Al-muqaddimah Al-ajurrumiyyah [on the Science of Arabic Grammar]

Notes


[^1] It is customary for Arabic Grammarians to commence their Naḥw works with a treatment of Kalām. The main reason for this is that Kalām is the goal that the study of Arabic Naḥw aspires to. In other words, by following and applying the rules of Naḥw the Arabic learner is able to produce Kalām in the same manner (naḥw) as the ancient Arabs produced Kalām based on their natural and innate ability and competence. Naḥw, then, is no more than the explication of rules which the ancient Arabs used and applied implicitly and on a subconscious level to produce Kalām. The primary motivation for the development of Naḥw was the corruption of this very natural ability to produce grammatically well-formed sentences in the wake of a mass influx of foreigners from neighbouring countries. It was feared that if the Arabs lost this ability or it died with them then it would be lost forever which meant that the message and guidance of the Holy Qur’an would always be inaccessible to its readers.

Another equally valid reason for commencing with Kalām is that Kalām provides the context and creates the conditions for the occurrence of I‘rāb (declinability) which forms the primary subject-matter of Naḥw. In other words, Kalām, by virtue of it being a compound utterance, makes it possible for one word to precede another such that the former is able to change the ending of the latter. This very change that is effected at the endings of words is what the Arabic Grammarians call I‘rāb. In fact, Naḥw itself is occasionally referred to as ‘Ilm al-I‘rāb.

From the above it follows that Naḥw is no more than a study of:

I‘rāb, its types (Raf‘, Naṣb, Khafḍ and Jarr) as well as its opposite Binā’ (indeclinability) and its types

the declinable (Mu‘rab) and indeclinable (Mabniyy) words that exist in Arabic and the categories and classes into which they are divided

the various signs (‘Alāmāt) with which the Mu‘rab (in all its types) is declined and the signs on which the Mabniyy is fixed and established, and

the places (Mawāḍi‘) in which the Mu‘rab is so declined.

Furthermore, Naḥw, and hence this present work, does not deal with the structure of the individual word and the changes (other than I‘rāb) that affect its structure. This study of the word, instead, is treated under Ṣarf (Morphology) which, according to the later Grammarians, is an autonomous science independent of Naḥw. However, this does not rule out the occasional treatment of Ṣarf in this work due to the fact that some aspects of Naḥw are contingent on Ṣarf in that the latter furnishes the requisite background information for an adequate understanding of these aspects.

[^2] The word “compound” (Murakkab) refers to any utterance that is composed of two or more words whether it conveys a complete sense or not. The inclusion of Murakkab in the definition excludes the simple or single utterance (Lafz Mufrad) from the concept of Kalām. In other words, Kalām is not a simple or single utterance like:  زيد  (Zayd), قامَ  (stood), etc.

[^3] The word “utterance” (Lafz) denotes any sound that consists of some of the letters of the Alphabet whether it is actually used in Arabic (Musta‘mal/Mauḍū‘) or not (Muhmal) and whether it is simple (Mufrad) or compound (Murakkab). The inclusion of Lafz in the definition excludes anything that is not uttered from the idea of Kalām like writing, sign-language, etc. Thus, every form of communication that does not involve speaking, or any non-verbal sign is excluded from the definition.

[^4] The expression “that conveys a complete and self-contained meaning” (Mufīd) excludes the compound utterance that does not convey a complete and self-contained meaning (Murakkab Ghayr Mufīd) e.g.  هلْ زيدٌ  (Is Zayd…?),  إِنْ قامَ زيدٌ  (If Zayd stands…), etc.

[^5] Bi al-Waḍ‘ has been variously interpreted to mean (a) according to Arabic usage as opposed to Turkish, English or Persian usage, for example, and (b) with the intention to communicate a message so as to exclude the “talking” of parrots and sleep-talkers for in none of the cases is there any intention to communicate a message.

[^6] The Ism is generally defined as a word that denotes a meaning that is complete in and by itself without time forming a part of that meaning. By “complete in and by itself” we mean that the meaning of the Ism can be completely understood independently and without reference to anything else. While Ism is equivalent to the Noun in English it is much wider in scope. The Ism in Arabic, apart from including words signifying concrete things such as people, animals, plants, inanimate objects, or abstract things such as actions, states, qualities, also includes English adjectives, adverbs, some prepositions, etc. This accounts for the initial confusion experienced by Arabic beginners when they are told that the following are nouns in Arabic:  جَميل  (beautiful),  قائمٌ  (is standing),  معَ  (with),  أمامَ  (in front),  خَلْفَ  (behind),  عِنْدَ (at, with), etc.

As will be seen in the discussion of the signs of the Ism, the Fi‘l and the Ḥarf, what determines a word to be an Ism, Fi‘l or Ḥarf is the presence or absence of particular signs in the word rather than the meaning that it denotes. Thus, a word could have the meaning of a Fi‘l but because it lacks the signs of the Fi‘l it is regarded as an Ism instead. Likewise, a word could have the meaning of a Ḥarf but because it displays the signs of a Fi‘l it is regarded as Fi‘l.

[^7] The Fi‘l is generally defined as a word that denotes a meaning (in the form of an action, state or quality) that is complete in and by itself with time being a part of it. Another way of defining the Fi‘l is to say that it is a word signifying the occurrence of an action in one of the three tenses (Past, Present and Future i.e. before, during and after the time of speaking respectively).

[^8] The Ḥarf is generally defined as a word that denotes a meaning that is not complete in and by itself such that its meaning cannot be completely understood except with reference to an Ism or a Fi‘l. It follows that the meaning of the Ḥarf is always relative such that it cannot be comprehended except with reference to words other than itself. The number of Ḥurūf that exist in Arabic is said to be eighty. The following are some of the meanings and usages associated with the Ḥarf:

Nafy (negation), Jawāb (responding), Tafsīr (explaining), Sharṭ (conditionality), Taḥḍīḍ (urgent request), ‘Arḍ (mild request), Tanbīh (calling attention to something), Istiqbāl (marking the Future), Taukīd (emphasis), Istifhām (interrogation), Tamannī (expressing a wish), Tarajjī and Ishfāq (expressing hope and pity), Tashbīh (comparison), Ta‘līl (causality), Rad‘ and Zajr (rebuke), Ta’nīţ (femininity), Sakt (pausing), Nidā’ (calling by way of address), Ṭalab (request in general), etc.

[^9] The reason for this qualification is to distinguish the word Ḥ arf as a particle from the word Ḥarf as a letter of the Arabic alphabet. A letter is not used to signify a meaning i.e. it has no Semantic value. Instead, it is used as a unit in the construction of words. The two uses of the word Ḥarf are clearly illustrated in the following expression:

"مِنْ"حرف مكوَّن منحرفين

[”Min” is a Ḥarf (particle) composed of two Ḥarfs (letters)]

[^10] Khafḍ, as will be mentioned in the Chapter on I‘rāb, is a particular change at the end of a word in the form of a Kasrah, or one of its substitute signs (the Fatḥah and Ya’), caused by an ‘Āmil. Khafḍ occurs in three places viz:

when a declinable Ism is preceded by a Ḥarf Jarr e.g.

when it occurs as the Muḍāf ilayh e.g.

when it occurs as a Tābi‘ of one of the two previous cases e.g.

