Essentials 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:
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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. Ħ ‫ א‬ª
ğ‫و د א ن א‬

I

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

6. Contents
Lesson–5: The Irab of Nouns – ª‫א‬
Lesson–
‫92 ..................... א‬
ğ ª‫03 ..................................... א א‬
ú‫ و‬ğ‫ א‬ª‫23 ....................................... א א‬
Declinable ........................................... 34
Indeclinable......................................... 36
Lesson–
Lesson–6: The Adjective Phrase –
...... 39
.......................................... 39
‫م‬
.............................................. 39
Lesson–
Lesson–7: The Relative Phrase –
.......... 45
Lesson–
Phrase–
Lesson–8: The Demonstrative Phrase–
... 49
Lesson–
Lesson–9: The Genitive Phrase –
........... 53
Inseparable Prepositions....................... 53
Separable Prepositions ......................... 55
Lesson 10:
Lesson–10: The Sentence –
Ğ‫95 ............................ 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:
Tense
Lesson–12: The Verb – Perfect Tense –
‫א‬
‫57 .... א‬
The Active and Passive of Madi............ 82
Lesson–13:
Lesson–13: The Verbal Sentence –
‫ א‬Ğ‫78 ........ א‬
The Nominal Sentence......................... 87
The Verbal Sentence ............................ 87
The Object .......................................... 88
Lesson–14:
Lesson–14: The Imperfect Tense - ‫א ع‬
‫59 ........... א‬
Six Groups of Triliteral Verbs ............... 101
Moods of Verb..................................... 104
II

7. Contents
The Imperative Tense –
‫511 .............. א‬
FormThe Derived Verbal Form-I–
... 121
FormThe Derived Verbal Form-II – ْ ª ...... 129
FormThe Derived Verbal Form-III –
ª ..... 133
FormThe Derived Verbal Form-IV –
ª .... 137
FormThe Derived Verbal Form-V –
ª .... 141
FormThe Derived Verbal Form-VI –
‫ א‬ª ... 145
FormThe Derived Verbal Form-VII –
ْ ‫ א‬ª ... 149
Derived
FormThe Derived Verbal Form-VIII – ْ ‫ א‬ª ... 153
FormThe Derived Verbal Form-IX – ْ ‫ א‬ª . 155
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:
Lesson–28: The Nouns in Accusative – ª
‫391 ........ א‬
...........................................
Conclusion ................................ ........... 203
Lesson–15:
Lesson–15:
Lesson–16:
Lesson–16:
Lesson–17:
Lesson–17:
Lesson–18:
Lesson–18:
Lesson 19:
son–
Lesson–19:
Lesson–20:
Lesson–20:
Lesson–21:
Lesson–21:
Lesson–22:
Lesson–22:
Lesson–23:
Lesson–23:
Lesson–24:
Lesson–24:
Lesson–25:
Lesson–25:

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.
﴾‫ن‬
‫س‬
ً
¯ ْ
‫﴿و‬
‫ْ 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]
﴾‫ن‬
ْ ‫وא‬
‫ل‬
ْ‫א‬
‫نא‬
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
ْ‫א‬
﴾‫ون‬
ª ْ‫א‬
‫و‬
ْ
‫و‬
‫ن‬
‫﴿א‬
‫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.
EE?
W‫ن ل‬
‫אْ ن و‬
‫ن‬
FF
?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 selfconfidence, 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
‫ א‬as well, e.g.
‘Muhammad’,
ْ ‫‘ و‬William’, ‫ج‬
‘George’,
‫ز‬
adjective nouns
‘Ahmad’,
‘Zenab’,
‫ن‬
‘Aishah’,
‘Pakistan’, ‫ن‬
‘the house’,
book’,
leaf’, ‫م‬
‘Maryam’,
‘London’,
‫‘ א‬the Mosque’,
Ğ‫‘ א‬the garden’,
‘Tahirah’,
‘France’,
‘a pen’, ª
ْ‫א‬
ْ ‫‘ א‬the
‘Kaba’, ‫‘ א ْ ق‬the paper/
Ğ‫‘ 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’.
‘food’,
‘a shade’,
7

