Arabic verb present tense and doer format of verb

                                                                 بِسمِ اللهِ الرَّحمانِ الرَّحِيم

الحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على نبينا محمد وآله وصحبه

الدرس الثاني عشر

Surah Al-Kafiroon.  (سورة الكافرون)

From the Maududi's translation of this surah.

According to Hadrat Abdullah bin Abbas, the Quraish proposed to the Holy Prophet (pbuh); "We shall give you so much of wealth that you will become the richest man of Makkah; we shall give you whichever woman you like in marriage; we are prepared to follow and obey you as our leader, only on the condition that you will not speak ill of our gods. If you do not agree to this, we present another proposal which is to your as well as to our advantage."When the Holy Prophet (pbuh) asked what it was, they said that if he would worship their gods, Lat and Uzza, for a year, they would worship his God for the same space of time. The Holy Prophet said: "Wait a while; let me see what my Lord commands in this regard."Thereupon the revelation came down: Qul ya-ayyuhal- kafirun... and: Qul afa-ghair Allahi... (Az-Zumar: 64): "Say to them: ignorant people do you bid me to worship others than Allah?" (Ibn Jarir, Ibn Abi Hatim, Tabarani). According to another tradition from Ibn Abbas, the Quraish said to the Holy Prophet: "O Muhammad, if you kiss our gods, the idols, we shall worship your God."Thereupon, this Surah was sent down. (Abd bin Humaid).

Insha-allah in this chapter, lets try to learn arabic grammar through the chapter Surah Al-kafiroon. Insha-allah you will get some relief that you will start to understand quranic chapters.

Sometimes  non-believers gets offended when we refer them as (كافِر).  A beautiful word introduced by the Qur'an in reference to those who disbelieve in Allah as one sole God. An unbeliever is referred to as a Kafir, that is, ‘someone who conceals the truth about Allah.

The root word for concealing/ hiding is (ك ف ر).  Look into the online dictionary. type (kfr) to search meaning of (ك ف ر).

To refer an action done in past we say (كَفَرَ) i.e he disbelieved. Can you iterate the table we learned for past tense in previous chapter ? i.e. (kafara , kafaraa , kafaroo ….. ) ?

Now the one who does the action (فعل ) is doer. In Arabic it is called (فاعِل).  i.e. Just add (alif) to the first root letter.  Therefore we get the word (كافِر ) for disbeliever.    Now what if the doer is female ?  Remember feminine words mostly have ( ة ) at the end. therefore the female disbeliever is called (كافِرة ) (kaafirah).  Another table we have to learn is the doer table.  Its very important . read it like below.

Fa`ailun , fa`ailaani,  fa`ailoon,   ……  fa`aailah , fa`ailataani, fa`ailaatun .

3rd person	2nd person	1st person
فَاعِلونَ	فَاعِلانِ	فَاعِلٌ	masculine
فَاعِلاتٌ	فَاعِلتانِ	فَاعِلة	feminine

The table gives you format of referring to doers. You have to follow the same format for other 3 letter verbs.  The doer table for (كَفَرَ) will be

كافِر , كافِران , كافِرون ..... كافِرة  , كافِرتان , كافِرات

So to refer to all unbelievers together we say (كافِرُونَ).  Just add (alif to first root letter) and (ونَ) to the third root letter.  

Therefore in Surah Al-kafiroon, Allah (swt) refers to all unbelievers -

بِسمِ اللهِ الرَّحمانِ الرَّحِيم  قُلْ يَا أَيُّهَا الْكَافِرُونَ - (109:1) Say, "O disbelievers,

We can make simple sentence in present tense using this doer format.  For example :

 The boy is sitting on the chair.  ( الولَدُ جَالَسٌ عَلى الكُرْسِي  )

The literal meaning of the (جَالَسٌ) is that the boy is the one who is sitting. i.e (doer).  But when used with simple sentence like this makes it in present tense form.  But the actual present tense is insha-allah coming up in this chapter.  More examples for sentences using doer format:

1. The man is standing with them -   ( الرَّجُلُ واقِفٌ  مَعَاهُم  ).

( وقف) means to stand. Can you write the past tense table for the ( وقف)  ?

