Arabic The preposition Li
- In this part of Lesson No. 6 we will learn a new preposition and the principles for its use In-Shā’-Allâh (God Willing):
- This new preposition is لِـ means “for”. When a preposition is followed by a noun, it changes the noun from the nominative case to the genitive case. e.g., when لِـ precedes a noun مُحَمَّدٌ then it becomes لِمُحَمَّدٍ but there are certain words which do not change their cases with different causes and maintain their vowel endings. These words are called Indeclinable words. When a preposition precedes an indeclinable word like مَنْ meaning who, it will become لِمَنْ for whom and not لِمَنِ.
- When this لِ precedes a definite noun like الْكِتَابُ the alif in the beginning of the word is dropped and the word becomes لِلْكِتَابِ
- On the other hand when this لِ precedes a noun like اللهُ the Alif in the beginning of the word is dropped and no lam is added and the word simply becomes للهِ meaning belongs to Allah (God).
- Please read the following sentences carefully taking good care of the vowel endings.
| English | Transliteration | Arabic |
| This is for Muhammad and that is for Hamid | Hadha li Muhammadin Wa dhalika li Hamidin | هَـٰذَا لِمُحَمَّدٍ. وَذَلِكَ لِحَامِدٍ. |
| Whose bag is this? This bag belongs to Yasir | Liman Hadhihil Haqueebatu? Hadhihil Haqueebatu li Yasirin | لِمَنْ هَـٰذِهِ الْحَقِيبَةُ؟ هَـٰذِهِ الْحَقِيبَةُ لِيَاسِرٍ. |
| All praise belongs to Allah (God) | Alhamdu lillah |