14. Parts of Speech
‫א‬
‘the
pious/
disobedient’,
Knowledgeable’,
‫‘ א‬the old’,
righteous
person’,
‘a helper’,
‘a poet’,
‘a
‫‘ א‬the
Ğ‫‘ א‬the Ignorant’, Ğ‫‘ א‬the new’,
‫‘ 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 wrote’,
‫‘ د‬he entered’.
2 The imperfect tenses the Madari E‫ع‬
an action is not completed, e.g.
is doing or he will do’,
will write’,
‘he did’,
‫א‬F used when
ْ ‘he does or he
ْ ‘he writes/is writing/
‘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.
‘in’,
etc.
8
‘regarding’,
‘yes’,
‘no’,
‘on’,
‘that/ what’,

15. Parts of Speech
(Meaningful Word)
ú
‫א‬
Particle, Preposition,
Conjunction
(Verb)
(Noun)
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
are explained below:
1
ğ‫ א‬which
(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
‫( א‬albaitu) ‘the house’,
(jamalun) ‘a camel’ to
Ğ‫א‬
(aljamalu) ‘the ‘camel’.
Arabic has 28 alphabets or letters; of these, 14 are called
the Sun Letters E
‫ א‬ú‫ و‬ğ‫א‬F and the other 14 are called
the Moon Letters E
‫ א‬ú‫ و‬ğ‫א‬F. 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 The mother
The door
The garden
The donkey
The bread
The eye
The lunch
The mouth
The moon
The dog
The water
The boy
The air
The hand
‫ א‬ú‫ و‬ğ‫א‬
al-ummu – ‫א م‬
al-baabu – ª ْ ‫א‬
al-Jannatu – Ğ‫א‬
al-himaru – ğ‫א‬
al-khubzu – Ġ‫א‬
al-ainu –
‫א‬
al-ghadau – ‫א א‬
al-famu –
‫א‬
al-qamaru –
‫א‬
al-kalbu – ْ ‫א‬
al-maau – ‫א‬
al-waladu –
‫א‬
al-hawau – ‫א א‬
al-yadu – ‫א‬
Solar Letters The trader
ath-thoubu – ª
The house
‫א‬
ad-daaru – ‫א א‬
The gold
ad-dahbu –
The man
ar-rajulu –
The flower
az-zahratu –
The fish
as-samaku –
‫ع‬
‫غ‬
ú
‫ق‬
¯
‫م‬
‫و‬
J
J
J
J
J
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
J
J
J
J
J
J
J
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
‫ א‬ú‫ و‬ğ‫א‬
at-taajiru –
The clothing
ª
‫ج‬
ª
J
J
J
J
J
J
J
J
J
‫א‬
ª
‫א‬
‫د‬
‫ذ‬
‫א‬
‫א‬
‫א‬
‫ز‬
‫س‬
11

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

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
Ğ‫( 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
‘woman’ is a real feminine,
‫‘ د‬cock’,
‫‘ د‬hen’,
‘boy’,
‘girl’, ª ‘father’, ‫‘ م‬mother’, ‘brother’,
‘sister’, etc.
‫ز‬
ْ‫א‬
‫א‬
‫و‬
Ğ‫( א‬Formal Gender):
The nouns which do not have the ‘concept of pair’ are
termed as feminine or masculine by form
Ğ‫א‬F
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’ (♀), ‫دق‬
(♂),
‘truthful’ (♀),
‘student’ (♀),
(♂),
‘new’ (♂),
‘old’ (♀),
‘many’ (♂),
ْ ‫א‬
‫د‬
‘truthful’ (♂),
‘pious’ (♂),
‫‘ א‬daughter’ (♀),
‘son’ (♂),
‘disbeliever’
‘pious’ (♀),
‫א‬
‘student’ (♂),
‘new’ (♀),
‘long’ (♂),
‘old’
‘long’ (♀),
‘many’ (♀), etc.
ْ ‫( א‬Exceptional Cases):
The nouns which do not fall under the abovementioned two categories are termed as exceptional
cases. The following nouns are feminine by usage even
though they have no ‘ ’ (ta) ending nor have they ‘pairconcept’.
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’,
‫‘ وא‬Washington’, ‫‘ א אق‬Iraq’, etc.
‘America’,
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
are also feminine, e.g.
‘great’,
‘desert’, ‫א‬
‫א‬
(lengthened alif)
‘good, beautiful’,
‘small’,
‫א‬
‘good news’,
‘harm’, ‫‘ ز א‬blooming’,
‘green’,
ْ
‘white’,
‫‘ 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
Gender):
‫( א‬Common 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
‫,א‬
‫,א‬
‫, د ق ,و‬
Tathniyah E
,
‫,א‬
‫وא‬F or Mufrad E‫ ْ د‬F are: ª ‫,א‬
, ,
,
‫,א‬
‫,א‬
‫,א‬
,
‫,א‬
‫ ,א‬etc.
F:
The dual form ends in aani E‫ ن‬F, e.g. ‫ن‬
‫ن‬
‫ن‬
‫אن‬
‫ن ,א‬
, ‫ن , אن , ن‬
‫ن , د ن ,و אن ,א‬
‫ ,א‬etc.
, ‫ن‬
‫ن ,א‬
‫ن ,א‬
‫ن ,א‬
, ‫ن‬
‫,א‬
‫,א‬
‫,א‬
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,
ª
‘♀ thief’
ª‫א‬
,
‘watch’
‘protector’
ª
,
ª ‫, و‬
ª ‫.د‬
ª
(plural),
ª
ª
,
,
‘window’
‘evil’
ª
,
,
ª
,
‘word’
ª
,
ª‫‘ و , א‬fan’
‫‘ د‬step/status’
The ♀ plural of nouns which do not end in _ are
also formed by adding ‘ª‫ ’א‬to the singular as in
(name)
18
ª
,
‘sky’
ª‫وא‬
.

