Arabic · Unit 6 · Lesson 6
The Prayer
One win: say where you pray each of the five prayers, tell someone to wake up, put the alarm beside you, wait, and say where you are going and why: I'm travelling to Mecca, for the prayer in the Sacred Mosque, God willing.
1. The five prayers, in order
Exercise 1 asks you to number them and then say them in order. The dialogue gives them out of order (four in the mosque, then fajr as an afterthought), so build the day first. Press ▶ or step with ‹ ›, and say each name before its caption:
Fajr: dawn. Unit 2's word. The one قُصَيّ prays at home, because he does not hear the adhān.
Ẓuhr: noon. The root ظ-ه-ر is “to appear”; the sun at its most visible.
ʿAṣr: afternoon. The adhān that opens dialogue 3: هَذا أَذانُ العَصْرِ.
Maghrib: sunset. Literally “the place or time of setting”; the same word is Morocco, the far west.
ʿIshāʾ: night. Say the kasra: عِشاء, not Unit 5's عَشاء, dinner.
Then drill 4 turns the list into the unit's main frame. Pick a prayer, pick a mosque; the prayer ends -a (it is what you pray), the place ends -i (it comes after في):
- الفَجْرَ
- الظُّهْرَ
- العَصْرَ
- المَغْرِبَ
- العِشاءَ
- الجُمُعَةَ
- المَسْجِدِ الحَرامِ
- المَسْجِدِ النَّبَوِيِّ
- مَسْجِدِ بِلالٍ
- مَسْجِدِ عُثْمانَ
- مَسْجِدِ عَلِيٍّ
I pray ẓuhr in Bilal's mosque · I pray Friday prayer in the Sacred Mosque · I pray fajr at home. Two kinds of mosque name: the two great ones take an adjective with الـ on both words (Unit 4's المَسْجِدِ الكَبيرِ); the local ones take a person's name, the way Unit 3 said غُرْفَةُ الجُلوسِ.
The five prayers: the number goes after
Unit 3 counted خَمْسُ غُرَفٍ, number first. Unit 6 says الصَّلَواتُ الخَمْسُ, the five prayers: the thing first, then the number wearing الـ like an adjective. It is still the no-ة form, because صَلاة is a she-noun and 3–10 take the opposite. أَيْنَ تُصَلّي الصَّلَواتِ الخَمْسَ؟ Both words end -a here, because both are the thing being prayed. The numbers chapter has the two shapes side by side.
العِشاء is not العَشاء
Exercise 2 puts them one row apart: row 1 has عِشاء among the prayers, row 3 has عَشاء among the meals. Same letters; the first vowel is the whole difference. أُصَلّي العِشاءَ · آكُلُ العَشاءَ I pray ʿishāʾ · I eat dinner. The dictionary lists dinner first and files the prayer under صَلاة العِشاء, so the vowel is doing real work.
2. Wake up! The command machine
Unit 5 gave you اِجْلِسْ and لا تَأْكُلْ. Unit 6 makes commands the main event: three in the dialogues (اِسْتَيْقِظْ · ضَعْ · اِنْتَظِرْ) and a drill that derives nine of them from their he-forms. The machine has three moves. Watch it run on يَسْتَيْقِظُ:
He wakes up. Start from the he-form the drill prints on the right.
Strip the يَـ. What is left starts with two silent letters, سْتَـ, which Arabic will not say.
Cut the ending to a sukūn. This is the same cut Unit 5 made for لا تَأْكُلْ.
Put an alif in front to carry the two silent letters. Wake up! اِسْتَيْقِظْ مُبَكِّراً: wake up early.
Drill 5, all nine. The alif's vowel copies the stem: i nearly always, u when the stem vowel is u (اُكْنُسْ). Hear each pair:
| he … | … ! | meaning | |
|---|---|---|---|
| يَسْتَيْقِظُ | اِسْتَيْقِظْ | wake up | |
| يَسْتَمِعُ | اِسْتَمِعْ | listen | |
| يَقْرَأُ | اِقْرَأْ | read | |
| يَضَعُ | ضَعْ | put | |
| يَنْتَظِرُ | اِنْتَظِرْ | wait | |
| يَكْنُسُ | اُكْنُسْ | sweep | |
| يَغْسِلُ | اِغْسِلْ | wash | |
| يُشاهِدُ | شاهِدْ | watch | |
| يَأْكُلُ | كُلْ | eat |
Two rows need no alif
يَضَعُ ← ضَعْ and يُشاهِدُ ← شاهِدْ: strip the front letter and what remains already starts with a spoken vowel, so nothing needs carrying. Exam 1's rubric ضَعْ عَلامَةَ was this word all along.
