Residential-programme teaching day of 2026-08-01 (Sheikh Riyas, video 53) — the third and last recording of that single long sitting, following Lesson 07 (v51) and Lesson 08 (v52). It opens mid-sentence and it ends mid-sentence, on the announcement of a test. ### ⚠ There is a gap in the recordings between L08 and this lesson L08 ended inside the ṣarf / imperative thread and the William Tell passage. This recording opens inside a completely different topic — a drill on the فاعِل (al-fāʿil, the doer of the verb) that is already in progress. The stretch in which the Sheikh introduced al-fāʿil — what it is, why it is marfūʿ, where it sits in a sentence — was not recorded and does not exist in the archive. You did not miss it in L07 or L08. It is not there. This lesson therefore begins in the middle of an exercise, and what you get of the fāʿil here is only the tail of the drill: how to spot it, which sentences have one and which have none, and one trap sentence. No introduction to al-fāʿil has been supplied here from outside the lecture — this page teaches only what is on the tape. If you want the topic taught from the beginning, it will have to come from the textbook or a later class. [Recording note] As with v51 and v52, no second (whisper-1) transcript exists for this video, so garbled stretches were reconstructed from context alone and are flagged [unclear]. Drill items and textbook sentences are reassembled from his piecemeal reading. The nashīd played mid-class is summarised, not transcribed — that is how the source translation has it. Runtime 1:28:56.
1 · Picking up mid-drill — the fāʿil is always مَرْفُوع
The recording starts inside a sentence. What is audible from the start is the rule he is applying:
The فاعِل (fāʿil) — the one who does the act — is الاسْمُ المَرْفُوع (al-ismu-l-marfūʿ, the noun in the nominative). The عَلامة (ʿalāmah, marker) of رَفْع is the ضَمّة. So whenever a sentence tells you somebody performed an action, that performer turns up carrying a ḍammah, and you can find him by the marker alone.
يُمارِسُ النّاسُ الرِّياضَةَ — yumārisu-n-nāsu-r-riyāḍah — "people take part in sport."
مارَسَ / يُمارِسُ = to practise, to engage in. Who is engaging? النّاسُ, with its ḍammah — that is the fāʿil. الرِّياضَةَ is the thing acted upon, not the doer. "In Tamil we would put it the other way round; in Arabic the doer carries the marker."
(The book prints the fāʿil of every sentence in red, so the word can be seen at a glance.)
2 · Reading the fāʿil off, sentence by sentence
| Sentence | Meaning | الفاعِل |
|---|---|---|
| يَطْلُبُ الطُّلّابُ التَّرْوِيحَ | the students want rest / recreation | الطُّلّابُ |
| قالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ | the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said | رَسُولُ اللهِ |
| يَشْرَبُ المَرِيضُ الدَّواءَ | the sick man drinks the medicine | المَرِيضُ |
| رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ | may Allah be pleased with him | اللهُ |
| يُفَضِّلُ كَثِيرٌ مِنَ النّاسِ التَّرْوِيحَ | many people prefer recreation | كَثِيرٌ |
| يَفْحَصُ الطَّبِيبُ المَرِيضَ | the doctor examines the patient (فَحَصَ / يَفْحَصُ = to examine) | الطَّبِيبُ |
| يَطُوفُ الحاجُّ حَوْلَ الكَعْبَةِ | the pilgrim circles the Kaʿbah | الحاجُّ |
حَوْلَ (ḥawla) = around. "Keep that word."
He stresses رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ in particular: the phrase you say every day is a verbal sentence, and its fāʿil is اللهُ — Allah is the one who is pleased. "That is all there is to it."
The rest of the same list
أَكَلَ عَلِيٌّ الخُبْزَ — "ʿAlī ate the bread." (He drills the three shapes of a name off this — مُحَمَّدٌ / مُحَمَّدًا / مُحَمَّدٍ — the ending moves with the role.) يُحِبُّ مُحَمَّدٌ القِراءَةَ — "Muḥammad loves reading." شَرِبَتِ البِنْتُ الماءَ — "the girl drank the water." يَنْصَحُ الطَّبِيبُ المَرِيضَ — "the doctor advises the patient." يَقْرَأُ المُدَرِّسُ صَحِيفَةً — "the teacher reads a newspaper." يَلْعَبُ الأَوْلادُ فِي القَرْيَةِ فِي العُطْلَةِ — "the children play in the village during the holiday." يَلْبَسُ الحاجُّ مَلابِسَ الإِحْرامِ — "the pilgrim puts on the iḥrām garments." يَلْبَسُ الطِّفْلُ ثَوْبَهُ — "the child puts on his garment." صَدَقَ الطَّبِيبُ — "the doctor spoke the truth." الحَياةُ كُلُّها عَمَلٌ، لا تَرْوِيحَ فِيها — "life is all work; there is no rest in it." يَنامُ بَدْرٌ فِي غُرْفَةِ النَّوْمِ — "Badr sleeps in the bedroom" (غُرْفَةُ النَّوْمِ = bedroom). يُرَوِّحُ الإِنْسانُ عَنْ نَفْسِهِ بِالقِراءَةِ — "a person rests his own soul by reading." يَدْعُو الإِسْلامُ إِلَى القُوَّةِ — "Islam calls to strength." يَحْتاجُ الطّالِبُ إِلَى التَّرْوِيحِ — "the student needs rest." يَرْجِعُ الرَّجُلُ إِلَى بَيْتِهِ — "the man returns to his house."
Careful with عَمَل here. In الحَياةُ كُلُّها عَمَلٌ it does not mean ʿibādah — it means work: "his whole life is nothing but work, there is no rest in it."
(A gap-filling drill follows — يَدْرُسُ … العُلُومَ, "… studies the sciences" — with يَعْمَلُ العامِلُ كَثِيرًا and يَشْرَبُ المَرِيضُ الدَّواءَ among its items. Only these were read out.)