Each of these three places is illustrated in the Basmalah i.e. بسمِ اللهِ الرحمنِ الرحيم

Thus, the noun اسمِ   ends in a Kasrah because it is preceded by a Ḥarf Jarr, the Lafz al-Jalālah (i.e. the Expression of Majesty), viz. اللهِ ends in a Kasrah because it is the Muḍāf ilayh and الرحمنِ   ends in a Kasrah because it is the Tābi‘ of the Lafz al-Jalālah.

From the above it is clear that Khafḍ does not mean for a word to merely have a Kasrah at the end but that such a Kasrah should, in addition, be the result of an ‘Āmil such as a Ḥarf Jarr or Muḍāf ilayh. What this means is that a word may have a Kasrah at its end but because that Kasrah was not caused by an ‘Āmil, it cannot be said to be Khafḍ.

Similarly, a word may be preceded by an ‘Āmil of Khafḍ (such as the Ḥarf Jarr or Muḍāf ilayh) but will not necessary be marked with a Kasrah at its end (whether actually or hypothetically), due to the fact that the word might be Mabniyy (indeclinable). It is for this reason that the author mentions the Ḥurūf al-Khafḍ as an independent sign or marker of the Ism since by virtue of it a number of Mabniyy words have been classified under the category of Ism which might otherwise not have been classified as such.

Furthermore, Khafḍ is equivalent to the more commonly used term Jarr. The former is used by the Kufa school of Arabic grammar while the latter is used by the Basran school of Arabic grammar. From this it appears that the author inclines towards the Kufan school which is further corroborated by him subscribing to other Kufan views as will be seen later.

At this point it is in order to mention a brief note on the Arabic grammar schools. These schools resemble the four Mađhabs in Fiqh but rather than being named after particular personalities the Arabic grammar schools have been named after the cities and countries in which they operated and were dominant. Of these schools the Basrah and Kufah schools have always dominated the Arabic grammar scene and of the two schools the views of the Basran school seem to be more in vogue. The famous Persian grammarian, Sībawayh, was Basran and his contemporary, Al-Kisā’iyy, one of the Seven Qurrā’ (Readers), was a representative of the Kufan Arabic school.

[^11] The Tanwīn is defined as a Nūn Sākinah (unvowelled Nūn) suffixed to Asmā’ which even though it is pronounced as a Nūn Sākinah is not written as one but rather as “the second of two Ḥarakahs” i.e. the second of two Ḍammahs, two Fatḥahs or two Kasrahs e.g.

Rarulun - Rajulan - Rajulin

رجلٌ ، رجلاً ، رجلٍ

The use of the phrase “the second of two Ḥarakahs” to refer to the Tanwīn is metaphorical since a Ḥarakah does not really and literally give the sound of a Nūn Sākinah.

Moreover, it is commonly believed that the Tanwīn constitutes both Ḥarakahs (vowel markings) but this belief is erroneous for the following reasons:

Two Ḍammahs, two Fatḥahs or two Kasrahs are pronounced as un , an , or in respectively, that is, a Ḥarakah (u, a, i) plus a Nūn Sākinah (n ), whereas the Tanwīn is pronounced asn which is a Nūn Sākinah only. Moreover, the way these two Ḥarakahs are pronounced is  أٌ   أً   and إٍ  (i.e. ’un , ’an , and ’in ) in which case they do not consist merely of a Ḥarakah (u, a, i) and a Nūn Sākinah (n ) but also a Hamzah (’). In other words, not only is it erroneous to say that the Tanwīn constitutes both Ḥarakahs but to pronounce the two Ḥarakahs as though they are borne on a Hamzah is even more erroneous.

It is known that the Tanwīn is dropped from an Ism when the definite article “al” is prefixed to it since the two cannot co-exist on one Ism. However, when “al” is added only one of the two Ḥarakahs is dropped and not both. For example, we say before the prefixing of “al”:  كتابٌ (Kitābun ) and after its prefixing: الكتابُ  (al-Kitābu). Note that only then is dropped and not un as a whole.

It is also known that the Tanwīn of the Muḍāf (annexed noun) is also dropped such that the word  كتابُ  (Kitābu) in  كتابُ زيدٍ  (Kitābu Zaydin) was  كتابٌ  (Kitābun ) prior to it becoming the Muḍāf. Again we find that only then is dropped and not the un which attests to the Tanwīn being only one of the two Ḥarakahs and not both.

The only time that the Tanwīn is dropped together with the Ḥarakah is when a pause is made on a word. Thus, in the case of  كتابٌ  (Kitābun ) when we pause on it we say:  كتابْ  (Kitāb) such that not only is then dropped but un as a whole. A possible reason for the belief that the Tanwīn constitutes both Ḥarakahs is that the Tanwīn when it is pronounced it is always pronounced with the particular Ḥarakah preceding it In other words, while the preceding Ḥarakah can exist without the Tanwīn the Tanwīn cannot exist without the preceding Ḥarakah.

What this amounts to is that a Ḥarakah cannot be a Tanwīn and give the sound ofn except when it is written with another Ḥarakah, because if the Tanwīn is distinguished by being the second of two Ḥarakahs it cannot be the second without another Ḥarakah being the first. The moment a Ḥarakah appears alone it always gives the sound of Ḥarakah in the real sense of the word, i.e. a Ḍammah (u), Fatḥah (a) or Kasrah (i) and not that of the Tanwīn. Since the “Ḥarakah” indicating the Tanwīn cannot appear alone and must out of necessity appear with another Ḥarakah it is more convenient – especially for beginners – to refer to both Ḥarakahs as the Tanwīn. However, this is technically incorrect and has to be unlearnt eventually as it will hamper a correct understanding of more advanced Arabic concepts.

A final point on the Tanwīn is that when it is the second of two Fatḥahs it is transformed into an Alif when pausing on the word such that the sound of the Fatḥah is prolonged. This is the reason why a word with a double Fatḥah is almost always written with an Alif at its end. Thus, كتاباً  (Kitaban ) becomes كتاباَ (Kitabā) when a pause is performed. An exception to this rule is the Ta’ Marbūṭah

[^12] A more detailed explanation of the Ḥurūf al-Khafḍ/al-Jarr will be provided later in the Chapter on the Makhfūḍat al-Asmā’ (places of Khafḍ in the Ism) since the author merely mentions them here as one of the characteristics of the Ism such that when one of them precedes a word directly then that word is an Ism. Thus, each of the underlined words in the examples given above is an Ism because it is preceded by a Ḥarf Khafḍ/Jarr.

[^13] The author does not give any examples for the Ḥurūf al-Jarr which is why I thought it appropriate to give examples so as to clarify the meanings and illustrate their operation and effect on the Ism. I have placed the examples between brackets to indicate that they are not part of the text.

[^14] The author mentions the Ḥurūf al-Qasam separately from the Ḥurūf al-Khafḍ/Jarr even though they form part of the Ḥurūf al-Khafḍ/Jarr to emphasise the point that only these three Ḥurūf are used to indicate Qasam.

