Insha Allah.

37

43. ‫دس‬ ‫سא‬ ‫ א‬Lesson 6
‫א‬ ْ‫א‬
THE ADJECTIVE PHRASE
So far we have learnt the characteristics of a single word/
noun, called ‫ . ْ د‬We now come to the compounds
Eª ‫א‬F i.e. the phrases/ sentences. If two or more words
are joined together, it constitutes a phrase or a sentence
E F, e.g. ‫ א‬and
ْ ‫ א‬are two mufrad E‫ ْ د‬F
words. But if they are joined as ْ‫א‬ ‫‘ א‬the hard
working student’ or ‫‘ א‬the student is
hardworking’, then they became a phrase/sentence. The
murakkabat are of two kinds;
– Phrase or incomplete sentence.
‫م‬ – Sentence E F which conveys complete
sense.
The murakkabun naqis E F is further divided
into the following four types:
1 ‫א‬ ‫ – א‬the adjective phrase.
2 ‫א‬ ‫ – א‬the relative phrase.
3 ‫א‬ ‫ – א‬the demonstrative phrase.
4 ‫א‬ ‫ – א‬the genitive phrase.
39

44. The Adjective Phrase
It is very important to clearly grasp the above mentioned
four phrases, which would go a long way in the
construction and understanding of sentences E ْ ‫א‬F. In
this lesson we shall learn about the Adjective Phrase, while
the remaining three Phrases and the subject of sentences
will be studied in the subsequent four lessons.
ª ْ‫א‬
(The Compounds)
‫م‬
(Sentence - ) (Incomplete Sentence/ Phrase)
(Genitive Phrase) (Demonstrative Phrase) (Relative Phrase) (Adjective Phrase)
The Adjective Phrase E ‫א‬ ‫א‬F has two nouns in it
where one noun describes the quality of another noun. The
noun that describes the quality is called the adjective
E ْ ‫א‬F and the noun qualified is called ú ‫( א‬al-mausuf),
e.g. ﴾ ْ ‫ א‬ª ْ ‫“ ﴿א‬the illuminating Book” [13/184]. Here
ª ْ ‫‘ א‬the Book’ is the noun qualified Eú ‫א‬F, and ْ‫א‬
‘the illuminating’ is its adjective E ‫א‬F, ﴾ ﴿ “a
noble Angel” [12/31], here ‘Angel’ is ú ‫ א‬and
‘noble’ is its adjective E ‫א‬F. Unlike English ú ‫א‬
comes before ‫( א‬the adjective).
The important point to remember about
(adjective phrase) is that the adjective E ‫א‬F is to
40

45. The Adjective Phrase
correspond to the noun being qualified Eú ‫א‬F in all the
four aspects of a noun, i.e. ‫‘ א ْ د‬number’, ْ ‫‘ א‬the
gender’, ْ ‫‘ א‬the capacity – definite/indefinite’ and
ª‫‘ א א‬the case-ending’. These are explained below:
1 The number E‫د‬ ‫א‬F of the adjective E ‫א‬F is to be in
coordination with ú ‫ ,א‬i.e. if ú ‫ א‬is singular
E ‫وא‬F then ‫ א‬is to be singular E ‫وא‬F, if ú ‫ א‬is
dual E F then ‫ א‬is to be dual, and if ú ‫ א‬is
plural E F then ‫ א‬is to be plural E F, e.g. ‫و‬
(a pious boy), ‫ن‬ ‫( و אن‬two pious boys), ‫و د‬
‫ن‬ (three or more pious boys).
2 The gender E ْ ‫א‬F of ‫ א‬is also to correspond to
ú ‫ א‬i.e., if ú ‫ א‬is then ‫ א‬is to be ;
if ú ‫ א‬is then ‫ א‬is to be too, e.g.
(pious girl), ‫ن‬ ‫( ن‬two pious girls), ª
ª (pious girls, more than two).
3 The Capacity E ‫א‬F of ‫ א‬is also to correspond to
that of ú ‫ א‬i.e., if ú ‫ א‬is definite E F, ‫א‬
will be definite E F, and if ú ْ ‫ א‬is indefinite
E F, ‫ א‬will be indefinite E F, e.g.
– ‫و‬ ‫א‬ ْ‫א‬
– ‫ن‬ ‫و אن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫אن א‬ ْ‫א‬
– ‫ن‬ ‫و د‬ ‫ن‬ ‫א و دא‬
4 The Irab / case-ending Eª‫א‬ ‫א‬F: The Irab of ‫ א‬are to
be in coordination with that of the ú ‫ א‬i.e. if ú ‫א‬
41

46. The Adjective Phrase
is in nominative case E ْ ‫א‬ F, ‫ א‬is to be in
nominative case E ْ ‫א‬ F, if ú ‫ א‬is in the
accusative case E ‫א‬ F then ‫ א‬too is in
accusative case E ‫א‬ F, if ú ‫ א‬is in the genitive
case E ْ‫א‬ F then ‫ א‬is to be in genitive F
E ْ ‫ ,א‬e.g.
‫وא‬
(Plural) (Dual) (Single)
ْ ‫א‬
‫ن‬ ‫ن و د‬ ‫و אن‬ ‫و‬
Nominative Case
‫א‬
‫و دא‬
ً ‫ً و‬ ‫و א‬
ً
Accusative Case
ْ‫א‬
‫و د‬ ‫ٍ و‬ ‫و‬
Genitive Case
An exception to this rule is that the adjective to the broken
plural Eٍ ْ
F of inanimate objects is almost always
feminine singular, e.g. ﴾ ª‫ و ْ א‬K ﴿
“in it there will be couches raised on high, and goblets
placed ready” [88/13-14]. Here ‘raised on high’ is
‫ א‬of ‘couches’ which is a broken plural Eٍ ْ F
of ‘couch’ and an inanimate object Eٍ F.
Similarly, ‘placed ready’ is ‫ א‬of ª‫ْ א‬ ‘goblets’
which is a broken plural Eٍ ْ F of ª ‘goblet’,
which is an inanimate object Eٍ F; therefore, both the
adjectives are in the feminine singular form.
42

47. The Adjective Phrase
Some more examples of the adjective phrases from the
Holy Quran:
‫א‬ ْ ‫,]01/53[ א‬ [24/35], ‫,]791/3[ ع‬
[3/172], ْ‫א‬ ‫,]3/93[ א‬ [33/21],
‫,]38/82[ א א א‬ [14/24], ‫د ْ ن‬ [21/26],
ª [48/25], ‫א‬ ‫,]3/68[ א‬ ª [34/15], ْ
[34/15], [18/82], ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ [55/66],
ª ª [2/99], [88/10], [80/13]

43

48. ‫سא‬ ‫ א‬Lesson 7
THE RELATIVE PHRASE
The Relative Phrase E F is a co-relation between
two nouns. In a relative phrase the idea of one noun is very
often more closely determined or defined by that of
another. In this phrase, the determined noun is called ú ‫א‬
‘the annexed’ and the determining noun is called ú
‘that to which the annexation is made or to which another
noun is annexed’. The relation subsisting between them is
known as ‫‘ א‬the annexation’, e.g. ‫ א‬ª ‘Allah’s
Book’. In this phrase, ª is ú and ‫ א‬is ú .
Similarly, in the phrase ‫ل א‬ ‘Allah’s Prophet’, ‫ل‬ is
ú and ‫ א‬is ú . The following rules apply to
‘annexation’:
‘‫ ’אل‬is never placed on ú nor has it tanwin ( -
nunnation). In the above mentioned examples, it will
be incorrect to say ‫ א‬ª or ‫ א‬ª ْ ‫ א‬and ‫ل א‬ or
‫لא‬ ‫.א‬
ú ْ ‫ א‬is always ‫و‬ i.e., in a genitive case-
ending, e.g. ْ‫, م א‬ ْ ‫ א‬ª and ْ ‫ א‬ª . In
these examples the nouns, ْ ‫,א‬ ْ ‫ א‬and ْ‫א‬
are the mudaf ilai, which are in genitive case.
45

49. The Relative Phrase
If ú ْ ‫ א‬is a dual E F or sound plural masculine
E Í F then its ‫ ن א‬is dropped, e.g.
ْ ‫‘ א‬two doors of the Mosque’ (for ْ ‫,) ن א‬
and ª ْ ‫א‬ ‘Muslims of the Arab’ (for ‫ن‬
ª ْ ‫ .)א‬Similarly, ﴾ ‫‘ ﴿ א‬the two hands of Abu
Lahab” [111/1] (for ‫) אن‬
ú ْ ‫ א‬may be ‫ع‬ (nominative) original form of a
noun, ª (accusative) ‘changed form I’ or ‫و‬
(genitive) ‘changed form II’, e.g. ‫ א‬ª , ‫א‬ª ‫,ن‬
‫א‬ª .
ú ‫ א‬always comes before ú , e.g. ْ‫א‬ ‫ز‬
‘allurement of the life’, here ‫ ز‬is ú ‫ א‬and ْ ‫ א‬is
ú ‫.א‬
There may be more than one ú ‫ א‬in one ,
e.g. ﴾ ‫مא‬ ﴿ “owner of the Day of Judgment”
[1/3], ‫ل א‬ ‘daughter of the Prophet of Allah’.
If ‫ א א‬ú (Interjection) comes before ú ‫ א‬then it is
read as ª , e.g. ‫א‬ ‘Allah’s slave’, with ú
‫( א א‬interjection) it becomes ‫א‬ ‘O Allah’s
slave!’. ْ ْ‫א‬ ‫‘ א‬O Allah! Owner of the
kingdom’. But if that noun is not ú ‫ א‬then it is called
‫ د ْ د‬and is ‫ع‬ , but has no tanwin E F, e.g.
‘O man!’, ‫‘ ز‬O Zaid!’. If ‫ א ْ د‬is with ‘‫ ’אل‬then
for masculine and for feminine is placed after
, e.g. ‫א س‬ ‘O people!, O mankind! ♂’,
ْ ‫‘ א‬O self!, O soul! ♀’.
46

50. The Relative Phrase
The mudaf Eú ‫א‬F is often attached with a personal
pronoun, i.e. , , , , etc, as ú , e.g.
‘their deeds’, in that ‫ل‬ is ú ‫ א‬and is
ú ‫.א‬
﴾‫א‬ ْ‫א‬ ‫“ ﴿ م‬the Day when men will
see what his two hands have sent forth” [78/40], here
‫א‬ (for ‫ ) אن‬is ú ‫ א‬and the pronoun is ú ‫.א‬
When a noun is annexed to a Personal Pronoun, it will
be in the following pattern. (Table 6)
Table – 6
Pronouns Attached to Mudaf as Mudaf ilai
SINGULAR DUAL PLURAL
3rd Person
Person *
(♂)
) his book their book their book
3rd Person
Person *
(♀)
) her book their book their book
nd #
Person
2 Person
(♂)
) your book your book your book
#
2nd Person
Person
(♀)
) your book your book your book
1st Person
Person
(♂♀)
) my book our book our book
Note:
#
— the 2nd Person ♂ and ♀ dual are identical.
*— the 3rd Person ♂ and ♀ dual are identical.
47

51. The Relative Phrase
Since the pronouns are indeclinable E F, they remain in
their original form even as ú ‫ ;א‬however, they are
considered in genitive place E ‫و‬ F.
The suffix of the first person singular is ‘ ’ (ya) and not
(ni), e.g. , not (as attached to verbs). If the
final letter of the word is a E F then it can be absorbed,
e.g. for ‘my wrong action’; ‫( א‬for ‫) א‬
‘my love/wish’.
The nominal suffix ‘ ’ is sometimes shortened into –(i)
particularly when the noun to which it is attached is in
vocative, e.g. ª (for ) which has the meaning ‘O my
Lord!’ as opposed to ‘my Lord’, similarly, ‫م‬ ‘O my
people!’ as opposed to ‘my people’.
The dammah in , , , is changed into kasra after –,
or _, e.g. ‘in his book’, ‘in their
books’, ‘in the two books of the two of them’.
However, if no ambiguity of meaning can arise, the dual
before a dual suffix is replaced by a singular mudaf, i.e.
‘the book of them both’ or the plural ‘the
books of them both’.

48

52. ‫سא‬ ‫ א‬Lesson 8
THE DEMONSTRATIVE PHRASE
The Demonstrative Phrase has two parts: (i) ‫( א א‬the
demonstrating pronoun) and (ii) (the demonstrated
noun), e.g. ْ ‫‘ א א‬this pen’, ‫‘ ْ א‬that watch’,
‫ل‬ ‫‘ א‬these men’. In these examples ‫, ْ , א‬ are
the demonstrating pronouns E ‫א‬ F and ْ ‫,א‬ ‫,א‬
‫ل‬ ‫ א‬are the demonstrated nouns E F. In a
demonstrative phrase there is always a coordination
between ‫ א א‬and in the Number E‫א ْ د‬F, the
Gender E ‫א‬F, the Capacity E ‫א‬F and the case-ending
Eª‫ א‬F.
The demonstrative pronoun E ‫א א‬F has two forms, one
for near distance E ْ ‫א א‬F and another for far
distance E ْ ‫א א‬F. These forms are given in the
following tables.
Demonstrative Pronouns for Near Distance
E ْ ‫א‬ F
Masculine ♂ Feminine ♀
Masculine
Singular - All Cases ‫א‬ this
Dual Nominative ‫אن‬ ‫ن‬ these (2)
Dual - Accusative/Genitive these (2)
Plural - All Cases these all
49

53. The Demonstrative Phrase
Note:
– ‫ א‬L are not written with full alif after , instead it is
written with a short vowel _ as ‫ א‬L or with
ْ (short alif) as ‫ א‬L ; and in both the cases it is
pronounced as ‫ ذא‬L ‫. ذ‬
– The plural form is common to both the genders i.e.
, but it is used only for rational being E F
otherwise , singular form of the feminine is used to
refer to the collective or plural inanimate nouns
E F.
Demonstrative Pronouns for Far Distance
E ْ ‫א‬ F
Masculine ♂ Feminine ♀
Singular - All Cases ¯‫ ذא‬L ‫ذ‬ ْ that/this
Dual Nominative ‫ذא‬ * those (2)
Dual - Accusative/Genitive * ‫ذ‬ * those (2)
Plural - All Cases ‫و‬ ‫و‬ those all
Note:
*– These forms have neither occurred in the Holy Quran
nor are these in the modern use.
Some examples of the demonstrative compounds:
– ْ ‫‘ א א‬this boy or this is the boy’
– ‫א‬ ‘this car’
– ‫ن‬ ‫‘ אن א‬these two students (male)’
50

54. The Demonstrative Phrase
– ‫ن‬ ‫نא‬ ‘these two students (female)’
– ‫ل‬ ‫א‬ ‘these men (more than two)’
– ‫א‬ ‘these women (more than two)’
– ْ ‫‘ ْ א‬that girl’
– ‫א‬ ‫ ذ‬L¯‫‘ ذא‬that man’
– ‫ن‬ ‫א‬ ‫‘ ذא‬those two men’
– ‫ن‬ ‫א‬ ‘those two girls’
– ‫ن‬ ْ‫א‬ ‫‘ و‬those Muslim men (more than two)’
– ª ْ‫א‬ ‫‘ و‬those Muslim women (more than two)’
– ْ‫א‬ ‘these books (inanimate noun)’
– ‫א‬ ‘these trees (inanimate noun)’

51

55. ‫سא‬ ‫ א‬Lesson 9
THE GENITIVE PHRASE
We have learnt earlier in the lessons that an Arabic noun is,
in its original form, in the nominative case E ْ ‫א‬ F. We
have also learnt that in the relative compound the noun is
in the genitive case E ْ‫א‬ F when it is ú ‫ .א‬We will
now study some more frequently used prepositions which,
when present before a noun, make its ending Jarr or the
genitive case. These prepositions can be divided into two
groups, Inseparable and Separable Prepositions.
Inseparable Prepositions:
Consisting of one letter, these are always attached to
the following word. The Inseparable Prepositions are:
1 ‘ª’ (bi): – ‘in, with, by, etc.’, e.g. ْ‫א‬ ْ ‘with
the pen’. When attached to pronouns, it is ‘with it
or with him’, ‘with you’, ‘with them’, etc.
The verbs denoting “to begin, adhere, seize, attach”
are also constructed with ‘ª’, e.g. ‫‘ א‬he got in
contact with him’, ‘he began with him/it’, ‫א‬
‫א‬ ‘I start with the name of Allah’; often the
verb is omitted as in ‫א‬ ‘with the name of
Allah’.
53

56. The Genitive Phrase
To believe in, is ª , e.g. ‘he believed in
Allah’.
To swear by, is ª ْ , e.g. ‫مא‬ ْ ‘I swear
by the Day of Judgment’.
2 ‘ª’ (ta): – for oath only; by the name of the
Almighty Allah, e.g. ‫א‬ ‘by Allah’.
3 ‘‫( ’و‬waw): – for oath, e.g. ﴾‫ א ْ وج‬ª‫ذא‬ ‫“ ﴿وא‬by
the Heaven full of the starts” [the Quran], ْ ‫“ وא‬by
the Time”, ‫“ وא‬by he Sun”, ‫“ وא‬by the
Night”.
4 ‘‫( ’ل‬lam): – ‘for, to, belongs to, because of’, e.g. ‫א‬
ْ ‫‘ א‬this pen is mine’, ª ْ ‫‘ א א‬this book
belongs to Zaid’, ‫م‬ ‘he rose for his help’;
‫א‬ L L ‫ذ‬ L‫א‬ these expressions
denote ‘for this reason’.
‘for Allah, belongs to Allah’ is for E ‫ א‬F, alif is
dropped when ‘‫ ’ل‬comes before ‫ ,אل‬e.g. ‫ن‬ ْ‫א‬
ْ ‘for Muslims’, ‫א ْ ذ ن‬ ‫‘ ْ ذ‬for liars’,
ª ْ‫ א‬ª ْ ‘for the believing women’, etc.
Note that ‘‫( ’ل‬li) is changed to ‘‫( ’ل‬la) before
pronominal suffixes, except with the first person ,
e.g. ‘for him’, ‘for her’, ‘for all of you/ you
all have’, ‘for both of them/ they both have’,
‘for us/ we have’, etc.
5 ‘¯’ (ka): – ‘as, like’, e.g. ْ‫א‬ ْ ‘as the
moon’, ª‫א‬ ª‫א‬ ‘like a mirage’, ْ‫א‬
ْ ‘like the garden’.
54

57. The Genitive Phrase
Separable Prepositions:
The following prepositions are in common use:
1 (fi): – ‘in’, e.g. ‫א ض‬ ‫א ض‬ ‘in the earth’,
‫א‬ ‫‘ א‬in the sky’; and with suffixes:
‘in him/in it’, ‘in me’, ‘in you or among
you’, ﴾ ‫لא‬ ‫ن‬ ﴿ “Surely,
you have in the Messenger of Allah excellent
exemplar” [the Quran].
2 (un): – ‘away from, about, concerning, with’, e.g.
‘from Ali’. Some examples from the
Holy Quran: ª‫א و‬ ‫“ و‬and they ask thee
about the soul”, ‫א‬ ‫ون‬ ‫“ א‬those who
hinder (people) from the path of Allah”, ‫א‬
‫“ و א‬Allah is well pleased with them and they
are well pleased with Him”, and with suffixes it is
‘from me’, ‘from him’, ‘from them’.
3 (min):– ‘from’, e.g. ْ‫א‬ ْ‫א‬ ‘from
the Mosque’, ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‘from the sky’. It is
often interchangeable with and used with
suffixes such as ‘from him’, ‘from me’,
‘from us’, etc. An example from the Quran:
‫א‬ ª ‫א‬ “He brings them out of the
darkness into the light”.
is sometime used to complete the sense of
‘before’ and ‘after’. In that case the words
and become indeclinable ‫א‬ i.e.
, . According to some
55

58. The Genitive Phrase
grammarians this kind of is called an ‘additional’
, e.g. from the Quran ‫و‬ ‫“ א‬with
Allah is the decision in the Past and in the Future”.
However, if and come in a sentence as
ú (annexed) then they are ‫و‬ (in genitive
case), e.g. ‫“ وא‬and those who come
before you”, “after ye have believed”.
4 (ala): – ‘on, at, over, upon, against’, e.g. ‫א ْ ش‬
‫אْ ش‬ ‘on the throne’, ‫א‬ ‫א‬
‘on the way’, from the Quran ‫“ م‬peace be
on you”, ‫“ ن א‬Surely, Allah is
Possessor over all things”. Sometimes it is used in a
hostile sense, e.g. ‫‘ ج‬he went out against
him’. is used with suffixes as shown in table 7.
Table – 7
The Preposition ‫ ﻋﻠﹶﻰ‬and Attached Pronouns

SINGULAR DUAL PLURAL
#
3rd Person
Person
(♂)
) on him On them on them
rd #
Person
3 Person
(♀)
) on her On them on them
nd
Person
2 Person *
(♂)
) on you On you on you
nd
Person
2 Person *
(♀)
) on you On you on you
st
Person
1 Person
(♂♀)
) on me on us on us
56

59. The Genitive Phrase
Note:
Note:
(1) *— the 2nd Person ♂ and ♀ dual are identical.
#
— the 3rd Person ♂ and ♀ dual are identical.
(2) Prepositions like ‘from’, ‘away from’), ª ‘by’,
‘in’, ‫‘ ل‬for’, ‘to’ are similarly attached to the personal
pronouns on the same pattern as shown above for .
5 (ila): – ‘to, unto, towards’, e.g. ْ‫א‬
ْ ‫‘ א‬towards the Mosque’, ‫א ْ אم‬ ْ‫﴿ א‬
﴾ ْ ‫א‬ ْ ‫“ א‬from the sacred Mosque unto the
Distant (Al-Aqsa) Mosque” [the Quran]. With the
suffixes, it is ‘to him, towards him’, ‘to me’,
‘unto us’, etc.
6 There are some nouns which, though not pre-
positions, change the following nouns in the
genitive case:
– ‫( ذو‬possessor), e.g. ٍ ‫‘ ذو‬Gracious or Possessor
of bounty’.
– ‫א‬ (possessor), e.g. ‫م‬ ‫א‬ ‘relations’.
– (companion), e.g. ٍ ْ ‘companion
of knowledge/man of learning’.
– (with), e.g. ﴾ ‫א‬ ‫“ ﴿ ن א‬Allah is with
the patients” [the Quran].
– (with, at, beside): Adverb ú ‫ א‬used for
place/time, e.g. ‘I sat with/beside
him’, ﴾‫א ْ אم‬ ْ‫א‬ ‫“ ﴿و‬and fight
not with them at the sacred Mosque” [the
57

60. The Genitive Phrase
Quran], ‫ع א‬ ‘he came at sun
rise’. It is often used to denote the meaning of
‘for, to, near, presence, etc.’, e.g. ‫﴿אذ‬
﴾ “remember me in presence of thy lord
master” [the Quran], ‫א‬ ‫و‬ ﴿
﴾‫“ ق‬what-ever you possess will pass away and
ٍ
what Allah has, will remain” [the Quran].
7 There are some nouns used in Quran as
prepositions, e.g. L‫ ن‬L ‘with’. These are
used with suffixes as ‘with them’, ‘with
me’, ‘with him’, ‘with me, to me’.
Examples from the Holy Quran: ú ﴿
﴾‫ن‬ ْ ‫“ א‬the Messengers fear not in My presence”,
﴾ ª ْ‫م א‬ ‫“ ﴿و‬and it is in the original of
the Book with us”, ﴾ ْ ‫ذ ْ ن‬ ‫﴿و‬
“and you were not with them when they cast (their
pens) lots with arrows”.

