Lesson 84: The Arabian Peninsula

Step 1 of 5: Learn

Arabic calls the peninsula جَزِيرَةُ الْعَرَبِ the island of the Arabs or, more exactly, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّةِ the Arabian peninsula, literally the likeness of an island. Three seas surround it and only its northern side is joined to the mainland of Asia. The passage below describes it as a geographer would: where it lies, what its land is like, what grows there and how its people live. Notice how much of the text consists of nominal sentences, often with the predicate first, and how the adjectives of place and direction are formed with the ending ـِيٌّ.

Rule 1: 1. Descriptive nominal sentences

A description is a chain of nominal sentences. Three shapes recur. Subject + adjective: اَلصَّحْرَاءُ وَاسِعَةٌ the desert is vast. Predicate first when the predicate is a prepositional phrase and the subject indefinite: فِيهَا جِبَالٌ عَالِيَةٌ in it are high mountains, لِلْبَدَوِيِّ خِيَامٌ the Bedouin has tents. Participle or adjective + preposition: مَشْهُورٌ بِـ famous for, مُحَاطٌ بِـ surrounded by, مُتَّصِلٌ بِـ joined to, غَنِيٌّ بِـ rich in. The pronoun هِيَ or هُوَ may be inserted between a definite subject and a definite predicate: بِلَادُ الْعَرَبِ هِيَ الْأَرْضُ الَّتِي ... the land of the Arabs is the land which ...

جَزِيرَةُ الْعَرَبِ مُحَاطَةٌ بِالْبَحْرِ مِنْ ثَلَاثِ جِهَاتٍ.
jazīratu l-ʿarabi muḥāṭatun bi-l-baḥri min thalāthi jihātin
The Arabian Peninsula is surrounded by the sea on three sides.
فِي جَنُوبِهَا جِبَالٌ عَالِيَةٌ وَأَوْدِيَةٌ خَصْبَةٌ.
fī janūbihā jibālun ʿāliyatun wa-awdiyatun khaṣbatun
In its south there are high mountains and fertile valleys.
Predicate first, indefinite subject after it.
اَلْيَمَنُ مَشْهُورٌ بِأَمْطَارِهِ وَتُرْبَتِهِ الْخَصْبَةِ.
al-yamanu mashhūrun bi-amṭārihi wa-turbatihi l-khaṣbati
Yemen is famous for its rains and its fertile soil.
لَيْسَ فِي الْجَزِيرَةِ نَهْرٌ دَائِمٌ، وَإِنَّمَا فِيهَا أَوْدِيَةٌ يَجْرِي فِيهَا الْمَاءُ بَعْدَ الْمَطَرِ.
laysa fi l-jazīrati nahrun dāʾimun, wa-innamā fīhā awdiyatun yajrī fīha l-māʾu baʿda l-maṭari
There is no permanent river in the peninsula; there are only valleys in which water runs after rain.
لَيْسَ فِيهَا ... وَإِنَّمَا فِيهَا: 'there is not ... there is only'.

Rule 2: 2. The nisba adjective in context

The ending ـِيٌّ (feminine ـِيَّةٌ) turns a noun into an adjective of relation, the nisba: عَرَبٌ Arabs gives عَرَبِيٌّ Arab, Arabic; جَبَلٌ gives جَبَلِيٌّ mountainous; رَمْلٌ gives رَمْلِيٌّ sandy; شَرْقٌ gives شَرْقِيٌّ eastern. A final ة is dropped before the ending (مَكَّةُ gives مَكِّيٌّ Meccan, بَادِيَةٌ gives بَدَوِيٌّ Bedouin). The nisba behaves like any adjective: it follows its noun and agrees with it, and the feminine in ـِيَّةٌ is also used, with the article, as the name of a language or a region: اَلْعَرَبِيَّةُ Arabic, اَلْجَزِيرَةُ الْعَرَبِيَّةُ.

