Arabic looks like a classical language paper, but the recent papers tell a different story: contemporary Arabic literature — the novel, the short story, modern poets like Shawqi — now carries a full quarter of the questions, more than any classical period. The Mu’allaqat and the Abbasid masters (Jahiz, Abu Tammam) still matter, but a candidate who prepares only the classical canon is preparing for a paper that no longer exists. The translation component is the gatekeeper: prescribed verses must be translated and explained, which means passive reading knowledge isn’t enough — you need working Arabic. Islamic-studies graduates have a head start on vocabulary, but the paper tests literature, not religion. Our analysis of five recent papers is on this page; use it to weight your effort toward the modern period most candidates neglect.
ARABIC (100 MARKS)
A. Pre-Islamic period (العصر الجاهلي)
- Influence of poets and poetry in Jahiliia period. (أثر الشعر و الشعراء في العصر الجاهلي)
- Literary markets in pre-Islamic Arabs especially Ukkaz (أسواق الأدب في العصر الجاهلي خاصة سوق عكاظ)
- Purposes and features of pre- Islamic poetry special reference to Mu’allaqat. (أغراض الشعر الجاهلي و مزاياه مع التركيز على المعلقات)
B. Dawn of Islam (عصر صدر الإسلام)
- Eloquence and Rhetoric of Holy Quran with examples from Quranic verses. (فصاحة القرآن و بلاغته مع الأمثلة من القرآن الكريم)
- Impact of Quran and Hadith on the subsequent literature. (أثر القرآن و الحديث في الأدب العربي)
- Poetry at the Dawn of Islam (الشعر في عصر صدر الإسلام)
C. Umayyad Period (العصر الأموي)
- Art of Flyting (فن النقائض)
- Erotic and platonic ghazal (الغزل الصريح والغزل العذري)
D. Abbasid and Spanish Period (العصر العباسي والأندلسي)
- Purposes and features of Abbasid poetry with special emphasis on the poetry of Mutanabbi, Abu Tammam, Abu Nuwas, AbulAtahia (أغراض الشعر العباسي و ميزاته مع التركيز على شعر المتنبي و أبي تمام و أبي نواس وأبي العتاهية)
- Prose and its different styles with special emphasis on style of IbnulAmeed, IbnulMuqaffa, Al-Jahiz and Al-Qazi al Fazil. (النثر و أساليبه المختلفة خاصة أسلوب ابن العميد و ابن المقفع والجاحظ و القاضي الفاضل)
- Spanish poetry, with special reference to poetry of Ibn e Zaidoon (الشعر الأندلسي خاصة شعر ابن زيدون)
E. Contemporary Arabic literature (الأدب العربي المعاصر)
- Development of Drama with special focus on services of Toufeeq al Hakeem (تطور المسرحية مع التركيز على أعمال توفيق الحكيم)
- Development of Novel with special reference to the novels of Taha Husain and Nageeb Mahfooz (تطور الرواية مع التركيز على روايات طه حسين و نجيب محفوظ)
- Development of short story with special focus on short stories of Mahmood Taimoor (تطور القصة القصيرة مع نموذج من القصص القصيرة عند محمود تيمور)
- Poetry with special focus on poetry of Ahmad Shouqi and Hafiz Ibraheem (خصائص الشعر مع التركيز على شعر أحمد شوقي و حافظ إبراهيم)
F. Common Topics of different periods
- Criticism from pre-Islamic era to the 4th Islamic Century (النقد في الأدب العربي: من العصر الجاهلي إلى القرن الرابع الهجري)
- Art of Oratory from pre-Islamic era to Umayyad period (الخطابة: من العصر الجاهلي إلى العصر الأموي)