3 · Which sentences have a fāʿil at all? — no verb, no doer
The next exercise is to separate the sentences that contain a fāʿil from the ones that do not. The test he gives:
Whenever we say "there is a fāʿil here," there must be a فِعْل (verb) present. No verb, no doer.
| Sentence | Verb? | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| لِلتَّرْوِيحِ صُوَرٌ كَثِيرَةٌ — "recreation has many forms" | none | no fāʿil |
| يُرَوِّحُ مُحَمَّدٌ عَنْ نَفْسِهِ — "Muḥammad gives himself a rest" | yes | fāʿil = مُحَمَّدٌ |
| يُفَضِّلُ النّاسُ التَّرْوِيحَ — "people prefer recreation" | yes | fāʿil = النّاسُ |
| التَّرْوِيحُ مُفِيدٌ لِلْجِسْمِ — "rest is beneficial for the body" | none | no fāʿil |
| المُؤْمِنُ القَوِيُّ خَيْرٌ … مِنَ المُؤْمِنِ الضَّعِيفِ — "the strong believer is better … than the weak believer" | none | no fāʿil |
| أَلْعابُ الحاسُوبِ فِيها تَرْوِيحٌ — "computer games have recreation in them" | none | no fāʿil |
What those verbless ones are instead: مُبْتَدَأ + خَبَر — that is, جُمْلة اسْمِيّة (jumlah ismiyyah, a nominal sentence). There is no fiʿl in them and hence no fāʿil; you label them mubtadaʾ and khabar, and they do not come under this rule at all.
4 · The trap sentence — يُسافِرُ أَخِي بِالطّائِرَةِ
يُسافِرُ أَخِي بِالطّائِرَةِ — yusāfiru akhī bi-ṭ-ṭāʾirah — "my brother travels by aeroplane."
The fāʿil is أَخِي ("my brother"). But look at the shape: it is أَخِي, not أَخُو.
- أَخ is one of the nouns that takes a long-vowel ending when it is a مُضاف — أَخُو / أَخا / أَخِي according to case.
- But when what follows it is the ياء المُتَكَلِّم (yāʾ al-mutakallim, the "my"), that yāʾ forces a kasrah before it in every position — whether the word is the doer, or the thing acted upon, or sits after فِي or another preposition. The shape stays أَخِي and does not change.
So with the yāʾ attached, the case marker no longer shows on the surface. You cannot find the fāʿil here by hunting for a ḍammah — you identify it by the meaning: my brother is the one travelling, so أَخِي is the fāʿil even though its marker is hidden.
"Two words joined, and the marker disappears. That is the whole point of that sentence."
And that is where the fāʿil drill ends — he moves straight on to the next lesson's ḥiwār.
5 · Vocabulary for the ḥiwār — قَضَى / يَقْضِي / قاضٍ
قَضَى / يَقْضِي / قاضٍ (qaḍā / yaqḍī / qāḍin). He wants several distinct senses fixed:
| Sense | Example |
|---|---|
| to spend (time) | قَضَيْتُ العُطْلَةَ فِي سَفَرٍ — "I spent the holiday travelling" ("I spent Ramaḍān in Colombo" — this qaḍā) |
| to judge, to decide | whence قاضٍ (qāḍī) — a judge; قَضَى = "he gave a verdict" |
| قَضَى عَلَى … — to wipe out, finish off entirely | قَضَيْتُ عَلَى هٰذِهِ … — "I finished it off completely," root and branch. [unclear — the noun he attaches is garbled; he glosses it in Tamil as an overgrown patch of ground.] |
| قَضَى الحاجَةَ — to fulfil a need | قَضَيْتُ حاجَتِي — "I met my need, I got it done" |
Hence the lesson's title question:
كَيْفَ نَقْضِي العُطْلَةَ؟ — kayfa naqḍī-l-ʿuṭlah? — "How shall we spend the holiday?"
6 · The ḥiwār — كَيْفَ نَقْضِي العُطْلَةَ؟
A mother and father talking about the children.
6.1 العُطْلَةُ عَلَى الأَبْوابِ — the idiom
العُطْلَةُ عَلَى الأَبْوابِ، يا أَبا أَحْمَدَ! — al-ʿuṭlatu ʿalā-l-abwāb, yā Abā Aḥmad! — literally "the holiday is at the doors, O Abū Aḥmad!"
عَلَى الأَبْوابِ = "at the doors" = just around the corner, about to arrive. Said of Ramaḍān too: رَمَضانُ عَلَى الأَبْوابِ. "It is said elegantly, sideways — not 'it will come tomorrow' but 'it is standing at the door.'"
His warning about idiom. When such a phrase turns up in a Qurʾānic verse or a ḥadīth, know that it is a figure of speech belonging to that culture and literature, and read it accordingly. Take the words flat and literally and you can understand the text completely wrongly — and if someone then gives a ruling on that misreading, the damage is real.
6.2 Kunyah etiquette — يا أَبا أَحْمَدَ / يا أُمَّ أَحْمَدَ
Notice how the wife addresses her husband: not by his name, but يا أَبا أَحْمَدَ — "O father of Aḥmad." He answers يا أُمَّ أَحْمَدَ — "O mother of Aḥmad."
- A woman is not called by her personal name in public; a teacher would not simply call out "Khadījah!" across a class either — he would use a respectful form of address.
- This is a cultural habit of the Arabs and a mark of respect. Only those who are very close, or family, use the given name. Among themselves women will say ʿĀʾishah, Zaynab, Maryam — but the public form of address is the kunyah. (He notes Sri Lanka has its own versions of the same thing.)
6.3 يا لَهُ / يا لَها مِن … — the exclamation
The husband replies:
يا لَها مِن مُشْكِلَةٍ كَبِيرَةٍ، يا أُمَّ أَحْمَدَ! — yā lahā min mushkilatin kabīrah! — "What a big problem this is, Umm Aḥmad!"
يا لَهُ مِن … / يا لَها مِن … expresses wonder or exclamation — "what a …!" The gender follows the noun: مُشْكِلَة is feminine, so يا لَها; for a masculine noun, يا لَهُ.
(Drilled properly later in the class — see §9.)
The mother then asks: كَيْفَ سَيَقْضِي أَوْلادُنا العُطْلَةَ؟ — "How are our children going to spend the holiday?"
6.4 نادَى and ناقَشَ — calling the children in
هَيّا نُنادِي الأَوْلادَ — hayyā nunādī-l-awlād — "let's call the children." وَنُناقِشُهُمْ فِي الأَمْرِ — wa-nunāqishuhum fī-l-amr — "and let's discuss the matter with them."
