Arabic Language and Literature
Core concepts
A candidate must master three strands: grammar (النحو) - the case system (إعراب), verb types, transitivity, and the functions of nominal and verbal sentences; rhetoric (البلاغة) - the figures of تشبيه, استعارة, كناية, مجاز, and the sciences of معاني and بديع; and literary analysis - identifying genre, theme, structure, tone, and the relationship between form and meaning in classical and modern texts (شعر عمودي، شعر حر، مقالة، قصة قصيرة).
Traps
- Confusing حال (circumstantial accusative) with تمييز or with a predicate of a hidden verb; the clue is a question like كيف؟.
- In استعارة, distinguishing تصريحية (the borrowed term is stated) from مكنية (the borrowed term is implied through a human attribute attached to an inanimate).
- Confusing بديع embellishments (جناس، طباق) with معاني-level effects (تقديم، تأخير، قصر).
- In analysis prompts, describing figures without linking them to the author's intent - examiners award marks for interpretation, not naming alone.
Rule of thumb
For any rhetorical figure, answer in three steps: name it → explain how it works in this text → state its effect on meaning or emotion. For إعراب, parse the sentence first into clause type, then assign each word its function before naming the case.
Worked example
العلمُ نورٌ - العلم: مبتدأ مرفوع; نور: خبر مرفوع. If written العلمُ كالنورِ this is تشبيه; if العلمُ نورٌ يُضيءُ العقولَ the metaphor is تصريحية because نور is explicitly borrowed for knowledge.