أَشْكَالُ الْحَرْفِ

In "My Arabic alphabet", you saw that the letters hold hands, and that ب changes a little depending on its place. Today, we look at the four "outfits" of each letter:

alone · at the start · in the middle · at the end

The trick to recognise them: look at the dots! A letter changes its shape, but always keeps its dots.

ع ('ayn) changes a lot: ع · عـ · ـعـ · ـع عَيْن 'ayn, the eye 👁️ (at the start) نَعَم na'am, yes (in the middle) ضِفْدَع ḍifda', the frog 🐸 (at the end)

ه (haa') is a real magician: ه · هـ · ـهـ · ـه هَدِيَّة hadiyya, the present 🎁 نَهْر nahr, the river وَجْه wajh, the face

ك (kaaf): ك · كـ · ـكـ · ـك كَلْب kalb, the dog 🐕 سَمَكَة samaka, the fish 🐟 مَلِك malik, the king 👑

Does ي (yaa') lose its two dots? No! It keeps them, but they move under the little tooth: ي · يـ · ـيـ · ـي يَد yad, the hand ✋ بَيْت bayt, the house 🏠 كُرْسِيّ kursiyy, the chair 🪑

م (miim) becomes a little loop: م · مـ · ـمـ · ـم مَوْز mawz سَمَك samak قَلَم qalam, the pen ✏️

Reminder: the six shy letters ا د ذ ر ز و never give their hand to the left, so they only have two outfits: alone and at the end.

A special letter: when ل (laam) gives its hand to ا (alif), they make a drawing of their own: لا laa, which means "no". You will find it in لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّه.

Little activity: in your notebook, make four columns: alone, start, middle, end. Copy the four outfits of ع and ه. Then look for them in the words of this lesson!

Understanding the lesson

Explanation In Arabic, we write by joining the letters, like joined-up handwriting at school. That is why each letter has a shape for the start, the middle and the end: it adapts to hold its neighbours' hands properly. The most important thing is not to learn every shape by heart at once, but to be able to recognise each letter by its main body and its dots. The very first words the Prophet ﷺ received were "Iqra'": "Read!" (meaning of verse 96:1; Bukhari 3). Reading and writing are things Islam loves very much.

Lessons to draw from it • I recognise a letter by its dots, even when its shape changes. • I practise writing joined-up letters, slowly. • I remember that "Read!" is the first word revealed.

Key points to remember • Four outfits: alone, start, middle, end. • ع and ه change a lot; ي keeps its two dots underneath. • ا د ذ ر ز و have only two outfits. • ل + ا = لا (laa).

The main message A letter changes its outfit depending on its place, but keeps its dots: I can recognise it anywhere in the word.