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
‫ل‬
, from
, or by the change of vowels, e.g.
.
There are many patterns of the broken plural. The
following are commonly used patterns:
No
1
Bab
ª
‫ل‬
‫د‬
as from
2
3
4
5
Singular
as from
‫ل‬
‫ْ ل‬
ْ
Ù
‘star’
ª
ْ
7
‫م‬
‫ א‬
‘book’
as from
‘man’
as from
‘pen’
as from
‘poor’
as from
‘rich’
‫ل‬
‫ْ م‬
‘eye’
as from
6
Broken Plural
‫ن‬
8
as from
9
as from
‘building’
as from
‘country’
as from
ْ
‘brother’
as from
‫א‬
‘trader’
10
‫ن‬
11
12
‫ل‬
‘Satan’
‫زل‬
‫ْ אن‬
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’,
¯ ‘your’,
‘she’,
‘you’,
‘we’, ‘his’,
‘her’,
‘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
Person
3rd Person
(♂)
)
Person
3rd Person
(♀)
)
DUAL
‫ن‬
PLURAL
ª
he is a
they are
they are
student
students
students
‫ن‬
ª
she is a
they are
they are
student
students
students
21

28. The Pronouns
Person
2nd Person
(♂)
)
Person
2nd Person
(♀)
)
Person
1st Person
(♂♀)
)
‫ن‬
you are a
student
ª
you are
students
you are
students
‫ن‬
you are a
student
L
ª
you are
students
L‫ن‬
I am a student
you are
students
Lª
ª
‫ن‬
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
Person
3rd Person
(♂)
)
his book
their book
their book
Person
3rd Person
(♀)
)
her book
their book
their book
your book
your book
your book
your book
your book
my book
our book
our book
nd
Person
2 Person
(♂)
)
nd
Person
2 Person
(♀)
)
¯
your book
¯
st
Person
1 Person
(♂♀)
)
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
Person
3rd Person
(♂)
)
Person
3rd Person
(♀)
)
Person
2nd Person
(♂)
)
Person
2nd Person
(♀)
)
Person
1st Person
(♂♀)
)
DUAL
PLURAL
He struck
him/it.
He struck
them.
He struck
them.
He struck
her/it.
He struck
them.
He struck
them.
He struck
you.
He struck
you.
He struck
you.
He struck
you.
He struck
you.
He struck
me
He struck
us.
He struck
us.
¯
He struck
you..
¯
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
Person
3 Person
(♂)
)
He alone
Both of them
They alone
Person
3rd Person
(♀)
)
She alone
Both of them
They only
Both of you
All of you
You alone
Both of you
All of you
I alone
We alone
We alone
rd
Person
2nd Person
(♂)
)
Person
2nd Person
(♀)
)
¯
¯
You alone
¯
¯
st
Person
1 Person
(♂♀)
)
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
Near
ْ
Distant
ْ
Singular
‫א‬
Dual
Plural
♂ this
‫אن‬
♂ these two
♀ this
‫ن‬
♀ these two (♂♀) these
‫ ♂ ذ‬that
ْ ♀that
‫ ♂ ذא‬those two
‫و‬
♀ those two (♂♀) these
Note:
Concentrate on the underlined forms.
The Relative Pronouns ‫ل‬
‫א‬
‫:א‬
‫,א‬
‫ ,א‬etc. are used as
The relative pronouns
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
For Male
‫א‬
‫אن‬
‫א‬
For Female
‫א‬
‫ن‬
‫א‬
PLURAL
Note:
Concentrate on the underlined forms.
26
‫א‬
‫א‬L
‫א‬

