Guidance for the student in declension of nouns

The book "Guidance for the Student" we made easy for Arabic students in a language they understand, and we avoided everything that is difficult to grasp, and we connected it with literature, so we adorned it with its bright adornments that gather hearts around it, and bring back souls that have turned away from it to it. We included in the application some rare verses and well-known proverbs that serve as a resource for the student and comfort his tired heart and exhausted mind. We did not leave any difficult issue of morphology except that we depicted it correctly, and presented it in a modern, engaging way. In fact, morphology is a noble linguistic science — indeed, a beautiful art — if only someone would rid it of the dust of the past, and that is the problem of the entire Arabic language, for within its sciences there is endless material of wonders. But its people have kept it away from it, and caused its children to deny it, and allowed others to compete with it in its own lands, making it a matter of mockery to enemies and a cause of pride to friends. Its twisted methods and complex books. We mention this, and in our hearts there is a regret that cannot be dismissed, for we suffered from it all our lives, and wasted our most beautiful days and best years trying to decode its riddles and unravel its mysteries, until the insightful one became blind in understanding it, and the guiding wise one lost his way in its labyrinth. It is unjust to the Arabic language and a crime against its children to let them ride blindly without a guide, and walk in darkness without a sign, while we are capable of guiding them on the straight path and leading them in the clear daylight. If the scholars of Arabic dealt with these books with methods suitable for our current age, they would reveal its virtues, inspire the youth with it, and encourage them to seek more of it. But they — may God forgive them — are caught between two: one is excessive in imitating the ancients, engrossed in their books as if they are divine revelations, and the other is enamored with a foreign language, seeing in its acquisition ease and simplicity, and in its books clarity and brightness, thus standing against Arabic and unjustly attacking it. Therefore, we have taken a middle path in composing this book, drawing from the old its essence and core, and from the new its methods and means of clarification. We will make this approach our guiding principle in everything we intend to free from the shackles of the past.