2. Is she going to school today - ( أَ هى ذاهِبة اِلى المَدْرَسَة اليَوم )
3. The part of the ayah which is very commonly used when by Muslims when a person experiences a tragedy in life is  (  إِنَّا لِلّهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعونَ  ) translates to "Surely we belong to Allah and to Him shall we return".  Also recited upon hearing news that a person has died. The phrase is also recited in situation that involve risk of any sort.   Notice the doer form in this phrase ( رَاجِعونَ ) is from the root word (رجع). Also you should be able to know grammar of each word in that phrase.

After ( كَفَرَ ) another verb used in Surah Al`kafiroon is ( عبد) . Means he worshipped.  Please recite the past tense table for this verb as we learned in past tense chapter.

عَبَدَ , عَبَدا, عَبَدُوا  .... عَبَدَتْ ,عَبَدْتا ,عَبَدْنَ ...... عَبَدتَ , عَبَدتُما , عَبَدتُم ..... عَبَدتِ , عَبَدتُما , عَبَدتُنّ .... عَبدتُ , عَبَدنَا   

And therefore from the above 2 grammar (doer ‘عَابِدٌ’ + past tense form of عَبَدَ ) we have ayah of surah Al-kafiroon.

بِسمِ اللهِ الرَّحمانِ الرَّحِيم وَلَا أَنَا عَابِدٌ مَّا عَبَدتُّمْ  - 109:4 Nor will I be a worshipper of what you worship - 109:4

( مَّا ) here used as “that which”.  

But when used before a past tense at the start of a sentence it negates the past.  

Example:

1. We have created it. - خلقناها  
2. We have NOT  created it.   -  ما خلقناها
3. I have read this book -  قَرَأتُ هذا الكتاب
4. I haven’t NOT read this book -  ما قَرَأتُ هذا الكتاب
5. How come you don't know this news - كيف ما عَرَفتُم هذا الخَبَر
6. O Lord , You did NOT create this aimlessly - رَبَّنَا مَا خَلَقْتَ هَٰذَا بَاطِلًا  3:191

Exercise:

Translate below sentences in Arabic:

1. I didn’t go to school
2. We didn’t eat this food.
3. I didn’t drink this milk.
4. I did not do this, He did it.

Arabic present tense

The other grammer present in Surah Al-kafiroon is the arabic imperfect tense. i.e present tense.    The format table for standard verb is below. Read it this way.

Yaf`alu, Yaf`alani, Yaf`aloona …… Taf`alu, Taf`alani, Taf`alna…… Taf`alu, Taf`alani, Taf`aloona, …… Taf`aleena, Taf`alani,Ta`falna…… Af`alu,Naf`alu.

يَفْعَلُونَ  They do	يَفْعَلانِ   they both do	يَفْعَلُ    he does
يَفْعَلْنَ  They do	تَفْعَلانِ   they both do	تَفْعَلُ    she does
تَفْعَلونَ  You all do	تَفْعَلانِ  You both do	تَفْعَلُ     You do
تَفْعَلْنَ  You all do	تَفْعَلانِ  You both do	تَفْعَليِنَ    you do
	نَفْعَلُ  We do	َأفْعَلُ   Il do

Its very important to learn the above table as it gives format for to use for other verbs.  Example to tell “i did”  - we add ‘alif’ before root (فعل)  and damma (  ـُ ) to 3rd letter to make it ( َأفْعَلُ).  So to tell “i worship” it will be ( أَعْبُدُ )

And to tell “you all did” we add ( ت ) before root word ( فعل ) and make sukun on first root letter add ( ونَ ) at the end which becomes ( تَفْعَلونَ ).   Similarly for the root word ( عبد ) it becomes ( تَعْبُدُونَ )

Therefore we have the ayah :

بِسمِ اللهِ الرَّحمانِ الرَّحِيم لَا أَعْبُدُ مَا تَعْبُدُونَ - 109:2 I do not worship what you worship. 109:2