33. The Pronouns
Examples:
ْ‫א‬
–
‫ج‬
‫א‬
ْ ‫‘ א‬The boy who went out
of the Mosque is a student’.
– ‫ن‬
ْ ْ‫א‬
‫א‬
the office are teachers’.
ْ‫א‬
–
‫لא‬
‫א‬
‫‘ א‬The men who left
ْ ‫‘ 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
Interrogative Pronouns ‫ْ م‬
‫א‬
:
These are given below:
‘who’
‘what’
‘where’
‘how’
‘when’
‘how much, how many’,
‘which, from where’
‘why’, ‫‘ ذא‬for what’ ‫‘ ذא‬what’

27

34. Ġ‫س א‬
‫ 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
where ‫ א‬is in
case and the second part is ‫ل א‬
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
form, but in
genitive form and in
‫ل א‬
is in the original
‫ א‬the noun
is in
‫א‬
ً
‫ن‬
it is in the
accusative.
29

35. The Irab of Noun
Similarly, we use ª
Holy Quran: ª
‫ن‬
ْ ‫ ,א‬ª ْ ‫ ,א‬ª ْ ‫ א‬as also we read in the
‫ ,א‬ª ‫,א‬
ْ ‫,א ْ ون ,א‬
‫,א‬
‫ .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.
original form in nominative E ْ
‫א‬
change of vowels it may become ً
E
‘a man’ is the
F and with the
in accusative
‫א‬
F or ٍ in genitive case E Ğ‫א‬
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
30
_F or tanwin

36. The Irab of Noun
E
_F, and is called
‫א‬
(halatur-rafha), i.e.
ª‫א‬
nominative case. And the declined form of
(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 (
–)
ْ
ْ‫א‬
below the last consonant, which is called
(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
ْ‫א‬
ْ‫א‬
or ٍ
ْ‫א‬
ً
ً
or
2 All broken plural nouns, both masculine and
feminine, e.g.
‫ل‬
ٍ
,ً
,
‘men’ ‫ل‬
‘women’
or ‫ل‬
‫ل ,א‬
or
‫,א‬
‫ل ,א‬
‫,א‬
‫א‬
‫א‬
3 All feminine sound plural nouns, e.g.
ª
ª
, ª
‘Muslim women’ or ª
ْ ‫,א‬
ْ ‫( 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
1
L‫ن‬
‫א‬L
‫ א‬L
Same as CF-I
Muslemaine
‫ن‬
‫ א‬L
‫ א‬L
L‫ن‬
Same as CF-I
Muslemeena
ْ‫ א‬L
*
same as CF-I
Muslemataine
Lª
L
*
*ª
L
*
ْ‫א‬
ْ‫א‬
6
ª
ْ‫א‬
ْ‫א‬
L
‫א‬
‫א‬
Gender
Dual
Í
‫وא‬
Singular
Dual
Í
Plural
L
L
‫א‬
5
Lª
Lً
ْ‫א‬
‫א‬
‫ن‬
Singular
Plural
4
L‫ن‬
‫א‬L
ْ‫א‬
3
ْ ‫א‬L
‫א‬L
*ª
2
‫א‬
‫ن‬
ْ ‫ א‬Lً
*
Lª
ْ‫א‬
‫وא‬
♂ Masc.
ْ ‫א‬L
♀ Fem.
ْ ‫א‬Lً
*
♂
Masc.
♀
Fem.
7
Broken Plural
ْ ‫א‬Lٍ
*
(Genitive case) (Accusative Case) (Nominative case)
Changed Form II Changed Form I Original Form
Ù
ْ ‫א‬
‫د‬
‫א‬
F
No.
ْ‫א‬
‫ א‬ª‫א‬
Number
Table – 5
Different Conditions of Irab E
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
_)
_), which is
also representative of genitive case. Diptotes
F
Eú
include the following categories:
and accusative (represented with
– 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’,
‘white’, etc.
ْ ,
ْ ,
,
‘red’, ‫‘ ز ق‬blue’,
– The broken plurals nouns on
patterns, e.g.
‘bed’,
,
‫‘ د א‬Dirhams’, ‫‘ א‬glass’
‘graves’,
– Names of men on the pattern of ‫ن‬
‫ن‬
,‫ن, ْ ن‬
,‫ن‬
, etc.
, e.g.
– 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
e.g. ‫‘ د‬world’, ‫‘ אد‬near’,
, etc.
ْ
(short
ْ ‘distant’,
),
,
– 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.
‘Satin’, ‫ن‬
‘Pharaoh’, ‫ج‬
Magog’, etc.
‘hell’,
ْ
‫ْ ج‬
‘Gog
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.
,
‫ , א‬etc. except the dual
, e.g.
‫ אن‬L
.
‫,و‬
L
– Relative pronouns E‫ل‬
ْ ‫א א‬F, e.g.
‫,א‬
‫ ,א‬etc. except the dual E
‫א ن‬L
‫,)♀( א‬
‫.)♂( א אن ,א‬
‫,א‬
‫,א‬
F, e.g.
– Interrogative pronouns E‫ْ م‬
,
,
, L‫ , ذא‬etc.
– Possessive pronouns, e.g.
– Nouns with alif E
ending, e.g. ‫,د‬
36
‫א‬
,
F or
ْ
, ‫‘ د‬near’,
F, e.g.
,
ْ ,
,
,
,
, etc.
(short alif)
ْ ‘distant’.

