Monday, February 25, 2008

Sufi and the Body Builder

Body Builder: Hey Sufi how you doing? Why are you so skinny? Come train with me in the gym I’ll make you buff in 6 months.Sufi: Peace be upon you my friend. I am well, praise be to Allah, you are looking healthy as well masha Allah. Thank you for your kind offer, before I take you up though I need to know how much effort I will need to put in to achieve this maqam of ‘buff’?BB: Well if you want

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

A Bridge

Looking at my last few posts here, you could be forgiven that I've turned this blog into nothing more than an advert for my book (which you can buy here). Sorry an' all that. Here's a proper post.

The majority of the world's great cities are built on or near water: rivers, canals or creeks. And where you get a body of water dividing a city, you need to build the means to cross it. Ferries and tunnels are fine, but nearly invisible. Some cities have become defined by their bridges. Think of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Tower Bridge in London, the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol or the Forth Bridge near Edinburgh. They are all marvels of engineering design.

The one those Americans thought they were buying

More recently we have the Millenium Bridge in London, which is purely for pedestrians. And what a beauty it is. It opens up a vista between St Paul's Cathedral and the Tate Modern Gallery, and is a superb example of what city governments can do to improve the environment for citizens.



So, I was very pleased today to come across images of a new bridge to be built across the Creek in Dubai on the UAE Community Blog. I've always thought that Dubai needed landmark bridges. The Maktoum and Garhoud Bridges are nothing to write home about: they are utilitarian devices for getting vehicles across the Creek without them getting wet. The Business Bay Crossing is also nothing more than a road over water. The new one, as yet unnamed, although I suggest that The Keefieboy Krossing would be a suitable name, is sexy, curvy, big and bouncy, and I love it! Kudos to the designers, FXFowle of New York and even to the RTA for commissioning it.



Images from Popular Mechanics

Travels in Xanadu-du: Update

To those of you who have already pre-ordered a copy of my book: thank you, thank you! To the rest of you, here's a little incentive. Several of my buddies have expressed a wish that I sign their copy (in the mercenary and entirely unlikely hope that I turn out to be the next J.K. Rowling). Sadly this is not possible, because the books will be printed in Milton Keynes and sent out from Liverpool in sunny England, whilst I am stuck here in Madrid in (currently) cloudy Spain. So, here's the deal.



There is a map of Xanadu-du. It will be printed in greyscale in the book, and you may well need to refer to it in order to follow the action. Pre-orderers will get a full-colour version of that map (the same size as the book), personally signed by moi. Is that cool or is that cool? So get your order in: http://www.xanadu-du.com/books.

Have we gone to press yet? No. Awaiting final proofreading by Don Colin (no pressure mate!), and then we get a printer's proof, and then we are in production. We're still aiming at the end of February.

And I love you all! Mwaah! Mwaah!

Monday, February 18, 2008

Asma bint Abu Bakr

by Shaikh Ibrahim Memon MadaniIt had been three days since they were hiding in the cave. Rasulullah (saw) and his close companion, Abu Bakr (ra), were forced to pause their migration from Makkah to Madinah and seek temporary refuge in the cave of Thawr. The disbeliever's hatred for them and the Islam they represented had reached its boiling point. The bounty was set for 100 camels for the person

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Valentines

by AhmedValentines day is hereits the same each yearwe are hit in the pocketpeople dash last minute to the supermarketto buy their loved one a giftso they can have a temporary liftand then the day is goneas quickly as the dawnand its back to reality for alltil next years valentines callgood mood and emotions consigned to the pastall year they could never laststop copying bill, freda and tedwhy

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

New Blogs Added

In addition to Baghdad Dentist and Iraqi Psychatrist, I have added links to two other Iraqi blogs.

Iraqi Plume holds the title of the only Iraqi blog actively detested by blog darling Sunshine, who accuses her of plagiarism, there are some [huge] angles to this claim, but still, some rather wonderful things began through imitation, besides, the blogosphere could use a few cheery girls anyway.

Inside Iraq is a blog written by Iraqi journalists working in the McClatchy newspapers, it often contains some useful insights.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

The puzzle of the extra pronouns

Like most (all?) Songhay languages, Kwarandzie has two sets of 3rd person pronouns: in this case, they are a (sg.) / i (pl.) vs. ana / ini. In southern Songhay (eg Koyra Chiini, the longer set are used as logophors - that is, used to refer back to the speaker in reported speech. This is not the case in Kwarandzie, though.

ana/ini are obligatory in pre-sentential topic and focus position (including when followed by a preposition), while a/i are obligatory for possessors:

ana (*a) a e-kka. ghi "it's him that hit me."
ini (*i) i-bbey ibbagen "them, they know tales."
an (*anan) kembi "his hand"

But in normal object position, either set can occur:

e-ggwa / e-ggwana "he saw him"

After much checking, I still have no idea what factors drive the selection of one or the other in this position. These are not used, Algonquian-style, for tracking two distinct referents: ²e-gga.r.ana ²e-kka.r.a "I found him and hit him" can as easily refer to hitting the same person as to two different objects.