[^15] The function of this Tā’ is to indicate that the Fā‘il (and other similar structures) to whose Fi‘l it is suffixed, is feminine. Furthermore, the author’s qualification of “unvowelled” (الساكنة) is to distinguished the تاء التأنيثالساكنة   from the تاء التأنيثالمتحركة (“vowelled” Tā’ of Femininity) which is suffixed to the Ism in the form of the Ta’ Marbūṭah (closed Tā’ or Tā’ whose ends are joined) e.g. مدرّسة (a female teacher),  مُسلمة (a female Muslim). Even though the تاء التأنيث الساكنة is unvowelled as its name indicates it nevertheless becomes vowelled when the letter following it is also unvowelled. The reason why it is vowelled in this case is to avoid the meeting of two unvowelled letters which Arabs found difficult to pronounce e.g. جاءت ِ المدرستان وجلست َا في الفصل  (“The two female teachers came and sat in the classroom”). In the first case the Ta’ is followed by the unvowelled Lam (since the Hamzah Wasl is to be ignored during continuous speech) and in the second case it is followed an Alif (the Alif of Iţnatayn – feminine dual) which is always unvowelled.

[^16] In other words, the Ḥarf does not feature any of the signs of the Ism and the Fi‘l such that the absence of a nominal or verbal sign is what marks and characterizes the Ḥarf and distinguishes it from the Ism and Fi‘l. The Ḥarf can be equated with the letter ح which is distinguished from the ج and the خ by the absence of a dot under or above it.

[^17] The author uses I‘rāb here in the sense of declinability in contrast to Binā‘ (indeclinability) which is when the ending of word permanently exists in a particular state despite the entry of different ‘Awāmil. In short, the difference between I‘rāb and Binā‘ is that the former is a process involving change and the latter a state involving permanence and stability. Furthermore, while the author covers I‘rāb quite extensively in this brief treatise, he does not deal with Binā’ at all. The reason for this is that I‘rāb involves complex changes and permutations affecting different word-types in different contexts and environments all of which requires explanation and clarification. Binā’, on the other hand, involves minimal change if any at all such that not much can be said about it and can therefore be dispensed with as the author has done here.

Moreover, as mentioned before, I‘rāb refers to a process of change and Binā’ to a fixed state. On the other, the word whose ending is subject to change is called Mu‘rab and the word whose ending occurs in a fixed state is called Mabniyy. An example of a word that is Mu‘rab is the Ism المدرس in the following three sentences:

جاء المدرسُ                 (The teacher came)

سألت المدرسَ                (I asked the teacher)

سلمت المدرسِ               (I greeted the teacher)

An example of a word that is Mabniyy is the Ism هؤلاءِ in the following three sentences:

جاء هؤلاءِ                                            [These (people) came]

سألت هؤلاءِ                         [I asked these (people)]

سلمت على هؤلاءِ                                [I greeted these (people)]

Notice in the first set of examples how the ending of  المدرس    which is the Sīn, first changes to a Ḍammah, then to a Fatḥah and then to a Kasrah while in the second set of examples the ending of  هؤلاءِ which is the second Hamzah, remains fixed with a Kasrah even though both words occur in the exact same context and environment.

The term “I‘rāb” is also used to mean syntactic analysis (or parsing) where a sentence is broken up into its constituent parts (the words) and analysed according to word-type or word-class, place of I‘rāb, sign of I‘rāb or Binā’, whether real (Ḍāhir) or hypothetical (Muqaddar), etc. Once the constituent parts have been analysed the Mu‘rib (Syntactic Analyst) moves on to the level of the sentence (Jumlah). Here he isolates all the possible sentences and states whether or not they occupy particular places of I‘rāb by standing in place of the Asmā’ and Af‘āl that normally occupy those places.

[^18] The purpose of I‘rāb is to distinguish between different grammatical functions and roles such as the Doer, Object, Subject, Predicate, Adverb, etc., which come into existence with the production of Kalām. In English these grammatical functions and roles are determined from the word-order. English has an SVO word-order i.e. Subject-Verb-Object word-order. Thus, in English you say “Zayd hit Bakr” in this order to indicate that ‘Zayd’ is the Subject, ‘hit’ the Verb and ‘Bakr’ the Object. If we were to reverse the order and say “Bakr hit Zayd” then ‘Bakr’ would be the Subject and ‘Zayd’ the Object. In Arabic it does not matter in which order these three words occur the Subject will always be the noun ending in a Ḍammah and the Object the noun ending in a Fatḥah. Thus, in each of the following sentences ‘Zayd’ is the Subject (whether of a verbal or nominal sentence) and ‘Bakr’ the Object:

ضَرب زيدٌ بكراً   VSO                                        ضَرب بكراً زيدٌ       VOS

زيدٌ ضَرب بكراً   SVO                                        بكراً ضَرب زيدٌ       OVS

Hence, because of I‘rāb Arabic has a flexible word-order as can be seen from the aforementioned examples while in English the word-order is fixed.

[^19] I‘rāb only features in the Ism and the Fi‘l and not in the Ḥarf. Moreover, in the case of the Ism it generally does not apply to the Ḍamīr (personal pronoun), Ism al-Ishārah (demonstrative/indicative pronoun), Ism Mauṣūl (relative pronoun), Ism Alistifhām (interrogative pronoun), compound numbers from eleven until nineteen, some types of Ḍarf (adverb), etc. As for the Fi‘l, I‘rāb does not feature in the Māḍī, Amr and the Muḍāri‘ that has the Nūn an-Niswah/al-Ināţ (Nun of the Feminine Plural) or the Nūn al-Taukīd (Nūn of Corroboration) suffixed to it.

Furthermore, the author treats of I‘rāb generally i.e. he deals with the I‘rāb of the Ism and the Fi‘l together rather than separately. The advantage of this method from a didactic point of view is that the learner does not have to wait for the completion of the I‘rāb of one word-type like the Ism, for example, before he can proceed with the I‘rāb of the Fi‘l, and so on. The disadvantage, however, is that the learner has to deal with two distinct word-types/parts of speech at the same time and this might be confusing to the beginner.

[^20] ‘Awāmil is the plural of ‘Āmil which refers to any word that causes the ending of another word to change in the sense described above. The word that undergoes the change is called the Ma‘mūl (fīhi) and the change itself the ‘Amal (which is synonymous with I‘rāb). In the examples mentioned in footnote(17) the wordsسأل ، جاء    and على constitute the ‘Āmil and the words المدرس and هؤلاء  the Ma‘mūl and the changes with the Ḍammah, the Fatḥah and the Kasrah at the end ofالمدرس the ‘Amal. Even though هؤلاء does not feature any particular change at its ending it is still regarded as a Ma‘mūl because the places that it occupies, namely, the Fa‘il, Maf‘ūl bihī and Masbūq bi Ḥarf Jarr, are governed by the ‘Awāmil such that their effect is distributed over هؤلاء  as a whole without the change having to be noticeable. In other words, it is not necessary for a word to undergo a change at its ending in order for it to be a Ma‘mūl but that it is sufficient that it only occupies a place governed by an ‘Āmil like  هؤلاء  .