58

61. ‫سא‬ ‫ א‬Lesson 10
ْ‫א‬
THE SENTENCE
In Arabic there are two types of sentences:
The Nominal Sentence E ‫א‬ ‫א‬F
ْ ‫א‬F:
The nominal sentence E Ú ‫א‬ ‫א‬F wherein the first
word is a noun, e.g. ª ْ ‫‘ א‬the book is new’.
The Verbal Sentence E ْ‫א‬ ‫א‬F
ْ ‫א‬F:
The verbal sentence E ْ‫א‬ ْ ‫א‬F where in the first
word is a verb, e.g. ‫ج‬ ‘Hamid went out’.
In this lesson we shall learn about the nominal sentences.
The nominal sentence consists of the mubtada E ‫א‬ ْ ‫א‬F
‘the subject’ and the khabar E ْ ‫א‬F ‘the predicate’. The
mubtada/subject is the noun about which you want to say
something, and the khabar/predicate is what you have to
say about the subject, e.g. ‘Hamid is sick’. In
this sentence you want to speak about Hamid E F, so it
is the mubtada/subject and the information you give about
him is that he is sick EF so that is the khabar/predicate.
Some more examples of simple nominal sentences ْ ‫א‬F
E ‫ א‬are given below:
59

62. The Sentence
‫–א‬ ‫א‬
– ‘Khalid is a wise man’.
– ‘Bashir is a kind man’.
– ْ ‫‘ و‬William is a poet’.
– ‫د‬ ‘Mahmud is a learned man’.
– ‫‘ ز‬Zainab is a learned woman’.
– ‫ل‬ ‘Mohammad (SAW) is a messenger’.
– ‫‘ א‬The student is hardworking’.
– ‫‘ א‬The man is weak/old’.
– ª ‫‘ א ْ ن‬The Quran is a Book’.
– ‫مد‬ ‫‘ א‬Islam is a region/way of life’.
– ‘Ali is a writer’.
There should be an agreement in the number and the
gender between the subject and the predicate, i.e. if a
subject is masculine/feminine singular, dual or plural the
predicate should be likewise.
Examples:
‫–א‬ ‫א‬
Singular ♂ ‘Saeed is a learned man’.
‫א‬ Singular ♂ ‘The student is a hardworking’.
Singular ♀ ‘Saeeda is a learned woman’.
‫א‬ Singular ♀ ‘The student is a hardworking’.
‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫א‬
Dual ♂ ‘Both the students are believers
‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ א‬Dual ♀ ‘Both the students are believers
‫ن‬ ª ‫ א‬Plural ♂ ‘The students are believers’.
ª‫א‬ ª ‫ א‬Plural ♀ ‘The students are hardworking’
60

63. The Sentence
In a nominal sentence if the subject E ْ ‫א‬F is a noun
alone then both the subject and the predicate E ْ ‫א‬F are in
the nominative case.
Types of the Mubtada E ‫א‬F
ْ ‫א‬F :
The beginning of a nominal sentence is one of the
following:
1 A noun or a pronoun, e.g. ‫‘ א‬Allah is forgiver’,
‘I am a hardworking’, ‘this is a
school’.
2 A masdar muawwal E‫א ول‬ ‫א‬F i.e. a clause
functioning as a masdar, e.g. ﴾ ‫א‬ ‫“ ﴿و ن‬and
that you fast is better for you” [2/184]. Here the
clause ‫א‬ ‫ ن‬functions as a masdar (infinitive)
which means ‘your fasting’. Another example
﴾ ْ ªْ ‫א‬ ‫“ ﴿وאن‬and that you should forgive is
nearer to piety” [2/237]. Here ‫א‬ ‫ ن‬is E‫א ول‬ ‫א‬F
which means ْ ‘your forgiving’.
3 A particle resembling the verb, e.g. ‫﴿ن א‬
﴾ “indeed Allah is forgiving, merciful” [the
Quran]. The particles resembling the verb ú‫א و‬F
E ْ ‫ א‬are ‫ ن‬and its sisters, like ‫, ن , ن‬ ,
, and .
The Mubtada E ‫א‬F is normally a definite E F as
indicated in the following examples:
– ‫لא‬ ‘Muhammad (SAW) is the messenger of
Allah’. Here is ‘definite’ E F because it is a
61

64. The Sentence
proper noun E ‫א‬F, and the predicate ‫لא‬ is an
annexation E ‫א‬F.
– ‫س‬ ‘he is a teacher’. is definite because it is a
pronoun E ‫א‬F and the predicate ‫س‬ is an
indefinite noun E F.
– ‫א‬ ‘this is a Mosque’. ‫א‬ is definite because it is
a demonstrative pronoun E ‫א‬ ‫א‬F and the predicate
is an indefinite noun E F.
– ¯ ‫א‬ ‫‘ א‬he who worships other than
Allah is mushrik (one who rejects faith)’. ‫ א‬is definite
because it is a relative pronoun E‫ل‬ ْ‫א‬ ‫א‬F, and the
predicate is a sentence E ‫א‬F.
– ‫א‬ª ‫‘ א ْ ن‬the Quran is the book of Allah’. ‫ א ْ ن‬is
definite as it has the definite article ‫ ,אل‬and the predicate
is an annexation E ‫א‬F.
– ‫א‬ ْ‫ א‬ª ْ ‘the key to Paradise is Salah’. ª ْ is
definite as it’s mudaf ilaihi E ú
F is definite, and
the predicate in this case is a definite noun E F.
However, the subject E ‫א‬ ‫א‬F may be indefinite E F in the
following circumstances.
– If the khabar E ‫א‬F is a shibhu jumlah E F
(literally, that which resembles a sentence), which is
one of he following two terms:
1 A prepositional phrase, like ْ ْ‫א‬ ‘on the
table’, ْ ‘like the water’, ْ‫א‬ ‘in the
62

65. The Sentence
house’. The phrase is also called ‫و‬ ‫و‬ (genitive
phrase).
2 A zarf Eú ‫א‬F ‘adverb’, like ‘with, by, beside’,
‫ق‬ ‘above’, ‘under’, ‫א‬
ً ‘tomorrow’, ‫א ْ م‬
‘today’. ú ‫ א‬is related to time or place.
In these cases the khabar should precede the mubtada,
e.g. ْ‫א‬ ‘there is a man in the room’.
(Remember that ْ‫א‬ is not a sentence). Here the
indefinite noun is the mubtada and the phrase
ْ ‫ א‬is the khabar. Here is another example ‘I
have a sister’ literally ‘there is sister for me’. Here the
indefinite noun is the mubtada and the phrase is
the khabar, ْ ْ‫א‬ ‘there is a pen under the table’
( ْ ْ‫א‬ is not a sentence). Here is the mubtada
and the zarf is the khabar. Another example is,
‘we have a car’ literally ‘there is a car with us’.
Note, words like , ‫, ق‬ are ú not
prepositions in Arabic. The prepositions, like , ,
, , ª, ¯ are particles, but words like ,‫, ق‬
are nouns which are declinable, e.g. , ,
‫א‬ ‫ , א‬and a majrur E ‫و‬
F noun following one
of these words is a mudaf ilaihi E ú F, e.g.
‫‘ א‬under the bed’.
– The mubtada may also be indefinite if it is an
interrogative noun, like ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘how
many’. These nouns are indefinite, e.g. ‘what is
63

66. The Sentence
wrong with you?’; here is the mubtada and the
prepositional phrase is the khabar.
‘who is sick?’, here is the mubtada and
is the khabar. ْ‫א‬ ً ‘how many
students are there in the classroom?’, here is the
mubtada and the prepositional phrase ْ‫א‬ is the
khabar.
There are some more situations where the mubtada can be
indefinite, e.g. ﴾¯ ‫“ ﴿و‬and surely a
believing slave is better than a man who associates
(partners with Allah)” [2/21].
Note, the personal pronouns , , become , ,
when preceded with J or , e.g. , ,
. Also note that the dammah of is pronounced
long if it is preceded by a short vowels, e.g. (la-hu’),
(ra’aitu-hu’). And it is short when preceded by a consonant
or a long vowels, e.g. , ‫و‬ . This rule also applies to
(hi), e.g. (bi-hi), but (fi-hi); this change is for vocalic
harmony.
Also note that in case of the verb with the pronoun of the
2nd person masculine plural, like ‘you saw’, a waw E‫و‬F
has to be added between the verb and the pronoun, e.g.
‘you saw him’, ‘you saw them’, ‘you
saw her’, H ْ becomes ْ ‘you asked them’,
H ْ becomes ْ ‘you killed them’.
64

67. The Sentence
The Omission of the Mubtada/the Khabar:
habar:
The mubtada or the khabar may be omitting, e.g. in
reply to the question ‫ א‬one may say . This
is the khabar and the mubtada has been omitted. The
full sentence is ‫ .א‬Similarly, in answer to the
question ú ‘who knows?’ one may say , which
is the mubtada; and the khabar has been omitted. The
complete sentence is ú ‘I know’.
Types of the Khabar E ‫א‬F
ْ ‫א‬F :
There are three types of the predicate/khabar E ْ ‫א‬F:
mufrad E‫ ْ د‬F, jumla E F and shibhu jumla E F:
1 The mufrad khabar is a word, not a sentence, e.g.
‫وא‬ ‫‘ א‬Allah is one’, EE ْ‫א‬ ْ ‫א‬FF “the
believer is the mirror of the believer” [the Hadith].
2 The jumla E F is a sentence. It may be a nominal
or a verbal sentence, e.g. ‘Hashim’s
father is a trader’ literally, Hashim, his father is a
trader. Here is the mubtada and nominal
sentence is the khabar, and this sentence in
turn, is made up of the mubtada E F and the
khabar E F. Here is another example; ‫א‬
‫‘ א‬what is the name of the doctor?’ literally it
means, the doctor, what is his name? Here ‫ א‬is
the mubtada, and the nominal sentence ‫ א‬is
the khabar. Another example, ‫ د א‬ª ‫‘ א‬the
students entered’. Here ª ‫ א‬is the mubtada and
the verbal sentence ‫‘ د א‬they entered’ is the
65

68. The Sentence
khabar. Another example, ‫‘ وא‬and Allah
created you’. Here ‫ א‬is the mubtada, and the
verbal sentence ‘He created you’ is the
khabar.
3 The shibhu jumlah E F, as we have already
learnt, is either a prepositional phrase or zarf, e.g.
ْ ‫‘ א‬the praise belongs to Allah’. Here ْ ‫ א‬is
the mubtada and the prepositional phrase E ‫א‬H F
is the khabar, and it is in the place of raf F
Eٍ ْ . Another example, ْ‫ْ א‬ ْ ‫‘ א‬the house
is behind the mosque’. Here ْ ‫ א‬is the mubtada,
and the zarf ْ is the khabar. As a zarf, it is
mansub, and as a khabar it is in the place of raf F
Eٍ ْ .
As stated earlier, in a nominal sentence, the subject is
usually a definite noun E F and the predicate is usually
an indefinite E F, but if the subject is a pronoun, e.g.
‘I am Yousaf’, ª ْ ‫א‬ ‫‘ ذ‬that is the book’, then the
predicate maybe a definite noun like and ª ْ ‫ .א‬In
these cases if the predicate is indefinite the meaning is
different, e.g. ª ‫‘ ذ‬that is a book’.
When both the subject E ‫א‬F and the predicate E ‫א‬F are
definite then an appropriate pronoun is frequently inserted
between them. This insertion gives the benefit of emphasis
on the mubtada and it brings the mubtada into focus, e.g.
‫‘ א‬Allah is forgiving’ being a simple nominal
sentence is changed to ﴾ ْ‫א‬ ‫“ ﴿א‬Allah is indeed
66

69. The Sentence
forgiving” [42/5], ‫ن‬ ‫‘ א ْ ون‬those who reject faith-
they are the wrong doers’ to ﴾‫ن‬ ‫א‬ ‫“ ﴿א ْ ون‬those
who reject faith-they are the wrong doers” [2/254]. ª
‫ون‬ ْ ‫‘ א‬the dwellers of paradise will be successful’ to
﴾‫א ْ ون‬ ْ‫ א‬ª ﴿ “It is the dwellers of paradise that
will be successful”. [59/20]. ‫‘ א‬this is a truth’ to ‫﴿ א‬
﴾ ْ ‫“ א‬this is indeed the truth” [8/32]. ‫‘ א‬Allah is
Ghani/Rich, free of all needs’ to ﴾ ْ ‫א‬ ‫“ ﴿א‬Allah, He is
al-Ghani/the Rich, free of all needs”. [the Quran] ‫א‬
to ﴾ ْ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‫“ ﴿א‬Indeed You, You alone, is
the All Hear All Knowing”. [the Quran]
The 3rd person pronoun is inserted when the predicate is
comparative, e.g. ﴾ً ْ ‫ون‬ ‫“ ﴿و‬and my
brother Haroon, he is far better in speech than I am” [the
Quran]. This added pronoun is called the Pronoun of
Separation E ْ‫א‬ F.
: It means ‘is not’. It is used in a nominal sentence to
negate a statement, e.g. ْ‫א‬ ‫א‬
ً ْ‫א‬ or
ْ‫א‬ ‘the house is not new’. Note that is often
prefixed to khabar and it is therefore majrur E ‫و‬ F.
After the introduction of the mubtada is called “ismu
laisa” E ‫א‬F, and the khabar is called “khabaru laisa”
E F. The predicate of is in accusative case. The
feminine of is , e.g. ً
or ‘Amina is not sick’, ‫א‬
‫‘ א‬the car is not old’. Note that in this example
the sukun of has changed to kasrah because of the
67

70. The Sentence
following ‫( אل‬al) (laisat al sayaratu laisa tissayaratu).
Another example, ‫س‬ ٍ ‘I am not an engineer’.
Here, the pronoun ‘ª’ (tu) is the ismu laisa E ‫א‬F and
‫س‬
ٍ is the khabru laisa E F.
Examples from the Holy Quran:
– ﴾ٍ K ﴿ “O Muhammad
(SAW) you are only one who reminds. You are not a
dictator over them” [88/21-22]
– ﴾ª ْ ‫ق وא‬ ْ‫א‬ ‫אو‬ ‫א ْ× ن‬ ﴿ “It is not
al-Birr (piety, righteousness and every act of obedience
to Allah) that you turn your faces towards east and (or)
west (in prayers)” [the Quran].

68

71. ‫د‬ ‫سא‬ ‫ א‬Lesson 11
SOME PARTICLES OF
VARIOUS ORIGIN
‫א –ل‬ ‫: مא‬
It is a lam E‫ل‬F with fathah prefixed to the mubtada
E ‫א‬F for the sake of emphasis , e.g. ﴾ ْ ‫ْ א‬ ‫﴿و‬
“and indeed the remembrance of Allah is the greatest
(thing in life)”. [29/43] This lam is not to be confused
with the preposition which has a kasra, but takes a
fathah when prefixed to a pronoun, e.g. , , , .
The ‫א‬ ‫م א‬ does not change the ending of the
mubtada, e.g. ‘indeed your house is more
beautiful’. Now if we want to use ‫ ن‬also in this
sentence then the lam E‫ل‬F has to be shifted to the
khabar, as two particles of emphasis cannot come
together in one place. So the sentence becomes ‫ن‬
(indeed your house is more beautiful). After its
removal from its original position the lam is no longer
called lam al-ibtida E ‫א‬ ‫ م א‬F. It is now called ‫א م‬
‫( א‬the displaced lam). A sentence with both ‫ ن‬and
‫( ل‬the lam) is more emphatic than with ‫ ن‬or ‫ ل‬alone.
Here are some examples: ﴾ ‫א‬ ‫“ ﴿ ن‬verily your
Ilah (God) is indeed one (i.e. Allah)”. [37/4]
69

72. Some Particles of Various Origin
﴾ª ْ‫א‬ ª ْ‫א‬ ‫“ ﴿و ن אو‬Indeed the frailest
(weakest) of the houses is the Spider’s house”. [29/41].
﴾ٍ ْ‫ א‬ª ª‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‫“ ﴿ ن‬Verily/surely/indeed, the
harshest of all voices is the braying of the asses”.
[31/19]
(But):
(But):
It is one of the sisters of ‫ ن‬and it acts like ‫ , ن‬e.g.
‫ن‬ ‫و ز א‬
ً ‘Hashim is hardworking but Zaid
is lazy’. is also used without the shaddah i.e.
(lakin) and, in this case it loses two of its characteristics:
1 It does not render the noun following it mansub, e.g.
﴾ٍ ‫ل‬
ٍ ‫ن אْ م‬ ‫א‬ ﴿ “But the wrong
doers are today in manifest error”. [19/38]
2 It may also be used in verbal sentence, e.g. ‫﴿و‬
﴾‫ون‬ “But they do not perceive”. [2/12] Both
and are said to be used to rectify or amend the
previous statement.
‫ن‬ :
It is one of the sisters of ‫ , ن‬and so the noun following it
is mansub. ‫ن‬ means, ‘it looks as if’, e.g. ‫نא‬
‘it looks as if the student is sick’ and
ْ ‫( א‬you seem to be from India).
‫:ن‬
The particle ‫ אن‬is used at the beginning of a nominal
sentence, e.g. ‫א‬ ‫ ن א‬and ª ْ‫א‬ ‫ن‬
ª ْ ‫.א‬
70

73. Some Particles of Various Origin
Note that the noun after ‫ ن‬is mansub i.e. in the
accusation case. After the introduction of ‫ ن‬the
mubtada is no longer called mubtada, but is, instead,
called ismu-inna E‫ن‬ ‫א‬F and the khabr is called
khabaru-inna E‫ن‬ F. ‫ ن‬signifies emphasis. It can be
translated as certainly ‘indeed’, ‘surely’, ‘no doubt’,
‘truly’ and ‘verily’.
Remember the following:
1 If the mubtada has one dammah, it changes to one
fathah after ‫ , ن‬e.g. ‫א س‬ ‫ ن א ْ س‬and
‫.ن‬
2 If the mubtada has two dammah E F they change
to two fathah, e.g. ‫א‬
ً ‫ن‬
3 If the mubtada is a pronoun, it changes to its
corresponding mansub form, e.g.
, L and ª L
ª .
‫ ن‬is frequently used with the attached pronouns, e.g.
, , , , ‫ ن‬L , etc. The above mentioned
rules of ‫ ن‬are equally applicable to ‫ ن‬ª‫א‬ – its sisters,
which are ‫, ن , ن‬ , , .
:
This is also a particle like ‫ . ن‬It is called one of the
sisters of ‫ . ن‬Grammatically it acts like ‫ . ن‬It signifies
hope or fear, e.g. ْ ‫‘ א‬the weather is fine’
ْ ‫‘ א‬I hope the weather is fine/the weather maybe
71

74. Some Particles of Various Origin
fine’ and ‫‘ א ْ س‬the teacher is sick’ ‫س‬ ْ‫א‬
‘I am afraid the teacher is sick’.
:
It is the most important particle of restriction, e.g. ﴿
﴾‫ون‬ “we are only mocking”. [2/14] and ﴿
﴾‫ ْ א‬ª ‫“ א‬the obligatory alms are only for the
poor”. [9/60].
‫س‬ means, ‘I am only a teacher’ i.e. I am a
teacher and nothing else. is H‫ . ن‬This is called
ْ ‫ ,א‬i.e. the preventive ma, as it prevents ‫ ن‬from
rendering the following noun mansub, e.g.
EEª ‫ل‬ ‫א‬ FF “actions are judged only by the
intentions”. Unlike ‫ ن‬the word is used in verbal
sentences as well, e.g. ª ْ ‘he is only telling a lie’.
‫( ن‬That):
(T
It is used always in the middle of the sentence
preceding a noun in accusative case Eª F, e.g.
﴾ ‫نא‬ ﴿ “Did you not know
that Allah has power over all things”. [2/106] ‫ ن‬is also
attached to pronouns, e.g. ﴾‫ن‬ ‫א‬ ‫“ ﴿و‬and that
they are to return to Him”. [2/46] ‫ ن‬and ‫ ن‬in a nominal
sentence give it the meaning of the infinitive or the
verbal noun E ‫א‬F.
(From Where ow,
(From Where, How, When):
here,
means ‘where? how? when?’, e.g. ‫﴿ ل‬
72

75. Some Particles of Various Origin
﴾‫א‬ “He said, O Maryam! Whence comes this to
you”. [3/37]
:
It denotes: ‘nay, nay rather, not so, on the contrary,
but’, e.g. ﴾ ‫א‬ ْ ‫ون א‬ ﴿ “Nay (behold) you
prefer the life of this word” [87/16]. is opposed to
either a preceding affirmative or negative proposition, a
command or a prohibition, e.g. ْ ‫﴿ א‬
﴾ ‫“ א‬They say, our hearts are impermeably wrapped;
not so! Allah has cursed them for their unbelief”. [the
Quran]
:
It means ‘hypothetical or optative’, e.g. ﴿
﴾ ‫“ א‬O would that I were mere dust”. [78/40]

73

76. ‫سא‬ ‫ א‬Lesson 12
ْ‫א‬ ْ‫א‬
THE VERB – PERFECT TENSE
The Arabic verb has only three forms:
The perfect called madi E ‫א‬F. It denotes an action
which was completed and finished at the indicated
time, and is often referred to the past.
The imperfect called mudare E‫ع‬ ْ‫א‬ ‫א‬F. It refers to
both the present and the future time for an incomplete
action that is either in progress or to be completed in
the future.
The imperative called amr E ‫א‬ ْ ‫א‬F. It implies to an
order/desire/wish/supplication.
The Arabic verb is mostly triliteral E‫د‬ ْ‫א‬ ‫א‬F, i.e. it is
based on roots of three consonants, called radicals. Thus
the root meaning of a simple triliteral verb ‫א‬ ‫א‬F
E‫.א ْ د‬ (kataba) is ‘to write/writing’, and the literal
meaning of is ‘he wrote’. This meaning is given by the
three consonants i.e. ªHªH¯ – ktb, and it is a past perfect
tense, third person masculine singular (abbreviate as III M1)
‫وא‬ . Similarly, = H‫ص‬H‫–ن‬nsr, its root
meaning is ‘to help/helping’ and literally ‘he helped’,
=ªHªHú – fth is ‘opening’ and literally ‘he opened’.
75

77. The Verb – Perfect Tense
To indicate the pattern of a verb, the grammarians use three
consonants of the verb (fa’ala) ‘to do or doing’ literally
‘he did’. In this the letter ‘ú’ represents the first radical, the
‘‫ ’ع‬represents the second radical and ‘‫ ’ل‬the third radical.
Thus in the verb , ¯ is in place of ú radical, called
ْ ‫ , א‬ª is in place of the middle radical ‫ ع‬called ْ‫א‬
and ª is in place of ‫ ل‬called ْ ‫ . م א‬Follow the examples
below:
‫مא‬ ‫א‬ ‫א‬
‘he wrote’ ª ª ¯
ª ‘he struck’ ª ‫ض‬
‘he helped’ ‫ص‬ ‫ن‬
‘he opened’ ª ª ú
‘he heard’ ‫ع‬ ‫م‬ ‫س‬
‫م‬ ‘he was noble’ ‫م‬ ¯
‘he thought’ ª ‫س‬ ª
‘he was/became weak’ ú ‫ع‬ ‫ض‬
In a simple triliteral verb E‫א د‬ ‫א‬ ‫א‬F the first and
the third (last) radicals are always ª ْ i.e. vowelled with
, but the second or the middle radical is not constant.
It may be ª ْ (vowelled with fathah ) or ْ
(vowelled with kasra ) or ‫م‬ (vowelled with
dammah ). Thus a simple triliteral verb E‫ د‬Ó‫א‬ ‫א‬F
may be symbolized as follows:
–fa’ala (i.e. a-a-a) as (he helped), ‘he
76

78. The Verb – Perfect Tense
wrote’, ‘he opened’, ‘he sat’, ‫ج‬ ‘he went
out’, ‫‘ د‬he came in or entered’.
–fa’ila (i.e. a-i-a) as ‘he heard’, ‘he knew’,
ª ‘he became happy/was glad’, ª ‘he drank’, ‫و‬
‘he inherited’, ‘he was pleased’, ‘he was
afraid’.
–fa’ula (i.e. a-u-a) as ú ‘he was/has been
honored’, ‘he was ugly’, ‘he was/became good
or beautiful’, ‘he was/became far away’, ‘he
was/became great’, ‘he became/was noble’,
‘he became/was weak’, ‫م‬ ‘he was noble’.
Note that in all the three patterns of triliteral verbs ‫א‬F
E‫ א د‬mentioned above, the first and the last radicals
remained unchanged. They are always maftuh ª ْ .
Apart from the triliteral E‫ د‬Ó‫א‬ ‫א‬F, four radical verbs
called (quadriliteral) are also in use. However,
quadriliteral verbs are less common. The pattern for a four
radical verbs is – fa’lala, e.g. ‘he translated’, ‫ز ْ ل‬
‘he/it shook’, ‫‘ د ج‬he rolled’, ª ‫‘ ز‬he/it was removed’.
It is a well known fact that a verb E ‫א‬F without a subject
E ‫א‬F conveys no sense, e.g. ‘wrote’ in English, conveys
no sense unless a personal pronoun/noun is added to it,
e.g. ‘he wrote’, ‘I wrote’, ‘you wrote’, ‘she wrote’, ‘we
wrote’, ‘they wrote’, ‘William wrote’, ‘Bilal wrote’, etc. In
Arabic the relevant pronoun is a part of the verb, i.e. it has
a built-in pronoun which becomes the subject of the verb,
77

79. The Verb – Perfect Tense
e.g. in ‫‘ ذ‬he went’ and ‫‘ ذ‬she went’; the subject is
said to be ‘damir mustatir’ (hidden pronoun). In
this way, to the basic form of madi E F, suffixes are
added to indicate different pronouns.
All simple verbs have three persons, i.e., the first person
called (mutakallim), e.g. ‘I wrote’, the second
person called (hadir), e.g. ‘you wrote’, and the
third person called (ghaib), e.g. ‘he wrote’, each
of which may be masculine gender E F or feminine
E F. Each gender, in turn may be either singular E ‫وא‬F,
dual E F or plural E F. When a simple verb is
conjugated into three persons, two genders and three
numbers in the form of a table it is called conjugation
Eú F; this process is also called Isnad E‫د‬ F. In all, there
are fourteen categories in a table, and each category is
called sighah (form) as explained below;
1. ‫ – ذ‬he went: The subject ‘he’ is a hidden pronoun
E F. This tense (III M1) forms the basis, and
contains the root letters, called radicals.
2. ‫ – ذ‬two (♂) went: It is a masculine dual. The subject
is alif E F
3. ‫א‬ ‫ – ذ‬they went (♂): The subject is waw ‘‫ .’و‬The alif
after the waw is not pronounced (dahab-u).
4. ‫ – ذ‬She went: The subject is dhamir mustatir F
E . The ta ‘ª’ is the sign of its being feminine.
78