One row breaks the machine
يَأْكُلُ ← كُلْ. The أ of “eat” drops out altogether: not اُؤْكُلْ, just كُلْ. The book prints it without comment. Unit 5's لا تَأْكُلْ keeps the letter; only the bare command loses it.
So one verb now has three shapes you can say, and the ending tells them apart:
| shape | Arabic | meaning | |
|---|---|---|---|
| statement | تَأْكُلُ الطَّعامَ | you eat the food (Unit 5) | |
| don't | لا تَأْكُلِ الطَّعامَ | don't eat the food (Unit 5) | |
| do | كُلِ الطَّعامَ | eat the food (Unit 6) |
That -i on كُلِ and ضَعِ المُنَبِّهَ is Lesson 5's joining vowel again: a command ends silent, and the moment الـ follows, the join appears. The book prints ضَع with the ع bare and leaves the join to you.
3. I'm travelling to Mecca
Dialogue 2 is two men going the same way for the same reason. Not one verb in it until the last line: “I am travelling”, “I am going” are said with a describing word, the way Unit 1 said “I am a student”. Watch it go by, and answer each question aloud before the caption:
I'm travelling to Mecca. Where are you travelling to? Unit 1's مِنْ أَيْنَ “where from” has found its partner, إِلى أَيْنَ.
I'm travelling to Medina. Why are you travelling to Mecca? Hear the endings: المَدينَةِ takes the -i that follows إِلى; مَكَّةَ does not.
For the prayer in the Sacred Mosque. And why are you travelling to Medina? لِلصَّلاةِ is the whole answer to لِماذا: Unit 3's لِـ + الـ, meaning “in order to”.
For the prayer in the Prophet's Mosque. Where will you pray Friday prayer? Unit 4's سَـ on تُصَلّي.
In the Sacred Mosque, God willing. And you? In the Prophet's Mosque, God willing. إِنْ شاءَ اللهُ goes after any plan; the شاءَ is Unit 2's ما شاءَ الله.
How will you travel to Medina? I'll take the plane. The first real verbs on the page: سَتُسافِرُ is the verb behind مُسافِر; أَرْكَبُ takes its vehicle with no little word, ending -a.
مُسافِر and ذاهِب behave like طالِب: they follow the person and take ة for a woman. Drill 6 runs all four, drill 2 sends ذاهِب to five places:
| who | travelling | going | |
|---|---|---|---|
| I · you (m.) · he | أَنا / أَنْتَ / هُوَ مُسافِرٌ إِلى مَكَّةَ | أَنا ذاهِبٌ إِلى المَسْجِدِ | |
| you (f.) · she | أَنْتِ / هِيَ مُسافِرَةٌ إِلى المَدينَةِ | أَنا ذاهِبَةٌ إِلى المَسْجِدِ beyond the book |
- المَسْجِدِ
- المَدْرَسَةِ
- البَيْتِ
- الطَّبيبِ
- مَكَّةَ
the mosque · the doctor · Mecca. Drill 6 prints only the masculine ذاهِبٌ; the feminine is made the same way as مُسافِرَةٌ and is here so the row is complete.
4. The ʿaṣr adhān: near, far, ill, lazy
Dialogue 3 is an argument in one-word sentences. Everything after المَسْجِدُ or أَنْتَ is a describing word, Unit 1's أَنا طالِبٌ shape. Six of them, in three pairs:
| the line | meaning | and its partner | |
|---|---|---|---|
| المَسْجِدُ بَعيدٌ. | The mosque is far. | المَسْجِدُ قَريبٌ. | |
| هَلْ أَنْتَ مَريضٌ؟ | Are you ill? | لا، أَنا بِخَيْرٍ. | |
| أَنْتَ كَسْلانُ. | You're lazy. | هَذا صَحيحٌ. آسِفٌ. |
And the line that settles it, الصَّلاةُ في المَسْجِدِ أَفْضَلُ , prayer in the mosque is better. No “than” follows; the sentence simply ends on أَفْضَلُ. You have met those consonants before: Unit 5's أُفَضِّلُ I prefer is the verb, this is the adjective. أُفَضِّلُ القَهْوَةَ · القَهْوَةُ أَفْضَلُ I prefer coffee · coffee is better.
