Durus al-Balagha — First Lessons in Arabic Rhetoric (دروس البلاغة) — Page 6

Arabic text · النص

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ الَّذِي أَنْزَلَ عَلَى عَبْدِهِ الْكِتَابَ بِلِسَانٍ عَرَبِيٍّ مُبِينٍ

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, who sent down the Book upon His servant in a clear Arabic tongue.

وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى أَفْصَحِ الْخَلْقِ أَجْمَعِينَ نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَمَنْ تَبِعَهُمْ بِإِحْسَانٍ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ.

And prayers and peace be upon the most eloquent of all creation, our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family, his companions, and those who follow them in righteousness until the Day of Judgment.

أَمَّا بَعْدُ: فَإِنَّ عِلْمَ الْعَرَبِيَّةِ عِلْمٌ شَرِيفُ الْقَدْرِ، عَظِيمُ الْمَنْزِلَةِ بَيْنَ عُلُومِ الشَّرْعِ؛

To proceed: The science of the Arabic language is a science of noble value and great status among the sciences of the Law.

ذَلِكَ أَنَّهُ الْأُسُّ الَّذِي يَنْبَنِي عَلَيْهِ فَهْمُ بَقِيَّةِ الْعُلُومِ وَهُوَ الْوَسِيلَةُ لِفَهْمِ مَعَانِي كَلَامِ اللَّهِ وَكَلَامِ رَسُولِهِ.

That is because it is the foundation upon which the understanding of the rest of the sciences is built, and it is the means to understand the meanings of the speech of Allah and the speech of His Messenger.

وَمِنْ عُلُومِ الْعَرَبِيَّةِ الَّتِي لَا بُدَّ أَنْ يَأْخُذَ طَالِبُ الْعِلْمِ مِنْهَا حَظَّهُ وَيَنَالَ مِنْهَا نَصِيبَهُ وَتَكُونَ لَهُ فِيهَا قَدَمٌ رَاسِخَةٌ، عِلْمُ الْبَلَاغَةِ الَّذِي هُوَ رُوحُ عِلْمِ النَّحْوِ وَسِرُّ مَا فِيهِ مِنَ الظَّوَاهِرِ النَّحْوِيَّةِ،

And among the sciences of Arabic that the student of knowledge must take his share of, obtain his portion of, and have a firm footing in, is the science of rhetoric, which is the soul of the science of grammar and the secret of what it contains of grammatical phenomena.

وَبِفَهْمِهِ يُدْرِكُ الْمَرْءُ مَا فِي الْقُرْآنِ الْكَرِيمِ مِنَ الْأَسْرَارِ الْبَلَاغِيَّةِ.

And by understanding it, a person realizes what is in the Noble Quran of rhetorical secrets.

وَلِأَهَمِّيَّةِ هَذَا الْعِلْمِ وَتَعَلُّقِهِ بِكِتَابِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وَسُنَّةِ رَسُولِهِ عَنِيَ بِهِ الْعُلَمَاءُ قَدِيمًا وَحَدِيثًا، فَأَلَّفُوا فِيهِ مُؤَلَّفَاتٍ.

And due to the importance of this science and its connection to the Book of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, and the Sunnah of His Messenger, scholars have cared for it, both ancient and modern, and have authored books on it.

Vocabulary · المفردات (10 verbs · 53 nouns)

• أَنْزَلَ — to send down
• تَبِعَ — to follow
• اِنْبَنَى — to be built upon
• أَخَذَ — to acquire
• نَالَ — to obtain
• كَانَ — to be
• أَدْرَكَ — to realize
• تَعَلَّقَ — to relate to
• عَنِيَ — to care for
• أَلَّفَ — to author
• دَرْسٌ — lesson
• بَلَاغَةٌ — rhetoric
• مُقَدِّمَةٌ — introduction
• حَمْدٌ — praise
• رَبٌّ — lord
• عَالَمٌ — world
• عَبْدٌ — servant
• كِتَابٌ — book
• لِسَانٌ — tongue
• عَرَبِيٌّ — Arabic
• مُبِينٌ — clear
• صَلَاةٌ — prayer
• سَلَامٌ — peace
• أَفْصَحُ — most eloquent
• خَلْقٌ — creation
• نَبِيٌّ — prophet
• آلٌ — family
• صَحْبٌ — companion
• إِحْسَانٌ — benevolence
• يَوْمٌ — day
• دِينٌ — religion
• عِلْمٌ — science
• شَرِيفٌ — noble
• قَدْرٌ — value
• عَظِيمٌ — great
• مَنْزِلَةٌ — status
• شَرْعٌ — law
• أُسٌّ — foundation
• فَهْمٌ — understanding
• بَقِيَّةٌ — remainder
• وَسِيلَةٌ — means
• مَعْنًى — meaning
• كَلَامٌ — speech
• رَسُولٌ — messenger
• طَالِبٌ — student
• حَظٌّ — share
• نَصِيبٌ — portion
• قَدَمٌ — foot
• رَاسِخٌ — firm
• رُوحٌ — spirit
• نَحْوٌ — grammar
• سِرٌّ — secret
• ظَاهِرَةٌ — phenomenon
• نَحْوِيٌّ — grammatical
• مَرْءٌ — person
• قُرْآنٌ — Quran
• كَرِيمٌ — noble
• بَلَاغِيٌّ — rhetorical
• أَهَمِّيَّةٌ — importance
• سُنَّةٌ — tradition
• قَدِيمٌ — ancient
• حَدِيثٌ — modern
• مُؤَلَّفٌ — book