Lesson 105 · قِ
Verbs with two weak letters: وَقَى, وَفَى, نَوَى
Some verbs have two weak letters (و or ي). In وَقَى (protect) the first and last are weak; in نَوَى (intend) the middle and last are. Grammarians call them اللَّفِيفُ. Each weak letter behaves as you learned in lessons 46 and 62.
Learn with pictures
Tap a picture to hear the sentence.
Examples
وَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِwa-qinaa ʿadhaaba n-naariAnd protect us from the punishment of the Fire. (2:201)
فِ بِوَعْدِكَfi bi-waʿdikaKeep your promise. (to a man)
الْمُسْلِمُ يَفِي بِوَعْدِهِal-muslimu yafii bi-waʿdihiA Muslim keeps his promise.
نَوَيْتُ الصِّيَامَnawaytu ṣ-ṣiyaamaI intended to fast.
رَوَى الْحَدِيثَ أَبُو هُرَيْرَةَrawa l-ḥadiitha abuu hurayrataAbu Hurayrah narrated the hadith.
الْخُوذَةُ تَقِي الرَّأْسَal-khuudhatu taqi r-ra’saA helmet protects the head.
Key points
- First and last weak, like وَقَى يَقِي protect, وَفَى يَفِي keep (a promise), وَعَى يَعِي take in, understand: the و drops in the present as in وَصَلَ يَصِلُ, and the end behaves like مَشَى يَمْشِي.
- So the command is a single letter: قِ (protect!) from يَقِي, and فِ (keep!) from يَفِي. With a pronoun, قِنَا (protect us): وَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ (and protect us from the punishment of the Fire, 2:201).
- Middle and last weak, like نَوَى يَنْوِي intend and رَوَى يَرْوِي narrate: the middle و stays a normal consonant and only the end changes: نَوَيْتُ (I intended) · لَمْ يَنْوِ (he didn’t intend) · اِرْوِ (narrate!).
Practice
Tap a question to see the answer.
Say “I kept my promise.”
وَفَيْتُ بِوَعْدِي wafaytu bi-waʿdii
Tell a man “Protect yourself.” Yourself: نَفْسَكَ.
قِ نَفْسَكَ qi nafsaka
Ask a man “What do you intend?”
مَاذَا تَنْوِي؟ maadhaa tanwii?
