Lesson 174: The Poor Donkey (2)

Step 1 of 5: Learn

The first half of the story set the scene: a poor peasant, a starved donkey, and a narrator who is not sure whether the animal speaks or his own conscience does. The second half answers the question the donkey asked, who refuses in this village?, not with a speech but with a series of events, each of which undoes the narrator's good intentions. Modern writers call this irony of situation: the reader sees what the narrator only half sees. Grammatically the passage is a summary of narrative Arabic: the perfect for events, كَانَ with the imperfect for background, قَدْ and كَانَ قَدْ for what had already happened, لَمْ with the jussive for what did not happen, verbs of beginning such as أَخَذَ يُفَكِّرُ, and the imperfect as a circumstantial clause (وَقَفْتُ أَنْتَظِرُ).

Rule 1: 2. The tenses of narrative: a review

A story in Arabic is carried by the perfect (وَصَلْنَا، رَبَطْتُ، دَخَلْتُ). Description of the scene behind the events uses كَانَ with the imperfect (continuous or habitual past) or with a noun predicate. An action completed before another past action takes كَانَ قَدْ + perfect (pluperfect), or simply قَدْ + perfect after أَنَّ and إِنَّ in reported speech. The negative of the narrative perfect is لَمْ + jussive. The future seen from the past is سَـ or سَوْفَ inside reported speech.

وَصَلْنَا إِلَى السُّوقِ قُبَيْلَ الظُّهْرِ.
waṣalnā ilā s-sūqi qubayla ẓ-ẓuhri.
We reached the market shortly before noon.
Perfect: an event.
كَانَ التُّجَّارُ يَصِيحُونَ فِي كُلِّ مَكَانٍ.
kāna t-tujjāru yaṣīḥūna fī kulli makānin.
The merchants were shouting everywhere.
كَانَ + imperfect: background.
عَلِمْتُ أَنَّهُ قَدْ دَفَعَ الْمَالَ إِلَى التَّاجِرِ.
ʿalimtu annahu qad dafaʿa l-māla ilā t-tājiri.
I learned that he had paid the money to the merchant.
قَدْ + perfect after أَنَّ: an earlier action.
كَانَ الْحِمَارُ قَدْ مَاتَ قَبْلَ وُصُولِي.
kāna l-ḥimāru qad māta qabla wuṣūlī.
The donkey had died before my arrival.
كَانَ قَدْ + perfect: pluperfect.
لَمْ يَسْأَلْنِي أَحَدٌ عَنِ الْفَلَّاحِ.
lam yasʾalnī aḥadun ʿani l-fallāḥi.
Nobody asked me about the peasant.
لَمْ + jussive: the negative past.

Rule 2: 3. Verbs of beginning and the circumstantial imperfect

Verbs meaning to begin, أَخَذَ، جَعَلَ، بَدَأَ، رَاحَ, are followed directly by an imperfect with the same subject and no أَنْ: أَخَذْتُ أُفَكِّرُ I began to think. The governing verb carries the tense; the imperfect carries the meaning. An imperfect placed after a complete verbal sentence, without وَ, describes the subject's state at that moment (a حَال): وَقَفْتُ أَنْتَظِرُ I stood waiting. لَمْ يَلْبَثْ أَنْ + perfect or subjunctive means it was not long before.

أَخَذْتُ أُفَكِّرُ فِي أَبِي سَالِمٍ وَأَوْلَادِهِ.
akhadhtu ufakkiru fī abī sālimin wa-awlādihi.
I began to think about Abū Sālim and his children.
جَعَلَ الْحِمَارُ يَأْكُلُ بِبُطْءٍ.
jaʿala l-ḥimāru yaʾkulu bi-buṭʾin.
The donkey began to eat slowly.
وَقَفْتُ أَمَامَهُ طَوِيلًا أَنْتَظِرُ أَنْ يَتَكَلَّمَ.
waqaftu amāmahu ṭawīlan antaẓiru an yatakallama.
I stood before it for a long time, waiting for it to speak.
أَنْتَظِرُ is a ḥāl without وَ.
لَمْ يَلْبَثِ الْمَطَرُ أَنْ تَوَقَّفَ.
lam yalbathi l-maṭaru an tawaqqafa.
It was not long before the rain stopped.

Rule 3: 4. لَعَلَّ and لَمْ … بَعْدُ

لَعَلَّ perhaps, it may be that is a sister of إِنَّ: its noun is accusative (or a pronoun suffix) and its predicate follows. With the first person it is لَعَلِّي or لَعَلَّنِي. In the Quran لَعَلَّكُمْ usually expresses purpose, so that you may. The adverb بَعْدُ (indeclinable with ḍamma) after a negative means yet: لَمْ يَتَعَلَّمْ بَعْدُ it has not learned yet.

