This is the second post in our series of Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma.
The first five ayaat of Surah Iqraa are:
اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ
خَلَقَ الْإِنسَانَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ
اقْرَأْ وَرَبُّكَ الْأَكْرَمُ
الَّذِي عَلَّمَ بِالْقَلَمِ
عَلَّمَ الْإِنسَانَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ
Word-for-word translations are pretty common these days (like this one, which has Surah Iqraa), so I’m going to touch lightly on that, and do a bit more grammar. Ready? Here goes!
- Iqraa (اقْرَأْ): Arabic has three types of verbs: past tense (he recited), present tense (he recites), and commands (recite!) Iqraa is a command to recite. (For all you nerds, it’s in baab one.) So Allah is COMMANDING us to read and recite.
- Rabbuka or rabbika? In verse 1, Allah says “rabbika”; and in verse 3, Allah says “rabbuka.” What’s the difference between these two, in meaning? Nothing! Rabbuka, rabbika, and rabbaka all mean the exact same thing. (They’re just different cases of grammar.)
- Rabbika (رَبِّكَ): Rabb in Arabic means the one who created you, who sustains you, who provides for you; the definition of this word takes pages! The “ka” hear means you (single person, male); so rabbuka means “your Rabb,” kitaabuka means “your book,” masjiduka means “your masjid,” etc.
- Khalaqa (خَلَقَ): Khalaqa means “he created;” In fact, khalaqa means created from nothing. Only Allah can create out of nothing–humans just take existing “stuff” and recompose it. That’s not khalaqa; only ALLAH can create from nothing.
- Wa (وَ): Wa means and. Occasionally, you may see am (أم), which is the same as wa, except am is used in questions.
- ‘Allama (عَلَّمَ): ‘Allama means “he taught.” It appears in quite a few places in the Qur’an, so it’s a good word to know. The words ‘ilm (knowledge), mu’allim (teacher), ‘aalim (scholar), ‘ulamaa (scholars) all come from the same root–the letters ‘ayn, laam, and meem.
That should shed some light, insha’Allah, on the meaning of this verse.
Action Steps:
- Memorize these five ayaat! With this word-for-word translation, and some of the material above, you have no excuse left! Just memorize by meaning.
- Comment when you’ve memorized these five. When you’ve completed memorizing the ayaat, walhamdulillah, post a comment and share it with the community! Together, insha’Allah, we’ll build up our knowledge + understanding + action + memorization of these surahs.
Assalamu alaykum,
MashaAllah I’m loving this series.
I have memorized it alhamdulillah.
Assalamualikum,
I find this series very useful , Alhamdulillah, The Arabic fond appears to be small in size and feel difficult to read . If possible make a larger fond.
walhamdulilah these are very nice posts. I’ve also memorized the ayahs.
Jaza’k Allah Kheir
Wa’alikum as-salaam,
@Ayub, if you’re in Firefox, press “Ctrl” and the Plus key (+) to zoom in; when you’re done, you can press Ctrl and zero to return to normal.
@H: did you find the Arabic terminology + tafseer made it easier? I did.
Yes, very beneficial Masha’ALLAH!
mashallah , this is a great way to learn….small bite size pieces :))
Have learnt the arabic as well as translation.
Loves the explanation in the 1 st post.
Jazakallah.
Hello I am Sha!
Assalam-o-Alaikum!
I really like & love the arabic as a “Language”.
The impression I got immediately after I
completed MA English was that I should have
studied “Arabic”.
I have grown a strong passion and attachment
for Arabic and the Arabs. How much it can last?
This is what i don’t know nor am much sure about
but if your gals and guys out there help me, my
love might become fruitful for me.
Why do i like and love arabic and the Arabs?
This is sort of expansive questions.
I only know that Arabic is soft, smooth
and melodius.
The Arabs are loving, sincere and sobre.
Well, what I don’t know is if they are
lovers of their language too or not.
I aspire to someday talk fluently in arabic.
Talk to my friends. But can i attract Arabic
-speakers to my self by speaking their lang-
uage is yet another thing to be experienced
still.
Arabic is the language of the Muslims but i do
believe ALLAH will hear and help me even when
i speak my mother tongue to ask him. I am
sensitive to the degree that if i like something
just for the sake of some good and great point
in it and I am not answered positively…. I
really begin to hate that thing. Well i don’t
know why should i do it but still here i am to
do it. I like to chat, sing, speak, think, write
and argue in Arabic. I have no intention to
visit an Arabic speaking country as yet but
can it be helpful enough in learning a language to
personally visit the country where it is spoken?
Because we have been in this country of ours for
since our birth but still we haven’t got command
and control over the national language spoken
here. Does it go to say that it doesn’t matter
a lot to visit a country for the solitary purpose
of learning a language spoken there? I like the
h sound of Arabic and also I like it for not
having the clattering sounds of t,d etc. I
want to have good really good arabic language
friends. I can teach you English “only and only
if you think you need it”. I should thank you
in advance if you think my love for Arabic and
the Arab is something valuable.
With best regards it is farhad (underscore)
alishah (at) yahoo (dot) com
my cell number is zerozeroninetwothreeonetwo
fivezerotwozeroeighteighteight
Wassalam-o-Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah!
( I shall be really anxiously waiting for
the language friend of my dreams.
How can i say in Arabic
“The lover and Admirer of Arabic as a Language”
Bubye thanks
Jazakallah
Alhamdulillah i like this linguistic miracle.
i have a long wisdom to learn arabic to understand quraan.
jazakallah u khaira
wow, without learning the translation and commentary of Holy Quran we don’t know anything really about Islam.