Arabic Grammar/Eloquence Gem #4: EXCLUSIVITY

Exclusivity (taQdeem):

When Someone/thing is placed before a Description (adjective)  - it is not normal [it is abnormal] sentence structure. Which implies that this person/thing Exclusively has that description.


For example: People may say;

hamdun La-Ka - Praise is For You. [normal sentence structure]

But; La-Ka al-Hamd = Praise is EXCLUSIVELY For You. [abnormal structure because 'For You' (La-Ka) is mentioned earlier in the sentence.)

This is why, when you say;

Iyyaa-Ka [You] - Na'budu [We worship]. - the 'You' (iyyaa-ka) is mentioned earlier in the sentence structure. Which implies that we worship 'You' [Allah] Exclusively/alone.

This is called TaQdeem (placing Earlier) and Ta'kheer (placing at the End) in Arabic eloquence.

and is used many times in the Qur'an.

Arabic Grammar/Eloquence Gem #3: Female Plural used for non-Female descriptions.

Gem #3: Female Plural used for non-Female objects = 'Handful' (less than 10)


If Female characters are not being discussed - but Feminine plural is still being used to describe them, it implies:

Jam'u qillah/small plural = less than 10 objects. ('a handful of objects')

Allah says about those who believe and ('amiluw al-saalihAAT [ عَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ ]) do A Few good actions, for them is Jannah (Paradise.) [see Quran 5:9]

This shows the extreme Mercy of Allah. He doesn't expect too much from His slaves. He just wants us to be grateful to Him. He wants us to - atleast the minimum - complete the 5 pillars of Islam and to stay away from the haraam (forbidden things.) And then He will reward His believing slaves with Jannah (beautiful Gardens in Paradise.)

Arabic Grammar/Eloquence Gem #2: Noun (constant) vs Verb (temporary)

Noun (constant) vs Verb (temporary):

Someone/thing can be described in verb (doing) or noun (object) form in the Arabic language.


Noun [ism faa'il] form signifies that the doer always/Continuously does that action (i.e. 'FightER')

Verb form signifies that the doer [faa'il] sometimes does that action (i.e 'he was Fighting').


A FightER is someone who always fights, whereas someone 'who is Fighting' might be fighting only once in his life.


This is why; Mu'minoon = Believers are described as Nouns [ism faa'il] = Continuously always Believing (through times of ease and hardship.)

'al-ladheena Aamanoo' - those who believe' [verb/temporary form] are not as strong in their Beliefs and their Emaan/belief is not as constant as the Mu'minoon.

Mu'minoon = strong/continuous Believer.
'al-ladheena aamanoo' = those who believe strongly sometimes, but sometimes not.


So next time, whenever you see something as a Noun (usually with a 'Mu' prefix attached at the beginning. Or any form of human personification of a doing word), then this is a Constant Attribute of that character.

Whereas when someone/thing is being described in Verb form, i.e. the pattern of Faa'il [doer], then you know that this Characteristic is only a temporary attribute.

"And she certainly determined [to seduce] him." [Yusuf 12:23]

Asalaamu alaykum waRahmatullah waBarakaatuh.

I'll tel you one Gem which amazed me at the depth of the Quranic Arabic;


In surah Yusuf, ayah [12:]23, Allah tells us [in translation of the meaning in english]:

وَرَاوَدَتْهُ الَّتِي هُوَ فِي بَيْتِهَا

"And she certainly determined [to seduce] him." [Yusuf 12:23]

That's a common English translation, it seems boring and simple. But now I'll tell you the word in arabic and its deep meaning;

The word Allah used for 'attempted seduce' [on the pattern of muFaa'alah = 'attempted'] is: رَاوَدَ

The Root letters of this word are; رودَ

1st meaning: ( رود) Ra-Waw-Dal = to seek, ask a thing gently, search (for food), go to and fro in a pasture, go round about.