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
‫א‬
‫سא‬
‫ א‬Lesson 6
ْ‫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:
‫א‬
1
‫ – א‬the adjective phrase.
2
‫א‬
‫ – א‬the relative phrase.
3
‫א‬
‫ – א‬the demonstrative phrase.
4
Ğ‫א‬
‫ – 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
40
‫א‬F is to

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
F, and if ú
ْ ‫ א‬is indefinite
will be definite E
E F,
‫ א‬will be indefinite E F, e.g.
–
‫و‬
‫א‬
ْ‫א‬
– ‫ن‬
‫و אن‬
‫ن‬
‫אن א‬
– ‫ن‬
‫و د‬
‫ن‬
‫א و دא‬
ْ‫א‬
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 ْ
nominative case E ْ
accusative case E
accusative case E
case E
ْ‫א‬
E ْ ‫ ,א‬e.g.
F then
‫א‬
‫א‬
‫א‬
‫א‬
‫ א‬is to be in
‫ א‬is in the
‫ א‬too is in
F, if ú
F then
F, if ú ‫ א‬is in the genitive
‫ א‬is to be in genitive
F
‫وא‬
(Plural)
‫ن‬
F,
(Dual)
‫ن و د‬
(Single)
‫و אن‬
ْ ‫א‬
‫و‬
Nominative Case
‫و دא‬
ً
‫ً و‬
‫و د‬
‫ٍ و‬
‫א‬
‫و א‬
ً
‫و‬
Accusative Case
ْ‫א‬
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
‫ א‬of
of
‘raised on high’ is
‘couches’ which is a broken plural Eٍ
‘couch’ and an inanimate object Eٍ
Similarly,
‘placed ready’ is
which is a broken plural Eٍ
which is an inanimate object Eٍ
ْ
‫ א‬of ª‫ْ א‬
F of ª
F
‘goblets’
‘goblet’,
F; therefore, both the
adjectives are in the feminine singular form.
42
F.
ْ