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| نادَى / يُنادِي / نِداء | to call, to summon — "when I call you over here, that is nidāʾ" |
| ناقَشَ / يُناقِشُ / مُناقَشة | to discuss, to consult together (mashwarah) |
| هَيّا | "let's …" |
The mother: فِكْرَةٌ طَيِّبَةٌ — "a good idea."
6.5 نُرِيدُ آراءَكُمْ — and each child's answer
يا أَحْمَدُ، يا فاطِمَةُ، يا طارِقُ، يا نَدَى، يا بَدْرُ — اُحْضُرُوا! كَيْفَ نَقْضِي العُطْلَةَ يا أَوْلادُ؟ نُرِيدُ آراءَكُمْ. — "How shall we spend the holiday, children? We want your opinions."
رَأْي (raʾy) = opinion, view; plural آراء. And رَأَى / يَرَى in the sense "I think, in my view" — أَرَى = "I am of the opinion that …"
| Speaker | Answer | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| أَحْمَد | أَرَى السَّفَرَ إِلَى مَصِيفٍ جَمِيلٍ — "I think we should travel to a nice summer resort" | مَصِيف ← صَيْف (summer) = the place where one spends the summer. Its pair is شِتاء (winter) — the Qurʾān pairs the two journeys, رِحْلَةَ الشِّتاءِ وَالصَّيْفِ. The father: أَحْسَنْتَ! |
| فاطِمَة (وَما رَأْيُكِ يا فاطِمَةُ؟ — feminine رَأْيُكِ) | أَرَى عَمَلَ حَدِيقَةٍ لِلْبَيْتِ — "I think we should make a garden for the house" | حَدِيقة = garden; عَمَل here = "the making of." The mother: يا لَها مِن فِكْرَةٍ طَيِّبَةٍ! — but لَيْسَ فِي بَيْتِنا حَدِيقَةٌ, "there is no garden at our house." Note لَيْسَ and how it governs what follows. |
| طارِق | أُفَضِّلُ مُشاهَدَةَ البَرامِجِ فِي التِّلْفازِ — "I prefer watching the programmes on television" | مُشاهَدة = watching; بَرامِج (sg. بَرْنامَج) = programmes |
| the mother's condition | لا مانِعَ مِن مُشاهَدَةِ البَرامِجِ المُفِيدَةِ — "there is no objection to watching useful programmes" | مانِع = an obstacle, something that prevents — as in اللّهُمَّ لا مانِعَ لِما أَعْطَيْتَ. Only the beneficial ones, and only ساعَةً أَوْ ساعَتَيْنِ (an hour or two). |
| نَدَى (وَماذا تَقُولِينَ يا نَدَى؟) | سَأَقْرَأُ كُتُبًا كَثِيرَةً — "I'll read lots of books" | |
| بَدْر (وَماذا تَقُولُ يا بَدْرُ؟) | سَأَلْعَبُ وَأَقْرَأُ وَأَسْبَحُ فِي البَحْرِ — "I'll play, and read, and swim in the sea" | سَبَحَ / يَسْبَحُ = to swim |
The mother closes: عُطْلَةٌ سَعِيدَةٌ يا أَوْلادُ! — "A happy holiday, children!"
6.6 The true/false drill
العُطْلَةُ بَعْدَ أُسْبُوعٍ — "the holiday is a week away" — no; the text said العُطْلَةُ عَلَى الأَبْوابِ. بَدْرٌ سَيَسْبَحُ فِي النَّهْرِ — no: فِي البَحْرِ, in the sea. نَدَى سَتُشاهِدُ التِّلْفازَ — no: نَدَى سَتَقْرَأُ الكُتُبَ الكَثِيرَةَ. فِي بَيْتِ أُسْرَةِ طارِقٍ حَدِيقَةٌ جَمِيلَةٌ — no, there is none. الأَبُ يُنادِي عَلَى الأَوْلادِ — and likewise الأُمُّ تُنادِي عَلَى الأَوْلادِ.
6.7 The five comprehension questions, answered
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| ما مُشْكِلَةُ الأُسْرَةِ؟ — what is the family's problem? | العُطْلَةُ عَلَى الأَبْوابِ (مُشْكِلة here = "issue," not "quarrel") |
| ماذا يُرِيدُ الأَبُ وَالأُمُّ مِنَ الأَوْلادِ؟ | آراءَهُمْ — their opinions |
| مَنْ يُرِيدُ السَّفَرَ إِلَى مَكانٍ جَمِيلٍ؟ | أَحْمَد (i.e. to a مَصِيف جَمِيل — the two phrasings are the same thing) |
| كَمْ ساعَةً يُشاهِدُ طارِقٌ البَرامِجَ المُفِيدَةَ؟ | ساعَةً أَوْ ساعَتَيْنِ |
| مَنْ سَيَقْرَأُ كُتُبًا كَثِيرَةً؟ | نَدَى |
"You should be able to answer without looking back at the text."
7 · Interlude — a nashīd on the Hijrah
Mid-class he plays and glosses a nashīd connected with the Prophet's Hijrah. (The source translation summarises it rather than transcribing it, so only these phrases are on record.)
Its refrain is the Qurʾānic word to Abū Bakr raḍiyallāhu ʿanhu in the cave:
لا تَحْزَنْ إِنَّ اللهَ مَعَنا — lā taḥzan inna-llāha maʿanā — "Do not grieve; indeed Allah is with us" (Sūrat at-Tawbah 9:40). لا تَحْزَنْ = "do not be sad, do not worry."
| Phrase | Gloss |
|---|---|
| بِهِجْرَةِ نَبِيِّنا | "with the Hijrah of our Prophet"; الهادِي (the guide) is a title of the Messenger ﷺ |
| مِنْ مَكَّةَ هاجَرَ لِلْمَدِينَةِ | "from Makkah he migrated to Madīnah" |
| يَوْمٌ حارٌّ | "a hot day" — حارّ = hot |
| صاحِبُهُ فِي الغارِ · يُناجِيهِ | "his companion in the cave" · from ناجَى / يُناجِي, "he speaks to him quietly, confides in him" — lā taḥzan yā Ṣiddīq |
| اللهُ ثالِثُنا | "Allah is the third of us" — the two in the cave, and Allah with them, sheltering them |
| وَمَلَأَ بِالأَمْنِ وَالسَّكِينَةِ | the calm and security Allah filled them with. [unclear — this line is heavily garbled.] |
| اسْتَبْشَرَتِ المَدِينَةُ | "Madīnah rejoiced" — the whole city in joy at his coming |
His point about songs like this: there are versions without music, and those are worth listening to. Even if you don't catch every word, it becomes an exercise in Arabic and it works on you. "Listen to the ones with meaning in them."
