By The Arabic School
Iʿrāb is the grammatical analysis of an Arabic sentence. For each word you name what it is, give its case or mood, and state the sign that shows it. It is the practical heart of Naḥw, and the skill that turns knowledge of grammar into the ability to read.
A worked line
Here is a short sentence, parsed word by word:
جَاءَ الطَّالِبُ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ
- جَاءَ: a past verb, built on fatḥah.
- الطَّالِبُ: the doer (fāʿil), in the state of rafʿ, its sign the ḍammah.
- إِلَى: a preposition, built on sukūn.
- الْمَسْجِدِ: governed by the preposition, in the state of jarr, its sign the kasrah.
Every iʿrāb follows this pattern: what the word is, what state it is in, and the sign that shows it.
Why iʿrāb matters
Most students stall at the step from lightly vowelled text to unvowelled text. That step is crossed by iʿrāb, not by more reading alone. When the vowels are missing, the reader supplies them from Naḥw and Ṣarf. A student who can parse can read the classical texts as they were written.
Iʿrāb is a practical skill, closer to a sport than to a list of facts. A student can know the rules of al-Ājurrūmiyyah and still hesitate over a line of the Qurʾān. The skill comes from parsing a little every day.
Parsing in six skills
Iʿrāb: A Step by Step Approach, adapted by Ustadh Ibrahim A. Farooqui from the research of Shaykh Muḥammad al-ʿUmarī, breaks the work into two levels and six skills.
Level 1: the word
- Identify the word type: noun, verb or particle.
- Know the particle in depth.
- Know the verb in depth.
- Know the noun in depth.
Level 2: the sentence
- Break a paragraph into its sentences.
- Find the position of each word in its sentence.
The manual is a companion to the classical texts, not a replacement for them. It suits students who have studied Naḥw to about Qaṭr un-Nadā or Hidāyat an-Naḥw.
Where to practise
Parsing practice should follow your level. Beginners parse short, vowelled texts such as Zād uṭ-Ṭālibīn and the short sūrahs. Intermediate students parse al-Arbaʿūn an-Nawawiyyah. Advanced students parse whole paragraphs of unvowelled prose and the Forty Ḥadīth Qudsī.
Where to begin
If you are new to iʿrāb, begin with Iʿrāb 101, which teaches the terms of parsing and the essential elements of iʿrāb. Students preparing for the Alfiyyah of Ibn Mālik can take the Iʿrāb Intensive.
Study with The Arabic School
Our Naḥw courses pair every text with parsing practice on the Qurʾān, ḥadīth and classical prose.
For the full map of the sciences, the two classical routes and the texts for every level, download the free guide, Learning Arabic: Skills and Systems. You can also see all our courses and prices or book a one-to-one class.