Selections from the Glorious Quran — Study Session 8
Overview
The main topics covered in this session are:
- Arabic study tools — qurani.app, Hans Wehr, lisān al-Arab dictionaries
- لَمَّا الحينية — applied to the Tālūt passage (بَرَزُوا لِجَالُوتَ)
- بَرَزَ — to emerge / come into view
- أَفرَغَ (form IV) — to pour out; the Dua "pour patience over us"
- المنادى المضاف → منصوب — vocative of a muḍāf is manṣūb; رَبَّنَا
- ثَبَّتَ الأَقدَام — to fix the feet (i.e. make steadfast); famous Ḥadīth
- المبني للمجهول — passive voice: hazama → huzima; yahzimu → yuhzamu
- لَوْلَا — Counterfactual "but for…"; structure and jawāb
- دَفَعَ — to push/repel; مِفعَال/مِفعَل pattern: مِدفَع (cannon)
- Maṣdar with Mafʿūl Bih — when a maṣdar has verbal force
- تِلَاوة vs قِرَاءة — the deep difference between the two words for recitation
- اسم الإشارة implies a verb — the ḥāl puzzle; Ishārah as an implied pointing verb
- Resources for study: qurani.app, Mausuʿah al-Hadīth, Hans Wehr
1. Arabic Dictionary Tools
| Tool | Best for |
|---|---|
| qurani.app | Tafsīr, iʿrāb, qirāʾāt — all in one; both browser and app |
| Hans Wehr (handwehr dictionary) | Arabic → English; includes form numbers and root breakdowns |
| Lisān al-ʿArab / al-Qāmūs | Classical Arabic → Arabic dictionaries; more advanced |
Arabic dictionaries are arranged by root letters — always look up the three-letter root, not the word directly.
2. بَرَزَ — To Emerge / Come into View
فَلَمَّا بَرَزُوا لِجَالُوتَ وَجُنُودِه "And when they came out to face Goliath and his forces…" (Al-Baqarah 2:250)
بَرَزَ يَبرُزُ = to emerge, to come into view, to come out facing (an army). In military context: the armies advancing toward each other until they come within sight.
Modern extended meaning: بَارِز = a prominent/outstanding person; شَخصِيَّة بَارِزَة = an outstanding personality.
3. أَفرَغَ — To Pour Out (Form IV)
Root: فَرَغَ (to be empty/unoccupied) - Form I: فَرَغَ = to be empty/finished - Form II: فَرَّغَ = to empty something out, to evacuate - Form IV: أَفرَغَ = to pour out (until the vessel is empty); to pour from a vessel
أَفرِغ عَلَينَا صَبراً — "Pour upon us patience" (Al-Baqarah 2:250)
Beautiful imagery: patience being poured like water, filling the heart completely.
4. المنادى المضاف — Vocative of a Muḍāf
When the word being called out (munādā) is a muḍāf, it is manṣūb (not mabni ʿalā al-ḍamm):
رَبَّنَا = يَا رَبَّ + نَا — "O our Lord!" (رَبَّ is manṣūb, not ربُّ)
| Munādā type | Arab |
|---|---|
| Definite noun (al-ism al-mufrad al-maʿrifa) | Mabni ʿalā al-ḍamm (رُفعة) |
| Muḍāf | Manṣūb |
| Indefinite specific | Manṣūb |
Similarly: يَا عَبدَ اللهِ (O servant of Allah!) — عَبدَ is manṣūb because it is muḍāf.
5. ثَبَّتَ الأَقدَام — Steadfastness
ثَبَتَ يَثبُتُ (Form I) = to be firm, stable, steadfast ثَبَّتَ يُثَبِّتُ (Form II) = to make firm, to fix, to stabilize (transitive)
وَثَبِّت أَقدَامَنَا — "And fix our feet [make us steadfast]" (Al-Baqarah 2:250)
Literally: fix our feet to the ground. Idiomatically: grant us steadfastness.
Famous Ḥadīth
The Prophet ﷺ would frequently recite:
يَا مُقَلِّبَ القُلُوبِ ثَبِّت قَلبِي عَلَى دِينِك "O Turner of hearts, fix my heart upon Your religion."
Āʾishah (RA) asked why he recited this so often, and he replied that no person's heart is other than between two fingers of the fingers of Allāh — He strengthens whomever He wills and lets stray whomever He wills.
6. المبني للمجهول — Passive Voice
Forming the passive (māḍī): Change the vowels to ḍamma-kasra pattern: - هَزَمَ (hazama, he defeated) → هُزِمَ (huzima, he was defeated) - Pattern: فَعَلَ → فُعِلَ
Forming the passive (muḍāriʿ): First letter gets ḍamma, letter before last gets kasra: - يَهزِمُ (yahzimu) → يُهزَمُ (yuhzamu)
Quranic Application — Sūrat al-Qamar
سَيُهزَمُ الجَمعُ وَيُوَلُّونَ الدُّبُر "The gathering will be defeated and they will turn their backs." (Al-Qamar 54:45)
This was revealed in Makkah when Muslims were persecuted. The Prophet ﷺ recited this verse during the Battle of Badr as the enemy fled — the Makkan promise materialised.