8 · How to study this — stop translating into Tamil
Read the passage properly. "We keep thinking that 'reading' means getting through a lot of pages. It isn't. Reading is taking one matter and understanding it from the inside."
If you read it properly, everything comes with it — the vocabulary, the grammar — and you can render it in Tamil too. What is the use of memorising a translation? The information won't stick and you won't have understood it. In English and in Sinhala each of you reads and understands directly; if you read a big book in Arabic and then have to go back into Tamil for the meaning, you are stuck. Get to that point with Arabic.
9 · يا لَهُ مِن … drilled
يا لَهُ مِن أَمْرٍ عَجِيبٍ! — "What an astonishing thing!"
The pattern: يا لَهُ / يا لَها مِن + an indefinite noun in the genitive + an adjective.
يا لَهُ مِن قَوْلٍ جَمِيلٍ! — "What a beautiful saying!" يا لَهُ مِن لَيْلٍ طَوِيلٍ! — "What a long night!" — one that felt as if it would never end. يا لَها مِن فِكْرَةٍ طَيِّبَةٍ! — "What a fine idea!" يا لَها مِن مُشْكِلَةٍ كَبِيرَةٍ / خَطِيرَةٍ! — "What a big / dangerous problem!" يا لَهُ مِن بَيْتٍ جَمِيلٍ! — "What a beautiful house!"
The adjective is optional — you can stop at the noun: يا لَهُ مِن بَيْتٍ!, or of a person, يا لَهُ مِن زَيْدٍ!, said in wonder about him.
So when you meet this in a text, know at once: something is being marvelled at — whether in admiration or in alarm.
10 · النِّداء — the vocative
A grammar rule to take from the same passage. When you call out — يا زَيْنَبُ، يا أَوْلادُ، يا فاطِمَةُ، يا بَدْرُ — note two things about the word after يا:
1. No الـ (alif-lām). We say يا أَوْلادُ, never yā al-awlādu. 2. No tanwīn. It does not take -un / -an / -in: يا زَيْنَبُ, not yā Zaynabun.
يا is the particle of calling — حَرْفُ النِّداء / ياءُ النِّداء — and the person called is the مُنادَى (munādā). "Fix those two points and you have the rule."
The second half of the rule — a مُضاف مُنادَى becomes مَنْصُوب
If the مُنادَى is a مُضاف (the first term of a possessive construction), it takes نَصْب — the fatḥah.
يا عَبْدَ اللهِ! — not yā ʿAbdullāhu: عَبْد is muḍāf to الله, so it takes a fatḥah. يا أُمَّ مُحَمَّدٍ! — أُمَّ with fatḥah. يا أَبا أَحْمَدَ! — this is why the dialogue reads أَبا, not أَبُو. يا سائِقَ السَّيّارَةِ! — "O driver of the car!" (سائِق = driver.)
So: يا + a plain name → no al-, no tanwīn. يا + a مُضاف → مَنْصُوب. "Those two, and you are done."
The exercise
يا سَعِيدُ، كُلْ خُبْزًا! — "Saʿīd, eat some bread!" أَحْضِرْ لِيَ الدَّرْسَ يا رَفِيقُ! — "Bring me the lesson, Rafīq!" يا فاطِمَةُ، سافِرِي إِلَى دِمَشْقَ! — "Fāṭimah, travel to Damascus!" (feminine imperative سافِرِي — the L08 rule.) يا مُحَمَّدُ، اُسْكُنْ هُنا! — "Muḥammad, stay here!" يا أَبا بَكْرٍ، صَلِّ فِي المَسْجِدِ! — "Abū Bakr, pray in the mosque!" — أَبا again, manṣūb because it is muḍāf. يا مَرِيضُ، قابِلْ طَبِيبَكَ! — "O patient, go and see your doctor!"
The same vocative in the Qurʾān
| Verse | Why it is shaped that way |
|---|---|
| يا أُخْتَ هارُونَ (Maryam 19:28) | not yā ukhtu — أُخْتَ takes fatḥah, muḍāf to هارُونَ |
| يا إِبْراهِيمُ | a plain name: no al-, no tanwīn |
| يا أَبانَا اسْتَغْفِرْ لَنا ذُنُوبَنا (Yūsuf 12:97) | the sons of Yaʿqūb ʿalayhi-s-salām — أَبانا manṣūb, muḍāf to نا |
| يا نارُ كُونِي بَرْدًا وَسَلامًا (al-Anbiyāʾ 21:69) | plain name-word, no tanwīn; كُونِي feminine because نار is feminine |
| يا آدَمُ اسْكُنْ أَنْتَ وَزَوْجُكَ الجَنَّةَ (al-Baqarah 2:35) | a plain name |
| يا بُنَيَّ أَقِمِ الصَّلاةَ (Luqmān 31:17) | muḍāf to the yāʾ of "my" |
"So the thing you learn in class turns up in the Qurʾān, and now you understand why the word is shaped the way it is. That should give you joy — that is the point of learning it."
11 · What comes next — الحَياةُ الزَّوْجِيَّة, after a test
After the tarwīḥ unit is finished, in shāʾ Allāh, the next lesson's topic is الحَياةُ الزَّوْجِيَّة (al-ḥayāt az-zawjiyyah) — married life: how problems arise, how they are solved, how to speak. Before that there will be one small test.
"And don't make heavy weather of this. Keep it simple — little by little, small sentences, understood at the level of the exercise in front of you."
12 · The reading passage — التَّخْيِيم (camping)
The vocabulary first:
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| مُخَيَّم pl. مُخَيَّمات | a camp |
| خَيْمة pl. خِيام | a tent |
| تَخْيِيم | camping — the activity, which is what the passage is about |
12.1 His aside — why everyone needs some form of تَرْوِيح
At the very least one day a month, alongside our work, we need something that relaxes us. If a person cannot relax, he cannot study either — a relaxed mind is what makes the rest possible. When you have no appetite even for the syllabus book, that is when to read a book that genuinely interests you.
