الأدب والكتابة (literature & writing)

أدب (ʾadabu)

literature

آداب (ʾaadaab)

literatures

أديب (ʾadiib)

writer, litterateur

أدباء (adibāʾi)

writers, litterateurs (literati, wordsmiths)

شاعر\ة (shaaʿir/a)

poet

شعراء (shuʿarāʾa)

poets

شعر\شعريّة (shaʿriyya/shiear)

poetry

الشعر الحر (ash-shaʿru alḥurru)

free verse

قصيدة (qaSSiida)

poem, ode

قصائد (qaṣāʾidu)

poems, odes

ديوان (diiwaan)

collection, compilation, volume, book (of poetry)

دواوين (dawāwayn)

collections (of poetry)

قافية (qaafiya)

rhyme, rhyming pattern

بيت (bayti)

line (of poetry)

أبيات (abyāti)

lines (of poetry)

مقطع (maqTaʿ)

stanza, verse

مقاطع (maqāṭiʿu)

stanzas, verses

شفوي\ة (shafawii/a)

oral

ملحمي\ة (malHamii/a)

epic, homeric

غزل (ġazal)

ghazal (short poem originally from arabia; made up of around 7 to 12 rhyming couplets (bayts); anything more than 15 couplets is considered a qasida)

عذري\ة (ʿudhrii/a)

virgin, virginal

صريح\ة (SariiH/a)

explicit

مدح (madaHa)

praise, panegyric (poem which glorifies prominent figures and celebrates their qualities)

رثاء (rithaaʾ)

lament, elegy (poem which expresses deep sorrow at the loss of a loved one or the fall of a city)

هجاء (hijaaʾ)

satire (poem which ridicules in order to make a commentary or criticism of a person or topic)

فخر (fakhr)

boast, pride (poem in which the poet boasts of oneself, his tribe or his homeland)

حكمة (Hikma)

wisdom, proverb (poem which emphases advice or life experiences)

حماسة (Hamaasa)

enthusiasm, passion (poem which focuses on courage and heroism)

مُوَشَّح (muwashaḥ)

muwashshah (arabic poetic form written in strophic verse with 5 stanzas)

موشحات\تواشيح (muwashaḥāt/tawāshīh)

muwashshahs

مقامة (maqaama)

maqama (literally means “assembly”: Arabic prosimetric literary genre of picaresque short stories, anecdote told by a fictitious narrator which typically follow the escapades of a roguish protagonist as the two repeatedly encounter each other in their travels)

مقامات (maqaamat)

maqamas

وَصَفَ (waSafa)

he described

يَصِفُ (yaSifu)

he describes

الوَصْف (al-waSf)

describing, description

أوصاف (لـِ) (awṣāfi)

descriptions

سَرَدَ (sarada)

he retold, recounted, narrated

يَسْرُدُ (yasrudu)

he retells, recounts, narrates

سرد (sard)

retelling, narrative

أسلوب (ʾusluub)

style, technique

رمز (ramz)

symbol

رمزيّة (ramziyya)

symbolism

مجاز (majaaz)

metaphor

تشبيه (tashbiih)

similie

سؤال بلاغي (suʾālun balāḡī)

rhetorical question

نثر\نثرية (nathr/naṯariyyatu)

prose

بطل\ة (baTal/a)

hero, protagonist

بطولة (buTuula)

heroism (competition, championship, tournament)

قَصَّ (qaSSa)

he told a story

يَقُصّ (yaquSS)

he tells a story

القَصَص (al-qaSaS)

storytelling, stories

قصّة (qiSSa)

story, fable

قصص (qaSaS)

stories, fables

قاص (qaaSa)

storyteller, fabulist

قصاص (qiSaaS)

storytellers, fabulists

حَكَى (Hakaa)

he told, related, narrated

يَحْكِي (yaHkii)

he tells, relates, narrates

حكاية (Hikaaya)

story, tale

حكايات (Hikāyātin)

stories, tales

حكواتي\ة (ḥakawātī/a)

storyteller

حكواتيين\حكائين (ḥakawātiyyyni/ḥakāʾayni)

storytellers

خرافة (khuraafa)

myth, superstition (fairy tale, fable, legend)

خرافات (khirāfāti)

myths, superstitions (fairy tales, fables, legends)

كَتَبَ (أنّ) (kataba)

he wrote

يَكْتُبُ (أنّ) (yaktubu)

he writes

الكِتَابَة (أنّ) (al-kitaaba)

writing

كاتِب/ة (kaatib/a)

writer

كُتّاب (kuttaab)

writers (m)

كِتاب (kitaab)

book

كُتُب (kutub)

books

أَلَّفَ (‘allafa)

he composed, authored, wrote

يُؤَلِّفُ (yuʾallifu)

he composes, authors, writes

التَأْلِيف (al-taʾliif)

composing (composition), authoring (authorship), writing

مؤلف\ة (muʾallif/a)

composer, author, writer

مؤلف (muʾallaf)

composition, work, writing

مؤلفات (muʾallafātin)

compositions, works, writings

قَرَأَ (أنّ) (qaraʾa)

(form I قرأ)

he read

يَقْرَأُ (أنّ) (yaqraʾu)

(form I قرأ)

he reads

القِرَاءَة (أنّ) (al-qiraaʾa)

(form I قرأ)

reading

قارئ\ة (qaariʾ/a)

reader

قراء (qurāʾa)

readers, readership

رسالة (risaala)

letter, epistle

رسائل (rasāʾilu)

letters, epistles

إخوانية (ikhwāniyyata)

brotherhood (type of letter between friends and loved one; written in informal emotive and sentimental language)

ديوانية (dīwāniyyati)

diwaniya (from diiwan ديوان meaning collection but also council/court/department; formal letter between governors and walis)

موضوعيّة (mawDuuʿiyya)

subjectivity, objectivity (letter between philosophers and intellectuals about intellectual and scientific matters)

موضوع (mawDuuʿ)

theme, subject, topic

مواضيع\موضوعات (mawaaDiiʿ/mawḍūʿātu)

themes, subjects, topics

وجهة نظر (wijhat naZar)

point of view

وجهات نظر (wajihāti naẓari)

points of view

عَبَرَ عن (ʿabara ʿan)

he expressed (opinion, idea, feeling)

يَعْبُرُ عن (yaʿburu ʿan)

he expresses (opinion, idea, feeling)

تعبير (taʿbiir)

expression, phrase, term

تعبيرات (taʿbīrātin)

expressions, phrases, terms

نص (naSS)

text

نصوص (nuṣūṣu)

texts

فقرة (fiqra)

paragraph

فقرات (faqurātu)

paragraphs

فصل (faSl)

chapter

فصول (fuSuul)

chapters