Five more words that refuse their ending
Lesson 5 §6 showed three words that take a bare -u or -a where tanwīn was due. Unit 6 has five, and this time two of them come in shapes you can hear coming:
- كَسْلانُ, like Unit 5's جَوْعانُ: the فَعْلان shape.
- أَفْضَلُ: the أَفْعَل “better / best” shape.
- مَكَّةَ · عُثْمانَ · مِصْرَ: names. After إِلى or inside مَسْجِدِ … they end -a, while المَدينَةِ · بِلالٍ · عَلِيٍّ on the same pages take the ordinary -i / -in.
مَسْجِدِ بِلالٍ · مَسْجِدِ عُثْمانَ · مَسْجِدِ عَلِيٍّ . Still no rule to learn: copy what the book prints, and when a word ends short, it is one of these.
5. Hear, listen, can't, work at night
Three new I-verbs in dialogue 1, and a pair worth keeping apart:
| I … | he … | the book's line | |
|---|---|---|---|
| أَسْمَعُ | يَسْمَعُ | لا أَسْمَعُ الأَذانَ | |
| أَسْتَطيعُ | يَسْتَطيعُ | لا أَسْتَطيعُ | |
| أَعْمَلُ | يَعْمَلُ | أَعْمَلُ في اللَّيْلِ |
أَسْمَعُ is hearing; اِسْتَمِعْ is listening
Same root, س-م-ع. أَسْمَعُ is what happens to you: the adhān reaches your ears or it does not. يَسْتَمِعُ ← اِسْتَمِعْ (drill 5) has the اِسْتَـ front that Unit 4's اِسْتَيْقَظَ has, and it means doing it on purpose: listen! لا أَسْمَعُ الأَذانَ · اِسْتَمِعْ
The he-forms يَسْمَعُ · يَسْتَطيعُ · يَعْمَلُ are on the exercise page (odd-one-out, row 2), so they are the book's, not a completion. And أَعْمَلُ is the verb of Unit 4's noun العَمَل: يَوْمُ العَمَلِ · أَعْمَلُ في اللَّيْلِ.
6. New placing words
| word | new because | the book's line | |
|---|---|---|---|
| مَعَكَ | Unit 1's مَعَ out of مَعَ السَّلامَةِ at last | أَنا ذاهِبٌ مَعَكَ | |
| بِجانِبِكَ | بِـ + جانِب “side” + ـكَ: a placing word built from a noun, like عِنْدَ | ضَعِ المُنَبِّهَ بِجانِبِكَ | |
| لِلصَّلاةِ | لِـ meaning “in order to”, as a whole answer | لِماذا؟ لِلصَّلاةِ | |
| إِلى | after a describing word, not a verb; and in إِلى أَيْنَ | مُسافِرٌ إِلى مَكَّةَ · إِلى أَيْنَ؟ | |
| في | a fourth time-use: at night | أَعْمَلُ في اللَّيْلِ | |
| مِنَ | after قَريب: near from | المَسْجِدُ قَريبٌ مِنَ البَيْتِ |
All six join the ledger in the prepositions chapter, which now covers Units 1–6. (The practice paper adds one more for recognition, بَعيدٌ عَنِ البَيْتِ, and that stays in the chapter's “still to come” box until a class page uses it.)
7. One word from the past
ذَهَبَ: recognise it, do not build with it
The exercise on dialogue 3 ends: ذَهَبَ صادِقٌ مَعَ صابِرٍ إِلى المَسْجِدِ Sadiq went with Sabir to the mosque. Every verb in the course so far has been present or future. This one is past, and it is the first. The class has not opened the past tense, so this lesson does not either: know that ذَهَبَ means went, mark the item ✓, and leave the rest until your teacher gets there. The three shapes you do own: أَذْهَبُ I go · يَذْهَبُ he goes · ذاهِبٌ going.