47. The Adjective Phrase
Some more examples of the adjective phrases from the
Holy Quran:
‫א‬
ª
ª
ْ ‫,]01/53[ א‬
[3/172],
‫,]38/82[ א א א‬
[48/25],
[34/15],
ª [2/99],
[24/35],
‫,]791/3[ ع‬
ْ‫א‬
‫,]3/93[ א‬
[33/21],
[14/24], ‫د ْ ن‬
[21/26],
‫א‬
‫,]3/68[ א‬
ª [34/15], ْ
[18/82], ‫ن‬
‫ن‬
[55/66],
[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
‫‘ 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
known as
‘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
ending, e.g.
ْ‫, م א‬
i.e., in a genitive caseْ ‫ 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
‘allurement of the life’, here
ú ‫.א‬
There may be more than one
‫مא‬
[1/3], ‫ل א‬
e.g. ﴾
ú
, e.g.
‫ ز‬is ú ‫ א‬and
ْ‫א‬
ú ‫ א‬in one
‫ز‬
ْ ‫ א‬is
,
﴿ “owner of the Day of Judgment”
‘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
Person
3rd Person
(♂)
)
his book
her book
their book
their book
their book
#
Person
2 Person
your book
your book
your book
#
Person
2nd Person
(♀)
)
their book
*
nd
(♂)
)
PLURAL
*
Person
3rd Person
(♀)
)
DUAL
your book
your book
your book
my book
our book
our book
Person
1st Person
(♂♀)
)
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
ْ ‫‘ א א‬this pen’,
‫‘ ْ א‬that watch’,
noun), e.g.
‫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 Ğ‫א‬F, the Capacity E
‫א‬F and the case-ending
Eª‫ א‬F.
‫א א‬F has two forms, one
The demonstrative pronoun E
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
Masculine ♂ Feminine ♀
Singular - All Cases
Dual Nominative
‫א‬
‫אن‬
this
‫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
Dual Nominative
Dual - Accusative/Genitive
Plural - All Cases
‫ذא‬
*
‫و‬
‫ذ‬
ْ
that/this
*
‫ذ‬
those (2)
*
those (2)
‫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
‫ل‬
‫ن‬
‫ن‬
‫ن‬
ª
‫نא‬
‘these two students (female)’
‫א‬
‘these men (more than two)’
‫א‬
‘these women (more than two)’
ْ ‫‘ ْ א‬that girl’
‫א‬
‫ ذ‬L¯‫‘ ذא‬that man’
‫א‬
‫‘ ذא‬those two men’
‫א‬
‘those two girls’
ْ‫א‬
‫‘ و‬those Muslim men (more than two)’
ْ‫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
Allah’.
, e.g.
To swear by, is ª
ْ , e.g.
by the Day of Judgment’.
‘he believed in
‫مא‬
ْ ‘I swear
2 ‘ª’ (ta): – for oath only; by the name of the
‘by Allah’.
Almighty Allah, e.g. ‫א‬
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’,
‫א‬
L
L
‫ذ‬
‫م‬
L‫א‬
‘he rose for his help’;
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
ْ
moon’, ª‫א‬
ª‫א‬
‘like a mirage’,
ْ ‘like the garden’.
54
‘as the
ْ‫א‬

57. The Genitive Phrase
Separable Prepositions:
The following prepositions are in common use:
(fi): – ‘in’, e.g. ‫א ض‬
‫א ض‬
1
‘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
Person
3rd Person
(♂)
)
on him
on them
On them
on them
on you
*
On you
on you
on you
*
On you
on you
on me
on us
on us
nd
Person
2 Person
(♀)
)
On them
on her
nd
Person
2 Person
(♂)
)
PLURAL
#
rd
Person
3 Person
(♀)
)
DUAL
#
st
Person
1 Person
(♂♀)
)
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
.
ْ‫א‬
(ila): – ‘to, unto, towards’, e.g.
5
ْ ‫‘ 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 prepositions, change the following nouns in the
genitive case:
– ‫( ذو‬possessor), e.g. ٍ
of bounty’.
– ‫א‬
‫‘ ذو‬Gracious or Possessor
(possessor), e.g. ‫م‬
‫א‬
‘relations’.
–
(companion), e.g. ٍ ْ
of knowledge/man of learning’.
–
(with), e.g. ﴾
‫א‬
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
‘companion
‫“ ﴿ ن א‬Allah is with
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”,
‫“ ﴿و‬and it is in the original of
the Book with us”, ﴾
ْ ‫ذ ْ ن‬
‫﴿و‬
﴾
ª ْ‫م א‬
“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
The nominal sentence E Ú ‫א‬
word is a noun, e.g.
Ğ‫א‬F wherein the first
ª ْ ‫‘ א‬the book is new’.
The Verbal Sentence E
ْ‫א‬
The verbal sentence E
ْ‫א‬
word is a verb, e.g.
‫א‬F
ْ ‫א‬F:
‫ج‬
‫א‬F
ْ ‫א‬F:
ْ ‫א‬F where in the first
‘Hamid went out’.
In this lesson we shall learn about the nominal sentences.
The nominal sentence consists of the mubtada E ‫א‬
‘the subject’ and the khabar E
ْ ‫א‬F
ْ ‫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 E
F so that is the khabar/predicate.
Some more examples of simple nominal sentences
ْ ‫א‬F
E
‫ א‬are given below:
59

62. The Sentence
Ġ‫–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:
Ġ‫– א‬
‫א‬
Singular ♂ ‘Saeed is a learned man’.
‫א‬
Singular ♂ ‘The student is a hardworking’.
Singular ♀ ‘Saeeda is a learned woman’.
‫ن‬
‫ن‬
‫ن‬
ª‫א‬
60
‫א‬
‫א‬
Singular ♀ ‘The student is a hardworking’.
‫ن‬
Dual ♂
‫ن‬
‫ א‬Dual ♀
ª
‫ א‬Plural ♂
ª
‫ א‬Plural ♀
‘Both the students are believers
‘Both the students are believers
‘The students are believers’.
‘The students are hardworking’

