Lesson 24
Gifts and Generosity
الهدايا والكرم
Explore Arab and Islamic gift-giving culture and the virtue of generosity (كَرَم). Indirect speech and reported requests key structures for narrating what others said are the grammar focus.
Generosity Vocabulary
ArabicTransliterationMeaning
هَدِيَّةhadiyyagift
كَرَمkaramgenerosity
تَهَادُواtahādūgive gifts to one another (hadith command)
بُخْلbukhlmiserliness
صَدَقَةṣadaqavoluntary charity
Indirect Speech الكلام غير المباشر
Indirect speech uses قَالَ إِنَّ (said that) or قَالَ إِنَّهُ (said that he). The reported clause shifts to past tense and adjusts pronouns accordingly.
قَالَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ: تَهَادُوا تَحَابُّوا
Qāla n-nabiyyu ﷺ: Tahādū taḥābbū
The Prophet ﷺ said: "Give gifts to one another and you will love one another." (al-Bukhārī)
أَخْبَرَنِي أَنَّهُ أَرْسَلَ هَدِيَّةً لِأَسْتَاذِه
Akhbaranī annahu arsala hadiyyatan liustādhihi
He told me that he had sent a gift to his teacher.
- تَهَادُوا: Form VI imperative plural "exchange gifts with each other" the reciprocal form of أَهْدَى (to give a gift).
- أَنَّهُ: "That he" anna + pronoun suffix the standard connector for indirect speech.
- أَخْبَرَنِي: Form IV of خَبَرَ + pronoun ـنِي "he informed me" a key reporting verb.
- Islamic generosity: الْكَرَمُ مِنَ الأَخْلَاقِ الْإِسْلَامِيَّةِ الْعَالِيَة generosity is one of the highest Islamic character traits.