80. The Verb – Perfect Tense
5. ‫ – ذ‬two (♀) went: The subject is alif denoting dual.
6. ‫ – ذ‬they went (♀): The subject is the nun ‘‫’ن‬
(dahab-na).
7. ‫ – ذ‬you went (singular ♂): The subject is the ta ‘ª’
(dahab-ta).
8. ‫– ذ‬you (dual ♂) went: The subject is tuma ‘ ’
(dahab-tuma).
9. ‫ – ذ‬you went (plural ♂): The subject is tum ‘ ’
(daheb-tum).
10. ‫ – ذ‬you went (singular ♀): The subject is ti ‘ª’
(daheb-ti).
11. ‫ – ذ‬you (dual ♀) went: It is the same as for
masculine dual.
12. ‫ – ذ‬you went (plural ♀): The subject is tunna ‘ ’
(daheb-tunna).
13. ‫ – ذ‬I went (singular ♂or♀): The subject is tu ‘ª’
(daheb-tu).
14. ‫ – ذ‬we went (plural/dual ♂or♀): The subject is na
‘ ’ (daheb-na) and is applicable to both the genders.
For the method of conjugating a trilateral perfect simple
verb Madi Maruf Eú‫و‬ ْ‫א‬ ‫א‬F, see Table 8 below:
79

81. The Verb – Perfect Tense
Table – 8
Conjugation of Madi Maruf – ú‫و‬ ْ‫א‬ ْ‫א‬
(Triliteral
(Triliteral Verb)
SINGULAR DUAL PLURAL
3rd Person
Person ‫א‬
(♂)
) he did they did they did
3rd Person
Person ْ
(♀)
) she did they did they did
2nd Person
Perso ْ * ْ ْ
(♂)
) you did you did you did
2nd Person
Person ْ * ْ ْ
(♀)
) you did you did you did
# #
1st Person
Person ْ ْ ْ
(♂♀)
) I did we did we did
Note:
(1) *— 2nd Person masc. dual and fem. dual are identical.
#
— 1st Person dual ♂♀ and plural ♂♀ are identical.
(2) The second and third person masculine plural of any
verb cover any group of men and women even though
in a group of 100 women there is only one man,
whereas the second and third person feminine plural
only cover groups of women exclusively.
A quadrilateral perfect simple verb E ‫א‬F is conjugated on
the same pattern, as shown in Table 9.
80

82. The Verb – Perfect Tense
Table – 9
Madi Maruf – ú‫و‬ ْ‫א‬ ْ‫א‬
(Quadriliteral Verb)
Quadrili Verb)
SINGULAR DUAL PLURAL
‫א‬
3rd Person
Person
he translated they they
(♂)
)
translated translated
3rd Person
Person
she they they
(♀)
)
translated translated translated
*
2nd Person
Person
you you you
(♂)
)
translated translated translated
*
2nd Person
Person
you you you
(♀)
)
translated translated translated
# # #
st
Person
1 Person
I translated we we
(♂♀)
)
translated translated
Note:
*— the 2nd Person ♂ and ♀ are identical.
#
— applicable to both the genders.
81

83. The Verb – Perfect Tense
THE ACTIVE AND PASSIVE FORMS
OF MADI
The Active Form is called Maruf (ú‫و‬ - literally ‘known’)
in which the subject E F is known, e.g. ‘He created’
or ‫א‬ ‘Allah created’, ‫‘ زא‬he visited’, ً ‫‘ زא ز‬Zaid
visited the patient’. In these examples, ‘He’, ‘Allah’ and
‘Zaid’ are subjects of the verbs. The subject may be in the
form of (hidden pronoun) as ‘he’ in and ‫,زא‬
or it may be mentioned as an apparent noun as ‘Allah’ in
‫א‬ and ‘Zaid’ in ‫.زא ز‬
The Passive Form is called Majhul (‫ل‬ literally
‘unknown’) in which the subject E F is not known. It is
formed on the pattern of ‘it was done’ by placing a
Dammeh E F on the first letter and kasrah E F on the
middle letter or on the second last letter in a verb having
more than three letters, as exemplified below:
Active Verb E F Passive Verb E F
‘he wrote’ ‘It was written/prescribed’
ª ‘he drank’ ª ‘It was drunk’
‘he translated’ ‘It was translated’
‘he killed’ ‘he was killed’
‫‘ د‬he entered’ ‫‘ د‬he was entered’
‫‘ ل‬he descended’ ‫‘ ل‬he/it was descended’
‫‘ ز ْ ل‬it/he shook’ ‫‘ ز ْ ل‬he/it was shaken’
82

84. The Verb – Perfect Tense
‘he read’ ‘it was read’
ª ‫‘ ز‬he removed’ ª ‫‘ ز‬he/it was removed’
‘he informed’ ‘he was informed’
The passive of the perfect i.e. Madi Majhul is formed
according to the pattern and and conjugated in
exactly the same manners as the Active of the perfect Madi
Maruf described in the tables 8 and 9, e.g. , ,‫א‬ ,
, , ْ , ْ , etc.
Negative of Perfect: To render a verb in the madi negative
the particle (ma) is used, e.g. ْ‫א‬ ‫‘ ذ‬I went to
the University’ ْ‫א‬ ‫ذ‬ ‘I did not go to the
University’, ْ‫א‬ ª ‫جא‬ ‘the students did not
leave the class’, ‫ج‬ ‫و‬ ‫‘ د‬Hamid entered but
he did not come out’, ‫س‬ ‫א‬ ‘the lesson was not
written’.
All forms E F of the perfect can be converted into the
negative form by prefixing . However, a question is to be
negated with (la), e.g. ‫ل‬ ‫س‬ ‫א‬ ‘O Bilal! did
you write the lesson?’ the answer in negative is;
‫س‬ ‫‘ א‬No, I did not write the lesson’. ‫س‬ ‫א‬
‘O Hamid! did you understand the lesson?’ ‘No,
I did not understand it?’.
The Difference between and : is used in reply to
a positive question, and is used in reply to a negative
question, e.g. ‫ل‬ ‘O Bilal! are you a student?’
83

85. The Verb – Perfect Tense
the answer is ‘yes, I am a student’. ٍ
‘are you not a Muslim?’ the answer is ‘Yes/of
course, I am a Muslim’.
The Near Perfect E ْ‫א‬ ْ ‫א‬F: The particle (qad) is
prefixed to any sigha of the perfect tense to give it the
meaning of near perfect E ْ‫א‬ ‫א‬F, e.g. (he has
done), (these two ♂ have done), ‫א‬ (they ♂
have done), etc.
The particle or when prefixed to a sigha of the
perfect tense it also gives an emphasis and denotes
certainty E ْ ‫א‬F to the meaning of the verb, e.g. ‫د‬
ْ ‫‘ א ْ س א‬the teacher has already entered the class’,
‫א‬ ‘the prayer has started/established’ ْ ﴿
﴾ٍ ْ ‫ن‬ ‫“ א‬Indeed, we (Allah) created man in
the best state/mould”. [94/4], ‫ذ א‬ ‘certainly the
man has gone’, ﴾‫ن‬ ْ‫ْ א‬ ﴿ “successful indeed are
the believers”. [23/1]
The Distant Perfect E ْ‫א‬ ْ ‫א‬F: The word ‫ن‬ is
prefixed to the perfect tense in order to change it into the
distant perfect, e.g. ‫‘ ذ‬he went’ ‫ن ذ‬ ‘he had
gone’, ‘I am sick’ ً ‘I was sick
yesterday’.
The word ‫ن‬ is also conjugated to correspond with the
sigha (form) concerned. The conjugation of ‫ن‬ called
(incomplete verb) is shown in Table 10 below:
84

86. The Verb – Perfect Tense
Table – 10
The Distant Perfect – ْ‫א‬ ْ‫א‬
(‫ن‬ ‘he was or had’ ‫‘ ن‬he had observed’)
observed’
SINGULAR DUAL PLURAL
‫ن‬ ‫א‬ ‫وא‬ ‫א‬
3rd Person
Person
he had they had they had
(♂)
)
observed observed observed
ª ‫ن‬
3rd Person
Person
she had they had they had
(♀)
)
observed observed observed
ª
2nd Person
Person
you had you had you had
(♂)
)
observed observed observed
ª
2nd Person
Person
you had you had you had
(♀)
)
observed observed observed
ª
1st Person
Person
I had we had we had
(♂♀)
)
observed observed observed

85

87. ‫سא‬ ‫ א‬Lesson 13
ْ‫א‬ ْ‫א‬
THE VERBAL SENTENCE
We have already learnt that according to the construction,
a sentence is of two kinds;
The Nominal Sentence E ‫א‬ ‫א‬F
ْ ‫א‬F:
The nominal sentence consists of two parts, a subject
and a predicate. The subject is either a noun or a
pronoun, and the predicate is a noun, a verb or a
sentence. The subject of a nominal sentence is called
‫א‬ ْ ‫ א‬and its predicate is called ْ ‫.א‬
The Verbal Sentence E ْ‫א‬ ‫א‬F
ْ ‫א‬F:
The verbal sentence commences with a verb. The
subject of a verbal sentence is called fa’il E ْ ‫א‬F, e.g.
‫ز‬ ‫( د‬Zaid entered). It is a simple verbal sentence
wherein ‫ د‬is a verb and ‫ ز‬is the subject E ‫א‬F of
the verb. The fa’il is always in the nominative case
(marfu – ‫ع‬ ). The fa’il can be a pronoun also, e.g.
‫א‬ ‫‘ د‬they entered’. The fa’il, in this case, is waw, ْ ‫د‬
‘you entered’, the fa’il is ta and in ْ ‫‘ د‬we entered’,
the fa’il is na and so on.
Note that in ª ‫א‬ ‫‘ د‬the students entered’, the verb
87

88. The Verbal Sentence
‫ د‬has no waw at the end because ‫ د א‬means ‘they
entered’; and if we say ª ‫ د א א‬it means ‘they the
students entered’. This is not correct because there
cannot be two fa’ils for a verb. But we can say ª ‫א‬
‫א‬ ‫ د‬which becomes a nominal sentence. Here ª ‫א‬
is the mubtada and the sentence ‫ د א‬is the khabar.
The same rule applies to the third person feminine, e.g.
ª ْ‫א‬ ‫‘ د‬the girls entered’ or ْ ‫ د‬ª ْ ‫ .א‬So
remember this rule.
× ×
The nominal sentence: ‫א‬ ‫ د‬ª ‫א‬ ْ ‫ د‬ª ‫א‬
The verbal sentence: ª ‫א‬ ‫ د‬ª ‫א‬ ‫د‬
‫א‬F
The Object E ‫א ْ ْ ل‬F:
A verbal sentence may be complete only with a verb and a
subject E ْ ‫א‬H ْ ‫א‬F when the verb is intransitive E ‫ زم‬F
which does not require a direct object, e.g. ‫ل‬ ‫‘ ذ‬Bilal
went’, ‫א‬ ‫‘ ذ‬the women went’, ْ ‫א‬ ‘the
child laughed’, ª ‫א‬ ‘the students sat down’. But if
the verb pertains to the category of transitive form then the
verb requires an object to convey complete sense of the
verbal sentence. So in this case, the normal sequence of a
verbal sentence is, verb + subject + object H H F
E‫. ْ ل‬
88

89. The Verbal Sentence
Examples:
‫ل‬
(object) (subject) (verb)
(verb)
Allah created the human being. ‫ن‬ ‫א‬ ‫א‬
“Allah sets forth the parable”. ً ‫א‬ ª
“And David slew Goliath”. ª ‫دאوود‬ ‫و‬
“They (both) found there a wall” ‫א א‬
ً E F ‫א‬ ‫و‬
“They (both) met a young man”. ً E F
“They bewitched the eyes of the ‫א س‬ E F ‫وא‬
people”.
“He (Allah) created man”. ‫ن‬ ‫א‬ E F
“Indeed lost are those who have ‫و د‬ ‫א‬ ‫א‬
killed their children”.
“And Soleman inherited ‫دאوود‬ ‫ن‬ ‫وو‬
David”.
The child broke the pen. ‫א‬ ْ ‫א‬
The boy asked his mother. ْ‫א‬ ‫ل‬
Note that the fa’il (subject) is in nominative case E‫ع‬ F
and the maful (object) is in accusative case Eª F. Also
note that in the last example the maful bihi E ‫ ْ ل‬F is
umm E F, and so it takes the a-ending, and the pronoun hu
‘ ’ is not part of it (umma-hu). Here are some more
examples of this kind:
– ‘I saw your horse’ E¯H‫ س‬F. Here is
verb+ subject ‘I saw’ and ‫ س‬is the object E‫ل‬ F and
¯ is a possessive pronoun E F ‘your horse’ which is
a relative phrase E ú Lú F.
89

90. The Verbal Sentence
– ‫א א‬ ‘the student read his book’ E Hª F.
Also remember that the maful bihi E ‫ ْ ل‬F can be a
pronoun, e.g. ْ ‫א و‬ ً ‘I met Hamid and asked
him’, here is verb+ subject and ‫א‬ ً is the
object, and in the second sentence ْ is verb+
subject and the pronoun ‘ ’ is the object.
The nun E‫ ن‬F of tanwin is followed by a kasra E F if the
next word commences with hamzat al-wasl E ْ‫א‬ F,
e.g. ْ‫א‬ ª is read as ْ‫ن א‬ ª (shariba
Hamid-u-nil-maa). Here if kasra is not added it becomes
difficult to pronounce the letter combinational. This is
called ‫א‬ ْ ‫( א‬combination of two vowelless
letters). Whenever such a combination occurs, it is
removed by inserting kasrah between them. Here are some
more examples;
– ‫ل لא‬ is read as, sa’ala Bilal-u-n-i-bna-hu ‫لن‬ ‫ل‬
‫.א‬
– ‫ز א ذאن‬ is read as, sami-a Zaid-u-n-i-ladhan
‫.ز ن א ذאن‬
The (vowelless) word is also changed by a kasra if
the next word commences with al E‫אل‬F, e.g. ª ْ ‫א‬ ‫‘ ذ‬the
girls went’ becomes ª ْ ‫א‬ ‫.ذ‬
As stated earlier, the usual sequence of a verbal sentence is
(verb) + (subject) + ‫ل‬ (object), e.g. ‫א‬
ْ ‫‘ א‬Allah has helped the slave’. Similarly ‘I saw
him’.
90

91. The Verbal Sentence
The subject E F in its original form is always in the
nominative case E ْ F and the object E‫ ْ ل‬F is in the
accusative case E F. However, this sequence is altered
when the subject or the object needs emphasis or it is to be
focused. Such changes can be as follows:
– Sometimes the object follows the verb in the form of a
pronoun and the subject comes after the object, e.g.
﴾ ‫א‬ ‫“ ﴿ א‬they said: if a wolf devours him
(Yaqub υ)” [12/14]. In this verse, is a verb E ‫א‬F,
‘ ’ is the object E‫א ْ ل‬F which followed the verb in the
form of an attached pronoun and ‫ א‬is the subject
E ‫א‬F which has followed the object E ‫ ْ ل‬F. So,
here the sequence is: verb+object+subject and the
stress is on the object ‘ ’ (referring to Yaqub υ).
– Another example: ﴾ª ْ ‫ א‬ª ‫“ ﴿ ذ‬When death
approached Yaqub (υ)” [2/133]. The sequence in this
verse is: verb E F + object E‫ل‬ F + subject E F.
In this verse the object followed the verb in the form of
a proper noun ‫ ,א‬and the subject came afterwards.
Here again the stress is on the object i.e. Yaqub (υ).
– Sometimes the object precedes both the verb and the
subject, e.g. ¯ “You (alone) we worship” [the
Quran] (¯ is the object and is verb + subject). In
this verse also the stress and focus is on the ‘object’ that
we worship no other but Thee (Allah) and Thee alone.
Similarly, ¯ ‫“ و‬and You (Allah alone) we ask
for help (for each and everything)”. [the Quran].
91

92. The Verbal Sentence
Ordinarily, the usual sentence would be ¯ ‘we
worship Thee (Allah)’ and ‫‘ و‬and we ask for
Thy (Allah’s) help’.
The difference between the verbal and the nominal
sentences is that the verbal sentence relates to an act or
event whereas the nominal sentence gives a description of
a person or a thing, and it brings the subject E ‫א‬F into
focus, and often lays emphasis on the subject. A verbal
sentence can be changed into a nominal one, e.g.
‫אْ ن‬ ‫א‬‘Allah created the universe’. This is a verbal
sentence narrating a simple fact. However, if the emphasis
is to be laid on the subject that no one else but Allah alone
has created the universe, then a nominal sentence is used,
e.g.
‫אْ ن‬ ‫‘ א‬literally, ‘Allah, He created the Universe’.
More examples of the verbal sentence and nominal
sentence are given below for comparison.
– ‫אن م א‬ ْ‫א‬ ‘the two boys sat before the teacher’
ْ‫م א‬ ‫אن‬ ْ‫א‬
– ‫א‬ ‫ن‬ ْ‫א‬ ‘the Muslims helped their brothers’
‫א‬ ‫وא‬ ‫ن‬ ْ‫א‬
– ‫ א و د א‬ª ‘the boys drank the milk’
‫אא‬ ‫א و د‬
– ‫م‬ ‫ون א‬ ْ‫א‬ ‘the travelers ate the food’
‫م‬ ‫אא‬ ‫ون‬ ْ‫א‬
92

93. The Verbal Sentence
– ‫ن א‬ ْ‫א‬ ‘the two girls returned from the school’
ْ‫א‬ ‫ن‬ ْ‫א‬
– ª ‫א‬ ْ‫א‬
ª ‫א‬ ْ ‫‘ א‬the Principal called the students’
– ً
ً ‘I wrote a letter to my brother’
– ‫א‬
ً
‫א‬
ً ‘Did you beat Hamid’
– ª ْ‫א‬ ْ‫א‬ ª ‫א‬
ª ْ‫א‬ ْ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ª ‫‘ א‬the students
returned to the school after the vacation’
– ْ‫م א‬ ‫א س‬
ْ‫م א‬ ‫א‬ ‫‘ א س‬the people listened to the
speaker’s address’

93

94. ‫سא א‬ ‫ א‬Lesson 14
‫ع‬ ْ‫א‬ ْ‫א‬
THE IMPERFECT TENSE
The Arabic verb has only three forms. These are:
The Past Tense which is called the madi E ْ ‫א‬F.
The Present-Future Tense, which is called the mudare
E‫ع‬ ْ ‫א‬F.
The Imperative, which is called the amr E ‫א‬F.
We have already learnt about the madi. In this lesson we
shall learn the mudare E‫ع‬ ْ ‫א‬F, and the amr E ‫א‬F will be
learnt later.
The mudare is an imperfect verb which denotes an action
which is still incomplete or was incomplete at the stated or
implied time. It includes both the present and the future
tenses, e.g. ْ may mean any of the following; ‘he writes,
he is writing or he will write’. The mudare also has Active
Eú‫ع א و‬ ْ ‫א‬F and Passive forms E‫ل‬ ْ‫ع א‬ ْ ‫א‬F.
ú‫ع א و‬ ‫ א‬is derived from the trilateral verb ْ ‫א‬F
E‫د‬ ú‫و‬ ْ ‫ א‬by the following methods:
For the mudare one of the four indicative letters, called
‫ع‬ ْ‫ א‬ª , is prefixed with fathah to the simple verb
ْ ‫ .א‬These indicators are ‫ن‬K‫א‬KªK E‫ ن‬F.
95

95. The Imperfect Tense
The first letter (radical fa) of all the forms E F is made
sakin, e.g. the madi means ‘he wrote’ and the
radical fa in this verb is ¯ which is to become ¯ (sakin).
ْ
The last radical i.e. radical lam is to be given a
dammah. In this example, the radical lam is ª, which is
to become ª.
As for the middle radical E ْ‫א‬ F the vowel can be
fath E F, kasrah E F or dammah E F. As a
general rule if the middle radical of the madi has
kasrah, its corresponding middle letter ْ‫א‬ of
mudare is with fath E F, e.g.
– The mudare of ª ‘he drank’ is ª ‘he drinks, he
is drinking or he will drink’, , and
, and ª ª ْ . However, is an
exception; its mudare is . This exceptional
pattern is rarely used.
If the middle letter in the madi has dammah on it, the
corresponding middle radical in the mudare is also with
dammah, e.g. ‘he becomes weak/old or
he will become weak/old’, ‫م‬ ‫ ْ م‬and
and . But if the second radical in the madi
has fath then the corresponding ‫א‬ in the mudare
may be fatha, kasrah or dammah. There is no definite
pattern to determine this vowel. It comes through
practice or with consultation of dictionary, e.g.
ْ and ª ª and .
96

96. The Imperfect Tense
To sum up; if the middle letter of the perfect has
dammah the middle letter of the imperfect is likewise. If
the middle letter of the perfect has a kasrah then the
middle radical of the imperfect is fathah. However,
is an exception; its imperfect is . But if the
middle letter of the perfect has a fathah then vowel of
the middle radical of the imperfect can only be
determined through practice or by consulting
dictionary.
As for the indicatives of imperfect E‫ع‬ ْ‫ א‬ª F – ‫ن‬K‫א‬KªK
these are prefixed as follows:
‘ ’ is prefixed to the third person form of imperfect
tense E ‫ع‬ F, e.g. ْ ‘he writes, he is writing or
he will write’.
‘ª’ precedes the second person form of imperfect tense
E ‫ع‬ F, e.g. ْ ‘you write, you are writing or
you will write’.
‘‫’א‬precedes the first person singular form of the
imperfect tense E ‫ع وא‬ F, e.g. ْ ‘I write, I
am writing or I shall write’.
‘‫ ’ن‬precedes the first person plural form of the
imperfect tense E ‫ع‬ F, e.g. ْ ‘we write,
we are writing or we shall write’.
The pattern of dual and plural form of imperfect is as
follows:
97

97. The Imperfect Tense
For the dual ‫ אن‬is added to the imperfect singular ‫ع‬ F
E ‫ ,وא‬e.g. the dual of ْ is ‫‘ ْ ن‬the two ♂ write/are
writing/will write). The ‘‫ ’ن‬at the end is called ‫ن‬
‫. א‬
For the plural, ‫ ون‬is added to imperfect singular ♂, e.g.
the plural of ْ is ‫‘ ْ ن‬they ♂ write/are writing/will
write’. The ‘‫ ’ن‬at the end is called ‫. ن א‬
For the second person feminine singular is added to
the second person imperfect masculine singular, e.g.
ْ ‘you ♂ write/are writing/will write’ to ْ ‘you
♀ singular write/are writing/will write’. The ‘‫ ’ن‬at the
end is called ‫. ن א‬
For the second and third person feminine plural ‘‫ ’ن‬is
added at the end, e.g. ْ ‘they ♀ write/are writing/
will write’, and ْ ‘you ♀ plural write/are writing/
will write’. The ‘‫ ’ن‬in both the cases is called ‫ن‬
(feminine noon) or ٍ ‫( ن‬pronoun noon).
For the method of conjugating mudare maruf, see Tables
11 and 12 below:
Table – 11
Basic form of Conjugating Mudare Maruf Eú‫و‬
Mar ‫ع‬ F
SINGULAR DUAL PLURAL
rd
Person
3 Person
‫ل‬K ‫ع‬KúK ‫אن‬K‫ل‬K ‫ع‬KúK ‫ون‬K‫ل‬K ‫ع‬KúK
(♂)
)
3rd Person
Person
*‫ل‬K ‫ع‬KúKª ‫אن‬K‫ل‬K ‫ع‬KúKª ‫ن‬K‫ل‬K ‫ع‬KúK
(♀)
)
98

98. The Imperfect Tense
2nd Person
Person
*‫ل‬K ‫ع‬KúKª ‫אن‬K‫ل‬K ‫ع‬KúKª ‫ون‬K‫ل‬K ‫ع‬KúKª
(♂)
)
2nd Person
Person
K‫ل‬K ‫ع‬KúKª ‫אن‬K‫ل‬K ‫ع‬KúKª ‫ن‬K‫ل‬K ‫ع‬KúKª
(♀)
)
1st Person
Person # #
‫ل‬K ‫ع‬KúK ‫ل‬K ‫ع‬KúK‫ن‬ ‫ل‬K ‫ع‬KúK‫ن‬
(♂♀)
)
Note:
*— they are identical.
#
— they are identical.
‫ — ن‬the seven underlined noon are ‫. ن א‬
‫ — ن‬the two double underlined noon are ‫ ن‬or ‫ن‬
ٍ . (In certain conditions ‫א‬ ‫ ن‬is dropped while
‫ ن‬always stays. This you will learn later).
Table – 12
Conjugation of Mudare Maruf – ú‫و‬ ‫ع‬
(to help – )
SINGULAR DUAL PLURAL
rd
Person
3 Person ‫אن‬ ‫ون‬
(♂)
) He helps they help they help
3rd Person
Person ‫אن‬ ‫ن‬
(♀)
) She helps they help they help
2nd Person
Person ‫אن‬ ‫ون‬
(♂)
) you help you help you help
nd
Person
2 Person ‫אن‬ ‫ن‬
(♀)
) you help you help you help
st
Person
1 Person
(♂♀)
) I help we help We help
99

