STPM Bahasa Arab 913 cheat sheet

I'rab states are four: raf' (nominative, ضمة), nasb (accusative, فتحة), jarr (genitive, كسرة), jazm (jussive, سكون); only verbs take jazm, only nouns take jarr.

Marfu' positions: fa'il (subject), na'ib fa'il, mubtada', khabar, ism kana, khabar inna and its sisters, tabi' to any of these.

Mansub positions: maf'ul bih, khabar kana, ism inna, hal, tamyiz, maf'ul mutlaq, maf'ul li-ajlih, maf'ul ma'ah, mustathna, munada, ism la nafy al-jins.

Majrur is caused only by a preceding harf jarr or by idafah (mudaf ilayh); a noun after a preposition never takes raf'.

Mujarrad thulathi verb has six abwab (باب نصر، ضرب، فتح، سمع، كرم، علم); the bab is identified from the harakah of the 'ayn in the past versus the 'ayn in the present.

Plural rules: sound masculine plural takes ونَ in raf' and ينَ in nasb/jarr; sound feminine plural takes ات in raf' and اتِ (kasrah) in nasb/jarr; broken plural is treated as singular feminine.

Kana and its sisters (أصبح، ظل، بات، صار، ليس، ما زال، ما دام) make the mubtada' its ism (raf') and the khabar its khabar (nasb).

Inna and its sisters (أنّ، كأنّ، لكنّ، ليت، لعلّ) reverse kana: ism takes nasb, khabar takes raf'.

Weak verbs: if the 'illah letter is the lam (ناقص) the jazm marker is deletion of the final letter; if it is the 'ayn (أجوف) the jazm marker is deletion of the 'ayn letter.

Scan for the main idea (الفكرة الرئيسة) before translating; STPM passages usually open with a thesis sentence in the first two lines.

Distinguish الفكرة الرئيسة from الفكرة الجزئية: supporting details (تفاصيل داعمة) answer who/what/when, while the main idea answers what the whole passage asserts.

Pronoun reference questions (مرجع الضمير) are answered by locating the nearest preceding noun that agrees in gender and number.

Inference items (الاستنتاج) require a conclusion not stated literally; reject options that merely repeat a sentence from the text.

Vocabulary-in-context (معنى الكلمة في السياق) is decided by the surrounding collocation, not by the word's first dictionary sense.

Signal words: لكن، غير أنّ، بيد أنّ mark contrast; لذلك، hence/لذا mark result; أمّا...فـ marks topic-comparison structure.

Author's purpose (هدف الكاتب) options: الإقناع، الإخبار، التحذير، الإمتاع; match to the dominant verb type (imperative = persuasion or warning).

Title selection (عنوان مناسب) must cover the whole passage; a title that fits only one paragraph is a distractor.

Essay structure: مقدمة (thesis + 2–3 lines) → عرض (2–4 paragraphs, one idea each, each with شاهد/dalil) → خاتمة (restate + recommendation).

Connectors to grade: بالإضافة إلى ذلك، علاوة على ذلك (addition); ومن ثمّ، بناءً على ذلك (result); في المقابل، على النقيض (contrast); خلاصة القول (conclusion).

Formal register (الفصحى) forbids colloquial items such as كثيراً ما colloquial forms, عامية vocabulary, and English loanwords where an Arabic term exists.

Letter format: البسملة optional, then المرسل إليه، التحية، الموضوع، النص، الخاتمة والدعاء، التوقيع والاسم والتاريخ.

Argumentative essay must include a counter-argument (الرأي المخالف) refuted with evidence; absence of it caps the content mark.

Word-count discipline: aim 10% above the minimum; padding with repeated synonyms is penalised under تنظيم الأفكار.

Hamzat wasl drops in pronunciation when preceded by a word; hamzat qat' is always pronounced - check verbs like استخدم (wasl) versus أكرم (qat').

Punctuation: الفاصلة (،) between short clauses, النقطة (.) at sentence end, علامة الاستفهام (؟), and التنصيص («») for quotations.

Idafah (possessive construct) reverses in Malay: كتاب الطالب → 'buku pelajar' - the second term comes first in Malay, first term in Arabic.

Arabic adjective follows the noun and agrees in four features (definiteness, gender, number, case); Malay adjective precedes the noun: بيت كبير → 'rumah besar'.

Arabic verb-first sentence (jumlah fi'liyyah) usually becomes subject-first in Malay: كتب الطالب الدرس → 'Pelajar itu menulis pelajaran'.

The Arabic definite article ال often maps to Malay 'itu' (definite) or is dropped; indefinite nouns map to 'sebuah/seekor/seorang' or nothing.