[^21] Taqdīran simply means that there is a change at the ending of the word but something prevents this change from being pronounced or uttered like (a) when it is difficult (al-Tiqal) for the Ḍammah and Kasrah to be pronounced on the Wāw or Yā’ or (b) when it is impossible (al-Ta‘aḍḍur) for the Alif to be vowelled with any of the three vowels (Ḍammah, Fatḥah and Kasrah) since the Alif is always unvowelled (i.e. it always bears a Sukūn) or (c) when the Yā’ al-Mutakillim (the Yā’ of the first person singular) forces a Kasrah on the letter before it due to correspondence (al-Munāsabah) and thus preventing the appearance of the Ḥarakah of I‘rāb on that letter.

Furthemore, some Grammarians add the stipulation Maḥallan to the present definition to point to the fact that a Mabniyy word even though it does not display any change at its ending whether Lafđan or Taqdīran, the effect of I‘rāb is distributed over the whole word such that the whole word occupies a particular Maḥall (place/location) of I‘rāb. Therefore, in the case of I‘rāb Lafđan and Taqdīran the effect is confined to the end of the word whereas in the case of I‘rāb Maḥallan the effect is distributed over the word as a whole.

[^22] The Ism in Arabic from the perspective of number is of three types: Mufrad (singular) Muţannā (dual i.e. two) and Jam‘ (plural i.e. three and more). The Jam‘ is further divided into Jam‘ Taṣḥīḥ/Salāmah (sound plural i.e. the singular form remains intact when the plural is formed) and Jam‘ Taksīr (broken plural i.e. the singular form undergoes a change when the plural is formed e.g. كتاب  → كُتُب  ). The former is, furthermore, sub-divided into Jam‘ Muđakkar Sālim [sound masculine plural i.e. the mere addition of       ـِيْنَ / ـُوْنَ (–ūna/–īna) at the end of the singular form e.g.  مدرِّس → مدرِّسُوْن َ /مدرِّسِيْن َ ] and Jam‘ Mu’annath Sālim [sound feminine plural i.e. the mere addition ofـَاتٍ / ـَاتٌَ (–ātun /–ātin ) at the end of the singular form after dropping the Tā’ Marbūṭah e.g. مدرِّسة   → مدرِّسَاتٌٍ   ]. In addition, both the Mufrad and the Jam‘ Taksīr are either Munṣarif (fully-declinable/triptote i.e. it is able to go from the Ḍammah to the Kasrah in its declension from Raf‘ to Jarr) or Ghayr Munṣarif (semi-declinable/diptote i.e. it only goes as far as the Fatḥah in its declension such that the Fatḥah which is the regular sign of Naṣb is retained and used as a sign of Jarr as well).

[^23] This refers to the Muḍāri‘ that does not have the following appendages suffixed to them:

the Nūn al-Taukīd (Nūn of Corroboration), in which case it is Mabniyy on the Fatḥah:

تكتبَنْ / تكتبَنَّ  and  يكتبَنْ / يكتبَنَّ

the Nūn al-Niswah/al-Ināţ (Nūn of the feminine plural), in which case it is Mabniyy on a Sukūn: يكتبْنَ / تكتبْنَ

the Alif al-Iţnayn (Alif of duality), the Wāw al-Jamā-‘ah (Wāw of masculine plural) and Yā’ al-Mukhāṭabah (Yā’ of the second person feminine singular), in which case it is Mu‘rab with the fixing of the in the case of Raf‘, and the dropping of the  in the case of Naṣb and Jazm, and is referred to as the al-Amţilah/al-Af‘āl Khamsah (five patterns/verbs):

يفعلـا ن، يفعلـا ن، يفعلو ن، يفعلو ن، يفعليـ ن

[^24] Some grammarians addهنو ك (yourthing ) as a sixth one, but the more correct view is that it has the I‘rab (declension) of the Ism Mufrad.

[^25] The term Nāṣib, even though it can refer to anything that can serve as an ‘Āmil of Naṣb, its usage has nevertheless been restricted to refer to a member of a set of particles that make the Fi‘l the Manṣūb collectively called the Nawāṣib (sing. Nāîib). These particles are dealt with in the Chapter of the Af‘āl.

[^26] The al-Ism allađī lā yanṣarifu – also referred to as the Mamnū‘ min al-Ṣarf and the Ism Ghayr Munṣarif – is an Ism Mufrad or Jam‘ Taksir that is debarred from the Tanwīn in its normal state (i.e. when it does not have the definite article  "ألْ"  prefixed to it). This is the case in the following four categories of Ism:

Any ‘Alam (proper noun) when it is one of the following: (a) feminine (عائشة، حمزة)  (b) foreign  (إبراهيم، يوسف)  (c) mixed compound (حضرَموت، بيتَلحم)  (d) ends in additional Alif and Nūn  (عثمان، لقمان) (e) occurs on a pattern specific to verbs  (أحمد، يعمُر)  and (f) occurs on the pattern of  فُــعَـــل  (عُمَر، زُفَر)

Any Ṣifah (descriptive noun) when it is one of the following: (a) ends in an additional Alif and Nūn  (عَطشان، جَوعان)  (b) occurs on a pattern specific to the Fi‘l  (أحسَن، أحمَر)  and (c) occurs on the pattern of فُــعَــال  or  مَــفْــعَــل  (مَثنى، ثُلاث، رُباع)

Any Ism ending with the Alif al-Ta’nīţ (Alif indicating femininity) (حُسنى، حَسناء، مَرضى، عُلَماء)

Any Jam‘ whose third letter is an additional letter followed by either two letters or three letters the middle one being a Ḥarf Madd and is called the Ṣīghah Muntahā al-Jumū ‘ or al-Jam‘ al-Aqṣā (final/extreme plural)  (مَساجِد، مَفاتيح، دراهم، دنانير، كُسالى، عَطايا)

[^27] The Sukūn, even though it is not a Ḥarakah, is nevertheless included under the general term Ḥarakāt. Here the use of the word Ḥarakāt to include the Sukūn is an instance of the use of a word that signifies the majority (i.e. the Ḍammah, Fatḥah and Kasrah) to include the minority (i.e. the Sukūn). Another reason that warrants the use of the word Ḥarakāt in the afore mentioned sense is the fact that the Sukūn is the opposite of Ḥarakah and is sometimes referred to as Ḥađf al-Ḥarakah (the dropping of the Ḥarakah) so that the word Ḥarakāt signifies the three Ḥarakāt as well as their opposite, the Sukūn.

[^28] These vowels are the Ḍammah, Fatḥah, Kasrah and Ḥazf al-Ḥarakah (omission of the vowel) which is the Sukūn. Technically speaking the Sukūn is not a vowel but because it stands for the absence of one it has been included under the term Ḥarakāt in this case. Furthermore, these Ḥarakāt are equivalent to your English short vowels.

[^29] These Ḥurūf are the Wāw, Alif, Yā’ and Nūn (its attachment and detachment), the first three lengthening the Ḍammah, Fatḥah and Kasrah respectively to correspond to your long vowels in English. Furthermore, the Ya’ preceded by a Fatḥah in the Muţanna in the case of Naṣb and Jarr corresponds to the English dipthong [ai]. A dipthong is a combination of two vowels which in this case are the [a] and [i] as is clear from the way in which it is represented, viz. [ai]. The opposite of a dipthong is a monopthong which is a single vowel. On the other, the appropriateness of the Nūn as a sign of declension together with the Wāw, Alif and Yā’ is the fact it is often interchanged with one of these letters especially the Alif like when the Alif replaces the Nūn in the form of a Tanwīn when pausing on a word ending in a Fatḥah Tanwīn.