99. The Imperfect Tense
Note:
Remember that the middle radical ‫א‬ maintains
it vowel mark in all the forms, e.g. in the ‘‫’ص‬
E ‫ א‬F has dammah and it stays as such in all the
form (sighas). In the middle radical ‘‫ ’م‬is
with which holds its mark in all the forms. And in
ª ª the middle radical is ‘ ’ which maintains
its jarr mark in all the forms of conjugation.
Exercise:
Conjugate the following verbs:
ْ root meaning: ‘to write’
‫ذ‬ ‘to go’
ª ª ‘to strike’
ْ ‘to open’
100

100. The Imperfect Tense
‫ د‬Ó‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‫ א‬ª‫א‬
SIX GROUPS OF TRILITERAL VERBS
According to the vowel of the second radical, verbs are
classified in six groups. Each of these groups is called bab
(gateway) in Arabic, and its plural is abwab – ª‫א א‬
(gateways). These groups are as follows:
a-a group: ْ referred to in Arabic dictionary as
‘ú’ or ‘_’ fathah E F. Any verb indicating ‘ú’ or ‘_’
in front of it indicates that the verb belongs to the
category of ْ or its second radical is with fath
‘_’, e.g. E_FEúF ‫ ذ‬means that its mudare is , i.e.
the second radical is ª ْ .
a-i group: ª ª , referred to as ‘‫ ’ض‬or ‘–’, e.g.
‘‫ ’ض‬or ‘–’ means .
i-a group: , referred to as ‘‫ ’س‬or ‘_’, e.g.
‘‫ ’س‬or ‘_’ means the mudare of is from bab
Eª F , i.e. ْ .
a-u group: , referred to as ‘‫ ’ن‬or ‘_’, e.g.
with ‘‫ ’ن‬or ‘_’ in front of it in a dictionary means
that the mudare of is .
u-u group: ‫م‬ → ‫ , ْ م‬referred to as ‘¯’ or ‘_’, e.g.
ª ‘to approach, come near’ with ‘¯’ or ‘_’ indicates
that the mudare of ª is ª ْ .
101

101. The Imperfect Tense
i-i group: is referred to as ‘ª’ or ‘–’, e.g.
‫ و‬with ‘ª’ or ‘–’ indicates that the mudare of ‫ و‬is
‘to inherit’.
Note: That the verbs related to the first four groups are
commonly used, the fifth group ‫م‬ ‫ ْ م‬is less
common, and the sixth group is rarely
used.
Imperfect Passive E‫ل‬ ‫ع‬ F: It is made on the pattern
of ْ – ‘yufalu’, e.g.
Verb
Active Verb Passive Verb
‘he hears’ ‘he is heard’
ْ ‘he kills’ ْ ‘he is killed’
ْ ‘he/it opens’ ْ ‘it is opened’
ْ ‘he reads’ ْ ‘it is read’
ْ ‘he accepts’ ْ ‘he/it is accepted’
‫‘ و‬he visits’ ‫‘ א‬it is visited’
Negative of the Imperfect: The negative particle used with
the mudare is ‘ ’, e.g.
– ‫‘ ْ א س‬I don’t understand the lesson’.
– ْ‫ א‬ª ‘he doesn’t drink coffee’.
–‫ن א ق‬ ‘they don’t go to the market’.
Mudare–the Present/Future Tense: As explained earlier that
resent/F
the imperfect ‫ א ع‬denotes both the present and the future
tenses, e.g. can mean ‘he goes’ or ‘he will go’.
However, if the meaning is required to be confined to the
102

102. The Imperfect Tense
present or the future tense only then the following change
is effected:
– For confining the meaning of mudare to the present
tense only ‘‫ ’ل‬is prefixed to it, e.g. means ‘he
goes’, ْ means ‘he does’, ª means ‘he
drinks water’.
– For confining the meaning of mudare to the future tense
only ‘‫ ’س‬or ‘ú ’ is prefixed to mudare. ‘‫ ’س‬is
prefixed for near future and ú is prefixed for distant
future. However, the term ‘near’ or ‘distant’ future is not
added in translation for both the terms pertain to the
future tense, e.g. ‘he knows or will know’ or
ú means ‘he will know’, ْ ‘he writes or will
write’ ْ or ْ ú means ‘he will write’,
‫ل‬ means ‘he will say’ and ‫ن‬ ú means ‘’you
(plural) will know.
103

103. The Imperfect Tense
ْ‫א‬
MOODS OF VERB
It has been mentioned earlier that Arabic verbs have three
forms i.e. the madi, the mudare and the amr. The madi and
the amr are mabni E F, hence they do not undergo any
change. But the mudare is murab Eª F, and it undergoes
changes to indicate its functions in the sentences. Just as
the noun has three cases i.e. marfu (nominative), mansub
(accusative) and majrur (genitive), the mudare also has
three case endings, which are called ‘moods’ in English.
These are marfu, mansub and majzum ‘jussive’ (vowelless
or sakun). However, the mudare is mabni to the pronoun
of second and third person feminine plural. Remember that
the noun never has ‫ ’_‘ م‬and the verb never has ‘J ’
as its case-ending.
The following particles are some of the important
‫ع‬ ْ ‫( א‬nasibatul mudare), which change the mood and
application of a mudare:
Mudare with (lan): When lan E F is prefixed to a
mudare it brings about the following four changes in
the meaning and structure of the ‫ع‬ :
1 It changes its meaning into the negative form with
emphasis, i.e. instead of no/not, it becomes ‘never’.
104

104. The Imperfect Tense
2 The meaning of the ‫ع‬ changes into futuristic
tense, e.g. ª ‘he will never strike’, ª
ْ ‫‘ א‬I shall never drink wine’, ‘you will
never believe’, ﴾ ‫م وא‬ ٍ × ﴿ “we shall
never endure one kind of food”. [2/61]
3 It brings fathah ‘_’ on the last consonant of ‫ع‬ ,
i.e. makes it mansub Eª F, e.g. ª ª
and and ª → ª . Lan is
called ‫ع‬ ْ‫א‬ . All particles of ‫ع‬ ‫א‬
change the imperfect into accusative case.
4 The nun of Irab is removed/elided in all the cases of
‫ع‬ ْ‫א‬ , e.g. ‫ن‬ ‫א‬ and ‫ن‬
‫א‬ and ‫×ون‬ ‫×وא‬ .
For the noon irabi E ‫א‬ ‫ ن‬F refer back to the note at the
end of Table 11.
For conjugation of ‫ع‬ with see Table 13 below. The
mudare with other particles of also follow the same
pattern.
Table – 13
Conjugation of Mudare with
SINGULAR DUAL PLURAL
3rd Person
Person
*‫א‬ *‫وא‬
(♂)
)
3rd Person
Person
*‫א‬ ‫ن‬
(♀)
)
105

105. The Imperfect Tense
2nd Person
Person
*‫א‬ *‫وא‬
(♂)
)
2nd Person
Person
* ‫א‬ ‫ن‬
(♀)
)
1st Person
Person
(♂♀)
)
Note:
*— In these forms the sign of the verb being marfu is
the presence of the nun and that of being mansub is
the omission of this nun.
Mudare with ‫( אن‬an): It means ‘that’, e.g. ‫ ن‬ª ﴿
﴾ ‫“ א‬I have been ordered that I worship Allah”.
[13/36], ª ‫ن‬ ‫‘ ذא‬what do you want to drink?’,
‫ن‬ ‘we want to sit here’ literally, ‘we want
that we sit here’.
Mudare with (alla): H‫ .) ن‬It means
, (made up of
‘may not/shall not/lest/etc.’, e.g. ‫א‬ ْ ْ ‫﴿و ن‬
‫ن‬ ‫و‬ ‫و‬ ‫א‬ ª ‫א‬ ْ‫א‬
﴾‫א‬ ‫د‬ ‫ذ‬ ‫א א ً و‬ ْ
“And if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly
with the orphan girls then marry (other). Women of
your choice, two or three or four; but if you fear that
you shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then
only one or (slaves) that your right hands possess. That
will be more suitable to prevent you from doing
injustice”. [4/3], ﴾ ْ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ن‬ ﴿
106

106. The Imperfect Tense
“proper it is for me that I say nothing concerning Allah
but the truth”. [7/105].
Mudare with ‘‫:’ل‬ ‫ . م א‬It means ‘so that, in order
to/ that’, e.g. ْ ْ - ‫ْ אْ ن‬ ْ‫א‬ ‫دسא‬
‘I study Arabic in order to understand Quran’, ‫א‬
‘Allah has created us so that we may
worship Him’.
Mudare with : It has the same meaning as ‘‫ ’ل‬i.e.
‘so that, in order to’, e.g. ‫א‬ ْ‫א‬ ‫‘ ذ‬I
went to the mosque in order to worship Allah’.
Mudare with ‫ : ذא‬It means ‘then’, e.g.
ً ‫ذא‬
ً ‫א‬
‘work hard then you will succeed’.
Mudare with : It means ‘until’, e.g. ‫א‬
‘you sit here till I return’, another example; ﴿
﴾ ‫א‬ ْ‫א‬ “until He distinguishes the
wicked from the good” [3/179], another example from
the Quran ﴾‫ط‬ ْ‫א‬ ْ‫א‬ ﴿ “until the
camel goes through the eye of the needle (which is
impossible)” [7/40].
The Jussive Mood of the Mudare E‫وم‬
Jussive Mud ْ‫ع א‬ ‫א‬F
ْ ‫א‬F: There
are certain particles, called ‫ع‬ ْ‫א‬ ‫ ز‬which when
prefixed to a mudare they change the final radical of
mudare from dammah to Sukun, i.e. make the mudare
vowelless; otherwise, the pattern of conjugation remains
the same as for ‫ع‬ ْ‫א‬ . Some of the important ‫ز‬
‫ع‬ ْ ‫ א‬are:
107

107. The Imperfect Tense
(lam): When lam is prefixed to a mudare it brings the
following changes:
1 The meaning of mudare is changed into a negative
past tense form with emphasis. and are the
most common particles of the negative command.
2 The mudare marfu E‫ع‬ ‫ع‬ F becomes mudare
majzum E‫وم‬ ‫ع‬ F, i.e. the dammah at the end
of mudare is replaced by a jazm E‫ م‬F which makes
it sakin.
3 The nun Irabi E ‫א‬ ‫ ن‬F is removed or elided from
the ‫ع‬ , examples:
– ‘he does not go’ ‘he did not
go or he never went’.
– ‫ز‬ ‫א‬ ‘Did you write on the
board, O Zaid?’ ْ ‘I did not write’. A
simple answer to this question may be ‘I
did not write’ but ْ is an emphatic
answer.
– ‫ن‬ ‘they do not believe’ ‫א‬ ‘they
did not believe’.
– ْ‫ن א‬ ‘they do not/will not drink coffee’
ْ‫א א‬ ‘they did not drink coffee’.
– ﴾ ﴿ “We have given that
name to none before (him)”. [19/7]
For conjugation of ‫ع‬ with see Table 14.
108

108. The Imperfect Tense
Table – 14
Mudare with
SINGULAR DUAL PLURAL
rd
Person
3 Person
ª ‫א‬
(♂)
)
3rd Person
Person #
*ª o
(♀)
)
2nd Person
Person
*ª o
‫א‬
(♂)
)
2nd Person
Person o #
(♀)
)
1st Person
Person
ª ª ª
(♂♀)
)
Note:
*— They are always the same.
o
— These are always the same.
#
— ‫ ن א‬or ‫ ن‬stays without change in all the
conditions and all the seven nun Irabi are elided.
‘Not yet’:, e.g.ْ‫א‬ ‘he has not yet
gone to the university’, ﴾ ‫ن‬ ْ‫א‬ ‫﴿و‬
“and faith has not yet entered your hearts”. [49/14],
ْ‫א‬ ‘the train has not yet arrived’.
Note: A sakin (vowelless) letter is changed to kasra
when followed by a definite article ‘‫ ,’אل‬as in
‫ن‬ ْ ‫ א‬and ْ‫א‬ .
109

109. The Imperfect Tense
‘do not’: means ‘do not’ i.e. with prohibition, e.g.
‘do not sit here’, ‫א‬
ً ª ْ ‘do not ever tell
lie’, ْ‫א א‬ ‘do not drink wine’, ª ‫א‬ ﴿
﴾ ‫“ وא‬do not enter by one gate”. [the Quran]
‫–ل‬
ٍ ‫ : م א‬Lam of command means ‘should/ought to’,
e.g. ً ْ‫א‬ ‘every student
should sit in the class quietly), ْ ْ ‫﴿و‬
﴾ “and let every person look to what he has sent
forth for the morrow”. [59/18]
Note: ‫ م א‬becomes sakin when joined with an other
consonant as in the case ْ ْ ْ‫و‬
another examples: ‫ج‬ ْ‫א‬ ‫وא‬ ‫‘ ْ ج‬so
let everyone leave the room, or everyone should leave
the room’.
In addition there are a number of ‘conditional particles’
E‫وط‬ ‫ א‬ú‫ و‬F which make the mudare majzum. In a
conditional sentence, both the ‫ א ط‬ú and ‫א‬
‫ א ط‬or ‫ א ط‬ª‫( א‬answer of the condition) are
majzum. Some of the conditional particles are
mentioned below:
1 ‫( ن‬if), e.g. ‫ذ‬ ‫‘ ن‬if you go I will go’, ª ‫ن‬
ª ‘if you drink juice I will drink’. For
emphasis, ‫ ل‬is also prefixed to ‫ , ن‬e.g. ﴿
﴾ ‫“ ز‬If you give thanks (by accepting Faith and
worshiping none but Allah) I will give you more (of
my blessing)”. [14/7]
110

110. The Imperfect Tense
2 (who, whom, whoever), e.g.
‘whoever works hard/struggles succeeds’, ﴿
﴾ ‫א‬
ً “whosoever works evil, will have the
recompense thereof”. [4/123], ‫م‬ ْ ‘he who
turns lazy will regret’.
3 (whatever), e.g. ْ ْ ‘whatever you do I
will do’.
4 or (where, wherever), e.g. ‫ذ‬
‘where you go I go’, ﴾ª ْ ‫א‬ ْ ‫א‬ ﴿
“wherever you maybe, death will overtake you”.
[4/78]
The Energetic Mood of ‫ع‬ ‫’ن‬ ‫’ن‬
‫ א‬with ‘‫ ن‬and ‘‫ ن‬at the End:
‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ End:
The energetic nun, called ‫( ن א‬the nun of emphasis)
is of two kinds:
One with a single nun, e.g. ْ ‘I will write’. This is
called ْ‫א‬ ‫( ن א‬light nun of emphasis). This
is less frequently used than nun thaqilah E‫ن‬F.
One with a double nun, e.g. ْ ‘I will definitely
write’. This is called ‫א‬ ‫( ن א‬weighty nun of
emphasis). This nun signifies emphasis and convert the
mudare into the future tense only. It is used only with
the mudare and the amr, not with the madi. This nun is
suffixed to the mudare marfu as follows:
1 In the four forms ْ , ْ , ْ , ْ the final
dammah is replaced with a fathah. So ْ becomes
ْ (yaktub-a-nna). The same pattern is formed
with the other three forms.
111

111. The Imperfect Tense
2 In the following three forms, ‫, ْ ن , ْ ن‬ ْ
the final nun along with the waw E‫و‬F or ya E F are
dropped. After omitting ‫ ن‬from ‫ ْ ن‬and adding ‫,ن‬
we get ْ . In the same way ‫ ْ ن‬becomes ْ .
As a rule, long vowel is not followed by a vowelless
letter in Arabic, the long u’ is therefore shortened.
So ‫ ْ ن‬and ‫ ْ ن‬become ْ and ْ . Note
that the difference between the singular ْ and
plural ْ is the –a– in the first case and the –u–
in the second. The second person feminine singular
ْ becomes ْ . Here also the long vowel
is followed by a vowelless letter, which is
shortened. The result is ْ .
3 The two dual forms ‫ ْ ن , ْ ن‬become ‫, ْ ن‬
‫ . ْ ن‬Note that the nun in dual form takes kasra
instead of fatha.
4 The two feminine plural forms ْ , ْ become
‫ . ْ ن , ْ ن‬Note that an alif is added between
the nun of the pronoun and the nun of emphasis.
For mudare majzum and the amr, the process is the same
as in mudare marfu except that the nun in the five forms is
already omitted in these forms, e.g.
1. 2. ‫א‬
3. ْ ‫א‬ ْ ‫א‬ 4. ْ ‫א‬ ‫א ْ ن‬
5. ‫ْ א‬ ْ ‫א‬ 6. ْ ‫א‬ ْ ‫א‬
7. ْ ‫א‬ ‫א ْ ن‬
112

112. The Imperfect Tense
When ‫( ل א‬lam of emphasis) is prefixed and ‫ن‬
‫ א‬is suffixed to a mudare, it strengthens the emphasis
in the meaning of the mudare and confines the meaning to
future tense only, e.g. ‘indeed he will definitely go’.
The use of lam is compulsory in the mudare if it is a Jawab
al Qasam E ْ ‫ א‬ª‫ א‬F, e.g. ‫א س‬ ‫‘ وא‬By Allah! I
will memorize the lesson’. Here the mudare ‫ א‬is jawab
al-qasam as it is preceded by the qasam E ‫وא‬F. There are,
however, three conditions for its use in the jawab al-qasam,
these are:
The verb should be affirmative as in the above example.
Neither the ‘‫( ’ل‬lam) nor the ‘‫( ’ن‬nun) is used with a
negative verb, e.g. ‫אذ‬ ‫‘ وא‬By Allah! I will not go’.
The verb should be in future tense. If it is a present
tense then only lam is used, not the nun, e.g. ‫وא‬
ً ‫د‬ ‘By Allah! I consider you truthful’.
Note that ‫ وא‬means ‘By Allah! I will help
you’ and ¯ ‫ وא‬means ‘I am helping you’.
The lam should be attached to the verb. If it is attached
to a word other than the verb, the nun cannot be used,
e.g. ‫ذ‬ ْ‫א‬ ‫‘ وא‬By Allah! to the mosque I will
go’. Here the lam is attached to . But if it is attached
to the verb, then the nun has to be used, e.g. ‫ذ‬ ‫وא‬
ْ ‫ . א‬Here is another example, ¯ ‫ زو‬ú ‫‘ وא‬By
Allah! I will visit you’.
For conjugation of the mudare with ‘‫ ’ن‬suffixed and ‘‫’ل‬
prefixed, see Table 15.
113

113. The Imperfect Tense
Table – 15
Mudare with ‫ن‬H‫ل‬
SINGULAR DUAL PLURAL
rd
Person
3 Person
ْ ‫ْ ن‬ ْ
(♂)
)
3rd Person
Person #
* ْ ‫ْ ن‬ ‫ْ ْ ن‬
(♀)
)
2nd Person
Person #
* ْ ‫ْ ن‬ ْ
(♂)
)
2nd Person
Person
ْ ‫ْ ن‬ ‫ْ ْ ن‬
(♀)
)
1st Person
Person
ْ ْ ْ
(♂♀)
)
Note:
The verbs marked * are identical and the verbs marked
#
are identical.
Mudare with ‫ن‬ : When ‫ن‬ is prefixed to a mudare it
converts its meaning into the past continuous, e.g. ‫ن‬
ْ ‘he used to write’, ‫ْ ن‬ ‘two ♂ used to write’,
‫א ْ ن‬ ‘they ♂ used to write’, ْ ‘she used to
write’, ‫ْ ن‬ ‘two ♀ used to write’, ْ ‘they ♀
used to write’, ْ ‘you ♂ used to write’, ْ
‘you ♀ used to write’, ْ ‫א‬ ‘I used to write’, ْ
‘we used to write’.

114

114. ‫سא‬ ‫ א‬Lesson 15
‫א‬
THE IMPERATIVE TENSE
The imperative E ‫א‬F is the third form of the verb which
signifies a command, request or supplication like ‘do, sit,
write, go, get up, get out, etc.’. The amr is formed from the
mudare as explained below:
In some cases the amr is formed simply by omitting the
pronominal prefix E‫ع‬ ْ‫א‬ F and the final ‘-u’, e.g.
the mudare is changed to the amr by dropping
the ya E F which is the pronominal prefix E‫א ع‬ F,
and changing the final dammah on dal to sukun i.e.
making it vowelless. So from the amr is
‘ja’hid’ means ‘struggle hard’. Similarly, the amr from
is ‘convey’, ‘fight’, ‘he
promises’ ‘promise’, and the imperative from
‘he sells’ is ‘sell’ (the weak ya as the middle radical is
dropped in this case).
In some cases, after dropping the ‫ع‬ ‫א‬ , the verb
commences with a sakin letter i.e. vowelless, which
cannot be pronounced in Arabic. To overcome this
limitation, a ْ‫א‬ is prefixed to the verb. This
hamzah takes dammah if the second radical of the
115

115. The Imperative Tense
mudare has a dammah, otherwise it takes a kasrah, e.g.
in ْ the first radical ‘¯’ becomes sakin after
ْ
dropping ya. Therefore, in this case hamzat ul wasl is
prefixed to amr with dammah as the middle radical ta
of the imperfect has a dammah. So the amr from ْ is
ْ ‘write ♂’, ‘help’, ‫א‬
‘prostrate in prayer’, ‫ج‬ ‫ج‬ ‘get out’, ‫אد‬
‘enter/get in’, ْ ْ ‫‘ א‬kill’, ْ ‘eat’, ْ
‘hold/ take’. In the last two examples, the hamzah
sakin, which is the first radical of the imperfect verb, is
also dropped.
The amr from the imperfect verb ª is ª
‫‘ א‬beat’,
‫‘ א‬sit’, ْ ‫‘ א‬wash’, ْ ْ‫א‬
‘do’, ‫‘ א‬listen’, ْ ْ ‫‘ א‬open’, ª
ª ‫‘ א‬drink’, ْ ْ ‫‘ א‬understand’, ‫א‬
‘work/ perform’, ‫‘ א‬ride’, ْ ‫א‬
‘re-member/retain’.
In case of the weak verb E F no alif is prefixed to the
imperative, e.g. the imperfect from ‫( ل‬for ‫‘ ) ل‬he said’, is
‫ ل‬and the imperative is (say). The weak letter waw is
dropped because of the last two letters being sakin ْ ‫א‬F
E ‫ .א‬Similarly, the imperfect from ‫( ع‬for ) ‘he
sold’ is ‘he sells’, and its imperative is ‘sell’. Here
again the two sakin letters have come together; so the weak
letter ya is dropped. is a mudare which means ‘you ♂
offer your salah’ is the amr ‘offer your salah’ or
‘you ♀ offer you salah’.
116

116. The Imperative Tense
As for the conjugation of imperative verb, it has only six
forms as shown in Table 16 below:
Table 16
The Imperative – ú‫و‬
2nd Person ♀ 2nd Person ♂
‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‫وא‬
Sit (to one ♀) Sit (to one ♂) Singular
‫א‬ ‫א‬
Sit (two of you ♀) Sit (two of you ♂) Dual
‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‫א‬
Sit (all of you ♀) Sit (all of you ♂) Plural
ْ ‫א‬ ْ ‫א‬ ‫وא‬
Write (to one ♀) Write (to one ♂) Singular
ْ ‫א‬ ْ ‫א‬
Write (2 of you ♀) Write (2 of you ♂) Dual
ْ ‫א‬ ‫א ْ א‬
Write (all of you ♀) Write (all of you ♂) Plural
‫وא‬
Say (to one ♀) Say (to one ♂) Singular
Say (two of you ♀) Say (two of you ♂) Dual
ْ ‫א‬
Say (all of you ♀) Say (all of you ♂) Plural
Although in a classic sense of the term a command or an
order is given to the second person, however, an order or a
command for the third person and first person is also
117

117. The Imperative Tense
termed as ‫و‬ (Imperative 3rd and 1st person). For
this, ‘‫( ’ل‬li) is prefixed to the active or passive form of
mudare, e.g.
– ‘he goes/will go’ ‘he should go’
– ْ ‘he writes/will write’ ْ ‘he should write’
– ْ ‫‘ א‬I write/will write’ ‫א‬
ً ْ ‘I should write
immediately’
– ‘he is helped’ ‘he should be helped’
This lam E‫ل‬F is called ‫( م א‬lam ul amr), which becomes
sakin when prefixed to a letter, e.g. ْ ‘he should write’
ْ ْ ‫‘ و‬and he should write’, ﴾ ْ ْ ‫﴿و‬
“and let every person look to what he has sent forth for the
morrow”. [59/18]
The negative imperative E ‫ א‬F is formed by the second
person, preceded by ‘ ’, e.g. ‫‘ אذ‬go’ ‘don’t
go’, ‫‘ א‬sit’ ‘don’t sit here’, ‫‘ א ج‬get out’
ْ‫ج א‬ ‘don’t go out of the class’. This la E F is
called ‫( א‬the prohibitive ), which should not be
confused with ‫א‬ (the negative ). Note the
differences mentioned below:
– ْ ‘you write, you are writing, you will write’
– ْ ‘you are not writing, you will not be writing’.
This is ‫( א‬negative).
– ‫א‬ ْ ‘don’t write on the board’. This is
‫( א‬prohibitive).
– ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‘don’t sit on the way’ (prohibitive).
118