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 ú‫ و‬ğ‫א‬F
E ْ
‫ א‬are ‫ ن‬and its sisters, like ‫, ن , ن‬
,
, and
.
The Mubtada E ‫א‬F is normally a definite E
indicated in the following examples:
–
‫لא‬
Allah’. Here
F as
‘Muhammad (SAW) is the messenger of
is ‘definite’ E
F because it is a
61

64. The Sentence
proper noun E
annexation E
– ‫س‬
‫א‬F, and the predicate
‫א‬F.
‘he is a teacher’.
‫لא‬
is definite because it is a
pronoun E
‫א‬F and the predicate ‫س‬
F.
indefinite noun E
‫א‬
–
‘this is a Mosque’. ‫א‬
a demonstrative pronoun E
is an indefinite noun E
– ¯
is an
is an
is definite because it is
‫א‬
F.
‫א‬F and the predicate
‫‘ א‬he who worships other than
‫ א‬is definite
Allah is mushrik (one who rejects faith)’.
because it is a relative pronoun E‫ل‬
ْ‫א‬
‫א‬F, and the
predicate is a sentence E Ğ‫א‬F.
–
–
‫א‬
‫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 ْ
definite as it’s mudaf ilaihi E
is
F is definite, and
the predicate in this case is a definite noun E
F.
However, the subject E ‫א‬
ú
‫א‬F may be indefinite E
F in the
following circumstances.
– If the khabar E Ġ‫א‬F 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
table’,
62
ْ
‘like the water’,
ْ ْ‫א‬
‘on the
ْ‫א‬
‘in the

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

66. The Sentence
is the mubtada and the
wrong with you?’; here
is the khabar.
prepositional phrase
is the mubtada and
‘who is sick?’, here
ْ‫א‬
is the khabar.
ً
‘how many
students are there in the classroom?’, here
is the
ْ‫א‬
mubtada and the prepositional phrase
khabar.
is the
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 ,
J or , e.g.
when preceded with
,
,
. 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
, ‫و‬
or a long vowels, e.g.
(hi), e.g.
(bi-hi), but
. This rule also applies to
(fi-hi); this change is for vocalic
harmony.
Also note that in case of the verb with the pronoun of the
‘you saw’, a waw E‫و‬F
2nd person masculine plural, like
has to be added between the verb and the pronoun, e.g.
‘you saw him’,
saw her’,
H ْ
64
H ْ
becomes
‘you saw them’,
becomes
ْ
ْ
‘you
‘you asked them’,
‘you killed them’.

67. The Sentence
habar:
The Omission of the Mubtada/the Khabar:
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,
created you’. Here
verbal sentence
khabar.
‫‘ وא‬and Allah
‫ א‬is the mubtada, and the
‘He created you’ is the
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 Ġ‫א‬F 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 faiththey 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
Ę ْ‫א‬
‘the house is not new’. Note that is often
F.
prefixed to khabar and it is therefore majrur E ‫و‬
After the introduction of
the mubtada is called “ismu
‫א‬F, and the khabar is called “khabaru laisa”
laisa” E
E
F. The predicate of
is in accusative case. The
feminine of
is
, e.g.
ً
or
Ĩ
‘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, ‫ س‬Ĩ
ٍ
‘I am not an engineer’.
Here, the pronoun ‘ª’ (tu) is the ismu laisa E
‫א‬F and
‫ س‬Ĩ is the khabru laisa E
ٍ
F.
Examples from the Holy Quran:
– ﴾ٍ
Ĩ
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. ‫ د‬ğ‫س א‬
‫ 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. ,
,
.
‫م א‬
does not change the ending of the
mubtada, e.g.
‘indeed your house is more
The
‫א‬
,
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
to two fathah, e.g.
F they change
‫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’
‘I am afraid the teacher is sick’.
‫س‬
ْ‫א‬
:
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’.
(T
‫( ن‬That):
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,
here,
(From Where, How, When):
means ‘where? how? when?’, e.g.
72
‫﴿ ل‬

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
ْ‫א‬
‫ א‬Lesson 12
ْ‫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
order/desire/wish/supplication.
ْ ‫א‬F. It implies to an
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:
‘he wrote’
ª
‘he struck’
‫مא‬
ª
ª
‘he helped’
‘he opened’
‘he heard’
‫م‬
‘he was noble’
‘he thought’
‘he was/became weak’
ª
‫ع‬
‫م‬
ª
ú
‫א‬Ħ
ª
‫ص‬
ª
‫م‬
‫س‬
‫ع‬
‫א‬
¯
‫ض‬
‫ن‬
ú
‫س‬
¯
ª
‫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
76
(he helped),
‘he

