Mashrabaمشربة

Speech (al-kalām) and What It Is Composed Of

الْكَلَامُ وَمَا يَتَأَلَّفُ مِنْهُ

Verses 8–14 · chapter 2 of 78

The chapter defines kalām (a complete meaningful utterance) and its parts, which are the noun, the verb, and the particle. It separates kalām from kalim, kalima, and qawl. It then gives the formal signs by which a noun, a verb (past, present-future, imperative), and a particle are recognized.

Topics:Syntax and morphologyThe three parts of speechNominal and verbal sentences

OpenITI · Alfiyya text ·OpenITI · Ibn ʿAqīl commentary (Arabic) · vowelling and English · Tap a word (CAMeL Tools)
  1. 8

    الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ

    Ibn Jinnī on al-rajaz, “the trembling”

    وهو على ستة أجزاء مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن

    It has six feet: mustafʿilun, six times. Kitāb al-ʿArūḍ, lines 842–843 (p. 101) ↗

    Scanned by rule, not by a model. The vowelled text is read as it is pronounced, as Ibn Jinnī says scansion must be: doubled letters count twice, tanwīn adds an n, long vowels lengthen, the connecting alif drops inside the line, the article's l merges into a sun letter, and the last vowel of a line is drawn out. The syllables, long (–) and short (∪), are then fitted to each metre's feet with the common licences (zihāfāt) and line-endings. A poem has one metre: the one that fits most of its verses. A verse that does not fit it is marked 'not scanned'; nothing is guessed. Vowels scanned: AI vowelling (no vowelled edition is available to us).

    Scanned by rule English: AI translation

    Ibn Jinnī (d. 392/1002), Kitāb al-ʿArūḍ, ed. Aḥmad Fawzī al-Hayb (Kuwait: Dār al-Qalam, 1407/1987). Digital text: 0392IbnJinniMawsili.Carud.JK000956-ara1 (OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9). CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (OpenITI digital text); the classical text is public domain, the modern edition is not.

    Speech (kalām) in our [the grammarians'] usage is an utterance (lafẓ) that conveys a complete meaning (mufīd), like istaqim 'be upright!'. Noun (ism), verb (fiʿl), and then particle (ḥarf) are the kalim [the word-classes of which speech is made].

    OpenITI line 51 · vol. 1, p. 9 ↗
  2. 9

    الرَّجَزal-rajaz–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ

    Ibn Jinnī on al-rajaz, “the trembling”

    وهو على ستة أجزاء مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن

    It has six feet: mustafʿilun, six times. Kitāb al-ʿArūḍ, lines 842–843 (p. 101) ↗

    Scanned by rule, not by a model. The vowelled text is read as it is pronounced, as Ibn Jinnī says scansion must be: doubled letters count twice, tanwīn adds an n, long vowels lengthen, the connecting alif drops inside the line, the article's l merges into a sun letter, and the last vowel of a line is drawn out. The syllables, long (–) and short (∪), are then fitted to each metre's feet with the common licences (zihāfāt) and line-endings. A poem has one metre: the one that fits most of its verses. A verse that does not fit it is marked 'not scanned'; nothing is guessed. Vowels scanned: AI vowelling (no vowelled edition is available to us).

    Scanned by rule English: AI translation

    Ibn Jinnī (d. 392/1002), Kitāb al-ʿArūḍ, ed. Aḥmad Fawzī al-Hayb (Kuwait: Dār al-Qalam, 1407/1987). Digital text: 0392IbnJinniMawsili.Carud.JK000956-ara1 (OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9). CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (OpenITI digital text); the classical text is public domain, the modern edition is not.

    Its [kalim's] singular is kalima [a single word]. Qawl 'saying' is general [it covers kalām, kalim, and kalima alike]. Kalām is sometimes meant by the word kalima [e.g. a whole sentence or speech may be called 'a word'].

    OpenITI line 52 · vol. 1, p. 9 ↗
    Ibn ʿAqīl on verses 8–9

    الكلام المصطلح عليه عند النحاه عبارة عن اللفظ المفيد فائدة يحسن السكوت عليها فاللفظ جنس يشمل الكلام والكلمة والكلم ويشمل المهمل كديز والمستعمل كعمرو ومفيد أخرج المهمل وفائدة يحسن السكوت عليها أخرج الكلمة وبعض الكلم وهو ما تركب من ثلاث كلمات فأكثر ولم يحسن السكوت عليه نحو إن قام زيد

    Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 51 · vol. 1, p. 13 ↗

    Speech (kalām), in the technical sense the grammarians use, is the utterance (lafẓ) that conveys a benefit (mufīd) on which silence is appropriate (fāʾida yaḥsunu al-sukūt ʿalayhā). 'Utterance' is the genus (jins): it covers speech (kalām), the word (kalima), and the word-group (kalim), and it covers both the meaningless (muhmal), such as dayz, and the meaningful in use (mustaʿmal), such as ʿAmr. 'Conveying a benefit' excludes the meaningless. 'A benefit on which silence is appropriate' excludes the single word and part of the word-group, namely a combination of three words or more on which silence is not appropriate, such as in qāma Zaydun ('if Zayd stood').