[^30] In order for these Asmā’ to be declined with a Wāw for Raf‘, an Alif for Naṣb and a Yā’ for Jarr the following conditions have to be met:

they have to be Mufrad and not Muţannā or Jam‘

they have to be Mukabbar (i.e. non-diminutive) and not Muṣagh-ghar (diminutive)

they have to be Muḍāf (annexed)

they have to be Muḍāf to other than the Yā’ al-Mutakallim (Yā’ of the first person singular)

In addition to these four conditions,  (ذو)  has to have the meaning of (صاحب)  (possessor/owner of) and not be a relative pronoun (Ism Mauṣūl) according to the dialect of Tay’ and  (الفم)  has to have its Mīm dropped.

[^31] What is meant by the “Five Verbs” is not that they consist of five verbs only nor that they occur only on the scales of the five verbs mentioned in the text but rather any Muḍāri‘ that has the Alif of the Dual, the Wāw of the Masculine Plural or the Yā’ of the Second Person Feminine Singular suffixed to it whether it occurs on the scales mentioned in the text or not. Hence, the verb could be Mujarrad or Mazīd, Ṣaḥīḥ (Strong) or Mu‘tall (Weak), Ma‘lūm (Active) or Majhūl (Passive), etc.

[^32] The Yā’ that is preceded by a Fatḥah and followed by a Kasrah (as opposed to the Yā’ of the Muţanna. See next footnote).

[^33] The Yā’ that is preceded by a Kasrah and followed by a Fatḥah (as opposed to the Yā’ of the Jam‘ Muđakkar Sālim. See previous footnote).

[^34] Strictly speaking, the Fi‘l constitutes only the part highlighted in red. It is therefore wrong to translate the Fi‘l  كَتَبَ  as “he wrote” but rather as “wrote” or “writing in the past”. The reason for this is that “he wrote” is the translation of a complete sentence namely:  كَتَبَ (هُوَ)  i.e. the Fi‘l together with the Ḍamīr that is normally dormant or latent in it when used in speech. Another reason is that we have defined a Fi ‘l as a “word that signifies the occurrence of an action in one of the three tenses” and nowhere is it mentioned that the Ḍamīr is part of its meaning.

[^35] It does not matter whether the Fatḥah is Ḍāhirah (verbally expressed) or Muqaddarah (conceived in the mind only) such that even if the Fatḥah does not appear to be physically present in speech it is nevertheless assumed to be present. This is the case when the Wāw al-Jamā‘ah or Ḍamīr Raf‘ Mutaḥarrik are suffixed to the Fi‘l. In the case of the Wāw al-Jamā‘ah the Fi‘l appears to be Mabniyy on a Ḍammah – which is not really the case. The Ḍammah is merely there because of its correspondence with the Wāw al-Jamā‘ah other wise the Fi‘l is still Mabniyy on the Fatḥah which has only temporarily been driven and forced out by the Ḍammah which is required by the Wāw al-Jamā‘ah for the sake of correspondence. In the case of the Ḍamīr Raf‘ Mutaḥarrik the Fi‘l appears to be Mabniyy on a Sukūn which is not actually the case. The Sukūn is only there so as to break the sequence of four consecutive vowelled letters in what is considered to be a single word since because Arabic does not contain four-letter words all of which are vowelled. The Fi‘l already consists of three vowelled letters and with the suffixing of the Ḍamīr Raf‘ Mutaḥarrik – which together with the Fi‘l is regarded as one word – it now consists of four vowelled letters each following in succession. To break this succession of vowels the Fatḥah on the final letter of the Fi‘l is dropped and replaced with a Sukūn. The Sukūn, therefore, is merely there to break the succession of four consecutive vowels otherwise the Fi‘l still remains Mabniyy on the Fatḥah which has temporarily been dropped due to the aforementioned reason.

There is also the view – which is easier for beginners – that maintains that the Fi‘l is actually Mabniyy on the Ḍammah or Sukūn in the case of – for example – ضربُوا  and  ضربْتُ  respectively, and not on an implied or assumed Fatḥah.

[^36] The view that the Amr is Majzūm is Kufan since the Basran view is that it is Mabniyy (fixed) on the sign with which the Muḍāri‘ is Majzūm. This, furthermore, reiterates the view that the author had certain Kufan leanings. The Amr – based on this view – does not constitute a separate category of the Fi‘l but instead is a Fi‘l Muḍāri‘ which is Majzūm with the Lām al-Amr. Due to excessive use the Lām was then dropped and likewise the Tā’ of al-Muḍāra‘ah (i.e. the Tā’ which causes the Fi‘l to become Muḍāri‘). If the Fi‘l then commences with a Sākin (unvowelled letter) a Hamzah al-Waṣl is introduced to enable the pronunciation of the Sākin except the Fourth Form  أَفْعَلَ  in which case its original Hamzah al-Qaṭ‘ is restored.

[^37] These letters are called the Aḥruf al-Muḍāra‘ah as they cause the Fi‘l to become Muḍāri‘. Furthermore, they are vowelled with a Ḍammah if the Fi‘l consists of four letters or it is in the Majhūl (passive) form other wise they are vowelled with a Fatḥah. In addition, the Alif is used for the first person singular, the Nūn for the first person plural (or singular but used in the royal sense), the Yā’ for the third person masculine (singular, dual and plural) and the third person feminine plural and the Tā’ for the second person throughout (i.e. masculine and feminine, singular, dual and plural) and the third person feminine singular and dual.

[^38] The actual, Nawāṣib, according to the Basran school, are the first four. The remaining six, according to the them, do not effect Naṣb by themselves but rather via the particle  "أنْ"  that is assumed to be hidden after them. The reason for this assumption is to maintain a uniform and single function for these six particles such that if they perform a particular function in one context then that function should be maintained in other contexts for the purpose of uniformity and simplicity. Thus, the two lams as well as Ḥattā function normally as Ḥurūf al-Jarr and should therefore continue to do so even in this context. It is not acceptable that they should perform the function of Jarr in one context and then that of Naṣb in another context while at the same the meaning in both contexts is also constant. Likewise the Fā’, Wāw and Au function normally as Ḥurūf al-‘Aṭf and should therefore retain this function even in this context.

The view that these particles effect Naṣb by themselves is the view of the Kufans in which case the number of Nawāṣib of the Fi‘l is ten. This furthermore attests to the author’s Kufan leanings on some issues of Naḥw.

[^39]

[^40] For the Fi‘l to be Manṣūb after the Fā’ or the Wāw they have to be preceded by Nafy (negation) or Ṭalab [a request which comprises the following: Amr (command), Nahy (prohibition), Taḥḍīḍ (urgent request), ‘Arḍ (mild/gentle request), Du‘ā’ (supplication), Istifhām (interrogation/questioning), Rajā’ (hoping) and Tamannī (wishing)]

[^41] For the Fi‘l to be Manṣūb after  أوْ  the latter has to covey the meaning of either  إلى  (until) or  إلاّ  (except).

