A Wall Magazine Line Under Dispute
The Arabic language club at a secondary school in Sabha is preparing a wall magazine for the school anniversary. A student, Huda, submits the opening line: «إنّ العلمَ نورٌ يُضيءُ دروبَنا، وما أجملَ أن نطلبَه». A second student, Nasser, objects before printing: he says «العلمَ» must be مرفوع after إنّ, that «ما أجملَ» is an ordinary question rather than an exclamation, and that «نورٌ» would sound better as «نوراً». The supervisor has one day before printing, may make only one correction, and the principal requires both grammatical accuracy and a clearly exclamatory meaning. The line must remain under twenty words and must keep the word «العلم». Nasser's objections are written on the proof sheet, and the club must decide whether to print the line unchanged or to alter it, and must be able to defend the decision if the principal asks.
1. Huda's line is «إنّ العلمَ نورٌ يُضيءُ دروبَنا، وما أجملَ أن نطلبَه». Is it grammatically sound as printed? Give the i'rab of «العلمَ» and «نورٌ», and say whether the club must change anything.
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The line is sound and can be printed unchanged. «العلمَ» is the اسم of إنّ, منصوب, with a visible fatha; إنّ is one of the أحرف مشبهة بالفعل that تنصب الاسم وترفع الخبر. «نورٌ» is the خبر of إنّ, مرفوع, with a visible damma. The following clause «يضيءُ دروبَنا» is in the محل of رفع, acting as a صفة for «نور», and «دروبَ» is مفعول به منصوب, with «نا» in محل جر مضاف إليه. Nasser's first objection therefore reverses the rule: إنّ does not raise its اسم; it raises its خبر. No correction is needed, and since the principal allows only one correction, the club should not spend it here. The only defensible change would be stylistic, not grammatical, and would alter the exclamation, so the safe editorial decision is to print Huda's version and attach the i'rab note to the proof. A reviewer who checks only case endings will see fatha on the اسم and damma on the خبر, which is exactly what إنّ requires.
2. Nasser also says that «ما أجملَ» is an ordinary question and that «نوراً» would be an improvement on «نورٌ». Assess both claims.
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«ما أجملَ» is not a question here. In «ما أجملَ أن نطلبَه», ما is تعجبية, not استفهامية: it cannot be answered with yes or no, the verb أجملَ is a جامد verb of wonder on the pattern أفعلَ, and the whole is an exclamatory nominal sentence - ما in محل رفع مبتدأ, and the clause «أجملَ...» in محل رفع خبر. The فاعل of أجملَ is a مستتر pronoun, and the المصدر المؤول «أن نطلبَه» fills the مفعول به slot. Reading it as a question would require different intonation and would make the sentence ask whether the act is beautiful, which is not the club's intended meaning and would sit oddly with the opening إنّ. «نوراً» is not an improvement. If it replaced «نورٌ», it would be خبر إنّ, which must be مرفوع; a fatha there would be a grammatical error, not a refinement. The only way to justify «نوراً» would be to invent a different structure, such as a حال or a second مفعول, which the one-correction limit and the twenty-word limit do not permit. Reject both objections and keep the nominative.
3. Write the one-sentence justification the supervisor should file with the proof, and explain why it meets both the grammar requirement and the exclamation requirement.
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Suggested filing sentence: «أُقرّت الجملة كما هي لأنّ العلمَ اسم إنّ منصوب، ونورٌ خبرها مرفوع، ولأنّ ما في ما أجملَ تعجبية لا استفهامية». It meets the grammar requirement because it names the governing operator (إنّ), the case of each noun (نصب for the اسم, رفع for the خبر), and the reason (عمل إنّ), so a reviewer can check it without re-parsing the whole line. It meets the exclamation requirement because identifying ما as تعجبية preserves the intended meaning and blocks Nasser's reading of the clause as a question. It also respects the constraints: it is one sentence, it keeps the line under twenty words, it uses no correction slot, and it gives the principal a defensible record. If the principal prefers grammatical terminology to be glossed, add «(اسم إنّ منصوب)» and «(خبرها مرفوع)» in parentheses without changing the analysis. The filed sentence should be dated and signed by the supervisor, because the proof sheet will otherwise look as if the club simply ignored Nasser.