2nd meaning: rawada - to long after, desire, seduce, entice, seduce against the will

3rd meaning: The word iradah is used for power and capacity with reference to subjugation as well as to option and choice. i.e. ruwaidan = to leave someone for a little while, go gently with them (even though you have authority to punish them.) [i.e. see surah Tariq 86:17])


4th meaning: راود from Lisan Al 'arab that the prophet PBUH “ rawada “ his uncle Aba Talib , meaning he kept talking to him [to convince him] about Islam , so did Moses with his people.

قال الليث: وتقول راوَدَ فلان جاريته عن نفسها وراوَدَتْه هي عن نفسه إذا حاول كل واحد من صاحبه الوطء والجماع؛ ومنه قوله تعالى: تراود فتاها عن نفسه؛ فجعل الفعل لها. وراوَدْتُه على كذا مُراوَدَةً ورِواداً أَي أَردتُه. وفي حديث أَبي هريرة: حيث يُراوِدُ عمَّه أَبا طالب على الإِسلام أَي يُراجعه ويُرادُّه؛ ومنه حديث الإسراء: قال له موسى، صلى الله عليهما وسلم: قد والله راودْتُ بني إِسرائيل على أَدنى من ذلك فتركوه

So we're not trying to do a Tafseer of the ayah, but just for personal reflection, we see the depth of the ayah so the wife of al Azeez could probably fit all those descriptions when trying to seduce Yusuf:


She would show him hints that; she likes him, she would go around him and give him attention, she would entice him, she would go around him 'to and fro' (like a person who in hunger searches for food), she would try to subjugate him while giving him abit of choice so that he might start getting attracted to her. She would even talk to him to convince him to like her.
Subhaan Allah, the depth of Allah's speech! This is all explained - just through one word Root; Raawada - رود / رَاوَدَ



[I got the definitions from Lane's Lexicon [PRL Online], which is an Arabic-English Lexicon with definitions from Classical Arabic dictionaries.]

Arabic Grammar/Eloquence Gems: Past Tense vs Present-Future Tense

Arabic Grammar & Eloquence (Balaaghah) Gems:

Alot of times people learn grammar in Arabic without knowing why it's so important. But inshaa' Allah after reading some of its Gems, you'll appreciate why you learnt it.

These Gems will be useful for both a beginner of Arabic, and also intermediates.

Past tense (maaDiy) vs Present-Future tense (muDaari'):



Past tense words can be used to describe;

1 - Past tense - describing an event which happened in the past.

2 - what will NO DOUBT happen in the future, you are so certain that it will happen, that you use a past tense word to argue that it will NO DOUBT happen. ('as true as the past itself' - it is as real as the past was real. (i.e. Judgment Day is sometimes described in the past tense in the Quran to emphasise Certainty of that Day).

Note: a Future tense word will be used with this Past tense word to show that it will occur in the future.


Example:

إِذَا الشَّمْسُ كُوِّرَتْ

Idhaa al-shamsu kuwwirat.
When (future tense) the sun was Wrapped around (on Judgment Day). [Surah Takweer 81:1]



Present-Future tense (muDaari') describes:

1 - Present-[near]Future - something which is happening now. (I.e. I am eating now, and in the present[near]-future I will still be eating this food).

2 - Present-[long-term]Future - something which is happening now AND will continue in the Long term future.

(I.e. Some sentences are said in this muDaari' [present-future tense] form to show that people are doing an action now, and there will be others doing the same action in the long term future 
too.)


يُجَاهِدُونَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ


yuJaahidoona fee sabeel-illah - 
they are (and will [in the future]) struggle in the path of Allah. [Maa'idah 5: 54] =

= there are people today who struggle/fight in the path of Allah now, and there will continue to be people who struggle in the path of Allah - as long as this Qur'anic ayah/verse remains being recited on Earth.

Note: Click these links to see the Difference between Past, & Present & 'Future' tense (also see the Sarf table.)