[^42] The author states that the Jawāzim are eighteen in number but yet goes on to enumerate nineteen. The reason for this is that    – strictly speaking – is not a Jāzim since it only effects Jazm in a particular context, namely, that of poetry and the Jawāzim that the author meant are those that effect Jazm in all contexts – whether poetry or prose. By right  ألمْ  and  ألماّ  should not constitute two separate instruments of Jazm since they – in reality – composed of  لمْ  and  لماّ  preceded by the Hamzah alistifhām (Hamzah of interrogation) which brings the total number of Jawāzim to sixteen instead of the original eighteen. Furthermore, the Basrans do not count the  كيفما  as a Jāzim in which the number of Jawāzim totals to fifteen.

In addition, the Jawāzim are of two groups. The first group only effects Jāzm of one Fi‘l and comprises the following particles:   (لمْ، لمّا، لام الأمر والدعاء، لا للنهي والدعاء) The second group effects Jazm of two Fi‘ls, the first of which is called the Fi‘l al-Sharṭ (verb signifying the condition) and the second the Jawāb al-Sharṭ (the compliment/response to the condition) or Jazā’ al-Sharṭ (the result/consequence of the condition), and constitutes the remaining Adawāt (instruments). The reason for referring to the latter as Adawāt is the fact that they comprise both Ḥurūf (particles) and Asmā’ (nouns). The Ḥurūf are:  (إنْ، إذْما)  and the remaining words are Asmā’. The Asmā’ can be identified by the fact that they denote a meaning over and above mere al-Sharṭiyyah (conditionality), such as: rational or non-rational beings, time, place, state, etc., in addition to having Ḍamā’ir (personal pronouns) referring to them. Obviously, being Asmā’ one has to account for their places of al-I‘rāb in the sentence.

[^43] What the author means by Marfū‘āt al-Asmā’ are all those categories of Asmā’ that are Marfū‘ whether Lafđan (verbally), Taqdīran (hypothetically/conceptually) or Maḥallan (locally/place-wise). Lafđan is where the particular sign of I‘rāb (which in this case is the Ḍammah, Wāw or Alif) is verbally expressed, Taqdīran where it is not verbally expressed but supposed in the mind, and Maḥallan where there is no sign of I‘rab because the word is Mabniyy. In the latter case the particular I‘rāb (which in this case is Raf‘) is distributed over the whole word as it were in the form of the word occupying – as a whole – the particular place of I‘rāb (and hence the term Maḥallan – place) which is here a place of Raf‘ as the Fā‘il, Mubtada’, Khabar, etc. In the previous two cases only the word-endings are involved whereas in this case the whole word is involved.

It is customary for Grammarians to treat the Marfū‘āt al-Asmā’ first, the Manṣūbāt al-Asmā’ second and the Makhfūḍāt al-Asmā’ last. The rationale behind this order is that Marfū‘āt al-Asmā’ constitute the essential and indispensable components or elements of Kalam (speech). The Manṣūbāt al-Asmā’ are non-essential to Kalām and therefore dispensable (with the exception of the Khabar of Kāna and Ism of Inna and their sisters). As for the Makhfūḍāt al-Asmā’ they really belong to the Manṣūbāt al-Asmā’ because they are Manṣūb from the point of view of place (Maḥall). Thus, the Jārr and Majrūr-phrase (بالقلم ) in the sentence  كتبْتُبالقلم   (I wrote with the pen) occupies the same position as the Maf‘ūl bihī (الرسالة ) in the sentence  كتبْتُالرسالة (I wrote the letter). Also, the Maf‘ūl bihī can be paraphrased as a Jārr and Majrūr-phrase, namely:  فعلْتُ الكتابةبالرسالة   (I did writing to the letter) which constitutes further proof of the resemblance of the Makhfūḍāt al-Asmā’ to the Manṣūbāt al-Asmā’.In addition, the Jārr and Majrūr-phrase takes the place of the Fa‘il after the latter has been dropped just as the Maf‘ūl bihī does becoming the Nā’ib Fā‘il. This would not have been the case if the Jārr and Majrūr-phrase did not occupy a place of Naṣb.

[^44] The diversity of the examples used by the author here indicates that the Fā‘il can be singular, dual or plural (sound or broken), masculine or feminine, a noun with real or hypothetical declension. The use of the Māḍī and Muḍāri‘ forms of the Fi‘l indicates that the Ḍāhir is only used with these two verb types because the Ḍāhir falls in the category of the third person and the Amr comprises the second person only and therefore cannot have the Ḍāhir as its Fā ‘il.

[^45] These are only the Fā‘il-Ḍamā’ir for the Māḍī. If we include the Muḍāri‘ and the Amr then the following Fā‘il-Ḍamā’ir can be added: the Yā’ al-Mukhāṭabah in  (تضربي ن، اضربي )  and the three latent or hidden Ḍamā’ir (i.e. Mustatirah) in  {أضرب (أنا )، نضرب (نحن )، تضرب (أنتَ )، اضربْ (أنتَ )}  .

[^46] Notice that the Māḍī form  ضَرَبَتَا   [They (fem. dual) hit] is not mentioned here because the author’s intention here is not to give the conjugation of the Fi‘l (which falls under Sarf rather than Naḥw) but merely to enumerate the Fā‘il in the form of Ḍamā’ir which so happen to be suffixed to the Fi‘l. Now, since the Fā‘il in  ضَربَا   [They (masc. dual) hit] which is the Alif is same (at least in form) as the Fā‘il in ضَرَبَتَا   [They (fem. dual) hit], there is no sense in repeating it if the one suffices. As for the Tā’ in  ضَرَبَتَا   it is the unvowelled Tā’ of Femininity which has been vowelled with a Fatḥah because of the Alif following it. This Tā’, therefore, is not part of the Alif so as to make it different from the Alif in the masculine form ضَربَا   such that they constitute two separate Fā‘ils and therefore necessitating the inclusion of the feminine form  ضَرَبَتَا .

[^47] It is also called the Nā’ib Fā‘il (Deputy Doer/Agent of the Doer) which is more preferred because the technical term used by the author does not exclude the second of two Maf‘ūls when the first becomes the Nā’ib Fā‘il for each of the two Maf‘ūls qualifies as a al-Maf‘ūl allađī lam yusamma Fā‘iluhū. Yet the one Maf‘ūl is Marfū‘ and the other Manṣūb and what the author means by this term is the one that is Marfū‘ on taking the place of the dropped Fā‘il.

[^48] In fact, all vowelled letters before the penultimate letter are marked with a Ḍammah and not only the first. Furthermore, if the Fi‘l is Ajwaf (hollow) with the Alif as the middle weak letter then the Alif is transformed into a Yā’ and the letter before it bears a Kasrah, e.g. (قا ل – قِي ْل، با ع – بـِي ْع).

[^49] Not only is the letter before the final letter marked with a Fatḥah but all vowelled letters before it. Furthermore, if the Fi‘l is Ajwaf (hollow) with the Wāw or Yā’ as the weak middle, then the Wāw or Yā’ is transformed into an Alif e.g.  (يقُو ْل – يُقَا ل، يبِي ْع – يُبَا ع).