118. The Imperative Tense
– ‫ن‬ ‫א‬ ‘don’t worship the Satin’ (prohibitive).
Note that in this example the 3rd radical has kasrah due
to ‫א‬ ‫.א‬
The conjugation of ‫ א‬to the other pronouns of the
second person are given below:
– ‘O Hamid! Don’t sit here’.
– ‫و‬ ‘O Ahmad and Aisha! Don’t
sit here’.
– ª ‫א‬ ‘O students! Don’t sit here’.
– ‘O Amina! Don’t sit here’.
– ª ‘O girls! Don’t sit here’.
Examples from the Quran:
– ﴾ ْ‫¯ א‬ ª ‫“ ﴿ ْ א‬so, We said: strike the stone
with your stick”. [2/60]
– ‫אא‬ ْ ‫وא‬ ‫وא‬ ‫وא وא‬ ‫א وא‬ ‫אא‬ ‫א‬ ﴿
﴾‫ْ ن‬ “O you who have believed! Bow down,
and prostrate yourselves, and worship your Lord and do
good that you may be successful”. [22/77]
– ﴾ ‫א א‬ ‫وא‬ ‫وא‬ ْ‫א‬ ﴿ “O
Mary! Submit yourself with obedience to your Lord
(Allah, by worshiping none but Him Alone) and
prostrate yourself, and bow down along with Ar-Rakiun
(those who bow down)”. [3/43]
– ﴾‫ن‬ ‫א‬ ﴿ “O my father! Worship not
Satan”. [19/44]
119

119. The Imperative Tense
– ﴾ ْ‫ن א‬ ً ‫ع א‬ ﴿ “So invoke not
with Allah another ilah (god) lest you should be among
those who receive punishment”. [26/213]
– ﴾ª‫א‬ ‫א‬ ْ ‫א‬ ‫“ ﴿و‬And say not of
those who are killed in the way of Allah, they are
dead”. [2/154]
– ﴾ ‫ א و‬ª
ً ﴿ “And
never (O Muhammad ε) pray (funeral prayer) for any of
them (hypocrites) who dies, nor stand at his grave”.
[9/84]

120

120. ‫دس‬ ‫سא‬ ‫ א‬Lesson 16
FORM-
THE DERIVED VERBAL FORM-I
We have learnt in lesson 12 that most of the Arabic verbs
are made up of three letters which are called radicals, e.g.
ª . These are termed as thulathi verbs ‫א‬F
E ‫ ,א‬and form the roots of most of the other verbs.
However, there are certain verbs of four radicals, called
rubai verbs E ‫א‬ ‫א‬F, e.g. ‫‘ ز ْ ل‬he shook (it) violently’
‘he said: ‫א‬ ‫א א‬ ’, ‘he translated’
which are less common. As for the mujarrad verbs (thalathi
and rubai) no extra letters can be added to them to modify
the meanings of these verbs. So the thalathi mujarrad,
found on ‫ل‬K‫ع‬Kú and rubai mujarrad based on ‫ل‬K‫ل‬K‫ع‬Kú, are
the original forms of verb. Apart from the original form,
there is a Derived Verbal Form which is called
(mazid fihi). In this lesson we will learn about the Derived
Forms of the Verbs.
The derived verbs are made up from the triliteral and
quadrilateral verbal form by the addition of prefixes,
suffixes and infixes. Through these modifications the vari-
ation in the shade of meaning is determined. Each of these
modified forms is called a bab (ª ‫ א‬the plural of bab is
121

121. The Derived Verbal Form-I
abwab). In all, there are about fifteen abwab of mazid
verbs, of which we will learn here some of the important
ones used in the Quran. And the first bab of the mazid verb
that we are going to learn in some detail is, fa’’la E ª F,
which is referred to as Form I of the mazid verbs.
Derived Verbal Form I ª (bab fa’’la): In this bab the
second radical of the thalathi mujarrad verb is doubled,
e.g. from ‫‘ د س‬he studied’ to ‫‘ د س‬he taught’, ª ‘he beat’
ª ‘he beat violently’. It is conjugated the same way as
a simple four-letter verb i.e. ‫,د س‬ ‫א ,د‬ ‫,د‬ ‫,د‬ ‫,د‬
‫.…د‬
As for the meaning and application of the Form-I , it
often indicates the act being intensive or extensive, e.g. the
simple form means ‘he killed’, but means ‘he
massacred’, and the simple verbal sentence ً
means ‘he broke a glass’, but ً means ‘he
smashed a glass’, and ú means ‘he went round’, but
ú means ‘he went round often or many times’.
Another meaning and application of the Form I is doing
something to another, i.e. the intransitive verb E‫زم‬ F is
changed to the transitive E F, e.g. means ‘he
reached’ it is an intransitive verb; ‘your talk
reached me’ i.e. I am impressed by your talk. But means
‘he delivered/conveyed’, e.g. ‘did you
deliver my message’.
122

122. The Derived Verbal Form-I
This particular form of verb is also often used in an action
requiring/involving special arrangements, emphasis and
graduality, e.g. from a simple trilateral verb ‘he knew’
to ‘he taught’ i.e. teaching is a gradual process over a
period of time, involving a teacher and class management.
Similarly, ‫‘ ل‬he descended (himself)’ is an intransitive
verb involving ones own self, i.e., it does not have a direct
object. But ‫‘ ل‬he made it/him to descend’, has a direct
object, ‫א א‬ ً ‫‘ ل א‬Allah descended rain (water)
from the sky’. Since descending of rain entails an elaborate
process, hence the verb used for it is which
encompasses all the process involved in falling of rain.
Similarly ‫‘ ل א א ْ ن‬Allah descended the Quran’.
It may be born in mind that it is just not possible to
translate many such forms of Arabic words in one word in
any other language. This is the reason that understanding of
Arabic language is inevitable for understanding the Quran
and the Hadith, for such like fine variations in the
meanings and application of Arabic words do not exist in
any of the other living languages. Hence, reading of
translation of the Quran in any other language can never
convey the true spirit, meaning and connotations of the
Quranic verses.
The Mudare E‫ع‬ ْ ‫א‬F:
Unlike the thalathi verbs where the pattern of the
mudare varies in six different groups i.e. ْ –
–ª ª – ْ –‫م ْ م‬ – ‫,و‬
123

123. The Derived Verbal Form-I
the pattern of mudare in mazid verbs is specific to each
bab, e.g. the mudare of ‫ د س‬is ‫س‬ and ª ª –
– – ‘recording’,
× ‘to say ْ ‫“ א‬Allah (SWT) is the Greatest”.
As a rule the ‫ع‬ ْ ‫ א‬ú takes dammah if the verb is
composed of four letters, and if it has three, five or six
letters, the ‫ א ع‬ú has fathah. As the verb in this
particular case is made up of four letters, the ‫ א ع‬ú
takes dammah. The first radical takes fathah, the second
takes sukun, the third takes kasrah and the fourth takes
the case-ending, i.e. _u. So from × , × ,
× , × . Remember that the mudare of this bab is
fixed on the pattern of (yufa’’ilu).
The Amr E ‫א‬F:
The amr (imperative) from this bab is formed by
dropping the ‫ع‬ ‫ א‬ú and the case-ending, e.g. from
× × – – –ª ª
– ‫ .ذ‬la E F is prefixed for abstention, e.g.
ª ‘don’t lie’, ª ‘don’t beat violently’.
The Verbal Noun E ْ ‫א‬F:
We have learnt earlier that the ‫د‬ (thalathi
mujarrad) verbs do not have any one particular pattern
for the masdar. It comes on different patterns, e.g. ª
ª ª ‘beating’, ‫ج‬ ‫ج‬ ‫‘ وج‬exit’,
ْ ‘writing’, ª ª ‘to be absent’,
ª ª ª ‘drinking’, ‫ ذ‬ª ‫‘ ذ‬going’,
124

124. The Derived Verbal Form-I
etc. But in case of mazid verbs, each bab has its own
specific pattern for masdar. The masdar pattern of bab
is ْ (taf-il-un), e.g.
‫א‬ ‫ع‬ ‫א‬ ‫א‬ Meaning
ª ª ‘to beat violently’
‫م‬ ‫م‬ ْ ‘to extend respect’
ْ ‘kissing’
ª ª ْ ‘to be near’
‘acceptance’
‫ذ‬ ‘reminding’
‘recording’
The masdar of a naqis verb, and that of a verb wherein
the third radical is hamza E F, is on the pattern of
ْ (taf ila-tun), e.g.
‫א‬ ‫ع‬ ‫א‬ ‫א‬ Meaning
‘to name’
‘to bring up, to educate’
‘to congratulate’
ً ‘to offer prayer’
The Ismul-fail E
Ismul- ْ‫א‬ ‫א‬F:
We have learnt the formation of ْ‫א‬ ‫ א‬from the
‫د‬ which is on the pattern of , e.g.
‫א‬ ‫ع‬ ‫א‬ ْ‫א‬ ‫ א‬Meaning
ْ ‘wrong doer’
ْ ‘murderer’
‫ذ‬ ‫ذא‬ ‘one who goes’
125

125. The Derived Verbal Form-I
ْ ‘writer’
‫א‬ ْ ‘one who recites’
‘helper’
The formation of ismul-fail E ْ‫א‬ ‫א‬F from bab is
on the pattern of (mu fail-un). It is formed by
replacing the ‫ א ع‬ú with ‘ ’ (mu). As the ‫א‬
‫ א‬is a noun, it takes the tanwin, e.g.
‫א‬ ‫א ع‬ ْ‫א‬ ‫ א‬Meaning
‫دس‬ ‫س‬ ‫س‬ ‘teacher’
‘a tape recorder’
‫ذ‬ ‘an admonisher’
‫د‬ ‘one who is wraps up’
‫ز‬ one who folds in garments
‘a teacher’
‘one who kisses’
The Ismul-mafu’l E‫א ْ ْ ل‬
Ismul- ‫א‬F:
In all the abwab of the mazid verbs the ism-al-maful is
just like the ismal-fail except that the second radical
takes fathah instead of kasrah, e.g.
‫ع א‬ ‫א‬ ْ‫א‬ ‫אْ ْ ل א‬ ‫א‬ Meaning
‘on who is taught’
‘one who is kissed’
‘bound’
‘one who has been-
-praised much’
126

126. The Derived Verbal Form-I
The Noun of Place and Time E‫ن‬ ‫ن وא‬ ْ‫א‬ ‫א‬F:
In all the abwab of the mazid verbs, where applicable,
the noun of place and time is the same as the ism-ul-
maful, e.g. ‘he prays’ ‘place of prayer’,
‘he slaughters’ ‘place of slaughter’.
Some examples of bab fa’’ala E F from the Holy Quran:
– ﴾‫א ْ ن‬ K ‫“ ﴿א‬The Most Gracious (Allah), He has
taught (you mankind) the Quran (by His mercy)”.
[55/1-2]
– ﴾ ً ْ ª ْ‫א‬ ‫“ ﴿ ل‬it is He
Who sent down the Book (the Quran) to you
(Muhammad ε) with truth, confirming what came
before it”. [3/3]
– ﴾ ْ ‫אْ ن‬ ‫“ ﴿و‬And we have
indeed made the Quran easy to understand and
remember; then is there anyone that will receive
admonition/ remember”. [54/17]
– ﴾‫א زق‬ ٍ ‫“ ﴿وא‬And Allah has
bestowed His gifts of sustenance more freely on some
of you than on others”. [16/71]
– ﴾‫א ض‬ ‫ و‬ª‫وא‬ ‫א‬ ﴿ “whatever is in the
heavens and whatever is on the earth glorifies Allah”.
[59/1]

127

127. ‫سא‬ ‫ א‬Lesson 17
ْ ª
FORM-
THE DERIVED VERBAL FORM-II
This is another form of the mazid verbs. In this bab hamza
‘ ’ with fathah is prefixed to the first radical which
loses its vowel, e.g. from ‫ج‬ ‘he went out’ to ‫ج‬ ‘he
brought out’, from ‫‘ ل‬he came down’ to ‫‘ ل‬he brought
down’, ‫‘ ذ‬he went’ ‫‘ ذ‬he took it/him’. The meaning
of thalathai verb in this bab changes from intransitive E‫ زم‬F
to transitive verb E F. If the thalathi verb is already
transitive in form then this bab adds emphasis to the
meaning, e.g. ª ‘he beat’ is a transitive thalathai verb,
but when changed to ª it would mean ‘he beat
extensively’.
The Mudare E‫ع‬ ‫א‬F
ْ ‫א‬F :
The mudare is on the pattern of ْ . In this case, the E F
along with its vowel is omitted, e.g. from ‫ل‬
‫ل‬ –‫ج‬ ‫ج‬ – ‫ذ‬ .
The Amr/Nahi E ‫وא‬ ‫א‬F:
The amr is on the pattern of ْ , e.g. from ‫ل‬ ‫ل‬
‘bring down’ and nahi is ‫ل‬ ‘do not bring down’,
129

128. The Derived Verbal Form-II
from ‫ج‬ ‫ج‬ ‘bring out’ and nahi is ‫ج‬ ‘do not
bring out’.
The Masdar E ْ ‫א‬F:
The masdar of this bab is on the pattern of ‫( ْ ل‬if al-
lun), e.g. ‫ج‬ , ‫ج‬ ‫אج‬ – , ‫م‬
‘religion, faith, belief’, ‫ل , ل‬ ‫. אل‬
The Ismul-fail E
Ismul- ْ‫א‬ ‫א‬F:
It is on the pattern of ْ , e.g. , ‘it is
possible’, , ‘Muslim’.
The Ismul-maful E‫א ْ ْ ل‬
Ismul- ‫א‬F:
It is on the pattern of ْ , e.g. from , ‘to
send’ ‘one who has been sent’. It is just like ism
al-fail except that the second radical has fathah i.e.
.
The Noun of Place Time E‫ن‬ ‫ن وא‬ ْ‫א‬ ‫א‬F
‫א‬F:
It is based on the same pattern as ism al-maful, i.e.
ْ , e.g. , ‘place of sitting/
session’, , ‘museum’.
The Weak Verbs:
The conjugation of some of the weak verbs transferred
to this bab is in Table 17 below:
130

129. The Derived Verbal Form-II
Table – 17
‫א‬ ‫ع‬ ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ْ‫א‬ ‫א ْ ل א‬ ‫א‬
‫م‬
‫م‬
(for ‫) ْ م‬
‫ن‬
(for ْ) (for ‫ن‬ )
ª
‫و‬
(for Eª ‫و‬
‫م‬ ‫א‬
(for )
ْ ْ ْ ٍْ ًْ
ْ
(for ْ ) (for ْ ) (for ْ) (for ْ ْ ‫( )א‬for ْ ْ ‫)א‬
ً
‘to give’
Examples from the Holy Quran:
– ‫א‬ ْ ْ‫א‬ ‫ود‬ ْ ‫א‬ ﴿
﴾ “It is He who has sent His Messenger
(Muhammad ε) with guidance and the religion of truth
(Islam), to make it superior over all religions”. [9/33]
– ‫و‬ ‫و‬ ‫د‬ ْ ْ ‫﴿א ْ م‬
﴾ً ‫م د‬ ‫“ א‬This day, I have perfected your religion for
you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen
for you Islam as your religion”. [5/3]
– ﴾ ‫ن ضو‬ ‫א‬ ‫“ ﴿و ذא‬And when We
bestow Our Grace on man (the disbeliever), he turns
131

130. The Derived Verbal Form-II
away and becomes arrogant (far away from the right
Path)”. [17/83]
– ﴾ ْ‫א‬ ْ ﴿ “Verily, We have sent it (this
Quran) down in the Night of Al-Qadr (Decree)”. [97/1]
– ﴾ ª ‫“ ﴿و‬I (Shoaib υ said) have indeed
conveyed my Lord’s Message unto you”. [7/93]
– ﴾‫ن‬ ْ‫א‬ ْ ﴿ “Successful indeed are the believers”.
[23/1]

132

131. ‫سא‬ ‫ א‬Lesson 18
ª
THE DERIVED VERBAL FORM-III
FORM-III
In this bab an alif is added after the first radical of , e.g.
from ‘he fought’, ‘he struggled’,
‫‘ א‬he corresponded’, ‘he helped’. This
bab denotes reciprocity or interaction with some one else
E ‫א‬F, e.g. ‘he killed’ ‘he fought (with
someone)’, ‘he wrote’ ‘he wrote to/ corres-
ponded with’, ‘he was good’ ‘he treated
kindly’.
The Mudare E‫ع‬ ْ ‫א‬F:
The ‫ع‬ ‫ א‬ú takes dammah as the verb is made up of
four letters, e.g. – –
– ‫א‬ ‫א‬ – ‘he met’ ‘he
meets/he will meet’. It is on the pattern of . The
active/ passive participles from are:
– Perfect Active ‘he fought’–on the pattern of
– Perfect Passive – on the pattern of
– Imperfect Active – on the pattern of
– Imperfect Passive – on the pattern of
133

132. The Derived Verbal Form-III
The Amr E ‫א‬F:
The amr is formed simply by omitting the ‫ع‬
ٍ ‫ א‬ú
and the case-ending, e.g. – –
‫ول‬ ‘to try’ ‫ول‬ – ‫( ق‬the ‘ ’ at the end is
omitted from the naqis verbs).
The Masdar E ْ ‫א‬F:
This bab has two patterns of masdar:
1 , e.g. ‘to help’, – ‫ول‬ ‘to
try’, ‫ول‬ ‫و‬ – ‘to meet’, –
, (in naqis verbs ‘ ’ at the end is
changed to alif).
2 ‫ل‬ , e.g. , ‫ ل‬L – ,
‫ ق‬L ‘hypocrisy’, , ‫د‬ L
‘striving’, ‫د , د‬ ‫‘ א‬calling’.
The Ism al-fail Ism al-maful:
al- al-
‫א‬ ‫ع‬ ‫א‬ ْ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‫א ْ ل‬ ‫א‬
‫א‬
‫א‬ ‫א‬
‫א‬ ‘corresponded
‘to correspond’ ‘correspondent’
to/with’
‘to
‘viewer’ ‘viewed’
watch/view’
‫ق‬
‫ق‬
ٍ
‘one who is
‘to meet’ ‘one who meets’
met’
134

133. The Derived Verbal Form-III
‘one who ‘one who is
‘to address’
addresses’ addressed’
‫د‬
‫د‬ ‫د‬
‫د‬ ‘one who is
‘to call’ ‘caller’
called’
‫א‬
‫א‬ ‫א‬
‫א‬ ‘one who is
‘to observe’ ‘observer’
observed’
¯
¯ ¯
¯ ‘one who offers
‘to bless’ ‘blessed’
blessing’
The Noun of Place Time E‫ن‬ ‫ن وא‬ ْ‫א‬ ‫א‬F
‫א‬F:
Its pattern is the same as for ism al-maful, where
applicable, e.g. ‘to migrate’, ‘place
of migration’.
Examples of bab from the Holy Quran:
– ﴾ ْ ‫“ ﴿و‬And whosoever strives,
he strives only for himself”. [29/6]
‫א‬
– ﴾ً ً ﴿ “and we called it (the
population) to a severe account”. [65/8]
– ﴾ ‫“ ﴿وא‬And Allah gives manifold
increase to whom He will”. [2/261]
135

134. The Derived Verbal Form-III
– ﴾‫ن‬ ْ ‫ْ ن و‬ ‫א‬ ‫ن‬ ﴿ “They fight in
Allah’s cause, so they kill (others) and are killed”.
[9/111]

136

135. ‫سא‬ ‫ א‬Lesson 19
ª
FORM-
THE DERIVED VERBAL FORM-IV
ª is formed by prefixing ‘ ’ (ta) to bab . It
expresses, apart from specific measures, the passive state of
bab , i.e. intransitive, e.g. from ‘he taught’
‘he learned/taught himself’. Other examples from this bab
are; ‘he spoke’, ú ‘he became afraid’, ú ‘he has
the honour’, ‫دد‬ ‘he hesitated’, ‘he received’, ‘he
had lunch’.
The mudare of bab is on the pattern of . The ú
‫ع‬ ‫ ,א‬in this case, takes fatha as the verb is made up of
five letters, e.g. , , , ú , ú , ,
‫ . دد‬It is important to note that when ‫ א ع‬ú is ‘ ’ (ta),
e.g. then in literally writings one of the ta’s may be
omitted to simplify pronunciation of the verb, e.g. ‫ل‬ ﴿
﴾ ª‫وא و‬ ْ ‫ .]4/79[ א‬Here ‫ ل‬is for ‫ل‬ . Similarly
﴾‫א‬ ‫ ,]21/94[ ﴿و‬here ‫א‬ is for ‫א‬ .
The amr from this bab is formed by omitting the ú
ْ ‫ א‬and the case-ending, e.g. from ,
,ú ú ‘be afraid’, and the negative/ denial
is ú ‘don’t be afraid’.
137

136. The Derived Verbal Form-IV
The naqis verb drops the final alif (which is written ‘ ’),
e.g. ‘have lunch’, (don’t have lunch).
The masdar from this bab is on the pattern of , e.g.
‫א‬ ‫ع‬ ‫א‬ ‫א‬ Meaning
‘talking’
‫ل‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ل‬ ‘descending’
‘remembering’
‘speaking’
(for ) ‘receiving ‘
‫ْل‬ ‫ْل‬ ‫ْل‬ ‘shaking’
The Ism al-fail from this bab is formed by replacing the
‫ א‬ú with ‘‫( ’م‬mu). The second radical has kasra in
the ism al-fail and fathah in Ism al-maful, e.g. from the
ism al-fail is ‘one who speaks’ and the ism al-maful is
‘one who is spoken to’.
The noun of place and time Eú ‫א‬ ‫א‬F is the same as Ism
al-maful, e.g. ‘to breath’ ‘breathing place’,
‘to do wadu/ablution’ ‘place of wadu’.
Some examples of bab from the Holy Quran:
– ﴾ ‫“ ﴿و‬And none remembers but
those who turn (to Allah in obedience and) in
repentance (by begging His pardon and by worshipping
and obeying Him Alone)”. [40/13]
138

137. The Derived Verbal Form-IV
– ‫ل‬ ْ‫א‬ ‫و‬ ‫א‬ ‫﴿ذ‬
﴾ ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‫ل‬ ْ
“When both (Habil
and Qabil) offered a sacrifice (to Allah), it was accepted
from the one but not from the other. The latter said to
the former: ‘I will surely kill you’. The former said:
‘Verily, Allah accepts only from those who are Al-
Muttaqin (the pious believers of Islamic Monotheism
who fear Allah much, i.e. abstain from all kinds of sins
and evil deeds which He has forbidden, and love Allah
much, i.e. perform all kinds of good deeds which He
has ordained)”. [5/27]
– ﴾ ْ ª ‫ون א ْ ن م‬ ﴿ “Do they not then
think deeply in the Quran, or are their hearts locked up
(from understanding it)”. [47/24]
– ﴾ ْ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ﴿ “Our Lord! Accept
(this service) from us, verily you are the All-Hearer, the
All-knower”. [2/127]
– ﴾ª ‫א‬ ‫“ ﴿و‬Then all their relations will be
cut off from them”. [2/166]
– EE ‫אْ ن و‬ FF “The best amongst you is
he who learns Quran and teaches it”. [Al-Hadith]

139

138. ‫ون‬ ‫سא‬ ‫ א‬Lesson 20
ª
FORM-
THE DERIVED VERBAL FORM-V
This bab is formed by prefixing ‘ ’ (ta) to bab . Bab
mainly denotes the following three aspects:
Reciprocal action E ْ ‫א‬F, e.g. ‫ون‬ ‘to help one
another’, ú ‘to introduce/know one another’,
‘to fight each other’, ‫‘ א‬to agree together’, ‘to
ask one another’, ‘to confront each other’, ‘to
meet each other’.
Pretended action E ْ‫א‬ ْ F, e.g. ‫ض‬ ‘he
pretended to be sick’, ‘he pretended to be blind’,
‫وم‬ ‘he pretended to be asleep’, ‘he pretended
to cry’.
Reflexive signification, i.e. indicating that the action
turns back upon the subject, e.g. ¯ ‘He (Allah) made
Himself Blessed above all’, ‘He (Allah) made
Himself Exalted above all’.
In the mudare ْ‫ א‬ú takes fathah as the verb is
made up of five letters, e.g. – ‫ون‬ ‫ون‬
–‫ض‬ ‫ض‬ – – ‫وم‬ ‫وم‬ –¯
¯ – .
141

