أولا، اقرأ الرسالة.

Here أولا means first, firstly, or first of all. It is being used as a sequencing word to introduce the first step in a set of instructions. It is not describing a noun; it is organizing the sentence.

So the structure is basically:

First, read the message.

Arabic usually leaves out short vowels in ordinary writing, so learners often see a simplified form like أولا.

In more fully vocalized writing, you may see أوّلًا. That fuller spelling shows pronunciation details that are normally omitted, including the doubled w sound and the final adverbial ending.

So:

• أولا = common unvowelled spelling
• أوّلًا = more fully vocalized spelling

Both point to the same word in this sentence.

It is pronounced roughly iqraʾ.

A helpful way to hear it is:

• iq
• raʾ

The final ʾ is a glottal stop, like the catch in the throat in English uh-oh.

A common learner mistake is to say something like ikra or iqraa, but the final hamza should still be heard: iqraʾ.

Those two signs are doing different jobs.

• The first ا is the helping alif used in many imperative forms. It makes the word pronounceable at the beginning.
• The final أ / ء sound is part of the actual root of the verb قرأ, which means to read.

So in اقرأ:

• the beginning helps form the command
• the ending belongs to the verb itself

This is why the word can look unusual at first.

Yes. اقرأ is the imperative, meaning a command: read!

It comes from the verb قرأ to read. In simplified terms, Arabic often forms the imperative of a basic verb from the present-tense form addressed to you, then adjusts the beginning so the word can be pronounced properly.

For a learner, the important point is this:

• قرأ = he read / to read
• يقرأ = he reads
• اقرأ = read!

Because the imperative verb already includes the idea of you.

In Arabic, اقرأ already means read! addressed to someone directly. A separate pronoun is not necessary.

So unlike English, Arabic does not need to say you read the message when giving a command. The command form itself already tells you that the subject is you.

اقرأ is addressed to one male in Modern Standard Arabic.

Some related forms are:

• to one female: اقرئي
• to two people: اقرآ
• to a group of males or a mixed group: اقرؤوا
• to a group of females: اقرأن

So the form in your sentence is specifically the singular masculine imperative.

Because ر is a sun letter.

In Arabic, when the definite article ال comes before a sun letter, the l sound of ال is not pronounced separately. Instead, it merges into the next consonant.

So:

• written: الرسالة
• pronounced: ar-risālah

In fully vocalized text, the ر would normally show a shadda to reflect this doubling in pronunciation.

Yes. In fully vocalized Modern Standard Arabic, it would normally be الرسالةَ with a final -a sound, because it is the direct object of اقرأ.

So the fully marked form would be:

اقرأ الرسالةَ

However, ordinary Arabic writing usually omits short vowels and case endings, so you normally just see:

اقرأ الرسالة

Also, when people pause at the end of a sentence, they often do not pronounce the final case vowel clearly anyway.

Because verb-first order is very common in Arabic, especially in commands.

So اقرأ الرسالة follows a natural pattern:

• اقرأ = the command verb
• الرسالة = the object

This is a very normal Arabic structure: verb + object.

The word أولا simply comes first because it sets the sequence: First, ...

It works much like a comma in English. Here it marks a pause after أولا.

Arabic punctuation in modern writing is similar to English punctuation, but some marks look different. The Arabic comma is ،, not ,.

So:

أولا، اقرأ الرسالة.

is punctuated much like:

First, read the message.