[^50] The Mubtada’ is Marfū‘ and as such it must be acted on by an ‘Āmil that makes it Marfū‘ since every change in the form of I‘rāb is the result of an ‘Āmil. However, since the Mubtada’ normally is the first word in the nominal sentence it follows that its ‘Āmil cannot be anything verbally expressed (Lafziyy) for there is nothing before the Mubtada’. It is for this reason that some Grammarians maintain the Mubtada’ is Marfū‘ precisely because it is not preceded by verbally expressed ‘Awāmil which in itself constitutes an ‘Amil albeit an ‘Āmil that is supposed or conceived in the mind (Ma‘nawiyy). This ‘Āmil is called alibtidā’ (inception i.e. to be stripped of verbally expressed ‘Awāmil by virtue of it occurring at the beginning).

[^51]

[^52]

[^53] This definition of the Na‘t covers both the Na‘t Ḥaqīqiyy and Na‘t Sababiyy. The Na‘t Ḥaqīqiyy is that which highlights a quality or attribute in the Man‘ūt itself and further agrees with the Man‘ūt in number and gender e.g.  هذا بستانٌجميلٌ   (This is a beautiful garden). The Na‘t Sababiyy, on the other hand, highlights a quality or attribute in something related to the Man‘ūt (called the Sabab) and not in the actual Man‘ūt itself e.g.  هذا بستانٌجميلةٌ أزهارُها  (This is a garden whose flowers are beautiful). Notice that in the first example جميلٌ highlights the quality of beauty  (جَمال)  in the Man‘ūt  بستانٌ  and furthermore agrees with it in Raf’, Tankīr, Ifrād and Taḍkīr. As for the second example جميلةٌ   highlights the quality of beauty  (جَمال)  in the Sabab  أزهارُها  (its flowers) which is related to the Man‘ūt بستانٌ and only agrees with the Man‘ūt in Raf’ and Tankīr. As for gender and number the Na‘t is Mu’annath because the Sabab is Mu’annath and is always Mufrad.

[^54] The Mubham includes the Ism Mauṣūl (relative pronoun) e.g.   الذي [who/that which (masc. sing.)],  التي  [who/that which fem. sing.)] and الذينَ  [who/those whom (masc. pl.)].

[^55] Examples of this category are: كتاب ي  (my book), كتاب زيد (Zayd’s book), كتاب هذا الطالب  (this student’s book) and كتاب الرجل (the man’s book).

[^56] What is meant by “some places” is that  حتّى  is not a Ḥarf ‘Aṭf in every context but that in some contexts it is a Ḥarf ‘Aṭf, in others a Ḥarf Jarr and yet others a Ḥarf Ibtidā’ (particle of inception). The following example illustrates the differences between the three types of  حتى  :  (أكلتُ السمكةَ حتىرأسِ ها، رأسَ ها، رأسُ ها)  (I ate the fish up to or up to including its head). If we read رأس ها  with Jarr then  حتى  is a Ḥarf Jarr, with Naṣb it is a Ḥarf ‘Aṭf for then رأس ه follows the same I‘rāb as  السمكةَ  , and with Raf‘ it is Ḥarf Ibtidā’ in which case رأس ه  is the Mubtada’ and its Khabar is dropped assumed as:  مأكولٌ  (i.e. Even its head was eaten).

[^57] This example does not constitute a proper example of a Fi‘l Majzūm conjoined to another Fi‘l Majzūm since the second is not much Majzūm by virtue of it following the first or even by the ‘Āmil of the first but rather it is Majzūm because of the negative particle of Jazm, Lām, that immediately precedes it. To make it an example of a Majzām conjoined to a Majzūm the second Lām should be dropped, like:  زيد لم يقمْ ويقعدْ   .

[^58] The term Taukīd here is a Maṣdar but it used in the sense of the Ism Fā‘il (active participle) Mu’akkid meaning that which corroborates or emphasises.

[^59] The substitute word follows the word for which it is substituted in all the latter’s cases of I‘rāb.

[^60] It is also called Badal al-Kull min al-Kull (Substitute of the whole for the whole) or Badal Muṭābiq (Concordant/congruous Badal)

[^61] Two other types are normally added so as to make the total number six. These two are: Badal al-Nisyān (Badal due to forgetfulness) e.g. جاء محمدٌزيدٌ   [Muhammad (or rather) Zayd came] and Badal al-Iḍrāb (Badal of opting for the better alternative) e.g.  اِرْكَبْ الحمارَالفرسَ   [Ride a donkey (even better) a horse].

[^62] This statement is supposed to read: You wanted to say: الفرس but then you erred (by saying: زيداً) so you substitutedالفرس .  for it (i.e.زيداً ).

[^63] Of these fifteen Manṣūbāt the Tamyīz, Mustathnā and Maf‘ūl min ajlihī in particular, are not always Manṣūb in which case their names are only significant for the respective meanings that they convey and not as referring to particular places of Naṣb. As regards their I‘rāb they will now be counted amongst the Marfū‘āt or Makhfūdāt.

[^64] The author states here that the Manṣūbāt are fifteen in number but then only mentions fourteen.

[^65] The Nūn that is between the Fi‘l and the Yā’ al-Mutakallim is called the Nūn al-Wiqāyah (the Nūn of Guarding) because it guards the Fi‘l from taking the Kasrah that the Yā’ al-Mutakallim forces on the letter before it by taking the Kasrah itself.

[^66] Here the actual Ḍamīr is the Kāf only. The Mīm is called the Ḥarf al-‘Imād (particle of support) since it serves as a prop or support for the Alif following it. The Alif itself is a Ḥarf denoting duality.

[^67] Here as with the previous one, the actual Ḍamīr is only the Kāf as for the Mīm it is called the ‘Alāmah Jam‘ al-Đukūr (sign of masculine plural).

[^68] The actual Ḍamīr is the Kāf only as for the Nūn Mushaddadah (emphatic/doubled Nūn) it is called the ‘Alāmah Jam‘ al-Niswah/al-Ināţ (sign of feminine plural).

[^69] The Ḍamīr proper according to the more correct view amongst the Arabic Grammarians is the first part viz. "إيّا" where as the rest constitutes number, gender and person markers. However, for the purpose of simplicity we have decided to regard the whole expression as the Ḍamīr.

[^70] The more correct term for this type of Manṣūb is Maf‘ūl Muṭlaq (Absolute Object) i.e. the Maf‘ul proper since it signifies what is actually done free from any reference to being done to something (bihī), in something (fihī), out of or for the purpose of something (min-ajlihī) or with or in the company of something (ma‘ahū). Therefore, Maf‘ūl, here means “what is done” and Muṭlaq means “free from the aforementioned references or stipulations”. This is clearly illustrated by means of the following example which contains all five types of Maf‘ūl:  قَرَأَ محمدٌ وسميراً الكتابَ اليومَ أمامَ المدرسِقراءةً جيدةًرغبةً في التقدُّم [Muhammad read withSamir (or in his company)the book today in front of the teacherwell (lit. a goodreading )out of a desire for progress]. Here, what was actually done is the act of  قراءةً  (reading) – being done to  الكتابَ  (the book), with or in the company of  سميراً (Samir), in the time of  اليومَ  (today) and the place of  أمامَ  (in front), out of or for the purpose of  رغبةً  (desire).

