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

An Overview of the Ājurrūmiyyah

TheĀjurrūmiyyah can be divided into four main sections:

KALAM and its Constituent Parts

In this section the author deals with Kalām which provides the context for I‘rāb (the primary subject-matter ofNaḥw ) and the conditions under which it takes place. He first gives a definition of Kalām and thereafter mentions the parts of speech from which Kalām is composed together with the defining characteristics of each. It is these words - the units of Kalām - that are subject to I‘rāb or to its opposite, Binā’.

The Chapter on I‘RĀB

This is most probably the most important section in that it constitutes the primary-subject matter ofNaḥw and the center around which everything else revolves.I‘rāb involves the explicit or implicit change (Raf‘, Naṣb, Khafḍ or Jazm) at the endings of words (Asmā’ and Af‘āl) by means of ḥarakāt (vowel markings) or ḥurūf (letters) due to particular places (i.e. places of Raf‘, Naṣb, Khafḍ or Jazm) that they occupy - places which are governed by particular ‘Awāmil . The opposite of I‘rāb is Binā’ which refers to the fixed and unchanged state in which the endings of words (ḥurūf, some Af‘āl and some Asmā’) occur. The author does not deal with Binā’. The above definition of I‘rāb basically covers all the aspects ofNaḥw i.e. (a) the four types of I‘rāb (Raf‘, Naṣb, Khafḍ and Jazm), (b) explicit and implicit I‘rāb (i.e. đāhir and Muqaddar), (c) the signs of I‘rāb (whether with ḥarakāt or ḥurūf), (d) the categories of Mu‘rabāt (declinable words) for the Ism and Fi‘l and (e) the places of I‘rāb in the Ism and Fi‘l and the ‘Awāmil that govern them (viz. the places of Raf‘, Naṣb and Khafḍ of the Ism, and places of Raf‘, Naṣb and Jazm of the Fi‘l). The places of I‘rāb comprise the bulk ofNaḥw .

The Chapter on the AF‘ĀL

This section deals with the three types of Fi‘l (Māḍī, Muḍāri‘ and Amr) and the places in which the Muḍāri‘ is

Marfū ‘ (i.e. when not preceded by a Nāṣib or Jāzim),

Manṣūb [i.e. when preceded by one of the ten (or more correctly, four) Nawāṣib] or

Majzūm [i.e. when preceded by one of the eighteen (or more correctly, sixteen) Jawāzim]

The Chapter on the ASMĀ’

There is no chapter with this title in theĀjurrūmiyyah . However, I thought it appropriate to call this section as such because it comprises the places of I‘rāb in the Ism just as the previous section, entitled “The Chapter on the AF‘ĀL”, comprises the places of I‘rāb in the Fi‘l. Thus, the Ism is:

Marfū ‘ when it occurs in one of the following places: the Fā‘il, Maf‘ūl (Na‘ib Fā‘il), Mubtada’, Khabar, Ism Kāna, Khabar Inna and the Tābi‘ of the Marfū‘,

Manṣūb when it occurs in one of the following places: the Maf‘ūl bihī, Maṣdar, Ẓarf Zamān, Ẓarf Makān, Ḥāl, Tamyīz, Mustathnā, Ism "لا" , Munādā, Maf‘ūl min ajlihī, Maf‘ūl ma‘ahū, Khabar "كان"َ, Ism "إنّ" and the Tābi‘ of the Manṣūb, or

Makhfūḍ when it occurs in one of the following places: Makhfūḍ bil-Ḥarf, Makhfūḍ bil-Iḍāfah and the Tābi‘ of the Makhfūḍ.