- Development of Arabic literature in the Sub-Continent: (Ghulam Ali Azad in poetry and Shah WaliUllah in prose) (تطور الأدب العربي في شبه القارة الهندية: غلام علي آزاد في الشعر و شاه ولي الله في النثر)
G. Poetry for Arabic paper
- Verses from ode of ImraulQais (1-10) من قفا نبك من ذكرى حبيب ومنزل … إلى ولا سيما يوم بدارة جلجل
- Verses from Qaseedah of Zuhair bin Abi Sulma (50-62). من ومن لا يصانع في أمور كثيرة … إلى فلم يبق إلا صورة اللحم والدم
- Verses from poetry of Hassan bin Thabit (14-28) من فإما تعرضوا عنا اعتمرنا … إلى لعرض محمد منكم وقاء
- Verses from poetry of Ka’b bin Zuhair (33-40) من يسعى الوشاة بجنبيها وقوله … إلى أرى وأسمع ما لو يسمع الفيل
- Verses from poetry of Hafiz Ibrahim (1-10) من رجعت لنفسي فاتهمت حصاتي … إلى فيا ليتكم تأتون بالكلمات
- Verses from ode of Ahmad Shouqi (1-10) من ولد الهدى فالكائنات ضياء … إلى دون الأنام وأحرزت حواء
- Verses from Qaseedah of Imam Al Booseri (15-24) من من لي برد جماح من غوايتها … إلى فأنت تعرف كيد الخصم والحكم
H. Arabic Grammar (قواعد العربية)
- Syntax (النحو): Kinds of Sentence (Nominal and Verbal), kinds of Noun (“Proper and Common”, “Masculine and Feminine”, “Singular, Dual and Plural”, “Mu’rab and Mabni”), Case-Ending. (أقسام الجملة: الفعلية و الإسمية — أقسام الإسم: “المعرفة و النكرة”, “المؤنث و المذكر” “المفرد والتثنية و الجمع”, “المعرب والمبني — الإعراب)
- Morphology (الصرف): Etymology (roots), Mujarrad, Mazeed-feeh, Transitive and Intransitive verb, Active and passive voice. (الإشتقاق — المجرد والمزيد فيه — الفعل اللازم و المتعدي — الفعل المبني المعلوم و المبني المجهول)
Suggested Readings
| Suggested Reading Title | Author / Details |
|---|---|
| A Literary History of the Arabs | Reynold A. Nicholson, Published by Cambridge University Press |
| History of Arabic Literature (تاريخ الأدب العربي) | Ahmad Hasan Zayyat, Published by Darul Marifat دار المعرفة Beirut Lubnan |
| The Contribution of India to the Arabic Literature | Dr. Zubaid Ahmad, Published by Idara Saqafat Islamia, Lahore |
| Muallim-ul-Insha’a (معلم الإنشاء) | Maulana Abdul Majid Nadavi, Majlis Nashriyat Islami, Karachi |
| Modern Arabic Poetry | Arthur J. Arberry, Cambridge University Press London 1962 |
| Selections from Arabic Poetry & Prose (شعر والنثر العربي) | Dr. Khaliq Dad Malik, Published by Azad Book Depot, Lahore |
| Applied Arabic Grammar (تطبيق القواعد العربية) | Dr. Khaliq Dad Malik, Published by Azad Book Depot, Lahore |
| Tasheel Al-sarf wa Al-Nahv (تسهيل الصرف وتسهيل النحو) | Khan Muhammad, Published by Zia ul Quran Lahore |
| جواهر الشعر، جمع وترتيب وشرح الشاعر/ الشربيني مُريدة، طبع بدار الحديث القاهرة | Published by Darul Hadith Cairo |
| Arabic Literature (الأدب العربي) (Elective Arabic Course B.A. Punjab University Lahore) | – |
| الجامع في تاريخ الأدب العربي | بنا الفاخوري، دار الكتب العلمية، بيروت |
| تاريخ الأدب العربي | الدكتور شوقي ضيف، دار المعارف، مصر |
Frequency Analysis — Past Papers 2012–2023
Years covered: 2012 (Papers I & II — old 2×100 format), 2014 (Paper II), 2021, 2023 (5 papers, 40 mapped question units). Arabic-script short answers excluded as unreadable in extraction.
