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click here for freelancing tutoring sitesA STUDY OF A VERSIFIED TREATISE ON ARABIC GRAMMAR: RA'IYYATU 'LCRAB

Zakariyau I. Oseni

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IntroductionArabic grammar is a well-developed branch of Arabic Studies. Right from the time of Prophet Muhammed, attention has been paid to the grammar of the language as a means of understanding the Glorious Qur'an. This is because a small mistake in Arabic may change the meaning of a text radically. As time progressed, leading muslim figures such as cAli ibn Abi ATalib, Abu '1-Aswad al-Du'ali, Ziyad idn Abihi and others contributed immensely to the study and codification of Arabic grammar.1

Basic grammatical rules were explained, standardised, illustrated and studied. Two major schools of grammar, Basran and Kufan emerged. As more and more people recognised the central role of grammar in the proficiency of Arabic, more grammarians devised new methods of imparting the knowledge of the subject to learners. One of the new methods devised probably during the post-cAbbasid period was versification. Some grammarians wrote mneomotechnic verse on grammatical rules. Once a verse or a couple of verses is read, the relevant rule would become manifest. Some of such authors are Ibn Malik and Abu 'IQasim ibn cAli al-Hariri.2 In Nigeria, cAbdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Fudi wrote another one specifically on morphology (Sarf) 3D, and of course, we have also the treatise under study among others.

Ra'Iyyatu 1-1 crab is a shori treatise on grammar by a Nigerian author, cAbdullah ibn Muhammad, a relatively new scholar. 4 This paper examines this grammar work which is popular among some old generation scholars of

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Arabic and Islamic Studies scattered all over Nigeria. Studying this treatise is important in many ways. First, it will familiarise more scholars, especially those exposed to a systematic mode of education of the Western type, with the work which is at present known only to a selected few of the old crop of scholars. Secondly, the present study will explain to the reader the scope of the treatise and the method employed by the author in imparting the knowledge of grammar to students by versification.

This paper illustrates the work in its Arabic original as well as in the English translation of it. In addition, the basic copies covered in the work are explained. The aim of the author expressed in the. opening verse is critically examined vis a-vis the content of the work. One would like to know how central the topics treated are in Arabic grammar. The adequacy or otherwise of the illustrations given in the work is also looked into.

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The English Translation of Ra'iyyatu '1-lcrab

It is an R-rhymed poem on Desinental Inflection.1. O you who seek to know about dcsinental inflection, before you is a synopsis of its particles which I have composed in verse.

2. It teaches you dcsinental inflection and it is easy to understand, well arranged inverse and I have thoroughly simplified it for you.

3. (they are) thirty-eight verses in all which you should take care of for they will teach you in a day what you would (otherwise) be taught for a month.

4. Min and ila are two prepositions as in: "The book was from Hind to Bishr."

5. So also are cAn and cnlo prepositions too, e.g. "Go on and when you get to cAmmar, ask him about cAim"

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6. So also are mbba as well as the waw and la' of oath and the kaf which is also a particle for lashbih (simile).

7. You should ask for the remaining prepositions, for I have shortened my speech based on the resolution to he brief.

8. An is one of the particles that put the verb in the accusative as far as we are concerned, e.g. "I hope lo prosper at the sage's presence."

9 Kayla and kay are part of them, {as in) "Visit me so that I impart to you some knowledge which no one can."

10. So also are fort, idhan, liana, \hclam of explanation and the lam of denial.

11. As for the jussi particles they are many; I will give you the most important ones among them.

12. lam, alam, hmma, man and ma e.g. "Abu Bakr has not understood my speech."