The whole imperfect tense table format root (عبد ) will be

يَعبُدُ , يَعبُدان , يَعبُدون ..... تعبُدُ , تعبُدان , يَعبُدْنَ  .....  تعبُدُ , تعبدان , تعبُدونَ , ...... تعبُدِين,  تعبدان, تعبُدْنَ ..... أعبُدُ , نعبُدُ

One thing to notice from the above ayah (109:2) is that we just add ( لَا ) to negate the imperfect tense as compared to adding ( مَا ) in case of perfect tense ( past )

From the doer format we have

بِسمِ اللهِ الرَّحمانِ الرَّحِيم وَلَا أَنتُمْ عَابِدُونَ مَا أَعْبُدُ - 109:4

Can you translate above ?  and also the final ayah which we studied from preposition chapter.

لَكُمْ دِينُكُمْ وَلِيَ دِينِ - 109:6

According to Ibn Abbas, the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) said to the people: "Should I tell you the word which will protect you from polytheism?It is that you should recite Qul ya-ayyuhal kafirun when you go to bed."(Abu Ya'la, Tabarani).

Exercise:

The purpose of our life, as Allah (swt) says in Quran:

وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ - 51:56

Translate the above ayah. (hint: it has perfect tense of word [خلق], and imperfect tense of عبد)

Exercise

Translate the below in Arabic:

1. I do not study arabic   ( hint :  درس - study )
2. I do not go to my work by car . ( hint : عمل - work , car - سيارة )
3. I do not work in office. ( hint:  office - مكتب )
4. He worship him
5. He is hitting him
6. She is hitting me
7. I have studied it.

Alhamdulillah, we have learned lot of things in this chapter. ex.

1. Arabic Doer format
2. Arabic present tense
3. Negation of past tense
4. Negation of present tense.

Insha-allah we will continue our topic on Arabic present tense practice.  

Arabic Verbs + Joined pronouns

                                                                 بِسمِ اللهِ الرَّحمانِ الرَّحِيم

الحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على نبينا محمد وآله وصحبه

الدرس الحادي عشر

As-salam-alai-kum, i hope from previous chapter you have learned how to make simple sentences with past tense.    Lets see how to ask simple questions like “what you did”. A friend asking his friend about what he did

What did you eat ?	ماذا أكَلتَ
I ate food	أكَلْتُ الطعام

Note on above example :Hope you remember that to tell “you ate” we have to add “ta” to akala  i.e.  “   تَ + اَكَلَ”  => “أكَلتَ” . Similarly “i ate”  is “أكَلْتُ”

Another word for “what” is [ ماذا ].   you can also use “ما” for asking questions.

When we say about food “الطعام” we think about breakfast (فُطور) , lunch (غَداء)  and dinner (عَشاء).  Can you translate below

1. I ate dinner
2. I ate lunch
3. أكَلْتُ فطور.

More examples

A friend asking his friend about what he did.

Notice the verbs used in below examples.  Try to translate the below sentences with tips given.

drink = شَرِبَ	ماذا شَرِبْتَ ؟
milk = اللَبنَ	شَرِبْتُ  اللَبنَ
read = قَرأ	ماذا قَراتَ ؟
	قَراتُ الدّرس
with you = مَعَكَ	مَن قرأ مَعَكَ ؟
friend = صَدِيقِ	قرأ مَعَي صَدِيقِي
did ... ? = أَ Understand = فَهِمَ	أَ فَهِمْتَ الدَّرَسْ
	نَعم فَهِمتُ
Memorize = حَفِظَ ( also to protect )	هَلْ حَفِظْتَ الدّرَس
	نَعم حَفِظْتُهُ الحمدلله
after that =  بَعَدَ + هُ	مأذا فَعلْتَ بَعَدَهُ ؟
Go = ذَهَبَ , play = لَعِبَ , field = المَيدَان , Football = كُرَة القَدَمْ	ذَهَبْتُ إلى المَيدَان  و لَعِبْتُ كُرَة القَدَمْ

Verb + Joined pronoun = simple phrase.

Not sure if you have noticed [حَفِظْتُهُ] in above example.   Actually it is made up of a verb + a joined pronoun.    حَفِظَ + تُ  + هُ = حَفِظْتُهُ .  (to memorize + i + it = i memorized it).