اَلسَّاحِلُ الْغَرْبِيُّ جَبَلِيٌّ وَالسَّاحِلُ الشَّرْقِيُّ رَمْلِيٌّ.
as-sāḥilu l-gharbiyyu jabaliyyun wa-s-sāḥilu sh-sharqiyyu ramliyyun
The western coast is mountainous and the eastern coast is sandy.
هٰذَا الْوَادِي رَمْلِيٌّ وَتِلْكَ الْأَرْضُ الْجَنُوبِيَّةُ خَصْبَةٌ.
hādha l-wādī ramliyyun wa-tilka l-arḍu l-janūbiyyatu khaṣbatun
This valley is sandy and that southern land is fertile.
Feminine nisba الْجَنُوبِيَّةُ agreeing with الْأَرْضُ.
يَسْكُنُ الْبَدَوِيُّ فِي خَيْمَةٍ وَيَسْكُنُ الْقَرَوِيُّ فِي بَيْتٍ مِنْ حَجَرٍ.
yaskunu l-badawiyyu fī khaymatin wa-yaskunu l-qarawiyyu fī baytin min ḥajarin
The Bedouin lives in a tent and the villager lives in a house of stone.
قَرْيَةٌ gives قَرَوِيٌّ: the ة drops and the ي becomes و.
اَلرِّيَاحُ الشِّمَالِيَّةُ بَارِدَةٌ فِي الشِّتَاءِ.
ar-riyāḥu sh-shimāliyyatu bāridatun fi sh-shitāʾi
The northern winds are cold in winter.

Rule 3: 3. ذُو and ذَاتُ 'possessor of' (first look)

This is a first look at a word the passage needs; its full declension is drilled in lesson 100. To say that something has or is characterised by a quality, Arabic puts ذُو (feminine ذَاتُ) in iḍāfa with a noun: أَرْضٌ ذَاتُ تُرْبَةٍ خَصْبَةٍ a land with fertile soil, literally a land, possessor of fertile soil. ذُو is declined like أَبُو: nominative ذُو, accusative ذَا, genitive ذِي; ذَاتُ takes the ordinary three cases. The plural is ذَوُو (gen./acc. ذَوِي) for men and ذَوَاتُ for women and things. Being an iḍāfa, ذُو never takes the article but agrees in definiteness with its noun through the second term: اَلرَّجُلُ ذُو الْمَالِ the man of wealth.

اَلْيَمَنُ بَلَدٌ ذُو جِبَالٍ وَأَمْطَارٍ.
al-yamanu baladun dhū jibālin wa-amṭārin
Yemen is a country with mountains and rains.
تِهَامَةُ أَرْضٌ ذَاتُ حَرٍّ شَدِيدٍ.
tihāmatu arḍun dhātu ḥarrin shadīdin
Tihāma is a land of intense heat.
سَكَنَ الْبَدْوُ فِي وَادٍ ذِي مَاءٍ وَعُشْبٍ.
sakana l-badwu fī wādin dhī māʾin wa-ʿushbin
The Bedouin settled in a valley with water and grass.
Genitive ذِي after the genitive وَادٍ.
لِمَكَّةَ مَكَانَةٌ عَظِيمَةٌ عِنْدَ الْعَرَبِ لِأَنَّهَا ذَاتُ تَارِيخٍ قَدِيمٍ.
li-makkata makānatun ʿaẓīmatun ʿinda l-ʿarabi li-annahā dhātu tārīkhin qadīmin
Mecca has great standing among the Arabs because it has an ancient history.

4. Four small words of the passage

مُنْذُ since, for: مُنْذُ الْأَزْمِنَةِ الْقَدِيمَةِ since ancient times, مُنْذُ سَنَةٍ for a year. مَا زَالَ still, a sister of كَانَ with an accusative predicate or a following imperfect: مَا زَالَ الْعَرَبُ يَسْكُنُونَ فِيهَا the Arabs still live in it. لَا سِيَّمَا especially: لَا سِيَّمَا الْيَمَنُ especially Yemen. إِذَا when, whenever with the perfect, the main clause often with the perfect too: إِذَا جَاءَ الصَّيْفُ صَعِدُوا إِلَى الْجِبَالِ when summer comes they go up to the mountains. Lastly مَعَ كَوْنِهَا although it is, literally with its being: كَوْن is the maṣdar of كَانَ.

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).