So it's not logophoricity (much less reflexives), it's not an obviative or a switch-reference system, it's not related to politeness or gender... can anyone think of another possibility for me to check before I leave?

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Are you awake?

Whosoever is awake (to the material world) is the more asleep (to the spiritual world); his wakefulness is worse than his sleep. [Mathnavi]

Friday, February 8, 2008

Travels in Xanadu-du: Get It While It's Hot!

The deal with the printer is confirmed, so we are now taking orders for my fantastic book, Travels in Xanadu-du. Orders will be shipped before the end of February. So get clicking on the banner below.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Dars-e-Hadith

SalamsPreviously I have informed and invited you to listen to the dars of hadith delivered by Shaykh Abu Yusuf Riyadh ul Haq. For those unable to attend or hear the dars to date, here is a little taster for you courtesy of Al Kawthar Youtube group, which I came to know of via Muhabbat ul Deen website.Please do try and avail yourself of the Duroos by attending on Fri evening or listening online

Songhay words in El Jadida, Morocco

Bulbul sent me a link I just had to post about: the article describes, among other things, a secret language used by the Gnaoua, descendants of West Africans brought to Morocco as slaves in precolonial times, in El Jadida, Morocco (on the Atlantic coast.) The author makes no attempt to seek an etymology for the words recorded, but a lot of them are immediately obvious to me - as Songhay. Thus:

* sindi "sommeil": Songhay cindi "rest"
* kuy barkuy "on s'en va": Songhay koy "person", koy "go"
* katihari "...apporter de l'eau": Songhay kati hari "bring water!"
* noro "money": Songhay nooru
* dangi bamatcin "tais-toi": Songhay dangey "be silent", ciine "speak"

Significantly, these words do not display any characteristics that would link them with Kwarandzie. To the contrary - noro and hari are unambiguously Southern, not Northern, Songhay in form, and most of the other words haven't survived in Kwarandzie.

A few words are clearly non-Songhay, and as such harder for me to identify, but these include some Bambara words:
* sgho "viande" - Bambara sogo
* dominika "nourriture" - Bambara dumuni ke

Elsewhere, I've read of Hausa words showing up in Moroccan Gnaoua music (I don't have the reference handy here in Tabelbala). The various sources of the vocabulary attest to the wide geographical range from which slaves were brought, and it's interesting that the words were preserved at all. I look forward to finding out where the other words come from... any ideas?

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Topik 76 : Past Perfect Tense

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

Para pembaca yang dirahmati Allah SWT. Waktu pertama belajar kaana كان di hampir semua buku bahasa Arab menjelaskan dengan contoh kalimat sempurna (ada mubtada dan khobar), dan efeknya setelah dimasuki kaana.

Rata-rata diberi contoh seperti ini:

زيدٌ جميلٌ – Zaidun jamilun : Zaid ganteng

dan jika kemasukan kaana menjadi:

كان زيدٌ جميلاً – kaana Zaidun jamiilan: (dulu) Zaid ganteng : Zaid was handsome

Nah, contoh diatas tidaklah sukar untuk dilihat dan dipelajari polanya bukan?

Ada sedikit soal yang muncul. Waktu saya membaca Al-Qur’an terkadang yang muncul adalah kasus yang beda lagi. Ambil contoh, waktu kita mencoba membaca surat 2 ayat 10:

فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ مَرَضٌ فَزَادَهُمُ اللَّهُ مَرَضًا وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ بِمَا كَانُوا يَكْذِبُونَ

Dalam hati mereka ada penyakit, maka Allah menambahkan penyakit (tsb) dan bagi mereka adzab yang pedih disebabkan apa-apa (yang selama ini) mereka dustakan.

Perhatihakan kalimat terakhirnya:

بما كانوا يكذبون – bimaa kaanuu yakdzibuuna

Perhatikan karena kalimat diatas adalah untuk orang-3 laki-laki jamak, maka dipakai كانوا – kaanuu. Coba kita ganti menjadi orang-3 laki-laki tunggal, maka kalimatnya menjadi:

بما كان يكذبُ – bimaa kaana yakdzibu

Nah disini saya bingung. Kenapa?

Dalam buku-buku selalu diberi contoh setelah kaana selalu kata benda (isim), kok di Al-Quran, banyak kalimat setelah kaana itu kata kerja (fi’il).

Nah berikut penjelasannya.