7. لَوْلَا — Counterfactual "But For…"
لَوْلَا = "but for / if it were not for" — it presents a condition that IS present (causing a counterfactual result).
Structure:
لَوْلَا + مُبتَدَأ (+ khabar omitted = مَوجُود/مَوجُودَة)
+ جَواب (with لَ at start if affirmative)
| Part | Rule |
|---|---|
| Mubtadaʾ after لَوْلَا | Marfūʿ |
| Khabar of mubtadaʾ | Omitted (understood as مَوجُودٌ) |
| Jawāb al-lola (affirmative) | Begins with لَ |
| Jawāb al-lola (negative) | No لَ |
لَولَا المَاءُ لَمَاتَ النَّاسُ "But for the water, the people would have died." - المَاء = mubtadaʾ (marfūʿ); khabar = مَوجُودٌ (omitted) - لَمَاتَ = jawāb al-lola (affirmative → starts with لَ)
Quranic Application
وَلَولَا دَفعُ اللهِ النَّاسَ بَعضَهُم بِبَعضٍ لَفَسَدَتِ الأَرضُ "And if it were not for Allāh's repelling of people, some through others, the Earth would surely have been corrupted." (Al-Baqarah 2:251)
- دَفعُ اللهِ = mubtadaʾ (maṣdar with muḍāf relationship); khabar = مَوجُودٌ (omitted)
- لَفَسَدَتِ = jawāb al-lola
8. Maṣdar Taking a Mafʿūl Bih
A maṣdar can take a mafʿūl bih when it has the force and meaning of a verbal action, not merely possession:
| Construction | Meaning | Type |
|---|---|---|
| كِتَابُ مُحَمَّدٍ | Muhammad's book (possession) | Pure iḍāfah |
| دَفعُ اللهِ النَّاسَ | Allāh's repelling of the people | Maṣdar + mafʿūl bih |
In دَفعُ اللهِ, اللهِ is the fāʿil (muḍāf relationship = maṣdar fāʿil), and النَّاسَ is the mafʿūl bih (manṣūb). The maṣdar here is acting like a verb — "Allāh repels people."
9. دَفَعَ — To Push/Repel; the Mifʿal Pattern
دَفَعَ يَدفَعُ = to push, to repel, to ward off
The مِفعَل / مِفعَال pattern = noun of instrument (the tool used for the action): - دَفَعَ → مَدفَع = the instrument of pushing = cannon (a gun that pushes projectiles) - كَنَسَ (to sweep) → مِكنَسَة = broom (the sweeping tool) - غَسَلَ (to wash) → مِغسَلَة = washbasin
10. تِلَاوة vs قِرَاءة — The Deep Difference
Both mean "recitation/reading" but:
| Word | Root | Core Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| قِرَاءة | ق-ر-أ | To read — the act of reading any text |
| تِلَاوة | ت-ل-و | To follow behind — reading with following/obeying |
تَلَا يَتلُو has two meanings: 1. To recite (Quran) 2. To follow behind, to come after
These are not two different meanings — they are one meaning: tilāwah is the reading that follows.
What This Means for Us
All the ahadith mentioning the rewards of tilāwat al-Quran refer to this specific type of reading — reading followed by acting upon.
If one merely reads without following, that is qirāʾah, not tilāwah. The profound rewards are tied to tilāwah.
The Prophet ﷺ described four components of tilāwah: 1. Reading the text 2. Pausing at āyāt of punishment to seek forgiveness 3. Pausing at āyāt of Allāh's blessings to make duʿāʾ 4. Acting upon what was read
11. اسم الإشارة and the Implied Pointing Verb
When we say هَذَا (this), تِلكَ (those), etc., we are linguistically saying:
أُشِيرُ إلَى هَذَا — "I am pointing to this"
The demonstrative pronoun carries an implied verb of pointing (ushīru / nushīru). This matters for iʿrāb: when a sentence follows a demonstrative and acts as a ḥāl, the implied verb is its anchor:
تِلكَ آيَاتُ اللهِ نَتلُوهَا عَلَيكَ بِالحَقِّ "Those are the āyāt of Allāh which We recite to you in truth."
The ḥāl clause نَتلُوهَا عَلَيكَ connects to the implied "we are pointing" verb. This will be covered in more depth in the next session.
12. Key Lessons from This Session
Summary of Lessons
- أَفرَغَ = pour out entirely; رَبَّنَا أَفرِغ عَلَينَا صَبراً = pour patience over us.
- Vocative of a muḍāf is always manṣūb (يَا رَبَّنَا).
- Passive voice: change vowels on māḍī to ḍamma-kasra (هَزَمَ → هُزِمَ); on muḍāriʿ, first letter gets ḍamma (يَهزِمُ → يُهزَمُ).
- لَوْلَا: mubtadaʾ + omitted maujūd khabar; affirmative jawāb starts with لَ.
- A maṣdar that carries verbal force can take a mafʿūl bih.
- تِلَاوة = recitation + following/acting; قِرَاءة = plain reading. The rewards of Quranic recitation in ahadith are for tilāwah.
- Demonstratives carry an implied pointing verb — used to explain ḥāl without an explicit verb.
Next session: more on ḥāl, the ism isharah, and beginning of Lesson 3 — Āyat al-Kursī.