The Three Levels of Studying Arabic

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Source: Samir Hussein

Learning Arabic consists of three steps:

1. Learning basic language skills (can take 1-3 years depending on student)
2. Studying Arabic as a science (can take 2-4 years depending on student)
3. Intensive Academic expertise/research (Lifetime)

First Step

For the first step, the entire step consists of one word: Practice. Practice, Practice, Practice your reading, listening, speaking and writing skills as much and as often as you can to get to to fluency. It can take 2-3 years to obtain full fluency (or more) don’t despair. The key is consistency in practice, even if its only 1/2 hour everyday (although more is better).

Important books for this are:

• Bayna Yadayk series (preferably with a teacher who can give you speaking and writing practice). The book is in three parts (Level 1, Level 2, Level 3).
• My personal favorite for self study: a book called An Introduction to the Arabic Language through Islamic Texts by Syed Iqbal Zaheer. It comes in two volumes. (Download volume 1, volume 2).
• Qasas-ul-Nabiyin lil-Atfal (affiliate link) for reading practice.
• Suwarun min Hayatis-Sahabah for reading practice after Qasas.
• Other things you can use for practice include Arabic Youtube (like the Omar series, Arabic cartoons, etc.)
• al-Nahw al-Wadih – [a partial translation of it available here]

Do not cross over to the next stage until you have achieved at least 80% or so fluency. Ask around for additional resources for practice.

Second Step

Studying Arabic as a science – this should be done with a teacher.

If you are a natural at languages, any teacher who has studied these texts will suffice, otherwise a teacher skilled and fluent in these sciences is highly preferred (doesn’t have to be a specialist in the Arabic language though, some scholars of fiqh and hadith can also teach language very well).

There are 4 sciences – Nahw (grammar), Sarf (morphology), Balagha (prose/rhetoric/style) and Adab (literature).

The most important books are:

In Nahw:

• – al-Ajrumiyyah (with a lot of basic I’rab practice)
• – Qatr-ul-Nada (With I’rab practice from the Qur’an)
• – Qawa’id ul-I’rab (with I’rab practice from the Qur’an)
• Alfiyyatuibnu Malik (With I’rab practice from the poem that forms the text of the book).
• – Mughni al-Labib

In Sarf:

• – Imam al-Taftazani’s explanation of Tasrif ul-Izzi – (with some basic practice in I’lal and Ibdal)
• – Lamiyyatul-Af’al – I prefer the sharh of the author’s son for the student – although the teacher can use others to reference from.
• – Alfiyyatuibnu Malik (with a lot more practice in I’lal/Ibdal etc)
• – Taysir-ul-I’lal wal Ibdal – can be studied on one’s own after the alfiyyah – excellent book for practice.

In Balaghah:

• – Durus-ul-Balaghah – an easy, comprehensive introduction
• – Al-Balaghatul-Wadihah – Important to learn Balaghah on a practical level.
• – Sharh Mukhtasar Sa’d (or Mukhtasar-ul-Ma’ani) – Very important text to study, will really make the connection for you between logic and balaghah, as well as opening up advanced balagah texts for you.

In Adab:

• – Any text in Urud/Qawafi with a teacher.
• – Sharh Mu’allaqat al-Sab’ or Ashr
• – Selected study from al-Mutanabbi
• – Maqamat Al-Hariri – extremely important for building vocabulary
• – Al-Umdah – a comprehensive text on the sciences of poetry. I forgot the author but I think his nasab was al-Qazwini.

Third Step

Intensive Academic expertise/research – a specialist in the Arabic language will know way more than I do.

In Nahw –

• – Other explanations of the Alfiyyah such as Imam al-Ushmuni’s, Abu Hayyan, al-Shatibi, Ibn-Aqil
• – Explanations of Imam ibn Malik’s Tashil – Abu Hayyan’s is a famous one and his students rebuttal is not bad either.
• – Imam al-Zamaskhari’s works (and their explanations)
• – Kafiyatu-ibn-il-Hajib and its famous explanation.
• – Kitab-al-Sibawayh if you’re feeling adventurous.

In Sarf-

• – Shafiyyatu-ibn-il-Hajib and it’s explanation.
• – Al-Munsif
• – Al-Mumti by ibn Usfur.
• – Al-Mustaqsa by Dr AbdulLatif alKhatib

In Balaghah-

• – Abdul-Qadir al-Jurjanis books
• – Mahmood Shakir’s books
• – Muhammad Abu Musa’s books – I wonder if anyone has tried to teach from these instead of classical texts?
• – Tafsir Al-Zamaskhari
• – Tafsir ibn Ashur

In Adab (better to ask a specialist)

• – Maqamat al-Hariri (yes again)
• – Imam al-Jahidh’s books especially Al-Bayan wa al-Tabyin
• – Al-Kamil by Imam al Mubarrid.
• – Al-Khasa’is of Ibn al-Jinni

Conclusion

This list seems dauntingly long, but the question you need to ask yourself as an Arabic learner is: Why do I want to learn Arabic? If you want to become a scholar, the whole list applies. If you don’t then the length of the list varies depends on what you want to achieve. For those who want only a basic grasp of the Qur’an in Arabic so they can read small tafsirs on their own, or to engage in Modern Arab culture, then the first stage will suffice.