Explanation of the words of Ibn Malik (may Allah have mercy on him): "With the kaf, a letter, without a lam or with it *** And the lam, if you precede it with ha, is impermissible."

The Shaykh : He said: "And in the case of distance, pronounce with the kaf", "in the case of distance": this means in the case of distance, i.e., distance from what? It means distance from the one being referred to, whether the distance is physical or conceptual, in which case the kaf is used. So you say: "That book," "That man." And his saying:
"a letter": this clarifies that the kaf here is not a pronoun, but a letter. So if you say: "That man is far," you say: "Dha" is a demonstrative noun built on sukun in the position of nominative, and the kaf is a letter of address. You do not say: "Dha is a dependent noun, and the kaf is a dependent noun to it." No, the author says here that the kaf is a letter, and a letter has no grammatical position.
"without a lam or with it": this means the kaf is used without a lam, or with it: i.e., with the lam. So you say: "That man," this is without a lam. And you say: "That man," yes, yes. He says: "or with it *** And the lam, if you precede it with ha, is impermissible": the lam becomes impermissible if you precede it with: ha. How is it ha? It is the ha of emphasis that comes before the demonstrative noun. So if you precede it with ha, the lam becomes impermissible. Do not say: "Hadhak al-rajul qaim" (That man is standing), but say: "Dhaka al-rajul qaim" (That man is standing), or say: "Hadhak al-rajul qaim" (That man is standing). So there are three forms: two permissible forms and one impermissible form. "Hadhak al-rajul qaim" is permissible, "Dhaka al-rajul" is permissible, "Hadhak al-rajul" is not permissible. Why? Because if you bring the lam with the ha of emphasis, it may become ambiguous to us that what follows the lam is the predicate: "This is for you." If you say: "Hadhak al-rajul," it is clear. "Dhaka al-rajul," it is clear. "Hadhak al-rajul," it is confusing. Therefore, they said that it is not permissible to bring the lam with the ha of emphasis. Some scholars said: The one being referred to is either near, intermediate, or far. If it is near, you do not bring the lam or the kaf, so you say: "This," what? "This man," or "Dha man." And if it is far, you bring the lam and the kaf, so you say: "That man." And if it is intermediate, you bring only the kaf, so you say: "That man." But the apparent meaning of the words of Ibn Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) is that distance is only one level, and that in it, the kaf alone is used, or the kaf and the lam, unless ha precedes it or comes before it. If ha precedes it, it is not permissible to bring the lam. Then the author said: "And with this".
It remains for us to speak about the lam. The lam is for address, as you know. Is the addressee considered in it, or is it in one form? In this, there are three languages: The first language: that the addressee is considered in it. The second: that it is always singular with fathah. The third: that it is with fathah for the singular masculine always, and with kasrah for the singular feminine always. -Pay attention- The kaf, we say it is for what?
The student: For address.

The Shaykh : For address. Is the addressee always considered in it, or what? We say: In this, there are three languages. The first language: and it is the most eloquent and most common, is that the addressee is considered in it. So if you are addressing a man, say: "Dhaka," and if you are addressing a woman, say: "Dhaki," and if you are addressing the dual, say: "Dhakuma," and if you are addressing a group of men, say: "Dhakum," and if you are addressing a group of women, say: "Dhalkun." And this is the most eloquent, and it is what came in the Qur'an. Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, said in addressing the singular masculine, which is frequent in the Qur'an: , "That": Who is being addressed? The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) , and in the singular feminine, he says with kasrah, yes: No, the wife of the Minister!!
The student: .

The Shaykh : The story of Maryam, , in the story of the wife of Ibrahim: , and in the story of Maryam: Good, and in the dual: , in the plural masculine: , in the plural feminine: , this is the most eloquent. And the second language: that it is singular with fathah for all masculine, whether one, two, or a group, so you say: "That man," addressing one, and you say: "That man," addressing a group, and you say: "That man," addressing two. And in the feminine, it is always with kasrah, whether the addressee is one, two, or more. And the third language: that it is always singular with fathah, yes. So these are three languages. And based on that, in the next lesson, if Allah wills, we will take exercises in cases where the one being referred to and the addressee differ, because many students do not know how to get out of that. And Allah knows best.