[^71] These two forms of the Maṣdar constitute one of the three functions of the Maf‘ūl Muṭlaq, namely: lil-Taukīd (for the purpose of emphasis or corroboration). The other two functions are: li Bayān an-Nau‘ (for the purpose of clarifying the type) e.g.  ضرب زيد عمراًضرباً شديداً  (Zayd hit ‘Amr a severe hitting i.e. he hit him severely) and li-Bayān al-‘Adad (for the purpose of clarifying the number) e.g.  ضرب زيد عمراًضربةً   (Zayd hit ‘Amr one hitting i.e. he hit him once).

[^72] It is for this reason that it is also called Maf‘ūl fīhi (what the action is done in as regards time or place). Even the word Ẓarf has connotations of “in-ness” because it means container or vessel as if time and place are containers or vessels of the act that is being done since every act has to be done in a time or a place (with exception of Allah’s Acts).

[^73] When someone does an action or does it to someone or something then each of these exists in a particular state or condition at the time the action is done. Thus, if Zayd, for example, goes to school, then he can do so walking, running, riding, feeling happy or sad, etc. These are possible states/conditions in which Zayd can be at the time he goes to school. However, we would not know which state or states Zayd is in unless the speaker specifies it. The Ḥāl is what the speaker uses to specify or clarify the particular state or states Zayd is in when he goes to school.

[^74] In the first of the three examples the Ḥāl proceeds from the Fā‘il  زيدٌ  , in the second it proceeds from the Maf‘ūl bihī  الفرسَ and in the third example it proceeds from either the Fā‘il  زيدٌ  or the Maf‘ūl bihī  عبدَالله  .

[^75] In other words, the Ḥāl is a Faḍlah (dispensable component of the sentence) since what completes Kalām constitutes the ‘Umdahs (indispensable components of the sentence). This means that one can only determine an Ism to be Hal after one has already determined the indispensable components comprising the sentences such that the Hal normally occurs after a nominal or verbal sentence is complete.

[^76] The Ḥāl, Na‘t and Khabar have the following in common: They often occur as a Waṣf or Mushtaqq (i.e. Ism Fā‘il, Ism Maf‘ūl, Ṣifah Mushabbahah and Ism Tafḍīl) in which case there ought to be agreement between them and the Ṣāḥib al-Ḥāl, Man‘ūt and Mubtada’ respectively, in terms of gender and number.

[^77] The term Tamyīz here even though it is Maṣdar it is used in the sense of the Ism Fā‘il (active participle) i.e. Mumayyiz (specifier).

[^78] The Tamyīz itself comprises two broad categories: Tamyīz al-Mufrad and Tamyīz al-Nisbah/al-Jumlah. Tamyīz al-Mufrad consists of four types:

Tamyīz al-‘Adad e.g.  حضر عشرونطالباً   (Twenty students were present/attended)

Tamyīz al-Wazn e.g.  معي رِطلٌ زيتاً  (With me is a ratl of oil)

Tamyīz al-Kayl e.g.  اشتريْتُ صاعاً تمراً  (I bought a sā‘ of dates)

Tamyīz al-Misāḥah e.g.  عندي قصبةٌ أرضاً  (I have a patch of land)

As for Tamyīz al-Nisbah/al-Jumlah it is that which clarifies the ambiguity in the relation of the action. Thus, in the example:  حَسُنَ زيدًٌ   (Zayd is good in character) it is not clear what of Zayd is good or whether he is good as a whole. By adding خُلُق   so that the sentence becomes حَسُنَ زيدٌخُلُقاً   (Zayd is good in character) it becomes clear that it is Zayd’s character that is good.

[^79] The term Istithnā’ here could either be used in the original sense of the Maṣdar meaning ‘exception’ or ‘exclusion’ or in the sense of the Ism Maf‘ūl (passive participle) meaning the Mustathnā (i.e. the object excepted/excluded)

[^80] Obviously, not all of these eight words are Ḥurūf, since  غير، سِوى، سُوى، سواء  are Asmā’,  خلا، عدا، حاشا  can be Ḥurūf or Af‘āl. As for  إلاّ  it is only used as a Ḥarf. However, the reason for the author calling them all Ḥurūf is to show the dominance of  إلاّ  which is a Ḥarf over the rest.

[^81] The Mustathnā minhu is the Ism in the form of a class or genus from which the exception or exclusion is made like  الناس  and  القوم in the examples that are cited.

[^82] In fact, there are five ways in which to say this statement:

رجل   is Mabniyy and امرأة   is Mabniyy:  لارجلَ في الدار ولاامرأةَ

رجل   is Mabniyy and امرأة   is Manṣūb:  لارجلَ في الدار ولاامرأةً

رجل   is Mabniyy and امرأة   is Marfū‘:  لارجلَ في الدار ولاامرأةٌ

رجل   is Marfu‘ and امرأة   is Marfu‘:  لارجلٌ في الدار ولاامرأةٌ

رجل   is Marfu‘ and امرأة   is Mabniyy:  لارجلٌ في الدار ولاامرأةَ

[^83] The Ism زيد   (Zayd) is an example of a Mufrad ‘Alam and the Ism رجل   (man) is an example of a Nakirah Maqṣūdah.

[^84] Examples of these three are:

يارجلاً ، خذ بيدي  [Oman , take my hand (like when a blind man requests any man in front of him)]

يارسولَ اللهِ  (OMessenger of Allah)

يارؤوفاً بالعباد  (OThou who art compassionate with the servants)

[^85] In order for an Ism to be Manṣūb as the Maf‘ūl min ajlihī the following conditions have to be satisfied:

it has to be a Maṣdar

it has to be a Maṣdar Qalbiyy (i.e. a mental or emotional act)

the Maṣdar Qalbiyy has to proceed from the same person performing the action

the Maṣdar Qalbiyy has to exist at the same time of the action being performed

[^86] The author, even though he mentions the Tābi‘ of something that is Makhfūḍ as a third category of the Makhfūḍāt al-Asmā’, he does not actually discuss it in this section as he does with the two other categories. The reason for this is that the author already dealt with the Tābi‘ in general in the chapter on the Marfū‘āt al-Asmā’such that it is not necessary to repeat it here.

[^87] (From you and from Nuh)

[^88] (To Allah is your return – all of you) (To Him you will return)

[^89] (Allah is pleased with the believers) (Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him)

[^90] [On it (the cattle) and the ships you are carried]

[^91] (And in the heavens is your sustenance) [And in it (Paradise) is that which the souls desire]

[^92] (Seldom I meet a pious man)

[^93] (Say: We believe in Allah) (Those are the one who believe in Him)

[^94] (Nothing is like unto Him)

[^95] (To Allah belong what is in the heavens and what is on earth) (For them therein is an Abode of Eternity)

[^96] (By Allah)

[^97] (By Allah)

[^98] (By Allah)

[^99] (Perhaps a night like the swell of the ocean lowering its drapes)

[^100] (I have not seen him since Friday) (I have not seen him today)

[^101] (I have not seen him since Friday) (I have not seen him today)

[^102] The more popular view is that Iḍāfah is of three types with the addition of that which is implied by means of  في  e.g.  قيامالليلِ (Standing upin the night ) or  صلاةالصبحِ    (prayingin the early morning ).