This matters especially as we get older. Some reach old age with no way at all of passing the time — nothing they enjoy, nothing to occupy them. Good acts of worship kept up will carry a person; where there is nothing, life becomes hard. So have things now that keep the heart content: worship, likewise reading, likewise meeting a group of friends now and then. (And some need nothing at all — the grandchildren are the entertainment.)
12.2 The passage, line by line
كَثِيرٌ مِنَ النّاسِ يُفَضِّلُونَ التَّرْوِيحَ خارِجَ البَيْتِ — "many people prefer to relax outside the house."
(His aside: some spend five days shut in and want out; others say "we've been out five days — I want two days at home." The two pull in opposite directions and neither knows how to handle the other. It is a difference in mentality, and it lies behind a great many domestic problems — "a lot of this comes up in the next lesson.")
حَيْثُ يَقْضُونَ الوَقْتَ فِي المُخَيَّماتِ — "where they spend the time in camps."
#### حَيْثُ — three senses to fix
| Sense | Example |
|---|---|
| place — "where" | ذَهَبْتُ إِلَى كُولُومْبُو حَيْثُ تَمَتَّعْتُ بِالبَحْرِ — "I went to Colombo, where I enjoyed the sea" (تَمَتَّعَ = to enjoy) |
| cause — "since / because" | حَيْثُ كانَ سَعِيدٌ وَلَدًا صَغِيرًا … لَمْ يَجِدْ عَمَلًا — "since Saʿīd was a young boy … he did not find work": one thing the reason, the other the نَتِيجة (result) |
| with ما — "wherever" | اِتَّقِ اللهَ حَيْثُما كُنْتَ — "Fear Allah wherever you are" |
يَخْتَلِفُ الوَقْتُ الَّذِي يَقْضِيهِ النّاسُ فِي المُخَيَّماتِ — "the length of time people spend in the camps varies."
(A digression off يَخْتَلِفُ: a مَسْأَلة خِلافِيّة is a disputed question, one on which views legitimately differ and both stand — and اِخْتِلاف (a difference of opinion) is not the same as خِلاف in the sense of a quarrel. "Some will insist there is only one view, but that is because they know only one madhhab." Don't confuse the two.)
#### قَدْ — two opposite senses
قَدْ يَكُونُ لَيْلَةً واحِدَةً — "it may be a single night."
You have met قَدْ in قَدْ أَفْلَحَ المُؤْمِنُونَ. قَدْ has two opposite senses, and which one you get depends on the verb after it:
| Construction | Sense | Example |
|---|---|---|
| قَدْ + ماضٍ (past) | certainty | قَدْ ذَهَبَ — "he has definitely gone" |
| قَدْ + مُضارِع (present) | possibility — "sometimes / may" | قَدْ يَذْهَبُ — "he may go" (and may not) — no certainty at all |
Read this carefully: if you assume qad always means certainty, you will misread a Qurʾānic verse or a ḥadīth.
Here, with the muḍāriʿ, the time in camp may be one night — قَدْ يَكُونُ أُسْبُوعًا / أَيّامًا, "it may be several days or weeks." [Reconstructed — he glosses "sometimes it will be many days."] (He notes in passing that بِضْع / بَعْض, "several / some," are related in sense to the English "several.")
يَخْتَلِفُ المَكانُ أَيْضًا — "the place varies too." قَدْ يَكُونُ عَلَى شاطِئِ البَحْرِ — "it may be on the seashore" — or فِي البَرِّ (the open land / desert country), or فِي الجِبالِ (in the mountains) — حَيْثُ الهَواءُ النَّقِيُّ — "where the air is pure."
#### نَقِيّ
نَقِيّ = clean, pure. رَجُلٌ نَقِيٌّ — a pure man; نَقِيُّ القَلْبِ — pure of heart. Same root as the funeral-prayer duʿāʾ:
اللّهُمَّ نَقِّنِي مِنْ خَطايايَ كَما يُنَقَّى الثَّوْبُ الأَبْيَضُ مِنَ الدَّنَسِ — "O Allah, cleanse me of my sins as a white garment is cleansed of filth."
12.3 Pitching tents, and what people carry
فِي أَيّامِ العُطْلَةِ يَنْصِبُونَ فِي أَماكِنِ التَّرْوِيحِ الخِيامَ — "on holidays they pitch tents at the recreation spots." (نَصَبَ / يَنْصِبُ = to set up, to pitch.) وَيَحْمِلُونَ مَعَهُمُ الطَّعامَ وَالشَّرابَ وَوَسائِلَ التَّرْوِيحِ — "and they carry with them food, drink and the means of recreation." (وَسائِل = the means, the kit.) وَيُفَضِّلُ فَرِيقٌ مِنَ النّاسِ أَنْ يَكُونُوا قَرِيبًا مِنْ شاطِئِ البَحْرِ — "and one group of people prefers to be near the seashore." (فَرِيق = a group, a party.) حَيْثُ يُمارِسُونَ السِّباحَةَ وَالرِّياضاتِ الأُخْرَى — "where they swim and take part in other sports" — حَيْثُ again. وَيُفَضِّلُ بَعْضُهُمْ مُشاهَدَةَ الطُّيُورِ وَالتَّصْوِيرَ وَالمَشْيَ — "and some prefer watching the birds, photography and walking." (طَيْر / طُيُور = bird(s); تَصْوِير = taking photographs; مَشْي = walking.) يَحْمِلُ النّاسُ مَعَهُمْ إِلَى البَرِّ خِيامًا وَمَلابِسَ — "people carry with them to the open country tents and clothes."
12.4 Food at the camp
وَكَثِيرًا مِنَ الطَّعامِ — "and a great deal of food." وَبَعْضُ النّاسِ يُعِدُّونَ أَطْعِمَتَهُمْ فِي بُيُوتِهِمْ — "and some people prepare their food at home" (أَعَدَّ / يُعِدُّ = to prepare, to make ready) — فِي آنِيَةٍ, "in vessels / containers," and carry it that way. هُناكَ مَنْ يُفَضِّلُ إِعْدادَ طَعامِهِمْ فِي المُخَيَّماتِ — "there are those who prefer to prepare their food at the camps." وَيَحْمِلُونَ مَعَهُمْ ماءً إِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ فِي المَكانِ ماءٌ — "and they carry water with them, if there is no water at the place."
