Lesson 47
A Father's Will
وصية أب
A classical Arabic literary passage a father's testament to his son. The prose style, vocabulary, and rhetorical devices of classical Arabic are the focus of this penultimate unit.
Classical Prose Vocabulary
ArabicTransliterationMeaning
وَصِيَّةwaṣiyyawill / testament / advice
تَقْوَىtaqwāGod-consciousness / piety
أُوصِيكَ بِـūṣīka bi-I advise/enjoin you to...
اِسْتَمْسَكَ بِـistamsaka bi-clung to / held fast to
يَا بُنَيَّ، أُوصِيكَ بِتَقْوَى اللَّهِ فَإِنَّهَا رَأْسُ كُلِّ حِكْمَة
Yā bunayya, ūṣīka bitaqwā llāhi faʾinnahā raʾsu kulli ḥikma
O my son, I advise you to have taqwā of Allah for it is the head of all wisdom.
وَأُوصِيكَ بِطَلَبِ الْعِلْمِ فَإِنَّ الْعَالِمَ وَالْجَاهِلَ لَيْسَا سَوَاء
Wa-ūṣīka biṭalabi l-ʿilmi faʾinna l-ʿālima wa-l-jāhila laysā sawāʾ
And I advise you to seek knowledge for the learned and the ignorant are not equal.
- يَا بُنَيَّ: "O my son" the diminutive بُنَيّ (from اِبْن) expresses affection in the vocative a classical literary form.
- فَإِنَّ: Connective فَ + إِنَّ "for indeed" introduces the reason for the command.
- رَأْس: Literally "head" here kinaya for "the most important thing" classical Arabic uses body part metaphors extensively.
- Classical style: Short, balanced sentences; parallel structure; and the use of فَإِنَّ to justify each injunction this is the prose style of classical Islamic literature.