78. The Verb – Perfect Tense
wrote’,
‘he opened’,
‘he sat’, ‫ج‬
out’,
‫‘ د‬he came in or entered’.
‘he went
–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
(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
called
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
1.
(form) as explained below;
‫ – 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.
E
78
‫ – ذ‬She went: The subject is dhamir mustatir
. The ta ‘ª’ is the sign of its being feminine.
F

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
(Triliteral
(Triliteral Verb)
SINGULAR
Person
3rd Person
(♂)
)
Person
3rd Person
(♀)
)
Perso
2nd Person
(♂)
)
Person
2nd Person
(♀)
)
Person
1st Person
(♂♀)
)
ْ‫א‬
DUAL
ْ‫א‬
PLURAL
‫א‬
he did
they did
they did
ْ
she did
ْ
you did
ْ
you did
ْ
I did
they did
ْ
*
ْ
you did
you did
ْ
*
ْ
you did
#
they did
you 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
the same pattern, as shown in Table 9.
80
‫א‬F is conjugated on

82. The Verb – Perfect Tense
Table – 9
Madi Maruf – ú‫و‬
ْ‫א‬
ْ‫א‬
Verb)
(Quadriliteral Verb)
Quadrili
SINGULAR
Person
3rd Person
(♂)
)
Person
3rd Person
(♀)
)
Person
2nd Person
(♂)
)
Person
2nd Person
(♀)
)
DUAL
PLURAL
‫א‬
he translated
they
translated
they
translated
she
translated
they
translated
they
translated
*
you
you
you
translated
translated
translated
*
you
translated
#
you
translated
#
you
translated
#
st
Person
1 Person
(♂♀)
)
I translated
we
translated
we
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
literally
The Passive Form is called Majhul (‫ل‬
‘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
‘he wrote’
ª ‘he drank’
‘he translated’
‘he killed’
‫‘ د‬he entered’
‫‘ ل‬he descended’
‫‘ ز ْ ل‬it/he shook’
82
Passive Verb E F
‘It was written/prescribed’
ª ‘It was drunk’
‘It was translated’
‘he was killed’
‫‘ د‬he was entered’
‫‘ ل‬he/it was descended’
‫‘ ز ْ ل‬he/it was shaken’

84. The Verb – Perfect Tense
‘he read’
ª ‫‘ ز‬he removed’
‘he informed’
‘it was read’
‫‘ ز‬he/it was removed’
‘he was informed’
ª
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
the University’
ْ‫א‬
leave the class’, ‫ج‬
University’,
ْ‫א‬
(ma) is used, e.g.
ª
ْ‫א‬
he did not come out’, ‫س‬
‫و‬
‫جא‬
‫ذ‬
‫‘ ذ‬I went to
‘I did not go to the
‘the students did not
‫‘ د‬Hamid entered but
‫א‬
‘the lesson was not
written’.
All forms E
F of the perfect can be converted into the
negative form by prefixing
negated with
(la), e.g. ‫ل‬
. However, a question is to be
‫س‬
‫א‬
‘O Bilal! did
you write the lesson?’ the answer in negative is;
‫س‬
‫‘ א‬No, I did not write the lesson’.
‘O Hamid! did you understand the lesson?’
‫س‬
‫א‬
‘No,
I did not understand it?’.
The Difference between
a positive question, and
question, e.g. ‫ل‬
and
:
is used in reply to
is used in reply to a negative
‘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
course, I am a Muslim’.
‘Yes/of
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
(‫ن‬
The Distant Perfect –
ْ‫א‬
ْ‫א‬
observed’
‘he was or had’
‫‘ ن‬he had observed’)
SINGULAR
Person
3rd Person
(♂)
)
Person
3rd Person
(♀)
)
Person
2nd Person
(♂)
)
Person
2nd Person
(♀)
)
Person
1st Person
(♂♀)
)
DUAL
‫ن‬
‫א‬
he had
observed
they had
observed
ª
PLURAL
‫وא‬
‫א‬
they had
observed
‫ن‬
she had
observed
they had
observed
they had
observed
you had
you had
you had
observed
observed
observed
you had
observed
you had
observed
we had
observed
we had
observed
ª
ª
you had
observed
ª
I had
observed

85