Arabic Letter Sound Gem: To Cut Lengthways, or Width (Surah Yusuf 12:25)

Asalaamu alaykum waRahmatullah waBarakaatuh.


Arabic Sound Gem:
To Cut/tear Width-ways, or Lengthways (Surah Yusuf 12:25)




Cutting (width and length):

QaT(a) [ قط ] - cut Width-wise

Qad(a) [ قد ] - cut Length-wise

Both; 'Taa'  [ ط ] and 'dal' [ د ] are Qalqala (echo sounded) letters in Tajweed/Qur'an Recital.




We know that the letter 'Ta' [ ط ] has a shorter echo in its Qalqala in comparison to the 'dal' [ د ].


This is why;

QaT(a) = cutting Width wise [has a shorter Qalqala echo sound] (because Width is usually shorter than length.)

Qad(a) = cutting Length wise [has a longer Qalqala echo sound] (because Length is usually longer than width.)



This is just one of the amazing depths of the sounds of the Arabic language.



Now if we see Surah Yusuf 12:25, we will see what way Prophet Yusuf's shirt was torn;

وَاسْتَبَقَا الْبَابَ وَقَدَّتْ قَمِيصَهُ مِن دُبُرٍ وَأَلْفَيَا سَيِّدَهَا لَدَى الْبَابِ ۚ قَالَتْ مَا جَزَاءُ مَنْ أَرَادَ بِأَهْلِكَ سُوءًا إِلَّا أَن يُسْجَنَ أَوْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ

So they raced with one another to the door, and she tore [Qad] his shirt from the back...

 Can you guess whether his shirt was torn width-ways or length-ways*? Only the Arabic language can capture this meaning.

*Answer: Length-ways.

Arabic Letter Sounds - Kaf vs Qaf

Kaf ( ك )  vs Qaf ( ق )

Ever wonder why Arabic has many similar sounding letters, i.e. Kaf (ك) and Qaf (ق) ?

Here's an example of why:


What is more heavier and firmer in preserving information; Speech or Writing?

Writing obviously is because once written, it is harder to distort or change.

The word for Speech is Kalaam ( كلام ) in arabic.

The word for the Pen is Qalam ( قلم ) in arabic.

Qaf is a heavier letter when pronounced, while Kaf is lighter sounding letter.


Kalaam (Speech) is much lighter and weaker in preserving information in comparison to the Qalam (Pen) which is more firmer in preserving information.

And this is why, the Qaf [a heavier letter] is used for the Qalam (Pen) in comparison to the letter Kaf describing Kalaam (Speech).

"Abolish the Arabic Language…!"

Abolish the Arabic Language…!

Edward Benson wrote, ” The Basis of Islam is the Arabic Language. If it is lost, Islam is lost!”

During the French occupation of Algeria, the French government was advised by its consulate in Algeria, “We will never be able to overpower the Algerians as long as they read the Qur’an and speak Arabic. Therefore, we must remove the Arabic Qur’an from their midst, and abolish the Arabic language from their tongues.”

Lughat al-Qur’an

An Arabic Qur'an..

Asalaam alaikum Warahmatulah Wabarakatuh.

An Arabic Qur'an...

Allah tells us continuously that the Qur'an is in the Arabic language, a response to those who might argue that translations in other languages can be a replacement.


So we notice that whenever Allah mentions the Qur'an in a language, it is none other than Arabic;

إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَاهُ قُرْآنًا عَرَبِيًّا لَّعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ

Indeed, We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur'an [Qur'anan 'arabiyyan] that you might understand.

[Yusuf 12:2]



وَكَذَٰلِكَ أَنزَلْنَاهُ حُكْمًا عَرَبِيًّا

And thus have We sent it (the Quran) down to be a judgement of authority in Arabic.. [hukman arabiyyan].