(A personal aside: his Hadith teacher does all the cooking himself on a trip — "you lot enjoy yourselves and eat on time" — and it is a whole joy to him. Once on a small trip to Hambantota, about thirteen of them, he got fifteen kilos of fish, cooked the lot in one enormous pot with a bit of rice on the side, and was completely in his element.)
13 · The closing announcement — a test next class
Next week in class there will be an examination — "a small summary test, right? I'll set it simply and we'll see how you do: on the lessons we have studied — the two lessons we've now covered, the two topics. Do you remember the vocabulary?"
[The recording ends here, mid-sentence.] That announcement is the one piece of forward information the class was given, and it is the last thing on the tape for this teaching day.
14 · Standing gaps after this lesson
- The introduction to الفاعِل is missing from the archive. This recording opens inside the drill; the segment that introduced the topic was never recorded. Nothing has been invented here to bridge it — see the banner at the top of this page.
- The nashīd is summarised, not transcribed — only the phrases listed in §7 are on record.
- Still outstanding from L07 / L08 and untouched in this class: the مُعْتَلّ verbs, أَمْرُ الغائِب (only لِيَذْهَبْ was ever given), the rest of the William Tell passage, the fifteen unmarked feminine nouns, and the حال.
- الحَياةُ الزَّوْجِيَّة is the announced next topic — after the test.
Crib sheet. Cover the right-hand columns and recall. From lecture v53 — the residential day of 2026-08-01, part 3 of 3 and the last recording of that day. It opens mid-drill and ends mid-sentence on the announcement of a test. ⚠ Gap in the recordings. L08 was on ṣarf and the imperative; this one opens inside a فاعِل drill already under way. The segment introducing al-fāʿil was never recorded. You did not miss it in L07 or L08 — it is not in the archive, and nothing has been supplied here from outside the lecture to fill it. What follows is only the tail of that drill.
الفاعِل — what the tail of the drill gives you
| Prompt | Recall |
|---|---|
| the rule being applied when the tape starts | the فاعِل is الاسْمُ المَرْفُوع — and the عَلامة of رَفْع is the ضَمّة |
| so how do you find him | by the marker — the doer turns up carrying a ḍammah |
| the book's help | it prints the fāʿil of every sentence in red |
| يُمارِسُ النّاسُ الرِّياضَةَ | fāʿil = النّاسُ; الرِّياضَةَ is acted upon, not doer (مارَسَ / يُمارِسُ = to practise) |
| رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ — the fāʿil? | اللهُ — Allah is the one who is pleased |
| حَوْلَ | around — يَطُوفُ الحاجُّ حَوْلَ الكَعْبَةِ |
| الحَياةُ كُلُّها عَمَلٌ — what does عَمَل mean here? | work, not ʿibādah |
| the test for whether a sentence has a fāʿil at all | is there a فِعْل? No verb → no doer |
| a verbless sentence is instead | مُبْتَدَأ + خَبَر — a جُمْلة اسْمِيّة; it does not come under the rule |
Which have one, which don't:
| No fāʿil (no verb) | Has a fāʿil |
|---|---|
| لِلتَّرْوِيحِ صُوَرٌ كَثِيرَةٌ | يُرَوِّحُ مُحَمَّدٌ عَنْ نَفْسِهِ → مُحَمَّدٌ |
| التَّرْوِيحُ مُفِيدٌ لِلْجِسْمِ | يُفَضِّلُ النّاسُ التَّرْوِيحَ → النّاسُ |
| المُؤْمِنُ القَوِيُّ خَيْرٌ … مِنَ المُؤْمِنِ الضَّعِيفِ | يَفْحَصُ الطَّبِيبُ المَرِيضَ → الطَّبِيبُ |
| أَلْعابُ الحاسُوبِ فِيها تَرْوِيحٌ | يُفَضِّلُ كَثِيرٌ مِنَ النّاسِ التَّرْوِيحَ → كَثِيرٌ |
The trap sentence
| Prompt | Recall |
|---|---|
| the sentence | يُسافِرُ أَخِي بِالطّائِرَةِ — "my brother travels by aeroplane" |
| the fāʿil | أَخِي — but note the shape: أَخِي, not أَخُو |
| why | أَخ as a مُضاف takes a long-vowel ending — أَخُو / أَخا / أَخِي by case |
| what the ياء المُتَكَلِّم does | forces a kasrah before it in every position — doer, object, after a preposition. The shape does not change |
| the consequence | the case marker no longer shows on the surface — you cannot find the fāʿil by hunting for a ḍammah; you identify it by the meaning |
قَضَى / يَقْضِي / قاضٍ
| Sense | Example |
|---|---|
| to spend (time) | قَضَيْتُ العُطْلَةَ فِي سَفَرٍ |
| to judge, decide | whence قاضٍ = a judge |
| قَضَى عَلَى … | to wipe out, finish off entirely [his example noun is garbled] |
| قَضَى الحاجَةَ | to fulfil a need — قَضَيْتُ حاجَتِي |
| the title question | كَيْفَ نَقْضِي العُطْلَةَ؟ — "How shall we spend the holiday?" |
الحِوار — كَيْفَ نَقْضِي العُطْلَةَ؟