Kalau saya berkata begini:

He studies Al-Quran – Dia belajar Al-Quran

Dalam bahasa Arab :

هو يتعلم القراّن - huwa yata-‘allamu al-qur-aana

Kalau saya berkata:

He used to study Al-Quran : Dia (dulu) biasa belajar Al-Quran

كان يتعلم القواّن – kaana yata-‘allamu al-qur-aana

Nah bagaimana analisis mubtada khobarnya?

Begini mas dan mbak… Masih ingat kan bahwa tugas kaana adalah merafa’kan mubtada menashobkan khobar?

Oke, sekarang kita lihat kalimat diatas:

هو يتعلم القراّن - huwa yata-‘allamu al-qur-aana

Mubtada’ nya : huwa
Khobarnya: yata-’allamu al-qur-aana

Perhatikan khobarnya disini adalah sebuah kalimat sempurna yang diawali dengan kata kerja sehingga sering disebut jumlah fi’liyyah.

Nah kalau khobarnya jumlah, maka pemasukan kaana kedalam susunan mubtada dan khobar dalam kalimat diatas, mengakibatkan khobarnya tidak kena efek apa-apa.

Oke coba kita masukkan kaaana:

كان هو يتعلم القراّن - kaana huwa yata-‘allamu al-qur-aana

Karena setelah kata kerja tidak boleh ada dhomir (kata ganti) pelaku, maka huwa dibuang, sehingga menjadi

كان يتعلم القراّن - kaana yata-‘allamu al-qur-aana : He used to study Al-Qura’an
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Dari contoh ini jelaslah bagi kita bahwa, kalau setelah kaana itu ada kata kerja, maka sebenarnya kata kerja itu adalah khobar dalam bentuk fi’il, atau jumlah fi’liyyah.

Lalu apa fungsi Kaana terhadap fi’il tersebut?

Oke menariknya disini.

Kita sudah tahu bahwa dalam bahasa Arab, tenses hanya dibagi 2 saja, yaitu:
- Imperfect Tense (pekerjaan yang masih berlangsung / belum selesai)
- Perfect Tense (pekerjaan yang sudah selesai)

Contohnya:

هو كتب كتابه – huwa kataba kitaabahu : dia (telah selesai) menulis bukunya.
هو يكتب كتابه – huwa yaktubu kitaabahu : dia (sedang) menulis bukunya.

Nah dalam bahasa Inggris kita tahu, jumlah tenses banyak kan? Ada present perfect, ada past perfect dsb. Nah sebenarnya kaana dan yakuunu dapat berfungsi untuk memberi efek waktu terhadap suatu perkerjaan yang mirip-mirip dengan bahasa Inggris.

Contohnya jika saya masukkan kaana.

كان كتب كتابه – kaana kataba kitaabahu : He had written his book
كان يكتب كتابه – kaana yaktubu kitaabahu: He had been writing his book
سيكون كتب كتابه – sayakuunu kataba kitaabahu: He will have written his book
سيكون يكتب كتابه – sayakuunu yaktubu kitaabahu: He will be writing his book

Walau dalam beberapa konteks tidak bisa disamakan persis, tetapi kira-kira kaana bisa difungsikan untuk memberi efek waktu ”had” atau ”will” kepada sebuah kata kerja.

Demikian telah kita bahas fungsi lain dari kaana. Semoga Anda yang biasa belajar tenses bahasa Inggris, juga mengerti bahwa dalam bahasa Arab, bisa juga dibentuk hal yang mirip dengan tenses bahasa Inggris (walau tidak ”pas” 100%).

Allahu a’lam bishshowwaab.

Monday, February 4, 2008

Topik 75: Istaghfir!

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

Para pembaca yang dirahmati Allah SWT. Kita akan selesaikan latihan surat An-Nashr. Terakhir kita sudah membahas penggalan pertama ayat 3. Kali ini kita akan tuntaskan pembahasan ayat 3.

فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ وَاسْتَغْفِرْهُ إِنَّهُ كَانَ تَوَّابًا
1. fa sabbih bi hamdi rabbika: maka bertasbihlah dengan memuji Tuhanmu.

2. wa istagfir hu : dan minta ampunlah kepada Dia

3. Innahu : sesungguhnya Dia

4. Kaana : Dia adalah

4. Tawwaabaa: Maha penerima tobat.

Kita sudah membahas fasabbih. Topik kali ini kita akan membahas mengenai point 2 sampai 4. Insya Allah.

Oke baiklah.

واستغفره - wa istaghfir hu

Istaghfir, adalah KKT-8, dalam bentuk fi'il amr (kata kerja perintah).