[ar-Ra'd 13:37]



وَكَذَٰلِكَ أَنزَلْنَاهُ قُرْآنًا عَرَبِيًّا

And thus We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur'an [qur'anan 'arabiyyan].. [Qur'an Taha 20:113]

Also see the ayaat/verses in Surahs to prove this further;

* (Yusuf 12:2), (ar-Ra'd 13:37), (Taha - 20:113) (Zumar 39:28), (Fussilat 41:3), (ash-Shuraa 42:7) (az-Zukhruf 43:3), (al Ahqaf 46:12)

What makes a Piece of Text Eloquent & in Perfect Form?

al-Salāmu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullāh wa barakatuh.

 What makes a Piece of Text Eloquent & in Perfect Form?

One aspect of the miraculousness of the Qur'anic language lies in the precision of its words. As al-Suyuti said in al-Itqaan fee 'Uloom al-Qur'aan,

"It is possible to convey a single meaning with a variety of words, some more expressive than others. Likewise for the two parts – subject and predicate – of a sentence; each may be expressed in the most eloquent manner when taken alongside the other.

Thus, it is necessary [in good composition] to; 

1) Consider the overall meaning of a sentence,

2) Then to consider every single word that may be used to convey that meaning, and then

3) To use the most appropriate, expressive and eloquent of those words. 

This is impossible for man to do consistently, or even most of the time, but it is well within the Knowledge of Allaah [whose knowledge is boundless], and thus the Qur'an was considered the best and most eloquent of all speech…"

One example of this usage lies in the morphological forms found in the Qur'an, which will sometimes reflect the deeper meaning of the word itself, and upon reflection it can be found that not a single word in the Qur'an can be changed for another without it affecting the depth of meaning conveyed by the original word.

One example of this is in Yusuf, verse 23:

وَرَاوَدَتْهُ الَّتِي هُوَ فِي بَيْتِهَا عَن نَّفْسِهِ وَغَلَّقَتِ الأَبْوَابَ وَقَالَتْ هَيْتَ لَكَ
And she, in whose house he was, sought to seduce him. She closed the doors and said: "Come, you."

In this verse, Allaah used the verb form ghallaqa غلَّقَto mean 'closed'. Another form from the same root also means 'closed' – aghlaqa أغْلَقَ- yet there is a very eloquent reason for which Allaah used the previous form: the connotations of the pattern followed by the form ghallaqa are ones of repetitiveness and intensity of the action's performance, and thus the word form itself would give the reader who has knowledge of the Arabic language an idea of the intensity of the emotion and desire which drove the wife of al-'Azeez to rush around closing the doors of her house (some mufassiroon (exegetes) commented that there were seven doors that she closed, and hence the form also indicates the repetition of her going to door after door closing it) so she could quickly try to seduce Yusuf. None of this would have been reflected through the use of the alternative word form aghlaqa.

The Most Comprehensive of Languages.

Arabic does enjoy certain characteristics unique to it among the Semitic languages, the most important of which are [*]:

1. It has preserved the sounds of the Semitic alphabet better than any of the other Semitic languages; it includes all the phonemes of the other Semitic languages (to the exclusion of perhaps two or three, about which there is doubt whether they are actually Semitic in origin), and also has extra phonemes that do not exist in the others, such as the thaa' ث, the dhaal ذ, the ghayn غ, and the daad ض.
2. It has the most extensive and precise grammatical and morphological system; all the grammatical rules in the other Semitic languages have their equivalent in Arabic, while there are many rules and phenomena in Arabic that do not exist at the same level, if at all, in the other languages.
3. It has more roots and lexical items than any of the other languages.

[*] Adapted from Fiqh al-Lughah by Dr. 'Ali 'Abd al-Wahid Wafi

http://arabicgems.wordpress.com/2006/03/04/more-than-a-dot-on-the-horizon/



 Ibn Hazm had a list on the criteria of a language being the best of languages. 

Ibn Hazm says;

..the most comprehensive of all languages, the clearest in expression, the least ambiguous, the most concise, and the most extensive in vocabulary to comprehend the names of all things, whether substances or accidents...