| Line | Arabic |
|---|---|
| the mother opens | العُطْلَةُ عَلَى الأَبْوابِ، يا أَبا أَحْمَدَ! |
| the father | يا لَها مِن مُشْكِلَةٍ كَبِيرَةٍ، يا أُمَّ أَحْمَدَ! |
| the mother | كَيْفَ سَيَقْضِي أَوْلادُنا العُطْلَةَ؟ |
| the plan | هَيّا نُنادِي الأَوْلادَ · وَنُناقِشُهُمْ فِي الأَمْرِ — فِكْرَةٌ طَيِّبَةٌ |
| the question to them | كَيْفَ نَقْضِي العُطْلَةَ يا أَوْلادُ؟ نُرِيدُ آراءَكُمْ |
| أَحْمَد | أَرَى السَّفَرَ إِلَى مَصِيفٍ جَمِيلٍ — the father: أَحْسَنْتَ! |
| فاطِمَة | أَرَى عَمَلَ حَدِيقَةٍ لِلْبَيْتِ — but لَيْسَ فِي بَيْتِنا حَدِيقَةٌ |
| طارِق | أُفَضِّلُ مُشاهَدَةَ البَرامِجِ فِي التِّلْفازِ |
| the mother's condition | لا مانِعَ مِن مُشاهَدَةِ البَرامِجِ المُفِيدَةِ — ساعَةً أَوْ ساعَتَيْنِ |
| نَدَى | سَأَقْرَأُ كُتُبًا كَثِيرَةً |
| بَدْر | سَأَلْعَبُ وَأَقْرَأُ وَأَسْبَحُ فِي البَحْرِ |
| the close | عُطْلَةٌ سَعِيدَةٌ يا أَوْلادُ! |
Vocabulary and idiom from the ḥiwār
| Arabic | Meaning |
|---|---|
| عَلَى الأَبْوابِ | "at the doors" = just around the corner — رَمَضانُ عَلَى الأَبْوابِ |
| نادَى / يُنادِي / نِداء · هَيّا | to call, summon · "let's …" |
| ناقَشَ / يُناقِشُ / مُناقَشة | to discuss, consult together |
| رَأْي pl. آراء · أَرَى | opinion, view · "I am of the opinion that …" |
| مَصِيف (← صَيْف) · شِتاء | summer resort · winter — رِحْلَةَ الشِّتاءِ وَالصَّيْفِ |
| حَدِيقة · لَيْسَ | garden · "there is not" |
| مُشاهَدة · بَرْنامَج pl. بَرامِج | watching · programme(s) |
| مانِع | an obstacle — اللّهُمَّ لا مانِعَ لِما أَعْطَيْتَ |
| سَبَحَ / يَسْبَحُ · مُشْكِلة | to swim · problem, issue (not "quarrel") |
Kunyah etiquette
| Prompt | Recall |
|---|---|
| how the wife addresses her husband | يا أَبا أَحْمَدَ — not by his name |
| how he addresses her | يا أُمَّ أَحْمَدَ |
| why | a cultural habit of the Arabs and a mark of respect; only the very close or family use the given name — the public form is the kunyah |
يا لَهُ / يا لَها مِن …
| Prompt | Recall |
|---|---|
| what it expresses | wonder / exclamation — "what a …!" |
| the pattern | يا لَهُ / يا لَها مِن + indefinite noun in the genitive + adjective |
| gender | follows the noun — مُشْكِلة f. → يا لَها; masculine noun → يا لَهُ |
| the adjective | optional — يا لَهُ مِن بَيْتٍ!, يا لَهُ مِن زَيْدٍ! |
| his examples | يا لَهُ مِن أَمْرٍ عَجِيبٍ · قَوْلٍ جَمِيلٍ · لَيْلٍ طَوِيلٍ · بَيْتٍ جَمِيلٍ · يا لَها مِن فِكْرَةٍ طَيِّبَةٍ · مُشْكِلَةٍ كَبِيرَةٍ / خَطِيرَةٍ |
النِّداء — the vocative
| Prompt | Recall |
|---|---|
| the particle · the person called | حَرْفُ النِّداء / ياءُ النِّداء = يا · the مُنادَى |
| rule 1 | no الـ — يا أَوْلادُ, never yā al-awlādu |
| rule 2 | no tanwīn — يا زَيْنَبُ, not yā Zaynabun |
| rule 3 — if the مُنادَى is a مُضاف | it goes مَنْصُوب (fatḥah) |
| the مُضاف examples | يا عَبْدَ اللهِ · يا أُمَّ مُحَمَّدٍ · يا أَبا أَحْمَدَ · يا سائِقَ السَّيّارَةِ |
| why the dialogue reads أَبا | because أَبا أَحْمَدَ is a muḍāf — hence manṣūb |
The exercise:
| Arabic | Meaning |
|---|---|
| يا سَعِيدُ، كُلْ خُبْزًا! | Saʿīd, eat some bread! |
| أَحْضِرْ لِيَ الدَّرْسَ يا رَفِيقُ! | Bring me the lesson, Rafīq! |
| يا فاطِمَةُ، سافِرِي إِلَى دِمَشْقَ! | Fāṭimah, travel to Damascus! (f. imperative سافِرِي) |
| يا مُحَمَّدُ، اُسْكُنْ هُنا! | Muḥammad, stay here! |
| يا أَبا بَكْرٍ، صَلِّ فِي المَسْجِدِ! | Abū Bakr, pray in the mosque! (أَبا — muḍāf) |
| يا مَرِيضُ، قابِلْ طَبِيبَكَ! | O patient, go and see your doctor! |
In the Qurʾān:
| Verse | Point |
|---|---|
| يا أُخْتَ هارُونَ (19:28) | أُخْتَ fatḥah — muḍāf to هارُونَ |
| يا إِبْراهِيمُ | plain name — no al-, no tanwīn |
| يا أَبانَا اسْتَغْفِرْ لَنا ذُنُوبَنا (12:97) | أَبانا manṣūb — muḍāf to نا |
| يا نارُ كُونِي بَرْدًا وَسَلامًا (21:69) | no tanwīn; كُونِي f. because نار is feminine |
| يا آدَمُ اسْكُنْ أَنْتَ وَزَوْجُكَ الجَنَّةَ (2:35) | plain name |
| يا بُنَيَّ أَقِمِ الصَّلاةَ (31:17) | muḍāf to the yāʾ of "my" |
النَّشِيد — the Hijrah interlude (summarised in the source, not transcribed)
| Phrase | Gloss |
|---|---|
| the refrain | لا تَحْزَنْ إِنَّ اللهَ مَعَنا (9:40) — لا تَحْزَنْ = do not be sad |
| بِهِجْرَةِ نَبِيِّنا · الهادِي | with the Hijrah of our Prophet · the guide, a title of the Messenger ﷺ |
| مِنْ مَكَّةَ هاجَرَ لِلْمَدِينَةِ · يَوْمٌ حارٌّ | from Makkah he migrated to Madīnah · a hot day (حارّ) |
| صاحِبُهُ فِي الغارِ · يُناجِيهِ (← ناجَى) | his companion in the cave · he confides in him quietly |