13. Of them loo, are mata ma, ayna. aynama, ayyu, the lam of prohibition as well as the lam of command.

14. Abu 'IQasim the grammarian has stated that the parts of speech are three in the beginning of (his) poem.'6

15. They are the noun, verb and particle which convey meanings; what a splendid thing had been said by al-Fihri 7

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16. Qama (he rose, stood up) and yaunu (he is rising, standing) are verbs; as for the nou, it is everything that has a reflection e.g. al-dar (the house), al-thawb (the cloth), and al-dun- (the pearls).8

17. As for verbal nouns, they are al-qiyam (standing, stand) and its like, while particles are *an, min, and 'Ha.

18. Grammarians put the subject in the nominative case e.g. the Muezzin has announced the time of Midday Prayer.19. With us (grammarians), the object is put in the accusative by the verb, e.g. "leave Zayd, for he has come up with an excuse."

20. If an object is presented without a subject, it should be in the nominative, as argued by scholars.

21. An example is "Muhammad's child was not beaten, and Zayd was not given his due by Abu cAmr."

22. Whenever a noun is put in construct with another noun, the latter should be in the genitive case thus say the grammarians in famous books.

23. An example is "This is the slave of Zayd please sell to him, and he would give you one dinar at the end of the month."

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24. whenever a noun is joined to a definite noun (by a conjunctive particle) its declension must agree in the nominative, accusative or genitive.

25. An example is "Honour Khalid and Muhammad, and be good to Zayd and “Amr for ever."

26. "Zayd, cAmr and jacfar came to me on horses with radial blades."

27. So also do the adjective, the emphatic and the permutative should be treated in declension like nouns in the conjunction: please, keep the company of the intelligent ones.

28. With us every noun in the vocative should be in the accusative, with the exception of the definite singular noun - do listen to my admonition.

29. For example, "G cAbbad, deliver my trust and O Yusuf, keep the secret with you."

30. The noun in the vocative, when in construct phrase, should be in the accusative, e.g. "OAbda '1-Karim, carry out my order."

31. Except the indefinite vocative, nouns intended for a message should be in accusative like e.g. "O man, news has reached me."

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32. The rule governing the undefined noun is also accusative, as in "O man you have won the pearls."33. Grammarians put nouns in the beginning of sentences in the nominative, e.g. "Zayd is an intelligent scholar and a reciter (of the Our'an)."

34. If the predicate is a noun, you should put it in the nominative. Do understand and never be tired of learning and reflecting."35. And be generous with prayer for Muhammad's son as he had been generous with teaching you grammar in verse.

36. The not-too-intelligent spoke in order to attain nothing but the pleasure and pardon of God.

37. I beseech You, O the Benevolent, grant me the pleasure of its use and relieve me-of burdens.

38. May our Lord accept your prayer, O my brother, and ours too, by granting us pardon with thanks to Him.

A Critique of the treatiseHaving given the Arabic and English versions of the treatise, I shall begin this critique with a highlight of the contents of the work. The treatise contains only 38 lines 'rhymed in letter ra' hence it is called an R-rhymed verse on Desinental Inflection.

Lines 1-3 form the introduction in which the author states (boasts?) that he would teach one within a day what one should learn in a month. Bearing in mind the difficulty

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often encountered by students of Arabic grammar, the author talks about simplifying the work thoroughly.

Lines 4 -7 are on prepositions. In this section only, eight prepositions, namely min (from), ila (to), can (about, from), ca/a (on, above), waw (of oath), ta' (of oath) and kaf (of comparison) are given. Thereafter the author asks his reader to inquire about the remaining prepositions."

Lines 8-10 are on the particles which govern the subjunctive. Here we have an (to), Kayla (so as not), kay (so that), lan (never), idhan (then, therefore, in that case), hatta (until), lam of explanation (so that), and lam of denial. This is fairly comprehensive.

Lines 11-13 are on the particles and nouns which govern the apocopate from, (al-jawazim). They are basically sixteen in Arabic but only eleven are given here - some of them being secondary forms of the basic ones. Those mentioned are lam (not), flam (not), lainina (not yet), man (who), ma (what), matama (whenever), ayna (where), aynama (wherever), ayyn (which), lam of prohibition/admonition/entreaty, and lam of indirect command.