That is the beauty of Arabic. ما شاء الله.  If you know one root word of verb for example (ضَرَبَ) to hit . You can make 14 phrases to refer to someone’s action as we have learned in previous chapter.  example..  

ضَرَبَ  , ضَرَبا , ضَرَبوا ......, ضَرَبَت ,ضَرَبَتَا , ضَرَبْنَ ......., ضَرَبتَ , ضَرَبْتُما, ضَرَبْتُم .... ضَرَبْتِ , ضَرَبْتُما , ضَرَبْتُنَّ , ...... ضَرَبْتُ  , ضَرَبْنا .i.e.  He hit, They 2 hit, they hit,..... she hit, they 2 hit, they all hit (f), …...You hit, You 2 hit, You all hit ……. You hit (f), You 2 hit (f), you all hit (f) ……..I hit, we hit.

For each of the 14 words (phrases) above you can attach 14 joined pronouns to make 14x14 =196 phrases easily.

Lets combine  (ضَرَبَ) with all the joined pronouns to learn simple phrases with verbs. 

Do you remember the Arabic joined pronoun from 4th chapter ? 

Hu, huma, hum . . . . .  Ha, huma, hunna,  . . . . . . Ka, Kuma, Kum . . . . . Ki, Kuma, Kunna . . . . . . . ee  ,na.

(He hit all of them) ضَرَبَهمُ	(He hit both of them) ضَرَبَهُما	ضَرَبَهُ  ( He hit him)
(He hit all of them) ضَرَبَهُنّ	(He hit  both of them) ضَرَبَهُما	(He hit her) ضَرَبَها
(He hit all of you)  ضَرَبَكُم	(He hit both of you) ضَرَبَكُما	(He hit you ) ضَرَبَك
(He hit all of you) ضَرَبَكُنّ	(He hit both of you) ضَرَبَكُما	(He hit you) ضَرَبَكِ
	(He hit us) ضَرَبَنا	(He hit me) ضَرَبَني

This table is also very important. Try to memorize it. If possible with the verb (فَعَلَ)

This is not the only table. There are 13 more tables possible.  You can try populate all of them.  Like the one below.

Try to fill missing boxes. they are similar table like above but for “I beat” - (ضَرَبْتُ)

(I hit all of them) ضَرَبْتُهمُ		ضَرَبْتُهُ  ( I hit him)
	(I hit  both of them) ضَرَبْتُهُما
		(I hit you ) ضَرَبْتُكَ
(I hit all of you) ضَرَبْتُكُنّ
	(I hit all of us) ضَرَبْتُنا

Using a dictionary

Its now time for you buy a good dictionary.  The most popular dictionary for learners is “A dictionary of Modern Arabic by Hans Wehr”.  Online version is available here. In this dictionary the Arabic word is put according to the order of root letters in a word.  For, example if you come across the word (ضَرَبْتُمْ) in Quran,

You look under root letters (ض ر ب). 

Below picture shows an example snippet from Hans Wehr for word (غ س ل).

Exercise 1:

 Go this page for online Hans Wehr. Click on the page to get a input box. Type “Drb” and click ok. It will take to you to page which contains (ض ر ب). And find out what its meaning.

Exercise 2:

 In Arabic (قَتَلَ) means “to Kill”.   Write the table with joined pronouns for phrase “She killed …”.

Exercise 3:

Translate below:

1. I killed him
2. They both hit me.
3. قَتَلَتْهُما
4. She hit all of them.
5. ضَرَبْتُنا  
6. He did it.

Exercise 4:

Below are the 2 ayahs from Quran (21:62-63) when Ibrahim (عليه سلم)  broke the idols. And the people noticed their idols are broken. Try to translate below

(21:62)They said:  أَأَنتَ فَعَلْتَ هَٰذَا بِآلِهَتِنَا يَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ (21:63)He said - بَلْ فَعَلَهُ كَبِيرُهُمْ هَٰذَا  . so ask them, if they should [be able to] speak.

Insha-allah we shall continue our study on verbs.