Ismail Londt – Nabr Tidbits Introduction

The word nabr

is used in reference to accentuation,

how we consciously, sometimes in English, subconsciously emphasize

specific syllables in words to maintain a level of eloquence or

to express a particular meaning with that word as a shift in the

emphasis of syllables may change meanings. In this series,

Inshallah, we'll be looking at three aspects of nabr

in the Quran, those pertaining to specific instructions commands in

the Quran, and those pertaining to stopping on letters with shad

for eloquence and to maintain meaning. And then lastly, phrases

of combinations of words where emphasis is required so as to

highlight the one word from the other. For the English speaking

reciter,

an idea of nabr in the English language that we do, or that we

naturally do, consider the word

photograph.

Photograph

three syllables, and naturally we slightly emphasize the first one

photograph that is number and the first, if you were to add the

letters er to this word, how would you emphasis change? It would be

photographer. Photographer, not only do some of the vowel sounds

shift or change, but we are also emphasizing the second syllable in

this word now. Photographer, and if you were to replace the ER with

an ice IC, how would that then be expressed, photographic,

photographic emphasizing the third syllable. In this particular case,

your number shifted, your accentuation changed, your

emphasis on the syllables changed

and it would it would be

rough or strange to the English speaking ear, if someone were to

emphasize

differently incorrectly, you at least would consider it incorrect.

So the same would be found at times in the Arabic language. If

we were to look at a beautiful example of a meaning shift when

the emphasis or accentuation changes, consider the word object,

object. We naturally emphasize the first syllable when we use this

word in the reference to an entity, an item, something, an

object. However, if I emphasized and placed my number on the second

syllable and I say object, this now becomes a verb. This is what

you do when you oppose an idea or a statement. You object, object,

listen to the first one object and the second one object object, it's

a shift that brings about a different meaning, and if done so

unconsciously, will affect the overall meaning of the context in

which the word appears. Likewise in the Quran, there are times when

we emphasize particular or we are encouraged to emphasize particular

syllables to maintain a level of

eloquence, and there are other times when we are encouraged and

guided by specialized teachers to emphasize particular syllables to

maintain a particular and intended meaning in the word, as opposed to

a different meaning, which some would would be causing by

incorrect emphasis without even realizing it. And it's not

something to panic about, something to worry about,

something that you just need to be conscious of. And those with an

Arabic background would be able to guide best they firstly, need to

realize it themselves. But here within sha Allah, over the next

few months, we'll be addressing some basic

places where commands are found in the Quran and they need to be

expressed in a particular manner. And then also stopping on

particular types of words, a letters with shadda How they are

to be expressed for eloquence and to maintain meaning. And then

lastly, the third in the series inshallah ahead would be to

address compounds of words and how to address them and emphasize

correctly, so that the words may be distinct from each other. May

Allah Abu.

Your head, she can't let me know what you think in the comments

you.