8. Build it yourself
Tap chips right-to-left, say it aloud as you build. The later ones are whole exchanges; build both roles.
“Wake up early.”
اِسْتَيْقِظْ مُبَكِّراً.
تَسْتَيْقِظُ مُتَأَخِّراً
“Put the alarm clock beside you.”
ضَعِ المُنَبِّهَ بِجانِبِكَ.
يَضَعُ مَعَكَ
“I'm travelling to Mecca.”
أَنا مُسافِرٌ إِلى مَكَّةَ.
مُسافِرَةٌ في
“The mosque is near.”
المَسْجِدُ قَريبٌ.
بَعيدٌ قَريبَةٌ
“Say the five prayers in order.” (exercise 1b)
الفَجْرُ، الظُّهْرُ، العَصْرُ، المَغْرِبُ، العِشاءُ.
العَشاءُ الجُمُعَةُ
“Where do you pray fajr?” “I pray fajr at home.”
أَيْنَ تُصَلّي الفَجْرَ؟ أُصَلّي الفَجْرَ في البَيْتِ.
يُصَلّي المَسْجِدِ
“Why do you pray fajr at home?” “I don't hear the adhān.”
لِماذا تُصَلّي الفَجْرَ في البَيْتِ؟ لا أَسْمَعُ الأَذانَ.
اِسْتَمِعْ ماذا
“Do you wake up late?” “Yes, after the fajr prayer.”
هَلْ تَسْتَيْقِظُ مُتَأَخِّراً؟ نَعَمْ، بَعْدَ صَلاةِ الفَجْرِ.
مُبَكِّراً عِنْدَ
“Where are you travelling to?” “I'm travelling to Medina.”
إِلى أَيْنَ أَنْتَ مُسافِرٌ؟ أَنا مُسافِرٌ إِلى المَدينَةِ.
مِنْ ذاهِبٌ
“Why are you travelling to Mecca?” “For the prayer in the Sacred Mosque.”
لِماذا أَنْتَ مُسافِرٌ إِلى مَكَّةَ؟ لِلصَّلاةِ في المَسْجِدِ الحَرامِ.
النَّبَوِيِّ ماذا
“Where will you pray Friday prayer?” “In the Prophet's Mosque, God willing.”
أَيْنَ سَتُصَلّي الجُمُعَةَ؟ في المَسْجِدِ النَّبَوِيِّ، إِنْ شاءَ اللهُ.
تُصَلّي ما
“How will you travel to Medina?” “I'll take the plane.”
كَيْفَ سَتُسافِرُ إِلى المَدينَةِ؟ أَرْكَبُ الطّائِرَةَ.
بِالطّائِرَةِ مُسافِرٌ
“Are you ill?” “No, I'm fine.” “You're lazy.” “That's true. Sorry.”
هَلْ أَنْتَ مَريضٌ؟ لا، أَنا بِخَيْرٍ. أَنْتَ كَسْلانُ. هَذا صَحيحٌ. آسِفٌ.
كَسْلانٌ مَريضَةٌ
“I'm going to the mosque.” “Wait, I'm coming with you.”
أَنا ذاهِبٌ إِلى المَسْجِدِ. اِنْتَظِرْ، أَنا ذاهِبٌ مَعَكَ.
يَنْتَظِرُ مَعَ
9. Quick check
“Wake up!” is:
- تَسْتَيْقِظُ
- اِسْتَيْقِظْ
- يَسْتَيْقِظُ
- أَسْتَيْقِظُ
“Eat!” is:
- كُلْ
- أُكُلْ
- آكُلْ
- اُكْلْ
A woman says “I'm travelling to Mecca”:
- أَنا مُسافِرٌ إِلى مَكَّةَ
- أَنا مُسافِرَةٌ إِلى مَكَّةَ
- أَنا مُسافِرَةٌ إِلى مَكَّةِ
- أَنا مُسافِرٌ إِلى المَكَّةَ
The night prayer is:
- العَشاء
- العِشاء
- العَصْر
- العُشاء
“Prayer in the mosque is better” ends:
- الصَّلاةُ في المَسْجِدِ أَفْضَلٌ
- الصَّلاةُ في المَسْجِدِ أُفَضِّلُ
- الصَّلاةُ في المَسْجِدِ أَفْضَلُ
- الصَّلاةُ في المَسْجِدِ أَفْضَلَ
“The five prayers” is:
- خَمْسَةُ الصَّلَواتِ
- الخَمْسُ الصَّلَواتُ
- الصَّلَواتُ الخَمْسَةُ
- الصَّلَواتُ الخَمْسُ
Which one is in the past?