Lines 14 - 15 are on the three major parts of speech in Arabic: the noun, verb and particle. In fact, each of these three can be broken into several other parts of speech as understood in English, for instance;10 I must state here that lines 14 and 15 ought to be at the beginning of the treatise immediately after the introduction. Bringing them there creates a problem for the learner especially if he is a beginner.

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Lines 16 and 17 talk of the verb and the noun, especially the verbal noun (tnnsdir) as well as some particles. The two lines complement lines 15 and 16.Lines 18 and 19 treat the subject of a verbal sentence (fail) and the direct object of verbal .sentence (maful)), which must take the nominative and accusative respectively. The two lines are very fascinating in their Arabic original.

Lines 20 - 27 contain a number of grammar topics, including the passive (al-majhul.) and the case of its "surrogate subjects", i.e. the object whose subject is omitted. Others arc the construct phrase (al-idafnli), conjunction, and the adjective (al-nact). As usual, examples are given to illustrate each topic.

Lines 28-32 are on the vocative (al-munada). The various types are illustrated with examples. They are (a) the definite singular noun (which should be in the nominative); (b) the first word in a construct phrase (which should be in the accusative case when preceded by the vocative panicle m); (c) an indefinite non-intimate noun (which must be in the accusative case); (d) the indefinite intimate or intended noun (which should be in the nominative case). As usual examples are given.

Lines 33 and 34 treat the subject and predicate which are nouns. They should both be in the nominative case.

Lastly, line 35 - 38 contain prayers. Ibn Muhammad asks his readers to pray profusely for him for teaching them grammar in verse. He states his aim in writing the work; the quest for God's pleasure. lie also prays for himself and his readers. This last Aspect reveals the major factor which

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motivated many Islamic and Arabic scholars to write books. That factor is the need for God's mercy and pleasure since the writer believes that he is exerting himself to benefit people, both far and near.

In the introductory section of the treatise, certain claims are made by the author. He promises to teach aspects of grammar in Arabic in a thoroughly simplified manner. In addition he claims that he would teach his students within a day what they would have laboured for a month to study. The question now is: how realistic is that claim in view of our clear grasp of the content of the treatise?

To begin with, the treatise is brief and touches only a few aspects of elementary grammar. Many basic elements of grammar such as the different classifications of verbs, different classes of objects, kana, inna and zanna and their respective associates are not laugh! at all. Nothing is said about the diptote (ma la yansarif), which is very basic in this type of work.!1

The claim in the opening verses is, therefore, not tenable as it has not been justified practically by the author. At best, the treatise is a revision work for those who already know key grammatical terms in detail, and not a concise treatise to teach novices Arabic grammar in any special manner. In fact, there is nothing said in the Ra'iyyatu 1-Icrab which' Abu '1-Qasim al-Basir to whom our author also refers with deference did not say in a more comprehensive manner consequently ii is not right to claim that the work would leach one within a day a month's academic work. Perhaps,

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this is one of those familiar pretensions by scholars in an at tempi to 'sell' their works.

The treatise is in the form of fia/ir al-'i'awil, one of the most famous metres in Arabic prosody. It is a metre reserved in most cases for lofty and sublime poetry. Ir) a versified academic work such as his, Bnhr al-Rajoz is often used because it is very flexible and does not neccssitme a rigid mono-rhyme formula. Using Balir al-Tawil and maintaining the R-rhyme throughout shews that the composer is not a novice in the art of composition.

It is pertinent 10 highlight here the heavy reliance on personal names in ending in "R" in the treatise. For instance, the auihor uses Bishir (line 4), 'Amir (Line 5), Abu Bakr (Line 12), al-Fihri, (Line 15) and cAmr (Line 21}. Such names provide cheap materials for the desired rhyme letter "R". In a work of this nature, I must state that there is nothing wrong with such a practice.