جَزِيرَةٌ

jazīratun

island; peninsula

قَارَّةٌ

qārratun

continent

خَلِيجٌ

khalījun

gulf, bay

سَاحِلٌ

sāḥilun

coast, shore

وَادٍ

wādin

valley, wadi

سَهْلٌ

sahlun

plain, lowland (noun); easy (adjective)

رَمْلٌ

ramlun

sand

تُرْبَةٌ

turbatun

soil, earth

خَصْبٌ

khaṣbun

fertile

مَرْعًى

marʿan

pasture

عُشْبٌ

ʿushbun

grass, herbage

مَاشِيَةٌ

māshiyatun

livestock, cattle

بَدَوِيٌّ

badawiyyun

Bedouin, nomad

خَيْمَةٌ

khaymatun

tent

مُعْتَدِلٌ

muʿtadilun

temperate, moderate

دَافِئٌ

dāfiʾun

warm

Step 2 of 5: Read

The Arabian Peninsula

شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّةِ

Tap any word to look it up.

Notes

Comprehension

1.Which three bodies of water surround the peninsula?
2.Why are there no permanent rivers, and what is there instead?
3.Which region is described as having plentiful rain and fertile soil?
4.Where do the Bedouin go in summer, and why?
5.What do the Bedouin get from their animals?

In the Quran

بِوَادٍ غَيْرِ ذِى زَرْعٍ
Surah Ibrahim · 14:37
بِوَادٍ غَيْرِ ذِي زَرْعٍ: Ibrāhīm's words about Mecca, 'in a valley without cultivation'. وَادٍ is the indefinite genitive of the defective noun, and ذِي is the genitive of ذُو agreeing with it.
- بِوَادٍbiwādinin a valley
- غَيْرِghayrinot
- ذِىdhīwith
- زَرْعٍzarʿincultivation
Read in context
بِلِسَانٍ عَرَبِىٍّۢ مُّبِينٍۢ
Surah Ash-Shu'ara · 26:195
بِلِسَانٍ عَرَبِيٍّ مُبِينٍ: the nisba adjective عَرَبِيٌّ following its noun and agreeing with it in the indefinite genitive, 'in a clear Arabic tongue'.
- بِلِسَانٍbilisāninIn language
- عَرَبِىٍّۢʿarabiyyinArabic
- مُّبِينٍۢmubīninclear
Read in context
وَٱلسَّمَآءِ ذَاتِ ٱلْبُرُوجِ
Surah Al-Buruj · 85:1
وَالسَّمَاءِ ذَاتِ الْبُرُوجِ: feminine ذَاتُ in the genitive after the genitive السَّمَاءِ, 'the sky, possessor of the constellations'.
- وَٱلسَّمَآءِwal-samāiBy the sky
- ذَاتِdhāticontaining
- ٱلْبُرُوجِl-burūjithe constellations
Read in context

Step 3 of 5: Practice

Exercises

Strict harakat

Exercise 1 of 60/0 correct

Transform

Form the nisba adjective and make it agree:

أَرْضٌ (رَمْلٌ)

Step 4 of 5: Quiz

Translate from Arabic to English

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

1.

جَزِيرَةُ الْعَرَبِ مُتَّصِلَةٌ مِنَ الشَّمَالِ بِبِلَادِ الشَّامِ وَالْعِرَاقِ.

2.

هٰذِهِ الصَّحْرَاءُ رَمْلِيَّةٌ وَلٰكِنَّ تُرْبَةَ ذٰلِكَ الْوَادِي خَصْبَةٌ.

3.

إِذَا نَزَلَ الْمَطَرُ كَثُرَ الْعُشْبُ فِي الْمَرَاعِي وَشَرِبَتِ الْمَوَاشِي مِنَ الْأَوْدِيَةِ.

4.

مَا زَالَ الْبَدْوُ يَسْكُنُونَ فِي خِيَامٍ مِنْ شَعْرِ الْمَاشِيَةِ.

5.

اَلْيَمَنُ بِلَادٌ ذَاتُ طَقْسٍ مُعْتَدِلٍ لَا سِيَّمَا فِي الْجِبَالِ.

6.

عَلَى السَّاحِلِ الْغَرْبِيِّ مِينَاءٌ قَدِيمٌ تَصِلُ إِلَيْهِ السُّفُنُ مِنْ قَارَّةِ إِفْرِيقِيَا.

Translate from English to Arabic

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

1.

The deserts of the Arabian Peninsula are vast and sandy.

2.

The Bedouin moved from place to place in search of water and grass.

3.

In the south of the peninsula there are high mountains with fertile soil.

4.

The eastern coast lies on the Gulf and the western coast on the Red Sea.

5.

The weather is warm in the plains in winter and cold in the mountains.

6.

The Arabs have lived in this land since ancient times.

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