| Topic | Questions asked | % weightage | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| A. Pre-Islamic period (Mu’allaqat, Souq Okaz) | 7 | 17.5% | Stable — Mu’allaqat and Quss ibn Sa’ida repeat |
| B. Dawn of Islam (Quran, Hadith) | 5 | 12.5% | Stable |
| C. Umayyad period (Farazdaq, oratory) | 2 | 5.0% | Rare |
| D. Abbasid & Spanish period | 7 | 17.5% | Stable — Jahiz, Abu Tammam, Maqamat, Kalila |
| E. Contemporary Arabic literature | 10 | 25.0% | Leading — novel, short story, Shawqi, Mahfouz |
| F. Common topics (criticism, Shah Waliullah) | 3 | 7.5% | Rising |
| G. Prescribed verses (translation/explanation) | 5 | 12.5% | Stable |
| H. Grammar (Nahw/Sarf) | 1 | 2.5% | Rare in counted papers |
| Total | 40 | 100% | — |
Top-5 most-repeated topics: 1. Contemporary literature (10) — novel, short story, modern poets; 2. Pre-Islamic period (7); 3. Abbasid & Spanish period (7); 4. Dawn of Islam (5); 5. Prescribed verses (5).
Caveats: 2012 counted two papers (old format); 2014’s four essay choices each counted once; verse-translation questions mapped by task type where verses were garbled; “challenges facing Arabic” mapped to contemporary literature (judgment call).
Preparation Strategy
Start where most candidates refuse to start: the modern period. Contemporary Arabic literature — the novel, the short story, and modern poets like Shawqi — now carries a full quarter of the questions, more than any classical period, across the five recent papers we analysed. Build your modern file first: the major novelists and short-story writers, the modern poets, and the themes examiners keep setting. This single reordering puts you ahead of the majority of the field.
Then cover the classical canon with a clear head. The Mu’allaqat and the Abbasid figures — Jahiz and Abu Tammam — still matter, and they deserve solid preparation, but they no longer own the paper. Give classical poetry and prose the second share of your time, and link every classical text to its period and its literary movement.
Run translation practice through the whole plan, because translation acts as the gatekeeper of this paper. Prescribed verses demand translation and explanation, and passive reading knowledge fails that test. Translate passages weekly, out loud if possible, and check your rendering against the grammar. Deprioritise the habit of preparing only the classical canon from old notes; that paper no longer exists. Islamic-studies graduates start with a vocabulary advantage, and this sequence turns that advantage toward the literature the examiner actually tests.
Keep a modern-literature diary beside your classical notes. Record each modern author, his major works, and one theme examiners associate with him, and review the diary every week. Pair that habit with one classical text study per week, and your revision rhythm then matches the paper’s real balance instead of the old one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is Arabic now more about modern literature than classical texts?
Yes. Contemporary literature carries a full quarter of the questions in the five recent papers we analysed, more than any classical period. The classical canon still matters, but a modern-first balance matches the current paper.
Q: Does an Islamic-studies degree prepare me for this paper?
It gives you a head start on vocabulary, nothing more. The paper tests literature, not religion. You still need the modern novel, the short story, and the poets, plus working translation skill.
Q: Why do candidates call translation the gatekeeper here?
Prescribed verses demand translation and explanation, so weak Arabic blocks whole questions. Passive reading knowledge is not enough. Regular translation practice separates passing answers from strong ones more than any other single habit.
Q: Which classical authors should I still prepare properly?
Prepare the Mu’allaqat and the Abbasid figures, above all Jahiz and Abu Tammam. They still draw questions and anchor the classical share of the paper. Just do not let them crowd out the modern period.
Q: What is the most common preparation mistake in Arabic?
Candidates prepare only the classical canon, because old notes push that route. Recent papers punish that choice directly. Weight your effort toward the modern period first, then fit the classical texts around it.