Important too is the tangible Islamic stamp on the verse. Until about 1960 in Nigeria, Arabic studies had been an exclusive area cultivated by Muslims alone. Arabic helps interested people to explore and probe deeply into Islamic sources and also places Arabic scholars in a special position higher than that of their counterparts in Islamic Studies who arc not sound in Arabic.13

One is not surprised, therefore, to notice a heavy Islamic coloration in the treatise under study. The first one is in line 18 where an example is given about a Muezzin announcing to the Muslim the time for Zuhr (midday)

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prayer. The second one is in the last four lines of the work (lines 35-38). Notice how the erudite scholar begs his students to pray for him and refers to himself as a dull man who composed the verses only to seek the pleasure of God, a servant who pleads fervently for God's pardon and prays for his students too. This is a clear act of humility and modesty. This type of statement in both prose and poetry is. commonplace in the Arabic literature of West Africa, especially the Jihad literature of Nigeria. It is in most poems written by cAhduliah ibn Fudi, his contemporaries, and those who came after him.14

As is common with Arabic and Islamic scholars in Nigeria and elsewhere, anxiety and zeal to acquire knowledge are of primary'' importance in life, hence the relish with which [hey learn and teach at Zarnuji’s ta clim... which is a book on Islamic education. ''This'bookish' attitude is discernible in the treatise understudy.

Interwoven with their deep love for knowledge is the consciousness of Islamic ethnics. In the examples given in the treatise, there are some references to aspects of Islamic ethics couched in direct and indirect advice to readers or students. They are as follows:

1 Leave Zayd for he has come up with an excuse" (Line 19).

2- "Zaycl was not given his due by Abu cAmr" (Line 21).

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3. "O Yusuf, keep the secret with you" (Line 29).

4. "O Abcla '!-Karim, carry out my order." (line 30).

The substance of the above statements is largely in line with Islamic ethics. I believe that this type of illustration is in line with modern methods of education. To me, it is one of the most outstanding achievements of the author.

Conclusion

It has been observed in the foregoing pages how a Nigerian scholar cAbdullah ibn Muhammad treated selected grammatical topics in his 38 line treatise. Even though his work is not outstanding in pedagogical versification, it is nevertheless a good attempt. In spite of certain inadequacies in it, it serves a very useful purpose as a revision work for learners of Arabic grammar.

Each of the examples given to illustrate the topics bears testimony to the fact that the writer has a good knowledge of grammar in addition to his ability to compose in verse. Given the conservative and intricate nature of Arabic prosody, an average student of Arabic knows that is not easy to compose an elegant poem, especially in the traditional sixteen metres in Arabic, more so in a non-Arab milieu. I am aware thai there are many works of similar

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nature in manuscripts in Ibadan, Jos, Kaduna,etc. It is hoped that more research will be carried out on Arabic grammar works of Nigerian, origin. The edition, annotation and publication of such works will further ihe' understanding of Arabic grammar and literature as well as Arabic and comparative linguistics. This is a task from which Arabic scholars in Nigeria and West Africa in general cannot shy away. *

Notes1. For details, sec Dawud a!-cAilar, Mujaz cUlttm al-Qur'an. Teheran. Mu'assasat al-Q'an al-Karim, 1403 A.M., pp-185-90; Z. I. Oseni, "An examination of al-Majjaj b. Yusuf al-Thaqafi's major Policies", Islamic Smdies, Vol. 27, No. 4, Winter 1988 Islamabad, pp. 38-20; M. A. Muazu "Al-Dama'ir wa isticmalatuha fi al-Qur'an al-karim, Thesis for Ph.D programme in Arabic (Ilorin, Department of Religions, University of Ilorin) Sept. 1988, pp. 21-44; and al-Munjid al-Aclam. (Beirut, Dar al-mashrkj, 1973) p.464.

2. The two works are:

(a) Muhammad ibn malik, Alifiyyah on which numerous commentaries have been written. One of such commentaries is Shark Ibn cAqilcak Alfiyyali Ibn Malik ed. by Muhammad Muhyi 'l-Din cAbdu! 'I-Hamid. Vols I & II. (Beirut, dar al-Fikr, 1972).