139. The Derived Verbal Form-V
The amr from this bab is formed by omitting the ‫ א ع‬ú
and the case-ending, e.g. ‫ون‬ ‫– ون‬ –
– ‫ول‬ ‫ . و ل‬In the naqis verb the final
alif (written –yaF is omitted, e.g. ¯ ‘pretend
to cry’.
The masdar of this bab is on the pattern of , e.g.
‘asking’, ‫ون‬ ‫‘ ون‬cooperation’, ú ú
‘introduction’, ‫ول‬ ‫‘ ول‬taking’, ‫ض‬ ‫ض‬
‘pretending sick’, ¯ ¯ ‘blessing’, ‫م , م‬
‫م‬ ‘to be pessimistic’. In the naqis verb the dammah of
the second radical changes to kasrah and final alif (written
ya) is omitted, e.g. ¯ (for ).
The pattern of Ism al-fail is the same as for other mazid
verbs i.e. from ‫ ول‬ism al-fail is ‫ول‬ ‘one who takes’,
and Ism al-maful is ‫ول‬ ‘that which is taken’, and the
noun of place and time Eú ‫א‬F is also ‫ول‬ ‘place of
taking or place within reach’, e.g. ‫ول‬ ‫¯ א دو‬
‫א ْ ل‬ ‘do not leave the medicines within the reach of
children’s hands’.
Some examples of bab from the Holy Quran:
– ﴾‫ن‬ ﴿ “What are they asking (one another)
about?”. [78/1]
– ﴾‫وא ْ وאن‬ ‫א‬ ‫و א‬ ‫و‬ ْ ‫א ْ× وא‬ ‫﴿و و א‬
“And help you one another in Al-Birr and At-taqwa
(virtue, righteousness and piety); but do not help one
142

140. The Derived Verbal Form-V
another in sin and transgression”. [5/2]. Here, in this
verse, ‫و א‬ is for ‫و א‬ ; one ta has been omitted.
– ﴾‫א‬ ‫ًو‬ ْ ‫“ ﴿و‬And We have made
you into nations and tribes, that you may know one
another”. [49/13]. Here ‫א‬ is for ‫א‬ ; one ta is
omitted.
– ﴾ ‫אْ ْ و‬ ‫“ ﴿ ¯ א‬Blessed
be He in whose Hand is the dominion, and He is Able
to do all things”. [67/1]
– ﴾ ‫و א א‬ ْ ‫“ ﴿و א א‬And (join together) in
the mutual teaching of Truth, and of patience and
constancy”. [103/3]

143

141. ‫ون‬ ‫د وא‬ ‫سא‬ ‫ א‬Lesson 21
‫א‬ª
FORM-
THE DERIVED VERBAL FORM-VI
This bab is formed by prefixing ‘‫( ’אن‬in) to , e.g.
‘he broke it’ ‫‘ א‬it broke’, ‘he turned over’ ‫א‬
‘he/ it became overturned’, ‫‘ א‬it was split’, ‫‘ א‬it was
cut off, it ended’. The hamza E F of ‫ ن‬is hamzat al-wasl
E ْ‫א‬ F i.e. it becomes vowelless when prefixed to ‘‫’و‬
or ‘ú’, e.g. ‫ א‬becomes ‫ وא‬or .
The verbs of this bab are mostly intransitive. Besides, this
bab denotes ‫( א و‬mutawah) which means that the
object of a verb becomes the subject, e.g. ‫ن‬ ْ‫ א‬ª ‘I
broke the teacup’, ‫ن‬ ْ‫א‬ ‫‘ א‬the tea cup broke’. Note
that ‫ن‬ ْ ‫ א‬in the first sentence is the object of the verb
E ‫ل‬ F and in the second it is the subject E F.
Here are some more examples: ª ْ ‫א‬ ‘I opened the
door’, ª ‫א‬ ‫‘ א‬the door opened’, ْ‫ن א‬ ْ ‫‘ م א‬the
Muslims defeated the unbelievers’, ْ ‫‘ א م א‬the
unbelievers got defeated’.
Remember that ‫ א‬is the ‫وع‬ of , and is the
‫وع‬ of , e.g. ª ْ ‫ א‬ª ‘I broke the tumbler’, ‫א‬
145

142. The Derived Verbal Form-VI
ª ْ ‫‘ א‬the tumbler broke’. And ª ْ ‫ א‬ª ‘I smashed the
tumbler’, ª ْ ‫א‬ ‘the glass broke to pieces’.
The ‫ع‬ ْ‫ א‬ú in this bab takes fathah, e.g. ‫א‬
– ‫א‬ –‫م‬ ‫א‬ ‫م‬ – ‫א‬ – ‫א‬
– ‫א‬ – ‫א‬ .
The amr from this bab is formed by replacing the ú
‫ع‬ ْ ‫ א‬with hamzat al-wasl E ْ‫א‬ F because, after
omitted the ‫ א ع‬ú the verb commences with a sakin
letter which cannot be pronounced, e.g. ‫א‬
‘break’, ‫‘ א‬turn over’, ‫‘ א‬cut it’,
‫‘ א‬wait’. To negate ‘ ’ is prefixed to the second person
form of verb, e.g. ‘do not wait’, ‘don’t
break’, ‘do not cut/break’.
The masdar from this bab is on the pattern of ‫ل‬ ‫ ,א‬e.g.
‫:א‬ ª ‫–א‬ ‫:א‬ ‫‘ א‬blast’, ‫:א‬
‫–א‬ ‫:א‬ ú ‫‘ א‬to differ’, ‫:א‬
‫ق‬ ‫‘ א‬splitting’ (the assimilated letters get
separated in the masdar.)
In the naqis verb the final ya changes to hamza, e.g. ‫א‬
‘to be exposed’, ‫ א‬for ‫‘ א‬exposure’.
The Ism al-fail is formed as in other cases of the derived
verbs, e.g. – . The Ism al-
maful is not formed from this bab as it is an intransitive
verb.
146

143. The Derived Verbal Form-VI
Some examples of bab ‫ א‬from the Holy Quran:
– ﴾ª ‫א‬ ‫“ ﴿ ذא א‬When the heaven is left asunder”.
[82/1]
– ﴾ª ‫א‬ ‫“ ﴿و ذא א ْ א‬And when the stars have fallen
and scattered”. [82/2]
– ﴾ ‫א‬ ‫“ ﴿ ذא א‬When the heaven is split asunder”.
[84/1]
– ﴾‫ن‬ ‫א‬ ‫“ ﴿א‬depart you to that
which you used to deny”. [77/29]
– ﴾ ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‫“ ﴿و ذא א‬And when they
return to their own people, they would return jesting”.
[83/31]
– ﴾ ‫א‬ ﴿ “and then gushed forth out
of it twelve springs”. [7/160]
– ﴾ ‫ًو‬ ْ‫א‬ ْ‫א‬ ‫﴿ א‬
“Then look again and yet again, your sight will return to
you in a state of humiliation and worn out”. [67/4]

147

144. ‫ون‬ ‫وא‬ ‫سא‬ ‫ א‬Lesson 22
ْ‫א‬ª
FORM-
THE DERIVED VERBAL FORM-VII
This bab is formed by adding alif with kasra ‘‫ ’א‬before the
first radical of , and ‘ ’ (ta) after it, e.g. ‘he collected
(something)’ ‫‘ א‬it collected or gathered together,
assembled’, ‘to acquire’ ْ ‫‘ א‬to gain’, ‘to
hear’ ‫‘ א‬to listen’, ‘to occupy or keep busy’
‫‘ א‬to be busy or to work’.
The bab ْ ‫ א‬is reflexive of but has a reciprocal
signification like bab . As in bab ‫ א‬the ْ‫א‬ is
omitted in this bab also when ‫ْ م‬ ‫א‬ (hamzat al-
istifham) is prefixed to the verb, e.g. ‫‘ א‬you wait for
me’, and to say ‘did you wait for me?’ it is ‫ א‬for
‫ . א‬In the Holy Quran ﴾ ْ ‫א‬ ª ْ‫א‬ ﴿ “Has
He (then) chosen daughters, rather than sons?”. [37/153].
Here is for ‫.א‬
The extra ‘ª’ (ta) in this bab undergoes certain changes as
mentioned below:
If the first radical is ‫ز‬L‫ذ‬L‫ د‬the extra ‘ª’ changes to ‘‫’د‬
(dal), e.g. ‫‘ د‬to call’ ‫‘ אد‬he claimed/alleged’ for
‫ , د‬from ‫‘ ذ‬to mention’ ‫ ذد‬E ‫ د‬F ‘he remem-
149

145. The Derived Verbal Form-VII
bered’ for ‫ . ذ‬With the assimilation of ‘‫ ’ذ‬to ‘‫ ’د‬the
form ‫ ذد‬becomes ‫ , د‬and from ‫‘ زאد‬to add’ ‫زدאد‬
‘to increase’ for ‫. ز د‬
If the first radical is L‫ط‬L‫ض‬L‫ ص‬the extra ‘ª’ changes to
‘‫ ,’ط‬e.g. ‫‘ א‬to have patience’, for ‫ ,א‬and
from ‫ א‬for ‫‘ א‬to chose’. ‘to
harm/hurt’ ‫ א‬for ‫– .א‬ ‘to know/come into
view’ ‫ א‬for ْ ‫ א‬and ‘to oppress’ ْ ‫ א‬for
ْ ‫.א‬
If the first radical is ‘‫( ’و‬waw), it gets assimilated to the
extra ‘ª’, e.g. ‫‘ و‬to arrive’ ‫‘ א‬to contact’ for
‫ אو‬and ‫‘ و‬to fear’ ‫‘ א‬he feared, he protected
himself’ for ‫.אو‬
The mudare from this bab is on the pattern of ْ , e.g.
‫א‬ ‘he listens/will listen’, ‫א‬ ‘to
bear’, ‫א‬ – ‫א‬ – ‫א‬ – ‫א‬
(for ) ‘to select’.
The amr from bab ْ ‫ א‬is formed by prefixing with
‘‫ ’א‬because after omitting the ‫ א ع‬ú the first
radical of the verb cannot be read, being sakin. This case-
ending becomes vowelless with ‫ ,’_‘ م‬e.g. ‫א‬
‘wait’ ‘don’t wait’, ‫‘ א‬listen’
‘don’t listen’, ‫‘ א‬assemble’
‘don’t assemble’, ‘to smile’ ‫‘ א‬smile’
‘don’t smile’.
150

146. The Derived Verbal Form-VII
The masdar from this bab is on the patter of ‫ل‬ ْ ‫ ,א‬e.g.
‫,א‬ ‫– א‬ ْ ‫,א‬ ْ ª ْ ‫– א‬ ‫,א‬
‫ن‬ ‫‘ א‬examination’, ‫,א‬ ‫ع‬ ‫א‬
‘assembly’, ‫ْ م ,א ْ م‬ ‫‘ א ْ אم‬embracing’.
The Ism al-fail from this bab is on the pattern of ْ and
Ism al-maful ْ , e.g. ‫,א‬ ‘examiner’
and ‘examinee’.
The noun of place and time is the same as Ism al-maful,
e.g. ‘place of gathering/society’, ‫‘ א ْ ْ م‬the place of
embracing’ (It is the name given to the part of kaba that lies
between ‫د‬ ‘Black Stone’ and its door. It is Sunnah to
embrace this part of kaba).
Some examples of bab ْ from the Holy Quran:
– ﴾ ‫ق‬
ٍ ª ْ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‫“ ﴿وאن א‬And verily,
those who dispute as regards the Book are far away in
opposition”. [2/176]
– ﴾ ‫א‬ ‫ون א‬ ‫“ ﴿و‬And (there are) others who have
acknowledged their sins”. [9/102]
– ﴾ً ‫ز א א‬
ً ‫א‬ ﴿ “but the flood bears away the
foam that mounts up to the surface”. [13/17]
– ﴾‫א‬ ‫ًو‬ ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‫“ ﴿وא‬And hold fast, all of
you together, to the Rope of Allah (i.e. this Quran), and
be not divided among yourselves”. [3/103]
151

147. The Derived Verbal Form-VII
– ﴾ ً ‫א‬ ْ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‫﴿ و‬
“Say (O Mohammad ε) it has been revealed to me that a
group of Jinn listen (to this Quran). They said: verily, we
have heard a wonderful recitation (this Quran)”. [72/1]
– ﴾ ‫د‬ × ‫وא‬ ﴿ “So worship Him (Alone) and be
constant and patient in His worship”. [19/65]
– ﴾ ‫א‬ ﴿ “except under compulsion of
necessity”. [6/119]
– ﴾ ْ‫א‬ ‫وא‬ ‫א‬ ْ ‫“ ﴿א‬The Hour has drawn near,
and the moon has been cleft asunder (regarding the
splitting of the moon as a miracle)”. [54/1]
– ﴾ ْ ‫א‬ ‫و‬ ﴿ “He gets reward for that
(good) which he has earned, and he is punished for that
(evil) which he has earned”. [2/286]

152

148. ‫ون‬ ‫وא‬ ‫سא‬ ‫ א‬Lesson 23
ْ‫א‬ª
THE DERIVED VERBAL FORM-VIII
FORM-
This bab is formed by prefixing ‘‫ ’א‬to the first radical of
and by doubling the third radical, e.g. ‫‘ א‬it was or
became red/he blushed’, ‫‘ א ج‬it became crooked/bent’.
The mudare from this bab is on the pattern of ْ , e.g.
‫א‬ –‫א ج‬ ‫ج‬ .
The masdar is on the pattern of ‫ل‬ ْ ‫ ,א‬e.g. ‫א‬ ‫,א‬
‫ج‬ ‫ج‬ ‫ .א‬The double letter at the end is split in
masdar.
The Ism al-fail from this bab is on the pattern of ْ , e.g.
. This bab has no Ism al-maful.
This bab is used only for colors and defects; examples:
– ‫‘ א‬yellow’ ‫‘ א‬it was or became yellow/ pale’.
– ‫‘ א‬white’ ‫‘ א‬it was or became white’.
– ‫د‬ ‫‘ א‬black’ ‫‘ א د‬it was or became black’.
– ‫‘ א‬red’ ‫‘ א‬he blushed/ it became red’.
– ‫‘ א‬green’ ‫‘ א‬it was or became green’.
– ‫‘ ج‬bent/crooked’ ‫‘ א ج‬it became bent/ crooked’.
153

149. The Derived Verbal Form-VIII
Some examples of this bab from the Holy Quran:
– ﴾‫دא‬ ‫و‬ ‫“ ﴿و ذא‬And when the
news of (the birth of) a female (child) is brought to any
of them, his face becomes dark”. [16/58]
– ‫ و‬ª‫א د‬ ‫א‬ ‫دو‬ ‫و‬ ‫و‬ ‫﴿ م‬
﴾‫ْ ون‬ ª‫و א א ْ א‬ “on the Day
(i.e. the Day of Resurrection) when some faces will
become white and some faces will become black; as for
those faces will become black (to them will be said):
Did you reject faith after accepting it? Then taste the
torment (in Hell) for rejecting faith”. [3/106]
– ﴾‫ون‬ ‫א‬ ‫و‬ ‫א‬ ‫﴿و א‬
“And for those whose faces will become white, they
will be in Allah’s Mercy (paradise), there in they shall
dwell forever”. [3/107]
– ﴾ ‫אْ ن‬ ‫“ ﴿وא‬And he lost his sight
because of the sorrow that he was suppressing” [12/84]
– ﴾ً ‫א ض‬ ‫ل א‬ ‫نא‬ ‫“ ﴿א‬see
you not that Allah sends down water (rain) from the sky
and the earth becomes green”. [22/63]

154

150. ‫ون‬ ‫س א א وא‬ ‫ א‬Lesson 24
ْ ‫א‬ª
FORM-
THE DERIVED VERBAL FORM-IX
Bab ْ
‫ א‬is formed by prefixing ‫( א‬Ista) to the first
radical of , e.g. ‫‘ א‬he sought help’, ‫‘ א زق‬he
asked for rizq (gifts of sustenance)’, ْ ‫‘ א‬he asked for
food’, ‫‘ א‬he asked forgiveness’, ‫‘ א‬he got ready’,
‫‘ א‬he woke up’.
The mudare from this bab is on the pattern of ْ , e.g.
‫א‬ – ‫زق‬ ‫א‬ ‫زق‬ – ‫א‬ .
The amr is on the pattern of ْ ‫ ,א‬e.g. ‫ א‬and the
negation E F is – ‫א‬ – ْ ‫א‬
ْ .
The masdar is on the pattern of ‫ْ ل‬ ‫ ,א‬e.g. ‫,א‬
‫ א‬and ‫زאق‬ ‫.א‬
The ism al-fail and ism al-maful are formed on the standard
given pattern, e.g. ‘one who seeks forgiveness’ and
‘one whose forgiveness is sought’.
The noun of place and time is the same as for the ism
al-maful, e.g. ْ ‘to receive’ ْ ‘future’,
‘to seek treatment’ ‘hospital’.
155

151. The Derived Verbal Form-IX
This bab essentially signifies the meaning of seeking, as is
also evident from the above examples, e.g. ‘he ate’
ْ ‫‘ א‬he asked for food’, ‘he helped’ ‫‘ א‬he
asked for help’, ‘he forgave’ ‫‘ א‬he sought
forgiveness’, ‘he came’ ْ
‫‘ א‬he sought reception’,
‘he guided’ ‫‘ א‬he sought guidance’, ‫‘ א‬to
inform’ ‫‘ א‬made known’, ‫‘ א‬to give up or to
deliver’ ‫‘ א‬to give oneself up/to surrender’, ‫‘ ذن‬to
permit’ ‫‘ א ْذن‬to ask permission’, ‘to succeed’
‫‘ א‬to appoint one as successor or Caliph E F’.
Some examples of the bab ْ ‫ א‬from the Holy Quran:
– ﴾ ْ ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‫ذא‬ ﴿ “then they
both proceeded, till, when they came to the people of a
town, they asked them for food”. [18/77]
– ﴾ ‫“ ﴿و ذ א‬And (remember) when Musa
(Moses) asked for water for his people”. [2/60]
– ﴾ ‫د‬ ‫نא‬ ‫“ ﴿ ل‬He (Moses)
said: would you exchange that which is better for that
which is lower?”. [2/61]
– ﴾ ‫وא‬ ‫“ ﴿وא‬And get two witnesses
out of your own men”. [2/282]
– ﴾ ª ‫א و د‬ ‫ن‬ ‫“ ﴿و ن د‬And if you
decide on a foster sucking-mother for your children,
there is no sin on you”. [2/233]
156

152. The Derived Verbal Form-IX
– ﴾ ‫א‬ ‫وא‬ ﴿ “Then rejoice
(imperative) in the bargain which you have concluded”.
[9/111]
– ﴾ ‫א‬ ‫و‬ ‫א‬ ﴿ “And he (Satan)
turned them away from the (Right) path, though they
were intelligent/keen observers (ism al-fail)”. [29/38]

157

153. ‫ون‬ ‫وא‬ ‫سא‬ ‫ א‬Lesson 25
ْ‫א‬
THE UNSOUND VERBS
In the study of verbs we have learnt that most of the Arabic
verbs have only three letters which are called radicals. The
first radical is called ‘ú’ (fa), the second is called ‘‫( ’ع‬ain),
and the third letter is called ‘‫( ’ل‬lam). These names are
taken from the verb which is used as a reference-
pattern for all the verbs. We should now understand that
from the classification point of view, the Arabic verb is
divided into the following four categories:
The Sound Verbs E ‫א‬F
‫א‬F :
A verb which does not have ‘ ’ (hamza), ‘‫( ’و‬waw) or
‘ ’ (ya) as one of the radicals, and its second and the
third radicals are not identical i.e. of the same kind, is
called a sound verb E ‫א‬F or E
‫א ْ ل א‬F. Most
of the Arabic verbs belong to this category, e.g. ‫ذ‬
‫د‬ .
The Weak Verbs E ‫א‬F
ْ ‫א‬F :
If any of the three radicals is ‘‫( ’و‬waw) or ‘ ’ (ya) the
verb is called the mutall E ‫א‬F, i.e. weak or unsound
verb, e.g. ‫‘ و‬to arrive’, ‘to be pleased/ satisfied’,
159

154. The Unsound Verbs
‘easy’, ‫‘ د‬to call/ invite’, ‘to iron’, ‫‘ و‬to
save’.
The Mahmuz E‫ز‬ ‫א‬F
ْ ‫א‬F:
A verb, which has hamza as one of the radicals, is
called mahmuz, e.g. ‘to eat’, ‫‘ ل‬to ask’, ‘to
read’.
The Muda’af E ‫א‬F
ْ ‫א‬F :
A verb in which the second and the third radicals are
identical is called mudaaf E ‫א‬F, e.g. ‘to smell’,
‘to touch’, ‘to think’, ‘to pass’.
We now take these categories one by one for some further
elaboration.
The Sound Verbs E ‫א‬F
‫א‬F :
The verbs that we have learnt so far mainly belong to
this category. Hence it does not require further
elaboration.
Weak Verbs E ‫א‬F
ْ ‫א‬F :
A verb having ‘‫ ’و‬or ‘ ’ as one of the three radicals is
Mutall, i.e. weak or sick verb, and the consonant ‘‫’و‬
and ‘ ’ are called weak letters E ْ ‫ א‬ú‫ و‬F. The weak
verbs are further divided into the following categories:
1 ‫א‬ (the mutal fa): If the first radical is ‘‫ ’و‬or
‘ ’, the verb is called mutall al-fa E ‫א‬ F, i.e.
weak of fa. It is also referred to as mithal E‫א ْ ل‬F,
e.g. ‫‘ و‬he arrived’, ‫‘ و‬he promised’, ‫‘ و‬he
160

155. The Unsound Verbs
placed’, ‫‘ وزن‬he weighed’, ‫‘ و‬he stopped/stood’,
‫‘ و‬he granted’, ‘he facilitated/made easy’.
Unlike the sound verbs, there is an abnormality in
the mudare of the mithal verbs. In this case the first
radical waw in the mithal perfect verb is lost in the
mudare, e.g. the mudare of ‫ و‬is , which is
originally like ª ª , and after
omission of the waw it becomes . The amr from
is which is based on two letters only. No
hamzat al-wasl is needed at the beginning as the
verb already commences with a consonant with
vowel. By making the last radical sakin, the amr
from is formed as ‘arrive’.
Some more examples of the mudare and the amr
are:
Perfect Imperfect Imperative
‫‘ و‬to promise’ ‘promise’
‫‘ و‬to place’ ‘place it’
‫‘ وزن‬to weigh’ ‫ن‬ ‫‘ زن‬weigh’
‫‘ و‬to stop/stand’ stop/stand up
‫‘ و‬to grant’ ‘grant’
2 ‫א‬ (the mutal ain): If the second radical is
waw or ya the verb is called ‫א‬ , i.e. weak of
ain. It is also referred to as ajwaf verbs Eú ‫א‬F.
Examples of perfect and imperfect are:
Group (a-u):
‫ل‬ ‫‘ ل‬to say, to tell’ ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ ‘to be’
161

156. The Unsound Verbs
‫م‬ ‫م‬ ‘to fast’ ‫زא‬ ‫‘ و‬to visit’
‫م‬ ‫‘ م‬to get up’ ‫ذאق‬ ‫‘ وق‬to taste’
ú ú ‘to go round’
Group (a-i):
‘to walk’ ‫ع‬ ‘to sell’
‘to come’ ‫ش‬ ‘to live’
‫ل‬ ‘to measure’
Group (i-a):
‫م‬ ‫‘ م‬to sleep’ ‫‘ אل زאل‬to cease to do’
‫د‬ ‫‘ د‬to be about to do’
ú ú ‘to fear, to be afraid’
These verbs have undergone certain changes in
relation to the second radicals, e.g.
(i) ‫ل‬ ‫ل‬ (a-u): ‫ل‬ is originally ‫ل‬ in which
waw has been replaced with alif, thus making it ‫ل‬
‘he said’, and ‫ل‬ the origin of ‫ل‬ is ‫ْ ل‬ in
which the vowel ‘u’ on waw has been shifted to the
preceding consonant, thus making it ‫ل‬ . All the
other changes in the (a-u) group will be on the same
pattern.
(ii) (a-i): is originally in which ya
has been replaced with alif, thus making it ‘he
walked or went for a walk’, and the origin of is
in which the vowel ‘i' on ya has been shifted to
the preceding consonant, rendering the ya vowel-
162

157. The Unsound Verbs
less, thus making it . All the other changes in
this group, i.e. (a-i) will be on the same pattern.
(iii) ‫م‬ ‫م‬ (i-a): ‫ م‬is originally ‫م‬ in which waw
has been replaced with alif, thus making it ‫م‬ ‘he
slept’, and the origin of ‫م‬ is ‫م‬ in which the
vowel ‘a’ is shifted to the preceding consonant and
waw is replaced with alif, thus making it ‫ . م‬All
other ajwaf verbs in (i-a) group follow the same
pattern.
The method of conjugation as shown, at Tables 18
and 19.
Table – 18
Method of Conjugation E‫א د‬F - al-Muhtal ain E
al- ‫א‬ F
(Madi (a-u) — ‫ل‬
(a- ‫‘ ل‬to say’)
SINGULAR DUAL PLURAL
rd
Person
3 Person
‫ل‬ ‫א‬
(♂)
)
3rd Person
Person
ْ
(♀)
)
2nd Person
Person
ْ ْ ْ
(♂)
)
2nd Person
Person
ْ ْ ْ
(♀)
)
1st Person
Person
ْ ْ ْ
(♂♀)
)
163