لَعَلَّهُ لَمْ يَتَعَلَّمِ الْكَلَامَ بَعْدُ.
laʿallahu lam yataʿallami l-kalāma baʿdu.
Perhaps it has not yet learned to speak.
The jussive sukūn becomes kasra before ال.
لَعَلِّي أَنَا الَّذِي نَسِيتُ كَيْفَ أَسْمَعُ.
laʿallī anā lladhī nasītu kayfa asmaʿu.
Perhaps it is I who have forgotten how to listen.
لَعَلَّ الْفَلَّاحَ يَجِدُ عَمَلًا فِي الْمَدِينَةِ.
laʿalla l-fallāḥa yajidu ʿamalan fī l-madīnati.
Perhaps the peasant will find work in the city.
الْفَلَّاحَ accusative after لَعَلَّ.
لَمْ يَصِلِ الْقِطَارُ بَعْدُ.
lam yaṣili l-qiṭāru baʿdu.
The train has not arrived yet.

Vocabulary

Why do words end with “-un”?

The -un ending is called tanween (nunation). It marks indefinite nouns — similar to “a/an” in English.

كِتَابٌ (kitaabun) = a bookvsكِتَاب (kitaab) = book (base word)

To find the base word, simply remove the final “-un” sound (the double-stacked damma بٌ on the last letter).

شَعِيرٌ

shaʿīrun

barley

سَرْجٌ

sarjun

saddle

فَرَسٌ

farasun

horse, mare

أُجْرَةٌ

ujratun

fare, hire, wage

ضِعْفٌ

ḍiʿfun

double, twice the amount

رِفْقٌ

rifqun

kindness, gentleness

مَأْدُبَةٌ

maʾdubatun

banquet, feast

فَاخِرٌ

fākhirun

luxurious, splendid

جَفَافٌ

jafāfun

drought, dryness

حِمْلٌ

ḥimlun

load, burden

رَبَطَ يَرْبِطُ

rabaṭa yarbiṭu

to tie, tether

طَالَبَ يُطَالِبُ بِـ

ṭālaba yuṭālibu bi-

to demand, press for (payment)

مَدَحَ يَمْدَحُ

madaḥa yamdaḥu

to praise

لَعَلَّ

laʿalla

perhaps, it may be that

لَبِثَ يَلْبَثُ

labitha yalbathu

to stay, linger

Step 2 of 5: Read

The poor donkey (2)

اَلْحِمَارُ الْمِسْكِينُ (٢)

Tap any word to look it up.

Notes

Comprehension

1.What did the narrator buy for the donkey at the market?
2.To what did the donkey compare the mercy of city people?
3.What did the narrator write after returning to the city?
4.What had happened to the old donkey by the next summer?
5.How did Abū Sālim pay for the new donkey?

In the Quran

وَلَقَدْ جَآءَتْ رُسُلُنَآ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ بِٱلْبُشْرَىٰ قَالُوا۟ سَلَـٰمًۭا ۖ قَالَ سَلَـٰمٌۭ ۖ فَمَا لَبِثَ أَن جَآءَ بِعِجْلٍ حَنِيذٍۢ
Surah Hud · 11:69
فَمَا لَبِثَ أَنْ جَاءَ بِعِجْلٍ حَنِيذٍ 'and he did not delay to bring a roasted calf': لَبِثَ negated and followed by أَنْ + perfect, 'it was not long before'.
Read in context
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ ٱعْبُدُوا۟ رَبَّكُمُ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَكُمْ وَٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ
Surah Al-Baqarah · 2:21
لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ: لَعَلَّ with a pronoun suffix and an imperfect predicate, here expressing hope and purpose.
Read in context

Step 3 of 5: Practice

Exercises

Strict harakat

Exercise 1 of 60/0 correct

Fill in the blank

Make the sentence pluperfect ('had died') with كَانَ and قَدْ:

Step 4 of 5: Quiz

Translate from Arabic to English

Type your translation, then check it. Spelling and vowel marks are graded leniently.

1.

رَبَطْتُ الْحِمَارَ فِي ظِلِّ جِدَارٍ وَدَخَلْتُ السُّوقَ.

2.

كَانَتِ الْخُيُولُ وَاقِفَةً أَمَامَ الْمَقْهَى وَعَلَيْهَا سُرُوجٌ مُزَيَّنَةٌ.

3.

عَلِمْنَا أَنَّ الْفَلَّاحَ قَدْ دَفَعَ أُجْرَتَهُ إِلَى التَّاجِرِ.

4.

أَخَذَ الْأَطْفَالُ يَضْحَكُونَ حِينَ رَأَوُا الْحِمَارَ.

5.

لَعَلَّ الْمَطَرَ يَنْزِلُ غَدًا فَيَنْتَهِيَ الْجَفَافُ.

6.

لَمْ يَأْكُلِ الْحِمَارُ شَيْئًا مُنْذُ الصَّبَاحِ.

Translate from English to Arabic

Type your translation, then check it. Spelling and vowel marks are graded leniently.

1.

I paid him double the fare.

2.

The merchant was pressing him for his debt.

3.

My friends praised the article at a luxurious banquet.

4.

The donkey fell under a load of earth.

5.

I stood waiting for him to speak.

6.

Perhaps he has not learned yet.

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