(b) Abu'l-Oasim ibn cAli al-Ilariri al-Rasri, Miilhat al-lc rab. (Jiddah; As'ad Muhammad Sa 'd al-Hibal, n.d.). The

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MS. of this book is in the national Museum, Jos JM/A.M.S./125.

3. See cAbdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Fudi, Al-Hisn al-rasin fi clim al-Sarf (Beirut, dar ai-Fikr, n.d.).

4. See Adam cAbduIlah al-Iluri, Sharh Ra ‘Iyyati + i-Ic rab (Cairo, AJ-Mashhadal-llusayni, 1363 A.H)

5. See Abu 'l-Qasim al-Hariri, op. cit (note 2 above). He is the famous al-jjann who wrote al-Mnqamai.

6. Al-Fihri here refers most probably to al-Hariri.

7. The canopy referred to here is probably the definite article (al).

8. For details on common grammar topics, sec Al-Sanhaju, Main (il-Ajurumiyyah. (Cairo, Mustafa al-Babi, 1955); eld al-Wasif Muhammad, Al-Tuhfat al-Sanniyyalt: Sharh al-janiyyah. (Cairo, Mustafa al-Babi, 1938); David Cowan, Modern Literary Arabic (London, Cambridge University Press, 1975); A. S. Tritton, Arabic. (Teach yourself Books. (New York, David Mckay Co. Inc. 1973); J. A. Haywood & H. M. nahmad, New Arabic Grammar of the Written Language. (London: Lund Humphries, 1965); I. A. B. Bolaghun & Z. I. Oseni, A Modern Arabic Course : Books I - III, (Lagos : Islamic Publications Bureau, 1982 and 89; and Y. Mohammed & M. Haron, First Steps in

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Arabic Grammar. (Pietermariizburg, Shuter and Shooter 1989); etc.

9. For example, what is referred to as the noun (al-ism) here can be broken into personal pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, the active participle, the passive participle, the adjective, the permutativc, the verbal noun, nouns of instruments, nouns of place or lime, adverbs of manner, place or time, etc.

10. See Note No.9 above.

11. See line 14 of the treatise under scrutiny.

12. See I. A. Ogunbiyi, Of Non-Muslim Cultivators and Propagators of the Arabic language. (Inaugural Lectural series). Lagos, Lagos State University, 1987), 31 pp. See also "The Communique of the national Conference on Arabic Studies in Nigeria and Higher Education: Problems and Prospects", 4th - 6th October. (Kano, Baycro University, 4th - 6th Oct., 1987), 300.

13. See ine following, for instance: cAbdul!ah ibn Muhammad, Tazyin al-Waraqat ed. M. Hiskeit. (Ibadan: Ibadan University Press, 1963; cUthman A. Yususf Eleyinla, Al-hikmah // al-SIiicr (Ijebu-Ode, Shebiolime Publications 1987); Shams al-Din Muhammad al-Badamasi, Al-Qasidah al-Mnkhamtnasah fi madh al-Nabi. (Kano, cAbduIlah al-Yassar, 1962); cUthman b. Fudi, Hal !i Mnsir, (Kano, cAbduIlah al-yassar, 1962); and Sambo W.

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Hunaid, "Al-Madh al-Nabawi', a poem published in NATAIS:

Journal oft/ie Nigerian Association of '/'caches of Arabic and Islamic Stmhc.-. Vol. II, No. I Dec. I9«)pp. 132-33.

14. The full particulars of this famous hook in Nigeria are: Burhan al-Islam al-Zarnuji.arnuji, Ta dim al-mutacallim tariq al-tacalhtm. (Cairo, Mustafa al-babi, 1948/1367.

15. Public institutions where many of such works arc kept included the Centre for Arabic Documentation. University of Ibadan, University of Ibailan Library, National Museum, Jos, National Archive, Kaduna, etc. and the private libraries of prominent scholars all over Nigeria.

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