هقطف الريحان من غير ما اقلم الغصن.

In Egyptian Arabic, هـ before the verb marks the future. So هقطف means I will pick or I’m going to pick.

In informal writing, you may also see:

• هاقطف
• حقطف

These are all common colloquial ways to write the future.

Arabic often builds the subject into the verb instead of stating it separately.

So:

• هقطف = I will pick
• اقلم = I trim / I prune

You could add أنا for emphasis, but you do not need it:

• أنا هقطف الريحان... = I’ll pick the basil...

Without أنا, the sentence is still complete and natural.

من غير ما is a very common Egyptian Arabic chunk meaning without doing something.

So:

• من غير ما اقلم الغصن = without pruning the branch/stem

It is best to learn من غير ما as a fixed expression. Word-for-word analysis is less helpful than just recognizing it as a pattern:

• من غير ما + verb = without + -ing / without doing ...

No. In this sentence, ما is not an ordinary negation by itself.

The idea of without comes from the whole expression من غير ما. So you should understand:

• من غير ما اقلم as one unit = without trimming

Do not read it as if it were separately saying not in the usual sense.

Because after expressions like من غير ما, Egyptian Arabic normally uses the bare imperfect verb, not the بـ form.

So the natural pattern is:

• من غير ما اقلم not
• من غير ما باقلم

A useful rule of thumb:

• بـ often appears with ordinary present/habitual statements
• after clause-introducing expressions like عشان / لما / قبل ما / من غير ما, Egyptian usually prefers the verb without بـ

These two words show an important pronunciation difference.

• الريحان: the ل of ال is not pronounced because ر is a sun letter.
  So it is pronounced roughly er-reḥān / ir-riḥān, not el-riḥān.

• الغصن: the ل of ال is pronounced because غ is a moon letter.
  So it is pronounced roughly el-ghoṣn.

This is a very common Arabic reading issue for learners.

In Arabic, الـ is used very naturally when the thing is:

• specific
• already known from context
• the relevant one in front of the speakers

So this sentence can mean something like:

• the basil
• the branch/stem

In real usage, Arabic often uses the definite article where English might sometimes sound more natural with a bare noun, depending on context.

غصن literally means branch or twig.

With a plant like basil, English might translate it differently depending on the situation:

• branch
• stem
• sprig

So the Arabic word is broad enough that the best English choice depends on what kind of plant part the speaker means.

Yes, from a learner’s point of view, informal spelling often leaves things out.

اقلم here represents the verb أقلّم / قلّم, meaning to trim, clip, prune. In casual Arabic writing:

• short vowels are usually not written
• shadda is often omitted too

So اقلم may look simpler than the fully marked form a textbook would show.

In Cairene Egyptian, ق is usually pronounced as a glottal stop ء.

So in this sentence:

• هقطف is usually pronounced with ء, not a hard q
• اقلم also begins with that same sound

So a Cairene-style pronunciation is roughly:

• haʔṭaf
• aʔallim

Regional accents vary, but this is the pronunciation many learners will hear in Egyptian Arabic.

Yes. A few alternatives are possible, but they differ in style.

For example:

• هقطف الريحان من غير ما أقلم الغصن
  Same sentence, just with a more careful spelling of أقلم

• هقطف الريحان بدون ما أقلم الغصن
  Also understandable and natural, though من غير ما is very common in speech

• هقطف الريحان من غير تقليم الغصن
  More formal or more written-style; less everyday conversational Egyptian

So the version you were given sounds very natural for spoken Egyptian.

By itself, it most directly means without pruning the branch.

It does not automatically mean without needing to prune. That extra idea of need would usually have to be expressed more clearly.

So the sentence describes two actions:

1. picking the basil
2. not pruning the branch while doing that

That is the basic relationship the grammar shows.