158. The Unsound Verbs
Table – 19
Conjugation E‫ل‬ ‫א‬ F - al-Muhtal ain E
al- ‫א‬ F
(Madi (a-i i-a) —
(a- i- ‘to walk’)
SINGULAR DUAL PLURAL
3rd Person
Person
‫א‬ ‫وא‬
(♂)
)
3rd Person
Person
ª ‫ن‬
(♀)
)
2nd Person
Person
ª
(♂)
)
2nd Person
Person
ª
(♀)
)
1st Person
Person
ª
(♂♀)
)
Notes:
1. In the ajwaf verb of a-u group, the first radical takes
dammah at the time of its isnad E‫א د‬F to mutaharrek
E¯ F pronoun, and if it is of a-i or i-a group it takes
kasrah. (A mutaharrek pronoun is a pronoun which is
followed by a vowel ª, ‫ ن‬and a sakin pronoun is
vowelless like the ‫ و‬in ‫).د א‬
2. All the pronouns in the madi are mutaharrek E ¯ F
except those in ‫د א د‬ ‫ .د‬Also note that in these
cases the second radical is omitted. In the mudare only
the ‫ ن‬is ¯ , and it is in ْ ْ .
In the mudare marfu the second radical is omitted
while conjugating the mutaharrek pronouns, e.g.
164

159. The Unsound Verbs
ْ ْ : ‘they ♀ sleep’, ‫ن‬ ‘they ♀ walk’, ْ
‘they ♀ say/will say’
ْ ْ : ‘you ♀ sleep’, ‫ن‬ ‘you ♀ walk’, ْ
‘you ♀ say/will say’
In the mudare majzum the second radical is also
omitted in the following four forms in addition to
the two mentioned under the mudare marfu:
ْ : ‘he didn’t say’, ‘he didn’t walk’,
‘he didn’t sleep’
ْ : ‘you didn’t say’, ‘you didn’t
walk’, ‘you didn’t sleep’
ْ : ‘I did not say’, ‘I did not walk’,
‘I didn’t sleep’
ْ : ‘we didn’t say’, ‘we didn’t walk’,
‘we didn’t sleep’
This omission is due to iltika-assakenain ْ ‫א‬F
E ‫ א‬as explained below:
is originally ‫ل‬ in which both the waw
and the lam are sakin (vowelless), hence cannot be
vocalized, resulting into the omission of waw, being
a weak letter.
Similarly is originally , the ya sakin is
omitted, and in originally being ‫م‬ the alif
is omitted, being the weak letter as it is in place of
waw.
165

160. The Unsound Verbs
For conjugation of the mudare majzum, see Table
20 below:
Table – 20
Conjugation E‫ل‬ ‫א‬ F of Mudare Majzum – ajwaf
( – ‘he did not say/tell’)
SINGULAR DUAL PLURAL
PLURAL
3rd Person
Person
‫א‬
(♂)
)
3rd Person
Person
ْ
(♀)
)
2nd Person
Person
‫א‬
(♂)
)
2nd Person
Person
ْ
(♀)
)
1st Person
Person
(♂♀)
)
The amr from ‫ل‬ is , and from is and ‫م‬
is . After dropping the ‫ع‬ ‫ א‬ú and the
dammah on the last radical the verb becomes ‫, ل‬
and ‫ ْم‬respectively, rendering the second and
the third radical sakin, i.e. ‫א‬ ‫ א‬occurs.
Consequently, the weak letter, i.e. waw, ya and alif
respectively are omitted resulting in ‘say or tell’,
‘walk’ and ‘sleep’ as amr (imperatives) from
the ajwaf verbs. The method of conjugation of the
amr from the ajwaf verbs is given at Table 21 below:
166

161. The Unsound Verbs
Table – 21
The Amr from Ajwaf verb E ‫א‬ F
Feminine Masculine
Plural Dual Singular Plural Dual Singular
ْ ‫א‬
‫ن‬ ‫א‬ ‫وא‬ ‫א‬
‫א‬
3 ‫א م‬ (the mutal lam): If the third radical is waw
or ya the verb is called ‫م‬ ‫א‬ , i.e. weak of lam,
which is also referred to as naqis E F, e.g.
Group (a-u):
‫د‬ ‘to call/invite’
‘to follow, to recite’
‘to forgive’ ‘to complain’
Group (a-i):
‘to walk’ ْ ‘to come’
‘to run/flow’ ‘to throw’
‘to cry/weep’ ‘to guide’
Group (i-a):
‘to forget’ ‘to fear’
‘to remain’
In madi the naqis verbs undergo the following
changes:
– Both the waw and the ya become alif in
pronunciation. In writing ‘‫( ’و‬waw) is written ‘ ’
167

162. The Unsound Verbs
(alif) while ‘ ’ (ya) is written ‘ ’ (ya without
dots), e.g. ‫ د‬is originally ‫ د‬and is
originally
– The ‘ ’ remains unchanged if the second radical
has kasrah, e.g. , , .
– While conjugating, the third radical is omitted in
the third person masculine plural form, e.g. ‫د א‬
‘they invited’ is originally ‫ د وא‬and ‫א‬ ‘they
wept’ is originally ‫א‬ , and ‫א‬ ‘they forgot’ is
originally, ‫א‬ (Here, note that in ‫א‬ the
second radical has dammah which has been
changed from kasrah, because in Arabic a kasrah
cannot be followed by waw).
– The third radical is also omitted in the third
person feminine singular due to ‫א‬ ‫,א‬
e.g. ‫‘ د‬she invited’ for ª ‫ د‬and ‘she wept’
is for ª .
– The third radical, waw and ya, is restored to its
original form with the mutaharrek pronouns, e.g.
restoration of waw in: ‫‘ د ن‬they ♀ invited’,
ª ‫د‬ ‘you invited’, ª ‫د‬ ‘I invited’, ‫د‬ ‘we
invited’. And restoration of ya in:
.
For the conjugation of the naqis verbs see tables 22
and 23.
168

163. The Unsound Verbs
Table – 22
Conjugation E‫ل‬ ‫א‬ Fof Naqis Verb
( ‫‘ – د‬he called/invited’ for ‫)د‬
called/invited’
SINGULAR DUAL PLURAL
3rd Person
Person
‫د‬ ‫د א‬ ‫د א‬
(♂)
)
3rd Person
Person
‫د‬ ‫د‬ ‫د ن‬
(♀)
)
nd
Person
2 Person
ª ‫د‬ ‫د‬ ‫د‬
(♂)
)
nd
Person
2 Person
ª ‫د‬ ‫د‬ ‫د‬
(♀)
)
st
1 Person
Person
ª ‫د‬ ‫د‬ ‫د‬
(♂♀)
)
Table – 23
Conjugation of Naqis Verb
( pleased’
– ‘he was pleased’ for )
SINGULAR DUAL PLURAL
3rd Person
Person
‫א‬
(♂)
)
3rd Person
Person
(♀)
)
nd
Person
2 Person
(♂)
)
nd
Person
2 Person
(♀)
)
st
Person
1 Person
(♂♀)
)
169

164. The Unsound Verbs
For conjugation of mudare marfu from naqis verb, see
tables 24 and 25.
Table – 24
Conjugation Method of Mudare Marfu in Naqis Verbs
( – ‘he calls/invites, he will call/invite’ for )
SINGULAR DUAL PLURAL
rd
Person
3 Person ‫ن‬
‫אن‬
(♂)
) for for ‫ون‬
rd
Person
3 Person
‫אن‬ ‫ن‬
(♀)
)
2nd Person
Person ‫ن‬
‫אن‬
(♂)
) for ‫ون‬
2nd Person
Person
‫אن‬ ‫ن‬
(♀)
) for
1st Person
Person
‫د‬
(♂♀)
)
Table – 25
Conjugation of Mudare Marfu in Naqis Verb
( weep’
– ‘to weep’)
SINGULAR DUAL PLURAL
3rd Person( )
Person(
on(♂) for ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ for ‫ن‬
rd
3 Person (♀)
Person ) for ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬
nd
2 Person (♂)
Person ) for ‫ن‬ ‫ن‬ for ‫ن‬
2nd Person (♀)
Person ) for ‫ن‬
1st Person
Person
(♂♀)
)
170

165. The Unsound Verbs
24 25
Notes Table 24 25:
1. In the mudare marfu the dammah of the 3rd radical is
omitted, e.g. is originally as ْ or and
is originally as ‫ ل‬or .
2. The 3rd radical is dropped in the 3rd person ♂ plural
form, e.g. ‫ن‬ ‘they ♂ invite/call’ is originally ‫ون‬
like ‫ون‬ or ‫ , ْ ن‬thus both the masculine and
feminine plural in the 3rd person form becomes the
same, i.e. ‫ن‬ ‫ א ل‬and ‫ن‬ ‫ .א‬However, in
the first case the verb ‫ن‬ is changed from ‫ون‬ but
in the second case the verb ‫ن‬ is in the original form
on the pattern of ْ ْ like ْ .
3. ‫ن‬ ‘they weep’ is originally ‫ن‬ , the third radical ya
has been dropped, and the kasrah of the second radical
is changed to dammah, as a kasrah is never followed by
waw in Arabic.
4. The third radical is also dropped in the 2nd person
feminine singular, e.g. ‘you ♀ invite/call’ which is
originally . After the omission of waw along with
its vowel, the verb becomes . The dammah of ‘‫’ع‬
(ain) is changed to kasrah as the dammah is not
followed by ya in Arabic.
5. ‘you ♀ weep’ has the same form as
‘you (♀ plural) weep’ because the verb in the singular
was originally like or . After the
omission of the third radical ya the verb becomes ,
while the plural form of the verb is in its original form
as and the ya is the third radical in .
171

166. The Unsound Verbs
Some more examples of the naqis verb in useable
form: ‘to give water’, ‘to build’,
ْ ‘to fold’, ‘to erase’.
As for the mudare mansub in naqis verb the fathah
of the third radical is pronounced in verbs ending in
waw and ya but not in verbs ending in alif, e.g.
‘he will not invite’, ‘he will not
weep’ but in ‘he will not forget’ the fathah is
not pronounced.
As for the mudare majzum (Jussive) the third radical
is omitted in the naqis verbs, e.g. ‫ع‬ ‘he did not
invite’ (here the third radical waw has been
omitted), ‘he did not weep’ (here the third
radical ya has been omitted).
As in the amr in naqis verbs, here also the 3rd radical
is omitted, e.g.
‫‘ دع‬invite/call’, ‫‘ א‬weep’,
‫‘ א‬forget’.
4 ‫( א‬Attachment): If there are two weak letters in
a verb it is called lafif. The lafif verbs are of two
kinds, as explained below:
– ‫א ْ ْ ون‬ ‫( א‬Lafif Maqrun): If a verb has its
second and third radicals as weak letters, it is
called lafif maqrun, i.e. attached weak letters,
e.g. ْ ‘to iron’.
172

167. The Unsound Verbs
– ‫א ْ ْ وق‬ ‫( א‬Lafif Mafruq): If a verb has its first
and third radicals as weak letters, it is called lafif
mafruq, i.e. detached weak letters, e.g. ‫و‬
‘to save’, ‫و‬ ‘to understand, to
remember by heart’.
In lafif mafruq only the middle radical remains in
the amr as the first radical is omitted in the mudare,
and the third is omitted in the amr. Thus the amr
from ‫ و‬is ‫‘ ق‬save’ as ﴾ ‫ א‬ª‫א‬ ‫“ ﴿و‬and save
us from the punishment of the Fire”. [3/16] and from
‫ و‬is ‫‘ ع‬understand’.
Some examples of unsound verbs from the Holy Quran:
– ﴾‫אم‬ ‫ل و א‬ ‫ א‬ª ْ‫א‬ ْ ‫א‬ ‫﴿و‬
“And say not concerning that which your tongues put
forth falsely: This is lawful and this is forbidden”.
[16/116]
– ﴾ ْ‫א‬ ْ ‫ْ ْ وא‬ ‫“ ﴿אدع‬Invite
(mankind O! Muhammad ε) to the way of your Lord
(i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Revelation
and the Quran) and fair preaching”. [16/125]
– ﴾ ‫و א א‬ ْ ‫“ ﴿و א א‬And (join together) in
the mutual teaching of Truth, and of patience and
constancy”. [103/3]
– ﴾ ْ‫ א‬ª ﴿ “Have you (O!
Muhammad ε) not seen how your Lord dealt with the
173

168. The Unsound Verbs
owners of the elephant (the Elephant Army which came
from Yemen under the command of Abrahah Al-Ashram
intending to destroy the Kabah at Makkah)”. [105/1]
– ﴾ ‫א‬ ﴿ “Say (O! Muhammad ε) He is Allah The
One and Only”. [112/1]
– ﴾ ‫و‬ ﴿ “He begetteth not, Nor is He
begotten”. [112/2]
– ﴾ ‫ن‬ ‫אא‬
ً ‫א‬ ﴿ “Then they (both)
found therein a wall about to collapse, so he (Khidr) set
it up straight”. [18/77]
‫א‬
– ﴾ً ‫“ ﴿ ل‬he (Khidr)
said: Did I not tell you that you can have no patience
with me”. [18/75]
‫א‬
– ﴾ً ‫א‬ ‫ن‬ ‫“ ﴿ ل‬He (Moses) said: If Allah
Wills you will find me patient”. [18/69]
– ﴾ ْ‫س א‬ ْ ‫ذא ْ وز א‬ ْ ‫“ ﴿و و א א‬And give
full measure when you measure, and weigh with a
balance that is straight”. [17/35]
– ﴾ً ‫א ض‬ ‫“ ﴿و‬and walk not on the earth
with conceit and arrogance”. [17/377]
– ﴾ً ‫א‬ ﴿ “Glorified (and Exalted) be
He (Allah) Who took His slave (Muhammad ε) for
journey by night”. [17/1]
174

169. The Unsound Verbs
– ﴾ً ‫و‬ ‫א و‬ ‫“ ﴿ودع ذא و‬And heed
not their annoyances, but put thy trust in Allah, and
enough is Allah as a Disposer of Affairs”. [33/48]

175

170. ‫ون‬ ‫دس وא‬ ‫سא‬ ‫ א‬Lesson 26
ْ ‫ز وא‬ ْ‫א‬
THE HAMZATED AND
DUPLICATED RADICAL VERBS
The Mahmuz E‫ز‬ ‫א‬F
ْ ‫א‬F:
If a verb has hamza E F as one of its radicals it is called
Mahmuz. According to the pattern, the mahmuz verb is
sub-divided into the following three categories:
ْ‫ز א‬ :
A verb which has hamza as its first radical is called
Mahmuzal fa, e.g. ‘he ate’, ‘he ordered’,
‘he took’.
ْ‫ز א‬ :
A verb which has hamza as its second radical is called
Mahmuzal ain, e.g. ‫‘ ل‬he asked’, ‘to be disgusted
at’.
‫زא م‬ :
A verb which has hamza as its third radical is called
Mahmuzal lam, e.g. ‘he read’, ‘to err’.
The mudare from the mahmuz verbs is formed the same
way as has been explained in the case of sound verbs, e.g.
177

171. The Hamzated Duplicated Radical Verbs
ْ – ْ – ‫ل‬ ‫ل‬ – ْ .
However, in the amr (imperative) the mehmuz verb in
some cases is reduced to only two radicals as indicated
below:
Active Passive
Perfect Imperfect Imperative
Par
Part (AP) Part
Part (PP)
ْ ‫ل‬ ْ
ْ ْ
ْ ‫ْ ذ‬
‫ل‬ ‫ل‬ L‫א ل‬ ‫ل‬
ْ ْ ْ‫א‬ L ‫ْو‬
ْ ‫א‬
The format of conjugation for perfect and imperfect
mahmuz is the same as for the sound verbs, e.g.
– , ‫وא‬ ,ª ,‫ن‬ , ª ,
– ْ, ْ ,‫, ْ ن‬ ْ, , ْ
Table – 26
Conjugation – Imperative of Mahmuz Verb
Root Singular Dual Plural Singular Plural
Form ♂ ♂♀
♂ ♀ ♀
‫א‬ ‫وא‬ ‫ن‬
‫א‬ ‫وא‬ ‫ن‬
‫א‬ ْ
‫ل‬ L‫א ل‬ ‫א‬L ‫א‬ ‫א‬L‫א‬ ‫א‬L ْ ‫א‬L ْ
ْ ْ‫א‬ ‫אْ א‬ ‫א ْ وא‬ ْ‫א‬ ‫א ْ ْن‬
178

172. The Hamzated Duplicated Radical Verbs
The Muda’af E ‫א‬F
ْ ‫א‬F :
If a verb has two identical consonants as its second and
third radicals, it is called the Muda’af (duplicate), e.g.
(originally ‫‘ ) د‬to extend’, (for ) ‘to pass’, (for
) ‘to smell’, (for ) ‘to perform Haj/pilgrimage’.
Unlike English where double letters are written separately,
as is ‘n’ in ‘connect’ and ‘r’ in irregular, in Arabic double
consonants can be assimilated with a shaddah sign E_F
above it, e.g. in ‫( د‬madada), the two dals are assimilated
and written as (madda). Similarly, (marara) becomes
(marra), (shamama) becomes (shamma) and
(hajaja) becomes (hajja).
In muda’af verbs, the second radical loses its vowel when
the verb is isnaded (conjugated) to the sakin pronouns,
such as ,‫א‬ , . But it retains its vowel when the
verb is conjugated to the mutaharrik pronouns as; ,
, , , , .
In the mudare the ‫ א ع‬ú takes fathah as is the case in
all the thalathi verbs, e.g. – –
‘to think’, ‘to pass’, ‫د‬ ‫‘ د‬to reply’,
‘to drag, to pull’, ‘to abuse’, ‘to
touch’, ‘to smell’.
In the mudare maruf, the second radical loses its vowel
when the verb is conjugated to the sakin pronouns, e.g.
(for ‫د‬ ), (for ), (for ), (for ),
(for ). But it retains its vowel in case of
179

173. The Hamzated Duplicated Radical Verbs
conjugation to the mutaharrik pronouns, e.g. ,
.
In mudare majzum the muda’af verb undergoes a change
in the vowel of the last radical in respect of the following
four forms: , , , . In these forms
‫א‬ ‫ א‬occurs in the last two radicals making it
unreadable because both the second and the third radical
have no vowel (lam ya-hujj), and none of the two can be
omitted being strong letters. Therefore, the third radical
takes a fathah to remove ‫א‬ ‫ .א‬Thus the mudare
majzum in these four forms is read as follows:
‘you didn’t perform Hajj’, ‘he didn’t perform
Hajj’, ‘I didn’t perform Hajj’, ‘we didn’t
perform Hajj’.
There is no ‫א‬ ‫ א‬involved in other form of the
muda’af, hence the remaining forms are read on the
standard pattern of mudare majzum, e.g. ‫א‬ ‘you (♂
all) did not perform Hajj’, ‫א‬ ‘they did not perform
Hajj’, ‘you (♀ sing.) did not perform Hajj’
However, ‫א‬‫ א‬also occurs in the formation of
the amr (imperative). After removing the ‫ א ع‬ú and
the final dammah from what remains is (hajj),
therefore, the third radical takes fathah to remove ‫א‬
‫ .א‬So the amr becomes (hujja) without hamzat
al-wasl.
180

174. The Hamzated Duplicated Radical Verbs
If the verb is of i-a group like (for ) and (for
) the kasrah of the second radical appears and the
assimilation is removed when the verb is conjugated to the
mutaharrik pronouns, e.g. because ‘we
smelled’, ‘you smelled’, ‘I smelled’.
The important point to note is that the amr of muda’af verb
is identical with the madi mudaf. A consolidated chart
showing different kinds of the verbs E ‫ م א‬F is given at
table 27.
Table – 27
Categories of Verbs (Consolidated) – ‫مא‬
‫א‬
‫א‬
‫א‬
Imperative
Imperfect
Imperfect
Imperfect
Perfect
‫א‬
(Nom)
‫א‬
(Acc)
(Juss)
‫א‬
‫ع א‬
‫ وم‬Ó‫ع א‬
‫ع א‬
Verb
‫ع‬
ª
ْ ْ ْ ْ Í ‫א‬
ْ ْ ْ
‫ز‬ ‫א‬
L‫א ل‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ل‬
(hamzated)
ْ ْ‫א‬ ْْ ْ ْ
‫א‬
(duplicated)
‫א‬ ‫א‬
‫و‬ E‫א ل‬F
(weak of fa)
181

175. The Hamzated Duplicated Radical Verbs
‫ل‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ل‬ ‫א‬ ‫א‬
‫ع‬ Eú ‫א‬F
‫م‬ ‫م‬ ‫م‬ (Weak of ain)
‫א‬ ‫א م‬ ‫א‬
‫א‬ E ‫א‬F
‫א‬ (Weak of
‫אدع‬ ‫ع‬ ‫د‬ lam)
ْ ‫א‬ ْ ْ ْ ‫א ون‬ ‫א‬
‫ق‬ ‫و‬ ‫א وق‬ ‫א‬
Important Explanation:
The different categories of verbs used in Arabic language
are consolidated in table 26. it may be noted by the learner
that the forms of verbs that are mentioned in this table are
in actual usable forms. The changes that these verbs have
undergone may not be of importance to every learner. As
far as a common learner of Arabic is concerned, it may be
sufficient for him/her to know the usable forms of these
verbs, i.e.:
‫ل‬ ‘he said’ is perfect, ‫ل‬ ‘he says’ is imperfect in
nominative case, ‘say, tell’ is imperative, ‫ل‬ ‘he will
never say’ is imperfect in accusative case, ‘he did not
say’ is imperfect in jussive form. Similarly, ‘he
walked’, ‘he will walk’, ‫‘ א‬walk’ (command),
‘he will never walk’, ‘he did not walk’, and so
on and so forth.
182

176. The Hamzated Duplicated Radical Verbs
In fact, the process of changes mentioned in chapters 25
and 26 are essentially of academic interest, hence the
learner should not be discouraged if he/she finds the
process rather complicated or incomprehensible. In reality,
Arabic is highly sophisticated language encompassing
almost unlimited scope and tremendous precision. By and
large, it follows a very scientific and systematic patterns
which makes it easy to learn and understand. Most of the
verbs belong to the category of sound verbs, i.e. ‫ل‬ ‫א‬
, and it is only about 10 percent verbs which are
termed unsound, i.e. ‫.א‬
Examples of mahmuz and madaf from the Holy Quran:
– ﴾ ‫وא‬ ﴿ “He (Allah) has commanded that
you worship none but Him (i.e. His Monotheism)”.
[12/40]
– ﴾ ‫و‬ ‫وא א‬ ‫نא‬ ْ ﴿ “(Said
Jesus to Allah) Never did I say to them aught except
what You (Allah) did command me to say; worship
Allah, my Lord and your Lord”. [5/117]
– ﴾‫ن‬ ‫ْ ل وא‬ ْ ‫“ ﴿ ن א‬Verily, Allah enjoins
Al-Adl (Justice) and Al-Ihsan (to be patient in performing
your duties to Allah, totally for Allah’s sake and in
accordance with the Sunnah)”. [16/90]
– ﴾ٍ ‫ وא‬ª‫א‬ ‫“ ﴿ ل‬A questioner asked concerning a
torment about to fall”. [70/1]
183

177. The Hamzated Duplicated Radical Verbs
– ﴾ ‫א‬ ‫“ ﴿ و‬it is they who have no hope of
My Mercy”. [29/23]
– ﴾‫ط‬ ‫س‬ ‫א‬ ‫ون‬ ْ‫د א‬ ‫ن‬ ‫א‬ ﴿
“Man (the disbeliever) does not get tired of asking good
(things from Allah) but if an evil touches him, then he
gives up all hope and is lost in despair”. [41/49]
– ﴾ ‫نא‬ ‫א‬ ‫ א ْ ن‬ªْ ‫“ ﴿ ذא‬So when
you want to recite the Quran, seek refuge with Allah
from Satan, the out cast, the cursed one”. [16/98]
– ﴾ ‫א‬ ْ ْ ‫“ ﴿א‬Read! In the Name of your
Lord Who has created (all that exists)”. [95/1]
– ﴾ ‫“ ﴿ ن‬Truly, your Lord
knows best who has gone astray from His path”.
[16/125]
– ﴾ ‫א א‬ ‫و‬ ‫א‬ ‫ ذ د‬ª ‫“ ﴿و‬And
(remember) Ayub when he cried to his Lord, verily,
disease has seized me, and You are the Most Merciful
of all those show mercy”. [21/83]
– ﴾‫د‬ ‫א‬ ‫“ ﴿و‬and whom Allah sends
astray, for him there is no guide”. [13/33]
– ﴾ ‫و‬ ﴿ “on each these as
well as those We bestow from the Bounties of your
Lord”. [17/20]

184

178. ‫ون‬ ‫وא‬ ‫سא‬ ‫ א‬Lesson 27
‫אْ د‬
NUMERALS
ERAL
THE NUMERALS
The cardinal numbers, in Arabic, are governed by a set of
rules. In general terms they are treated as the declinable
nouns, as their ending vowels are changed according to
their case-endings. The cardinal numbers from one to ten
are listed below both for masculine (♂)and feminine (♀).
(♂)
Masculine ( ) Figure (♀)
Feminine ( )
‫ وא‬and ‫א‬ 1 ‫وא‬
‫א ن‬ 2 ‫א ن‬
3
4
5
6
7
‫ن‬ 8
9
10
‫وא‬L ‫وא‬F and Two E‫א ن‬L‫א ن‬F:
The Rules for One E ‫وא‬L ‫وא‬F ‫א‬L ‫א‬F
The numbers E‫א ْ د‬F agree with the madud E‫ود‬ ْ ‫א‬F i.e. the
noun counted, and follow the madud as adjectives, e.g. for
185

