intermediate Arabic on particle ما in Ayat al-kursi

[abdul-aziz]

:salam2:

Taking a look and contemplating on ayat al-kursi is one of my favored activities. As many of you know that it is the greatest most powerful ayah according to the hadith of rasool Allah, PBUH.

So I viewed a brief discussion by Dr. samaraee, here, about the grammar of this ayah, and it is packed with a lot of depth in meaning. The Quran is amazing and so so eloquent.

Here are some notes I took for myself on particle ما in a certain part.

اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ ۚ لَا تَأْخُذُهُ سِنَةٌ وَلَا نَوْمٌ ۚ لَّهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ ۗ مَن ذَا الَّذِي يَشْفَعُ عِندَهُ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ ۚ يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ ۖ وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِشَيْءٍ مِّنْ عِلْمِهِ إِلَّا بِمَا شَاءَ ۚ وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ ۖ وَلَا يَئُودُهُ حِفْظُهُمَا ۚ وَهُوَ الْعَلِيُّ الْعَظِيمُ [٢:٢٥٥


[Saheeh International translation] Allah - there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of [all] existence. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is [presently] before them and what will be after them, and they encompass not a thing of His knowledge except for what He wills. His Kursi extends over the heavens and the earth, and their preservation tires Him not. And He is the Most High, the Most Great. [2:255]

يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ ۖ وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِشَيْءٍ مِّنْ عِلْمِهِ إِلَّا بِمَا شَاءَ


ما in إِلَّا بِمَا شَاءَ reflects a dual meaning.

One is ma masdariyah more so as الا بمشيئتهي with their desire, wish, volition, or will. Meaning no one can encompass knowledge of Allah and his creation except with their desire to do so and Allah permits it.

The other ma almawsoola meaning الا بالذي يشائه means intent, will, or purpose He desires. Allah controls the knowledge to his servants to the precise exact calculation He desires. This also means even if a person didn't desire it, it will be happening too.

This particle ما in this ayah encompasses both meanings at the same time. To further elaborate, Allah is in control of all knowledge and in control of when it is allowed with exact precise precision. The qadr is from Allah and when a person wants or desires knowledge (ex. Figuring things out past or future) it is only from Allah. Allah also knows the past and the outcome (future) of any knowledge as we know from the previous يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ.

so we must always make it our intention to remember Allah always before and after our pursuits continuously.

 

[kashif_nazeer]

:salam2:

for sharing this,brother.Qur'an is such an eloquent speech alhamdulillah!I wish I knew Arabic so that I could fully appreciate the beauty of Qur'an.I have tried a few online courses.Very little help did I get.
Here's a link I hope you'd like it inshaAllah >> http://www.theinimitablequran.com/

 

[strive-may-i]

translation v/s communicative way of learning a language

:salam2:
Am sure there are members here who have mastered arabic though not their mother tongue.. and they could give tips on how to go about mastering arabic, so as to be able to reflect and contemplate Quran as one reads it.

While learning a new language, its important to come out of the "translation mode"... Is what I have been told. The essence is to get into communication mode, be confident, make the mistakes, but don't lose the motivation. Every language has its own grammar, and rules. And so in being able to interpret quran rightly, the arabic languages rules might play a role...

And to those who think they know arabic, and are feeling confident about a aya's meaning... slow down, Quran is the best of literature, and those who matter consider it as a befitting challenge to our so called current age of literary excellence and knowledge.

Hope this helps... And wish me good luck too in such matters!

 

[kashif_nazeer]

:salam2:
Am sure there are members here who have mastered arabic though not their mother tongue.. and they could give tips on how to go about mastering arabic, so as to be able to reflect and contemplate Quran as one reads it.

While learning a new language, its important to come out of the "translation mode"... Is what I have been told. The essence is to get into communication mode, be confident, make the mistakes, but don't lose the motivation. Every language has its own grammar, and rules. And so in being able to interpret quran rightly, the arabic languages rules might play a role...

And to those who think they know arabic, and are feeling confident about a aya's meaning... slow down, Quran is the best of literature, and those who matter consider it as a befitting challenge to our so called current age of literary excellence and knowledge.

Hope this helps... And wish me good luck too in such matters!

That makes a lot of sense,usually when learning Arabic ,I used to go about vocabulary and their translation a lot,as I could not understand grammar ,it's quite difficult.I would guess,how the ending would be.I think Grammar is a really important,when learning a language,especially Arabic.
May Allah help us learning Arabic.Ameen

 

[strive-may-i]

translative v/s communicative mode [contd]

:salam2:
Am sure there are members here who have mastered arabic though not their mother tongue.. and they could give tips on how to go about mastering arabic, so as to be able to reflect and contemplate Quran as one reads it.Every language has its own grammar, and rules. And so in being able to interpret quran rightly, the arabic languages rules might play a role...