Asalnya adalah sbb:

غفر - ghafara - mengampuni (KK Asal)
أغفر - aghfara - mengampunkan (KKT-1)
غفر - ghaffara - mengampunkan (KKT-2)
استغفر - istaghfara - minta ampun (KKT-8)

Sedangkan perubahan mendatar (tashrif ishtilahi) dari kata KKT-8 tsb adalah:
1. KKL : استغفر - istaghfara (telah minta ampun)
2. KKS : يستغفر - yastaghfiru (sedang minta ampun)
3. Mashdar: استغفار - istighfaar (pengampunan)
4. Isim Fa'il: مستغفر - mustaghfir (orang yang minta ampun)
5. Isim Maf'ul: مستغفر - mustaghfar (orang yang diampuni)
6. Fi'il amar: استغفر - istaghfir (minta ampunlah!)
7. Fi'il nahy: لا تستغفر - laa tastaghfir (jangan minta ampun!)
8. Isim Zaman/Makan: مستغفر - mustaghfar (tempat / waktu memberi ampun)

Jadi terlihat dalam susunan mendatar tersebut perubahan dari kata istighfar menjadi istaghfir.

Hmm... gimana sih cara tahunya bagaimana tashrif (perubahan) suatu Kata Kerja menjadi 8 macam tsb?

Gini, kalau KKT-1 sampai KKT-8, semua kata kerjanya, kalau mau dicari perubahan bentuknya dari KKLnya sampai Isim Zaman/Makan nya, maka perubahan tersebut mengikuti pola. Artinya, kalau kita tahu polanya maka semua kata kerja tsb bisa kita buatkan perubahannya.

Yang repot adalah bagaimana perubahan dari KK Asal. Nah ini perlu melihat di kamus perubahan (tashrif)nya.

Oke, kita sampai pada bagian terakhir.

إنه كان توابا - inna hu kaana tawwaban

Kita sudah pernah membahas bentuk dan tugas Inna, yaitu menashobkan mubtada' dan merafa'kan khobar. Tapi dalam kalimat diatas, kok tidak terlihat ya dimana mubtada, dimana khobarnya?

Kita juga sudah pernah membahas bentuk dan tugas Kaana, yaitu kebalikan dari tugas Inna. Kaana berfungsi merafa'kan mubtada' dan menashobkan khobar. Tapi, ntar dulu... Dalam kalimat diatas dimana mubtada' dan khobarnya?

Insya Allah kita akan bahas mengenai hal ini, dalam topik ini dan satu topik setelah ini.

Oke, baiklah. Kita sudah tahu fungsi Inna. Contohnya:

الله ُعليمٌ - Allahu 'aliimun : Allah Maha Mengetahui

Mubtada: Allahu
Khobar: 'aliimun

Sekarang kalau kita tambahkan Inna:

إن الله َعليمٌ - inna Allaha 'aliimun : (sesungguhnya) Allah Maha Mengetahui

Terlihat disini tugas inna, yaitu merubah Allahu menjadi Allaha.

Sekarang dalam kalimat:

إنه كان توابا - inna hu kaana tawwaban

Mubtada: hu (Dia / Allah) <-- isim dhomir
Khobar: kaana tawwaban <-- jumlah fi'liyyah

Nah ingat lagi, Inna itu menashobkan mubtada. Mubtada'nya mana? Yaitu HU (kata ganti / isim dhomir).

Dalam kaidah bahasa Arab, isim dhomir shifatnya mabni (tetap). Oleh karena itu dia tidak terpengaruh, walau dia kemasukan Inna. Alias fungsi inna, yang menashobkan mubtada tidak "mempan" kena kepada kata ganti.

Asal kalimat tsb adalah:

هو كان توابا - huwa kaana tawwaba : Dia senantiasa Maha Penerima taubat

Lalu kemasukan inna menjadi:

إنه كان توابا - inna hu kaana tawwaban : Sesungguhnya Dia senantiasa Maha Penerima Taubat.

Oke demikian dulu penjelasan mengenai mubtada dan khobar. Insya Allah kita akan bahas bagaimana kasusnya kalau mubtada dan khobar kemasukan kaana, tetapi khobarnya itu fi'il, atau jumlah fi'liyyah (kalimat yang didahului kata kerja).

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Metathesis everywhere

When two sounds exchange their positions (for example, clip > plik) we call it metathesis. In most languages, this doesn't seem particularly common, neither in historical changes nor in the grammar. Kwarandzie has no grammatically caused metathesis, but nonetheless is absolutely full of historically metathesised words, sometimes even coexisting with non-metathesised variants. Thus for palm spines, some speakers say taqaneft and others tanaqeft; "forget" is dnagh for some speakers, dghan for others; "irrigation channel" is variously qentret or qetrent... I've found tens of examples where either synchronic variation or transparent external comparison demonstrates metathesis (usually of non-adjacent consonants, though there are one or two cases with vowels, not counting standard North African schwa alternations), and hear new ones every couple of days. Does this remind anyone of anything they've seen, or is it just odd?