Dual (مثنى) has no Malay inflection; render as 'dua' plus noun: كتابان → 'dua buah buku'.

Passive: Arabic وُجد، كُتب، يُعتبر map naturally to Malay passive 'di-' forms (ditemui, ditulis, dianggap).

False friends: Arabic مادة means 'material/subject', not Malay 'madu'; Arabic سيارة means 'car', not Malay 'siarah'.

Religious terms keep their established Malay forms: الحج → haji, الزكاة → zakat, الصيام → puasa, الوضوء → wuduk.

Pre-Islamic (الجاهلي) poetry: qasidah opens with the طلل (abandoned campsite) motif, then nasib (love), then the main theme (fakhr, madh, ritha').

The المعلقات are the celebrated seven (or ten) odes; famous poets include امرؤ القيس، زهير بن أبي سلمى، عنترة بن شداد، لبيد بن ربيعة.

Umayyad poetry splits into political (السياسي), ghazal (عمر بن أبي ربيعة), and naqa'id (jarir vs al-akhṭal vs al-farazdaq).

Abbasid era: Abu Nuwas (خمريات), al-Mutanabbi (fakhr and madh, dense hikmah), Abu al-'Ala' al-Ma'arri (اللزوميات, philosophical pessimism).

Modern (الحديث) schools: مدرسة الإحياء والبعث (al-Barudi, Shawqi, Hafiz Ibrahim), مدرسة الديوان (al-'Aqqad, al-Mazini, Shukri), مدرسة أبولو (romantic), الشعر الحر / قصيدة النثر.

Prose genres: مقامة (rhymed anecdote, al-Hariri, al-Hamadhani), رسالة (epistle), سيرة (biography), رواية (novel), قصة قصيرة (short story).

Narrative terms: السارد (narrator), الشخصية الرئيسة/الثانوية, الحبكة (plot), الصراع (conflict), الزمان والمكان (setting), الحل (resolution).

Rhetorical figures in literary analysis: تشبيه، استعارة، كناية، طباق، جناس - name the figure and explain its effect, not just label it.

Three branches: علم المعاني (syntax and word order for meaning), علم البيان (figurative expression), علم البديع (verbal and semantic ornamentation).

تشبيه has four pillars: المشبه، المشبه به، أداة التشبيه (كـ، مثل، كأنّ), وجه الشبه; deleting the tool and face gives تشبيه بليغ (e.g., محمد أسد).

استعارة: تشبيه with one pillar deleted; استعارة تصريحية keeps the musta'ar lahu explicit, استعارة مكنية keeps the musta'ar minhu and hints at the deleted one.

كناية = mention of a thing to imply another without using a comparison tool; e.g., كثير الرماد = generous (kinayah about generosity).

طباق = pairing opposites (الليل والنهار); if from the same root it is جناس, if opposite meaning it is طباق.

جناس: تام (identical in all four features) vs ناقص; it is a البديع device producing rhythm and emphasis.

الإيجاز vs الإطناب vs المساواة: brevity, expansion, and equal expression; إطناب is justified only for emphasis or clarification.

القصر (restriction) uses ما...إلا، إنما، or definite+indefinite ordering to confine a predicate to its subject.

أسلوب الخبر vs الإنشاء: khabar is truth-apt (statement); insha' is not (command, question, wish, oath) - used to signal persuasion or emotion.

Five pillars (أركان الإسلام): الشهادتان، الصلاة، الزكاة، صوم رمضان، حج البيت لمن استطاع إليه سبيلاً.

Zakat rate is 2.5% on wealth held for one lunar year above nisab; zakat fitrah is one sa' of staple food per person before Eid prayer.

Hijri calendar months in order: محرم، صفر، ربيع الأول، ربيع الآخر، جمادى الأولى، جمادى الآخرة، رجب، شعبان، رمضان، شوال، ذو القعدة، ذو الحجة.

Hajj rites order: إحرام → طواف القدوم → سعي → يوم التروية (8 ذو الحجة) → عرفة (9) → مزدلفة → رمي جمرات → طواف الإفاضة.

Arab cultural institutions: سوق عكاظ (pre-Islamic poetry market), بيت الحكمة (Abbasid translation academy), الأزهر (founded 970 CE, Fatimid).

Classical sciences of Arabic: النحو (grammar), الصرف (morphology), البلاغة (rhetoric), العروض (prosody), القافية (rhyme).

Arabic prosody: 16 بحور codified by al-Khalil ibn Ahmad; the foot (تفعيلة) such as فعولن، متفاعلن، مستفعلن determines the metre.

Adab (literature) versus 'ilm (science) distinction underpins traditional classification of Arabic knowledge.