While learning a new language, its important to come out of the "translation mode"... Is what I have been told. The essence is to get into communication mode, be confident, make the mistakes, but don't lose the motivation.

And to those who think they know arabic, and are feeling confident about a aya's meaning... slow down, Quran is the best of literature, and those who matter consider it as a befitting challenge to our so called current age of literary excellence and knowledge.

Hope this helps... And wish me good luck too in such matters!

That makes a lot of sense,usually when learning Arabic ,I used to go about vocabulary and their translation a lot,as I could not understand grammar ,it's quite difficult.I would guess,how the ending would be.I think Grammar is a really important,when learning a language,especially Arabic.
May Allah help us learning Arabic.Ameen

okay got some more time for this..
Translative mode.. . translate to native language -> think a reply-> prepare an answer in native ->-translate back [now thats the job of interpreter... ] , Notice here thinking is around native.

Communicative mode ... Instead if you bypass, u grasp essence of word, link it to subject or topic respond.. the best way possible using new language words, [thats how we learnt while kids is it not! ] so feel the language, express in new language, keep learning new words, communicate.

Some I have seen do translative mode, but communicative mode is much better!

 

[abdul-aziz]

:salam2:

for sharing this,brother.Qur'an is such an eloquent speech alhamdulillah!I wish I knew Arabic so that I could fully appreciate the beauty of Qur'an.I have tried a few online courses.Very little help did I get.
Here's a link I hope you'd like it inshaAllah >> http://www.theinimitablequran.com/

:salam2:

jazak Allahu khairan, I remember this site from a long time ago. Much better designed now.

What I was planning on doing was break down the points the sheik made on grammar and significance of this ayah. I have been studying this ayah for over 5 years on and off. I repeat the ayah often and everytime I repeat the ayah my mind understands things from a different perspective, feeling, and mood. The ni'mah of this ayah is a blessing for everynight before I go to sleep I recite it to myself and mashAllah, it is as if this ayah was what I just learned and it comforts me.

in sha Allah, I will get much barakah in my time to complete it.

wa Allah Akbar ala kul haal.

 

[kashif_nazeer]

okay got some more time for this..
Translative mode.. . translate to native language -> think a reply-> prepare an answer in native ->-translate back [now thats the job of interpreter... ] , Notice here thinking is around native.

Communicative mode ... Instead if you bypass, u grasp essence of word, link it to subject or topic respond.. the best way possible using new language words, [thats how we learnt while kids is it not! ] so feel the language, express in new language, keep learning new words, communicate.

Some I have seen do translative mode, but communicative mode is much better!

That is a great way to learn a language or Arabic for that matter.I guess,we do need to study grammar a lot so that we understand the intricacies of the Qur'an and benefit from reading it,like in order to understand the essence of the message and drink from the beauty of it.

:salam2:

jazak Allahu khairan, I remember this site from a long time ago. Much better designed now.

What I was planning on doing was break down the points the sheik made on grammar and significance of this ayah. I have been studying this ayah for over 5 years on and off. I repeat the ayah often and everytime I repeat the ayah my mind understands things from a different perspective, feeling, and mood. The ni'mah of this ayah is a blessing for everynight before I go to sleep I recite it to myself and mashAllah, it is as if this ayah was what I just learned and it comforts me.

in sha Allah, I will get much barakah in my time to complete it.

wa Allah Akbar ala kul haal.

:salam2:

MashaAllah brother,that makes me think Qur'an is such a beautiful and mesmerising book.If we truly invest our time in understanding Arabic and reading an ayah by reflecting on it using that arabic we learnt,we might experience beautiful things whilst reading the Qur'an.
MashaAllah bro,that it gives you peace and tranquility in heart.
I so much yearn to learn Arabic so that I could understand Qur'an but I am unable to find any good resources ,although I have a number or two of books teaching the language and attended a few classes online.I don't think it's enough.I pray to Allah that I learn more,inshaAllah.I wish to feel the Qur'an and reflect upon it in it's orignal revealed language and not through just the translation because I think translation wont have that effect(correct me if I am wrong,please).

Please do share more about this wonderful ayah and other similar ayats .

 

[Nabeel Alkhalidy]

Asalamu alaykum

Here are a few article on some of the linguistic aspects of Ayat Al kursi:

Part 1


Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

 

[MuslimAhmed]

thanks............