Clearest/best book to self study SARF from?

[faisal ahmad]

Salaam,

As the title says, what would people say is the clearest or most comprehensive book to SELF STUDY sarf from? I understand memorising the tables play a significant part but in terms of explanations of what each component of each verb means etc? Doesn't have to be a book, if there are a collection of videos somewhere (free) that'd be great too.

As much as necessary to study classical texts, no more. I find sarf very tedious and boring compared to nahw but realise it's necessary.

[faisal ahmad]

In English btw...

[Sunni_Student786]

My brother, in my opinion, hands down, it is the book entitled "Fundamentals of Classical Arabic: Volume 1." It is available for download here: www.kalmullah.com

It is the best book for a self-study student to study on the subject, in my opinion. I have heard many say as well that the book is essentially the english translation of the Urdu Sarf manual "Ilm us Sarf."

It is my sincere recommendation that you start with this book and make sure that you MEMORIZE the tables. After this book, move on to using the Sarf tutorials on
www.learnarabiconline.com They are really quite clear and I have benefited from them greatly (I am also self-studying BTW). However, once more, I cannot impress upon you just how important it is to memorize the tables after you understand how they are constructed.

One more tip is to not try to memorize all the tables at once. Memorize the tables for regular verbs first, then go back and learn how they were constructed and give yourself some time (at least 2-3 weeks) before embarking on the memorizing of tables for so-called "irregular" verbs. Otherwise, especially if you find Sarf quite boring (as you and I both do), you'll quickly lose interest and feel overwhelmed.

Another tip that comes to mind that I have found useful is to go to Naaqis verbs after learning the regular verbs and tables. Memorize the "Naaqis ul Waw" tables, then go back and read explanations for how each form was constructed and then proceed to the next set of Naaqis verbs (i.e. "Naaqis ul Yaa"). The reason why I suggest going from regular verbs to Naaqis verbs is because I've noticed a lot of people who find Sarf boring lose steam while studying Ajwaf verbs and then kind of give up before getting to Naaqis. But if you study Naaqis before you're sick of memorizing tables, going back to Ajwaf, which I find easier, is more palatable and manageable especially after the difficulty of Naaqis verbs (the mastery of which Mufti Yusuf Mullan, so I've read, has dubbed "the height of Sarf").

Other resources which you might want to consult are the following books which offer information on ALL ASPECTS of Sarf, not just verbs and not just those with "regular" roots:

1) From the Treasures of Arabic Morphology (available for download from www.kalamullah.com) [but note that some of its Naaqis tables have typos that will really mess up a student]. Another benefit of this book is that it does have exercises, unlike the other resources that I've suggested.

and

2) Al Mujaz fi Tasreef (available for download from here: http://www.al3arabiya.org/2010/01/5-...y-al-qaem.html) This book is a wonderful REFERENCE text for you to use if you don't quite understand the explanations for how the the various verbs are conjugated or nouns derived however, it does suffer from one major defect and that is that there are many typos in the book, especially in the irregular verb tables which detracts from its status as a very fine work in English on Sarf.

So for you my brother, my suggestions would be:

1) Fundamentals of Classical Arabic: Volume 1
2) "Learn Arabic Online" Sarf Tutorials (www.learnarabiconline.com)
3) From the Treasures of Arabic Morphology
4) Al Mujaz fi Tasreef

I hope that this helps insha'allah.

[faisal ahmad]

Jz for your helpful post as always brother.