The 5th chapter of Ibn Hazm's Ihkâm fî Usûl al-Ahkâm. It's original title is: "The Origins of Language: Divine Providence or Human Codification".

 Looking at Dr. 'Ali 'Abd al-Wahid Wafi's discussion above, it seems that the Arabic language fits such a criteria.

"The heart lied not in what he saw..." (Surah Najm 53:11)

مَا كَذَبَ الْفُؤَادُ مَا رَأَىٰ

“The (Prophet’s) heart lied not in what he saw.” (Surah Najm 53:11)

The fu’aad is the heart, and this means that the what the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) saw with his eyes during the night journey and ascension, he also saw with certainty in his heart.

It could be that the eye sees something but the heart does not confirm it, and it could be the that heart sees something that the eye does not confirm. As for what the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) saw during the night of Mi’raaj, it is the truth – in both his sight and in his insight, and that is why Allah ta’ala says: “The heart lied not in what he saw.” (Surah Najm 53:11)
 

http://muslimmatters.org/2010/03/31/tafseer-gems-from-shaykh-ibn-uthaymeen/

"The Qur'an is true, just and full of guidance. It does not contain exaggerations..unlike Arabic and other types of Poems..."

Al Hafidh Ibn Katheer comments;

Examples of the Miracle of the Qur'an

Whoever reads through the Qur'an will realize that it contains various levels of superiority through both the apparent and hidden meanings that it mentions. Allah said,

[الركِتَـبَأُحْكِمَتْ ءايَـتُهُ ثُمَّ فُصِّلَتْ مِن لَّدُنْ حَكِيمٍ خَبِيرٍ]

(Alif Lam Ra. (This is) a Book, the verses whereof are perfect (in every sphere of knowledge, etc.), and then explained in detail from One (Allah), Who is Wise and well-acquainted (with all things)) (11:1)

So the expressions in the Qur'an are perfect and its meanings are explained. Further, every word and meaning in the Qur'an is eloquent and cannot be surpassed. The Qur'an also mentioned the stories of the people of the past; and these accounts and stories occurred exactly as the Qur'an stated. Also, the Qur'an commanded every type of righteousness and forbade every type of evil, just as Allah stated,

[وَتَمَّتْ كَلِمَةُ رَبِّكَ صِدْقاً وَعَدْلاً]

(And the Word of your Lord has been fulfilled in truth and in justice) (6:115). meaning, true in the stories it narrates and just in its Laws. The Qur'an is true, just and full of guidance. It does not contain exaggerations, lies or falsehood, unlike Arabic and other types of poems that contained lies. These poems, conform with the popular statement, "The most eloquent speech is the one that contains the most lies!'' Sometimes, one would find a long poem that mainly contains descriptions of women, horses or alcohol. Or, the poem might contain praise or the description of a certain person, horse, camel, war, incident, fear, lion, or other types of items and objects. Such praise or descriptions do not bring any benefit, except shed light on the poet's ability to clearly and eloquently describe such items. Yet, one will only be able to find one or two sentences in many long poems that elaborate on the main theme of the poem, while the rest of the poem contains insignificant descriptions and repetitions.


As for the Qur'an, it is entirely eloquent in the most perfect manner, as those who have knowledge in such matters and understand Arabic methods of speech and expressions concur. When one reads through the stories in the Qur'an, he will find them fruitful, whether they were in extended or short forms, repeated or not. The more these stories are repeated, the more fruitful and beautiful they become. The Qur'an does not become old when one repeats reciting it, nor do the scholars ever get bored with it. When the Qur'an mentions the subject of warning and promises, it presents truths that would make solid, firm mountains shake, so what about the comprehending, understanding hearts When the Qur'an promises, it opens the hearts and the ears, making them eager to attain the abode of peace - Paradise - and to be the neighbors of the Throne of the Most Beneficent...



Tafsir of Surah al Baqarah;
Tafsir.com Tafsir Ibn Kathir