| اللهُ ثالِثُنا · اسْتَبْشَرَتِ المَدِينَةُ | Allah is the third of us · Madīnah rejoiced |
| وَمَلَأَ بِالأَمْنِ وَالسَّكِينَةِ | the calm and security Allah filled them with [heavily garbled] |
التَّخْيِيم — the camping passage
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| مُخَيَّم pl. مُخَيَّمات · خَيْمة pl. خِيام · تَخْيِيم | camp · tent · camping |
| نَصَبَ / يَنْصِبُ · وَسائِل · فَرِيق | to pitch, set up · the means, the kit · a group, party |
| بَرّ · شاطِئ البَحْرِ · الجِبال | open country · the seashore · the mountains |
| طَيْر / طُيُور · تَصْوِير · مَشْي · سِباحة | bird(s) · photography · walking · swimming |
| أَعَدَّ / يُعِدُّ · إِعْداد · آنِية | to prepare, make ready · vessels, containers |
| تَمَتَّعَ · نَتِيجة · بِضْع / بَعْض | to enjoy · result, consequence · several / some |
| اِخْتِلاف ≠ خِلاف (quarrel) · مَسْأَلة خِلافِيّة | a difference of opinion · a disputed question — both views stand |
The lines:
| Arabic | Meaning |
|---|---|
| كَثِيرٌ مِنَ النّاسِ يُفَضِّلُونَ التَّرْوِيحَ خارِجَ البَيْتِ | many prefer to relax outside the house |
| حَيْثُ يَقْضُونَ الوَقْتَ فِي المُخَيَّماتِ | where they spend the time in camps |
| يَخْتَلِفُ الوَقْتُ الَّذِي يَقْضِيهِ النّاسُ فِي المُخَيَّماتِ | the time people spend in the camps varies |
| قَدْ يَكُونُ لَيْلَةً واحِدَةً | it may be a single night |
| يَخْتَلِفُ المَكانُ أَيْضًا · قَدْ يَكُونُ عَلَى شاطِئِ البَحْرِ | the place varies too · it may be on the seashore |
| حَيْثُ الهَواءُ النَّقِيُّ | where the air is pure |
| فِي أَيّامِ العُطْلَةِ يَنْصِبُونَ فِي أَماكِنِ التَّرْوِيحِ الخِيامَ | on holidays they pitch tents at the recreation spots |
| وَيَحْمِلُونَ مَعَهُمُ الطَّعامَ وَالشَّرابَ وَوَسائِلَ التَّرْوِيحِ | they carry food, drink and the means of recreation |
| وَيُفَضِّلُ فَرِيقٌ مِنَ النّاسِ أَنْ يَكُونُوا قَرِيبًا مِنْ شاطِئِ البَحْرِ | one group prefers to be near the shore |
| حَيْثُ يُمارِسُونَ السِّباحَةَ وَالرِّياضاتِ الأُخْرَى | where they swim and do other sports |
| وَيُفَضِّلُ بَعْضُهُمْ مُشاهَدَةَ الطُّيُورِ وَالتَّصْوِيرَ وَالمَشْيَ | some prefer birdwatching, photography and walking |
| يَحْمِلُ النّاسُ مَعَهُمْ إِلَى البَرِّ خِيامًا وَمَلابِسَ | people carry tents and clothes to the open country |
| وَبَعْضُ النّاسِ يُعِدُّونَ أَطْعِمَتَهُمْ فِي بُيُوتِهِمْ · فِي آنِيَةٍ | some prepare their food at home · in containers |
| هُناكَ مَنْ يُفَضِّلُ إِعْدادَ طَعامِهِمْ فِي المُخَيَّماتِ | others prefer to cook at the camp |
| وَيَحْمِلُونَ مَعَهُمْ ماءً إِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ فِي المَكانِ ماءٌ | they carry water if the place has none |
The two grammar points in the passage
| Point | Recall |
|---|---|
| حَيْثُ — three senses | place "where" (ذَهَبْتُ إِلَى كُولُومْبُو حَيْثُ تَمَتَّعْتُ بِالبَحْرِ) · cause "since / because" (حَيْثُ كانَ سَعِيدٌ وَلَدًا صَغِيرًا … لَمْ يَجِدْ عَمَلًا) · with ما "wherever" (اِتَّقِ اللهَ حَيْثُما كُنْتَ) |
| قَدْ — two opposite senses | قَدْ + ماضٍ = certainty (قَدْ ذَهَبَ, "he has definitely gone"; قَدْ أَفْلَحَ المُؤْمِنُونَ) · قَدْ + مُضارِع = possibility (قَدْ يَذْهَبُ, "he may go"). Assume certainty everywhere and you will misread a verse or a ḥadīth |
| نَقِيّ | clean, pure — رَجُلٌ نَقِيٌّ · نَقِيُّ القَلْبِ; the funeral duʿāʾ اللّهُمَّ نَقِّنِي مِنْ خَطايايَ كَما يُنَقَّى الثَّوْبُ الأَبْيَضُ مِنَ الدَّنَسِ |
The close
| Prompt | Recall |
|---|---|
| what he announced | a test in the next class — "a small summary test," set simply, on the two lessons / two topics just covered, vocabulary included |
| what comes after the test | الحَياةُ الزَّوْجِيَّة — married life: how problems arise, how they are solved, how to speak |
| his advice on the test | keep it simple — little by little, small sentences, at the level of the exercise in front of you |
| how the recording ends | mid-sentence, on that announcement |
What is NOT here
| Missing | Why |
|---|---|
| the introduction to الفاعِل | never recorded — the tape opens inside the drill. Not supplied from outside the lecture |
| the nashīd in full | summarised in the source translation, not transcribed |
| the مُعْتَلّ verbs · أَمْرُ الغائِب · the rest of William Tell · the fifteen unmarked feminines · the حال | all still outstanding from L07 / L08 — none of them touched in this class |
Score 80% on the first try (23 / 28). Wrong answers let you retry to advance, but only the first pick is scored.