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FARIS EL-SHIDIAC writes:--"The form for the "future" of the verb is also applicable for the "present". The modern Arabs, therefore, make it a real "present" by joining it to some other word. Thus "howa yaktuba", signifies "he writes", or "he will write". But "howa ammal yaktuba", has the single signification of "he is writing".
"Although in the classical Arabic there are two particles, "sa" and "saufa" employed to confine the verb to the future, they are very seldom used in ordinary books."--"Grammar", p. 38.