179. The Numerals
masculine singular noun is ‫وא‬ ‘one pen’, and for
feminine singular noun is ‫وא‬ ‘one watch’. Similarly,
‫نא ن‬ ‘two pens’ and ‫ن א ن‬ ‘two watches’.
It may be noted that the madud L in itself means
‘one pen/one watch’, and ‫ن‬ L‫ن‬ means ‘two pens/
two watches’ even if the adad ‫وא‬L ‫ وא‬and ‫א ن‬L‫ א ن‬is
not mentioned. However, for emphasis these numbers can
be added.
Rules 3-
The Rules for 3-10:
These numbers do not agree with the madud, i.e. if the
madud is masculine the adad (number) is feminine, and
vice versa. Secondly, the madud of 3-10 is genitive plural
as listed below:
(♂)
Masculine ( ) Madud Figure (♀)
Feminine ( ) Madud
‫ل‬
ٍ ‘3 men’ 3 ‘3 women’
‫ل‬
ٍ ‘4 men’ 4 ‘4 women’
‫ل‬
ٍ ‘5 men’ 5 ‘5 women’
‫ل‬
ٍ ‘6 men’ 6 ‘6 women’
‫ل‬
ٍ ‘7 men’ 7 ‘7 women’
‫ل‬
ٍ ‘8 men’ 8 ’8 women’
‫ل‬
ٍ ‘9 men’ 9 ‘9 women’
‫ل‬
ٍ ’10 men’ 10 ’10 women’
The Rule for 11 and 12:
Both parts of the adad agree with the madud and the
madud is accusative singular, e.g.
186

180. The Numerals
– ً ’11 students (♂)’ and
ً ’11 students (♀)’
– ً ‫ 21’ א‬students (♂)’ and
ً ‫ 21’ א‬students (♀)’
Note: All the numbers from 11-99 are followed by a
singular noun in the accusative.
The Rule for 13-19:
13-
In these cases the second part of the adad agrees with the
madud, and the first part is opposite gender. Secondly, the
madud of 13-19 is accusative singular as mentioned below:
Students
Male Students Figure Female Students
ً 13 ً
ً 14 ً
ً 15 ً
ً 16 ً
ً 17 ً
ً 18 ً
ً 19 ً
The Rule for the Uqud E‫د‬ ‫א‬F
‫א‬F:
The multiples of ten from 20-90 E‫ن‬ KKK‫ ون‬F are called
the uqud. They have the form and the Irab of the sound
masculine plural, e.g.
– ً ‫ون‬ ْ ْ‫א‬ ‘there are 20 books on the
table’. It is in nominative case E‫ع‬ F.
187

181. The Numerals
– ً ªْ ‘I read 20 books’. It is in accusative
case Eª F.
– ‫دو א‬
ً ª ْ‫א‬ ‫‘ א‬I bought the book for 20
dollars’. It is in genitive case E ‫و‬ F.
21-
The Numbers of 21-22:
For 21, the first part of the number with the masculine
madud is ‫ وא‬and with the feminine , e.g.
– ً ‫ون‬ ‫و‬ ‫ 12’ وא‬students (♂)’ and
ً ‫ون‬ ‫و‬ ’21 students (♀)’
For 22 the first part of the number with masculine is ‫ن‬ ‫א‬
and with feminine is ‫ ,א ن‬e.g.
– ً ‫ون‬ ‫ 22’ א ن و‬students (♂)’ and
ً ‫ون‬ ‫ 22’ א ن و‬students (♀)’
23-
For Numbers 23-29:
For 23-29, the first part of the numbers with the masculine
madud is feminine, and with the feminine it is masculine,
as mentioned below:
Male Students Figure Female Students
ً ‫ون‬ ‫و‬ 23 ً ‫ون‬ ‫و‬
ً ‫ون‬ ‫و‬ 24 ً ‫ون‬ ‫و‬
ً ‫ون‬ ‫و‬ 25 ً ‫ون‬ ‫و‬
ً ‫ون‬ ‫و‬ 26 ً ‫ون‬ ‫و‬
ً ‫ون‬ ‫و‬ 27 ً ‫ون‬ ‫و‬
ً ‫ون‬ ‫و‬ 28 ً ‫ون‬ ‫نو‬ ٍ
ً ‫ون‬ ‫و‬ 29 ً ‫ون‬ ‫و‬
188

182. The Numerals
The Uqud from 20-90:
20-
The uqud have the same form with the masculine as well
as the feminine madud as given below:
Male Students Figure Female Students
ً ‫ون‬ 20 ً ‫ون‬
ً ‫ن‬ 30 ً ‫ن‬
ً ‫ن‬ 40 ً ‫ن‬
ً ‫ن‬ 50 ً ‫ن‬
ً ‫ن‬ 60 ً ‫ن‬
ً ‫ن‬ 70 ً ‫ن‬
ً ‫ن‬ 80 ً ‫ن‬
ً ‫ن‬ 90 ً ‫ن‬
100
ْ 1000 ْ
From 100 upward counts are listed below:
100 – (alif is not pronounced) also written
200 – ‫ن‬ 1,000 – ْ 100,000 – ْ
300 – 2,000 – ‫ْ ن‬ 10,00,000 – ‫ْ ن‬
400 – 3,000 – ú
500 – 4,000 – ú
600 – 5,000 – ú
700 –
800 –
900 –
For reading the number it is better to start with the units,
then go to tens, to hundreds, and then to thousands, e.g.
189

183. The Numerals
– If the madud is masculine:
7,654 Dollars: ٍ ‫ دو‬ú ‫و‬ ‫نو‬ ‫و‬
– If the madud is feminine:
7,654 Rupees: ‫ و‬ú ‫و‬ ‫نو‬ ‫و‬
The Ordinal Numeral:
The ordinal numbers from first to tenth are derived from
the cardinals on the pattern of the active participle, ,
except “the first” which is ‫ א ول‬for masculine, and ‫ א و‬for
feminine.
Cardinal Number Masculine Feminine
the first ‫א ول‬ ‫א و‬
the second (‫ ن‬without ‫)אل‬
ٍ ‫א‬ ‫א‬
the third ‫א‬ ‫א‬
the fourth ‫א א‬ ‫א א‬
the fifth ‫א‬ ‫א‬
the sixth ‫א دس‬ ‫א د‬
the seventh ‫א‬ ‫א‬
the eighth ‫א‬ ‫א‬
the ninth ‫א‬ ‫א‬
the tenth ‫א‬ ‫א‬
After tenth the cardinal numbers are used along with the
ordinals as follow:
Cardinal Number Masculine
Masculine Feminine
the eleventh ‫د‬ ‫א‬ ‫د‬ ‫א‬
the twelveth ‫א‬ ‫א‬
190

184. The Numerals
the thirteenth ‫א‬ ‫א‬
the 20th ‫ون‬ ‫א‬ ‫ون‬ ‫א‬
the 21 st
‫ون‬ ْ ‫وא‬ ‫د‬ ‫א‬ ‫ون‬ ْ ‫א د وא‬
the 22 nd
‫ون‬ ْ ‫وא‬ ‫א‬ ‫ون‬ ْ ‫وא‬ ‫א‬
the 23rd ‫ون‬ ْ ‫وא‬ ‫א‬ ‫ون‬ ‫وא‬
ْ ‫א‬
the 24th ‫ون‬ ْ ‫وא‬ ‫א א‬ ‫ون‬ ْ ‫א א وא‬
the 29th ‫ون‬ ْ ‫وא‬ ‫א‬ ‫ون‬ ْ ‫وא‬ ‫א‬
the 30th ‫ن‬ ‫א‬ ‫ن‬ ‫א‬
Examples from the Holy Quran:
– ﴾ ‫وא‬ ‫“ ﴿و‬And your Ilah (God) is one Illah (God
i.e. Allah)” [2/163]
– ﴾ ‫وא‬ ‫ز‬ ﴿ “Then it will be a single
(compelling) cry” [37/19]
– ﴾ ‫א‬ ﴿ “Say: He is Allah, the one and only”
[112/1]
– ﴾ ‫(“ ﴿א ن ذوא ل‬then take) the testimony of two
ٍ
just men of your own folk” [5/106]
– ﴾ª ª ‫“ ﴿و‬And indeed We gave
Moses nine clear signs” [17/10]
– ﴾ ْ ﴿ “This makes ten days in all” [2/196]
– ﴾ً ﴿ “O my father! Verily, I
saw eleven starts” [12/4]
– ﴾‫א‬
ً ‫ن‬ ‫“ ﴿و‬and the weaning of him is thirty
months” [46/15]
191

185. The Numerals
– ﴾ ً ‫نذא‬ ‫ْ ذ‬ ﴿ “then fasten him
with a chain whereof the length is seventy cubits”
[69/32]
– ﴾‫א‬
ً ‫ٍ و‬ ﴿ “(the widows) they
shall wait concerning themselves four months and ten
days” [2/234]
– ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‫ن‬ ‫א‬ ﴿
﴾ “The likeness of those who
spend their wealth in the way of Allah is as the likeness
of a grain (of corn); it grows seven ears, and each ear
has a hundred grains” [2/261]
– ﴾ú ‫و‬ ‫د‬ ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ﴿ “Did you not
turn your vision to those who abandoned their homes,
and they were thousands (in number)” [2/243]
– ﴾ ‫“ ﴿ א ول وא‬He (Allah) is the First (nothing is
before Him) and the Last (nothing is after Him)” [57/3]
– ﴾ ْ‫א‬ ‫ذ‬ ‫א‬ ﴿ “The second of the two; when
they were in the cave” [9/40]
– ﴾ ْ ‫د‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ْ و‬ ‫א‬ ‫ن‬ ﴿
“(some) say they were three, the dog being the fourth
among them and (others) say they were five, the dog
being the sixth” [18/22]

192

186. ‫ون‬ ‫وא‬ ‫سא‬ ‫ א‬Lesson 28
ª ‫א‬
THE NOUNS IN ACCUSATIVE
There are some nouns which are used in accusative case in
order to convey certain specific meanings and expressions.
These are briefly explained under the following paragraphs.
The Hal E‫ل‬ ‫א‬F
‫א‬F:
It is a grammatical term used for a noun in accusative to
express the state of another noun which is called sahib
al-hal E‫א ْ ل‬ F, e.g. ً ْ‫א‬ ‫‘ د א‬the
student entered the classroom while he was laughing or
in a state of laughing’. Here ‫ א‬is sahib al-hal, and
ً is hal in accusative, which explains the state of
the student when he entered the class, i.e. he was
laughing.
ً ْ ‫ א‬ª ‘the child spent the night crying’. Here
ً is the hal in accusative and ‫ א‬is sahib al-hal.
ً ْ‫א‬ ْ‫א‬ ‫‘ د‬the girl entered the class
silently’ i.e. in a state of quietness. Here is
mansub which is ‫ א ل‬expressing the state of sahib al-
hal in the given action and ‫ א‬is the sahib al-hal.
Some other examples: ً ‫ً و وא‬ ْ ْ ‫‘ א‬read while
sitting or standing’, ْ ‫ْ وא‬ ‫وא‬ ‫א‬
193

187. The Nouns in Accusative
ً ‘I like the meat grilled, the fish fried and the egg
boiled’.
The hal is usually an answer to the question
(how?), and it may be a word ‫ א ل א ْ د‬or a sentence
‫ .א ل א‬And the hal agrees with the sahib al-hal in
number and gender, e.g.
– ً ْ‫א‬ ‘the boy came smiling’
– ‫א ْ אن‬ ‘the two boys came smiling’
– ‫א و د‬ ‘the boys came smiling’
– ً ْ ‫ א‬ª ‘the girl came smiling’
– ‫ א ْ ن‬ª ‘the two girls came smiling’
– ª ª ْ ‫ א‬ª ‘the girls came smiling’
The sahib al-hal is mostly definite and it may be the
, ْ‫א‬ , ‫,א ْ ل‬ ‫ א‬or ‫.א‬
Examples from the Holy Quran:
– ﴾ ً ‫“ ﴿ ج‬So he (Moses) escaped from
there, looking about in a state of fear”. [28/21]
– ‫و‬ ‫א‬ ‫א ْ אم ن‬ ْ‫א‬ ﴿
﴾‫ن‬ ‫“ و‬Certainly, you shall enter Al-Masjid
Al-Haram, if Allah Wills secure (in a state of security),
(some) having your heads shaved, and (some) having
your head hair cut short, having no fear”. [48/27]
– ﴾ ‫ً و دא و‬
ً ‫ون א‬ ‫“ ﴿א‬those who
remember Allah standing, sitting and lying down on
their sides”. [3/191]
194

188. The Nouns in Accusative
The Tamiz E ‫א‬F
‫א‬F Distinction:
It is a noun in accusative which is used to define and
distinguish an undetermined idea contained in the
previous word or in the entire sentence, e.g. ‫א‬
ً
‫א‬
ً ‘I drank a liter of juice’. In this sentence ‫א‬Ù the
noun in accusative, is the tamiz, which specifies the
action of the subject and completes the meaning
without any ambiguity , i.e. I drank a liter of ‘juice’, not
water or milk, etc. Sometimes the tamiz may be
translated as “with regard to”, e.g. ‫א‬
ً ْ
ً ْ ْ ‫‘ و‬I am elder to you with regard to
age, but you are superior to me with regard to
knowledge’. ً ْ‫א א‬ ‘this boy is good with
regard to manners’.
The numerals from 11 to 99 also take the following
noun as at-tamiz in singular accusative, e.g.
ً ’14 pens’, ً ‫ن‬ ’50 (♂)students’, ً ‫ن‬
’60 (♀) students’.
Examples from the Holy Quran:
– ﴾ً ‫ل‬ ْ‫א‬ ﴿ “and you can never reach the
mountain in height”. [17/37]
– ‫ًو ل‬ ‫א و‬ ‫د‬ ً ‫﴿و‬
﴾ ْ ‫“ א‬And who is better in speech than one who
calls (mankind) to Allah, and works righteousness, and
says: I am of those who bow in Islam”. [41/33]
195

189. The Nouns in Accusative
The Absolute Object E ‫ل א‬ ‫א‬F
‫א‬F:
It is a verbal noun E ْ ‫א‬F in accusative occurring in
the sentence, used along with the verb of the same
kind. The absolute object is used to express emphasis
or intensity of the action, e.g. ً ‫ل‬ ‘Bilal beat
him violently or Bilal gave him thrashing’. Here is
the absolute object in accusative, which follows the
verb of its own kind, i.e. ª to express the intensity of
beating.
‫א نא‬ ‘He likes red color intensely or
he loves red color’. Here the emphasis or the intensity
is doubled. Some more examples:
– ً ª ‘Hamid became very happy’
– ً ْ ª ْ ‫‘ ْ א‬close the door completely’
– ‫א‬
ً × ‫‘ א‬have sound patience’
– ‫ْ א‬
ً ¯ ‘I thank you very much’
– ‫ْ א‬
ً ‘I beg your pardon’
The maful mutlaq is also used as a substitute for the
verb. In case of the preceding three examples one can
simply say ‫א‬ً , ‫ ْ א , ْ א‬which conveys the same
ً ً
meanings.
Examples from the Holy Quran:
– ﴾ً ْ ‫א‬ ‫“ ﴿و‬And to Moses Allah spoke
directly”. [4/164]
196

190. The Nouns in Accusative
– ﴾ ‫ْ א ض‬ ْ‫א‬ ﴿ “We (Allah)
pour forth water in abundance. And we split the earth
in cleft”. [80/25-26]
– ﴾ً‫א‬ ً ‫אא אא و א‬ ‫א‬ ﴿ “O you who
believe! Keep your duty to Allah and fear Him, and
speak (always) the truth”. [33/70]
‫ل‬ ‫ א‬or ‫ل‬ ‫:א‬
It is the object in the form of the masdar E ْ ‫א‬F which
expresses the reason for doing an action, e.g. ª
ً ‫ْد‬ ‫‘ א ْ س א‬the teacher beat the student to
teach him manners’. Here the masdar ‫د‬ tells us the
reason for beating. This masdar mostly denotes a
mental action like fear, love, desire, respect, etc. It is
mansub.
The masdar in maful lahu is mostly with the tanwin.
However, it may also be fathah when mentioned as
mudaf, e.g. the Quran says ‫ْ א و د‬ ‫﴿و‬
﴾ٍ‫ق‬ “And kill not your children for fear of poverty”.
[17/31]
Exception E ‫א‬F
‫א‬F:
The particle ‘ ’ is used as one of the tools for
exception, and the noun following ‘ ’ is mostly
accusative, e.g. ‫א‬ً ª ‫א‬ ‫‘ و‬all the
students have arrived except Hamid’.
The exception E ‫א‬F has three elements:
197

191. The Nouns in Accusative
1 ْ ‫ :א‬It is the thing that is excepted. In the above
example it is .
2 ْ ‫ :א‬It is the thing from which exception is
made. In the above example it is ª ‫.א‬
3 ‫ : دא א‬It is the tool of exception which is in
the given example, is a particle Eú F. (there are
some other tools of exception like , which
are nouns and , ‫א‬ which are verbs. These
words of exception take the Irab they deserve in the
sentence).
Examples:
– ً ‘I saw none but Bilal’
– ª ْ‫א‬ ‫دא دوא‬ ‘Every sickness has a medicine
except death’
– ¯ ‫א‬ ª ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‘Allah forgives all the
sins except Shirk’
If the mastathna minhu E F is not mentioned in
a sentence, then it takes the Irab it deserves in the
sentence, e.g. ‫و‬ ‘No one has arrived
except Hamid’. Here Hamid, the mustathna, is a fail
E F, hence in nominative. ‫א‬
ً ‘I saw no
one except Hamid’. Here the mustathna ‫א‬ is maful
bihi, hence in accusative.
In the above examples, if you omit ‘ ’ it becomes
clear, i.e. in the first case ‫و‬ , and in the
198

192. The Nouns in Accusative
second ‫א‬
ً . This situation of Irab occurs in the
negative, prohibitive or interrogative sentences.
Examples from the Holy Quran:
– ﴾ً ‫ون א‬ ‫“ ﴿و‬and they do not remember
Allah but little”. [4/142]
– ﴾ ‫و‬ ﴿ “Everyone will perish save His
Face”. [28/88]
– ﴾‫ن‬ ‫ن א‬ ‫א א‬ ﴿ “Is there any reward for
good other than good”. [55/60]
The Maful Fihi E ‫ل‬ ‫א‬F
‫א‬F- The Adverb:
It is also called the zarf Eú ‫א‬F. The zarf is a noun
which denotes the time or place of an action, e.g.
ً ‫‘ א‬I waited for you one hour’, ً ‘I
returned at night’, ‫א‬ ‫م א ن‬
ً ‘I shall fast
tomorrow’. This is called ‫ن‬ ‫א‬ú (zarf al-zaman), i.e.
adverb of time.
The zarf al-makan E‫ن‬ ْ ‫ א‬ú F relates to the place of
action, i.e. adverb of place, e.g. ‘I sat
under a tree’, ْ‫א‬ ‫س‬ ْ ‫‘ א‬the teacher is with the
principal’, ً ‘I walked a mile’,
ْ ْ ‫‘ א‬where did you stay in the holidays’.
The zarf is mansub (in accusative). However, a few
zuruf (ú‫و‬ ‫ א‬plural of ú ‫ )א‬are mabni. Some of them
include:
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193. The Nouns in Accusative
1 (where): It is zarf al-makan, ending in fathah, and
is considered in place of nasab, e.g. ‫א‬
ْ ‫‘ א‬where did you learn the Arabic language?’.
2 (yesterday): It is zarf al-zaman which is mabni
ending in kasrah, and is considered as in place of
nasab, e.g. ‫ق‬ ‫א‬ ‫‘ ذ‬I went to the market
yesterday’.
3 (where) (never): Both are mabni, ending
in dammah, and considered in place of nasab F
E , e.g. ª ْ ‘never tell lie or don’t tell
lie ever’, ‫א‬ ‫‘ א‬sit where ever you like’.
4 (here) (when): Both end in sukun, and are
considered . Both these words end in
alif which is sakin, is originally ْ and is ْ ,
e.g. ْ‫א‬ ‘when did you return from
the university’, ‫א‬ ‫‘ א‬sit here till I
return’.
Apart from the zuruf, there are certain words which are
like the zarf and may take nasab ending even though
they are not originally words denoting time or place.
These are words like , , , . This happens
when any of these words is mudaf and its mudaf ilaihi
is a zarf denoting place or time, e.g.
– ‫م‬
ٍ ْ‫א‬ ‫‘ ذ‬I go to the university every day’.
– ‫م‬
ٍ ª ‘I traveled for part of a day’.
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194. The Nouns in Accusative
– ‫ א ْ ن‬ªْ ‘I recited the Quran for quarter of an
hour’.
– ٍ ‘I walked for half a mile’.
‫م‬
– ﴾ٍ ‫ً و‬ ‫“ ﴿ ل‬He said: I remained (dead) a
day or part of a day”. [2/259]
‫א‬
– ﴾ً ‫ًو‬ ª ‫د‬ ª ‫“ ﴿ ل‬He said: O my Lord!
Verily, I have called to my people night and day”.[71/5]
– ﴾ ‫א‬ ْ ‫“ ﴿و‬and we left Yusuf
by our belongings and a wolf devoured him”. [12/17]
– ﴾ª ْ ‫א א‬ ْ ‫“ ﴿و‬and they both found her lord
(husband) at the door”. [12/25]
– ﴾ ٍْ ‫ذ‬ ‫“ ﴿و ق‬And over all those endowed
with knowledge is the All-Knowing”. [12/76]
– ﴾‫ن‬ ‫وא‬ ‫“ ﴿و‬And they came to their father
in the early part of the night weeping”. [12/16]
Absolute Negative E ‫ א‬F:
The la nafiyatu lilgins negates absolutely the entire kind
or genus, e.g. ‘I don’t have any kind of pen’.
In this example the la negates anything which can be
called a pen or any kind of writing material. In the
given example, is ism (subject) of la and is its
khabar (predicate). Both the ism and the khabar of la
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195. The Nouns in Accusative
should be indefinite, and its ism is mabni with ‘a’
ending. Some more examples are given below:
– ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‘there is no god but Allah’. Here la negates
absolutely any kind or sort of ilaha (god), worthy of
worship, may he be a kind of human being, an angel, a
jin or any kind of material or unnatural object, except
the Lord, Allah.
– ﴾ ª ْ‫א‬ ‫“ ﴿ذ‬This is the Book (the Quran),
whereof there is no doubt”. [2/2]. Here has been
negated absolutely that there cannot be any doubt what
so ever that the Book, al-Quran is an absolute truth and
that it is from Allah Almighty.
– ﴾ ْ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‫ْא‬ ﴿ “There is no
compulsion (whatsoever) in religion, verily the right
path has become distinct from the wrong path”. [2/256]
– ْ‫א‬ ‫و‬ ‫ْ א‬ ‫אْ א‬ FF
EE ‫א‬ª “There is no Salah after the Fajr (Salah) till
the sun rise, and there is no Salah after the Asr (Salah)
till the sun set”.

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196. ‫ א‬Conclusion
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, this book covers the essential aspects of the
Quranic grammar, which should enable the learner to
follow the Arabic text of the Holy Quran. However, he
would require assistance of an authentic Quranic
dictionary to learn the meanings and application of
unfamiliar words and phrases. The book should also form a
sound base for those who desire to pursue higher studies in
Arabic.
This book is an extension of my lectures on the subject in
Urdu language (www.sautulquran.org/CD). It is written
essentially on the request of some persons who desired to
learn the Quranic language, but they did not find the study
material in English language. I was fully conscious of my
own limitations to undertake such a sensitive and complex
task, but I ventured to do so primarily in the background of
the saying of our beloved Prophet (SAW) EEً ‫و‬ ‫ א‬FF. I
have tried to convey to others whatever little knowledge of
the subject that I had with a view to contributing, in a
humble way, towards the promotion of the Quranic
learning. Any views, comments or suggestions for improve-
ment of the next addition would be welcomed and highly
appreciated.
203

197. Conclusion
May Allah Almighty forgive me for the shortcomings in the
book, and May He help and guide the learners in under-
standing and practicing the Quranic teachings (Amin).
My sincere thanks to all those who assisted me in the
accomplishment of this work. May Allah (SWT) bless them
and May He reward them for their contribution (Amin).
‫ن‬ ‫א‬ ‫و‬ ‫¯א‬ Kª ‫א‬ ‫א‬ ‫א‬
‫אد‬ ‫א‬ ‫ وא‬ª ‫و و‬ ‫א‬
K ú‫و‬
‫م‬ ‫وא‬ ‫وא‬ ‫א‬ª ‫و د א نא‬
K ‫وא‬ ‫א‬

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