- أَذْهَبُ إِلى المَسْجِدِ
- يَذْهَبُ إِلى المَسْجِدِ
- ذَهَبَ إِلى المَسْجِدِ
- ذاهِبٌ إِلى المَسْجِدِ
Say aloud, both roles: “Where do you pray fajr?” “I pray fajr at home.” “Why?” “I don't hear the adhān.”
أَيْنَ تُصَلّي الفَجْرَ؟ أُصَلّي الفَجْرَ في البَيْتِ. لِماذا؟ لا أَسْمَعُ الأَذانَ.
Say aloud: “Why are you travelling to Mecca?” “For the prayer in the Sacred Mosque.”
لِماذا أَنْتَ مُسافِرٌ إِلى مَكَّةَ؟ لِلصَّلاةِ في المَسْجِدِ الحَرامِ.
Turn each into a command: يَسْتَيْقِظُ · يَضَعُ · يَنْتَظِرُ · يَأْكُلُ
اِسْتَيْقِظْ · ضَعْ · اِنْتَظِرْ · كُلْ
10. Where this came from
- Class textbook (Al-Arabiyyah Bayna Yadayk, Book 1), Unit 6: the five-prayers dialogue, the two travellers, the ʿaṣr adhān (three pages in your library's Lesson 6 folder), and the unit's exercise and drill pages (the first three screenshots in the exam 2 folder: the نَعَمْ / لا questions on dialogue 3, the prayer-ordering and odd-one-out exercises, drill tables 1–6). The nine commands are drill 5's own list; the five-prayer order is exercise 1's.
- Word readings and glosses verified against Wiktionary's Arabic entries (2026-09-20). Catches worth knowing: bare أسمع and أعمل both resolve first to form-IV verbs (“to make hear”, “to set working”), the same trap Lesson 5 hit with آكل; bare كل is كُلّ “every, all” before it is “eat!”; bare عصر is “to squeeze, to juice” first and hides the prayer under صَلاة العَصْر; the dictionary lists dinner before the prayer for عشاء, so the vowel is the only thing keeping the two apart; حرام is “forbidden” first and “inviolable, sacred” third, which is the mosque's sense; and أفضل returns exactly the elative “better, best” that Lesson 5's check found when it went looking for أُفَضِّلُ. Details in the vocabulary set's notes.
- Wikipedia, Arabic verbs (read 2026-09-20), for the command machine in §2: the imperative “is formed by dropping the verbal prefix from the imperfective jussive stem”; “if the result starts with two consonants … an elidible alif is added to the beginning”, pronounced u “if the present form vowel is u” (اُكْتُبْ) and otherwise i (اِغْسِلْ). The book's nine rows follow this exactly; the article does not discuss كُلْ, which the book prints without comment.
- Wikipedia, diptotes (read 2026-09-20), behind §4's callout: “the form أَفْعَل of masculine singular elative” and “the form فَعْلَان” adjectives, plus “certain names”, are diptotes; “the endings are -u for the nominative and -a for the genitive and accusative with no nunation”. Named here only as words that refuse their ending; the book does not introduce the term.
- Wikipedia, Salah (read 2026-09-20), for the times in §1's captions: Fajr “before sunrise”, Ẓuhr and ʿAṣr “in the afternoon”, Maghrib “directly after sunset”, ʿIshāʾ “during the night”. Note that the article counts from Maghrib, “given the Islamic day begins at sunset”; the book's exercise numbers from Fajr, and the lesson follows the book.
Next: the Unit 6 flashcard deck (42 cards: the prayers, the commands, the travel words), then speak all three dialogues and the book's eight questions in the dialogue reader, and sit the practice paper after Units 5–6. Anything unclear? Bring it to your teacher, in class.