A STUDY OF A VERSIFIED TREATISE ON
ARABIC GRAMMAR: RA'IYYATU 'LCRAB
Zakariyau I. Oseni
Introduction
Arabic 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 alDu'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 postcAbbasid 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.
74
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
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.
75
76
77
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 treatise
Having 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.
83
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,
85
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)
86
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).
c
2"Zaycl was not given his due by Abu
Amr" (Line 21).
87
3.
(Line 29).
"O Yusuf, keep the secret with you"
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
88
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. *
Notes
1.
For details, sec Dawud a!-cAilar, Mujaz cUlttm alQur'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 allc rab. (Jiddah; As'ad Muhammad Sa 'd al-Hibal, n.d.). The
89
MS. of this book is in the national Museum, Jos
JM/A.M.S./125.
3.
See cAbdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Fudi, Al-Hisn alrasin fi clim al-Sarf (Beirut, dar ai-Fikr, n.d.).
4.
See Adam cAbduIlah al-Iluri, Sharh Ra ‘Iyyati + iIc rab (Cairo, AJ-Mashhad
al-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 AlSanhaju, 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
90
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 alBadamasi, 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
91
W. 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 almutacallim 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.
92