    ولا يتركب الكلام إلا من اسمين نحو زيد قائم أو من فعل و اسم كقام زيد وكقول المصنف استقم فإنه كلام مركب من فعل أمر وفاعل مستتر والتقدير استقم أنت فاستغنى بالمثال عن أن يقول فائدة يحسن السكوت عليها فكأنه قال الكلام هو اللفظ المفيد فائدة كفائدة استقم

    Speech is composed only of two nouns, as in Zaydun qāʾimun ('Zayd is standing'), or of a verb and a noun, as in qāma Zaydun ('Zayd stood'), and as in the author's word istaqim ('be upright'). That is speech composed of an imperative verb and a concealed subject (fāʿil mustatir); the implied form is istaqim anta ('be upright, you'). The author let the example stand in place of saying 'a benefit on which silence is appropriate', so it is as though he had said: speech is the utterance conveying a benefit like the benefit of istaqim.

    وإنما قال المصنف كلامنا ليعلم أن التعريف إنما هو للكلام في اصطلاح النحويين لا في اصطلاح اللغويين وهو في اللغة اسم لكل ما يتكلم به مفيدا كان أو غير مفيد

    The author said 'our speech' (kalāmunā) to make known that the definition is of speech in the terminology of the grammarians, as distinct from the terminology of the lexicographers. In the language, kalām is a name for everything that is spoken, whether it conveys a benefit or not.

    والكلم اسم جنس واحده كلمة وهي إما اسم وإما فعل وإما حرف لأنها إن دلت على معنى في نفسها غير مقترنة بزمان فهي الاسم وإن اقترنت بزمان فهي الفعل وإن لم تدل على معنى في نفسها بل في غيرها فهي الحرف

    The word-group (kalim) is a collective generic noun (ism jins); its singular is kalima (word). A word is either a noun (ism), a verb (fiʿl), or a particle (ḥarf). If it signifies a meaning in itself without association with a time, it is the noun; if it is associated with a time, it is the verb; if it signifies a meaning only in something other than itself, it is the particle.

    والكلم ما تركب من ثلاث كلمات فأكثر كقولك إن قام زيد

    The word-group (kalim) is what is composed of three words or more, as when you say in qāma Zaydun ('if Zayd stood').

    والكلمة هي اللفظ الموضوع لمعنى مفرد فقولنا الموضوع لمعنى أخرج المهمل كديز وقولنا مفرد أخرج الكلام فإنه موضوع لمعنى غير مفرد

    The word (kalima) is the utterance assigned (mawḍūʿ) to a single (mufrad) meaning. Our phrase 'assigned to a meaning' excludes the meaningless, such as dayz; our phrase 'single' excludes speech, since speech is assigned to a meaning that is not single.

    ثم ذكر المصنف رحمه الله تعالى أن القول يعم الجميع والمراد أنه يقع على الكلام أنه قول ويقع أيضا على الكلم والكلمة أنه قول وزعم بعضهم أن الأصل استعماله في المفرد

    Then the author (may God Most High have mercy on him) stated that 'utterance' in the sense of qawl covers all of them. The intended sense is that speech is called qawl, and the word-group and the word are also called qawl. Some claimed that its original use is for the single word.

    ثم ذكر المصنف أن الكلمة قد يقصد بها الكلام كقولهم في لا إله إلا الله كلمة الإخلاص

    Then the author stated that the word (kalima) is sometimes used to mean speech, as in their calling lā ilāha illā Allāh ('there is no god but God') the word of sincere devotion (kalimat al-ikhlāṣ).

    وقد يجتمع الكلام والكلم في الصدق وقد ينفرد أحدهما

    Speech and the word-group may both apply to the same thing, and either one may apply alone.

    فمثال اجتماعهما قد قام زيد فإنه كلام لإفادته معنى يحسن السكوت عليه وكلم لأنه مركب من ثلاث كلمات

    An example of both applying is qad qāma Zaydun ('Zayd has stood'): it is speech because it conveys a meaning on which silence is appropriate, and it is a word-group because it is composed of three words.

    ومثال انفراد الكلم إن قام زيد

    An example of the word-group alone is in qāma Zaydun ('if Zayd stood').

    ومثال انفراد الكلام زيد قائم

    An example of speech alone is Zaydun qāʾimun ('Zayd is standing').

  3. 10

    الرَّجَزal-rajaz––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ

    Ibn Jinnī on al-rajaz, “the trembling”

    وهو على ستة أجزاء مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن

    It has six feet: mustafʿilun, six times. Kitāb al-ʿArūḍ, lines 842–843 (p. 101) ↗

    Scanned by rule, not by a model. The vowelled text is read as it is pronounced, as Ibn Jinnī says scansion must be: doubled letters count twice, tanwīn adds an n, long vowels lengthen, the connecting alif drops inside the line, the article's l merges into a sun letter, and the last vowel of a line is drawn out. The syllables, long (–) and short (∪), are then fitted to each metre's feet with the common licences (zihāfāt) and line-endings. A poem has one metre: the one that fits most of its verses. A verse that does not fit it is marked 'not scanned'; nothing is guessed. Vowels scanned: AI vowelling (no vowelled edition is available to us).

    Scanned by rule English: AI translation

    Ibn Jinnī (d. 392/1002), Kitāb al-ʿArūḍ, ed. Aḥmad Fawzī al-Hayb (Kuwait: Dār al-Qalam, 1407/1987). Digital text: 0392IbnJinniMawsili.Carud.JK000956-ara1 (OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9). CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (OpenITI digital text); the classical text is public domain, the modern edition is not.

    The noun is distinguished by the genitive (jarr), by tanwīn, by the vocative (nidāʾ), by al-, and by [being] something predicated of [i.e. being the subject of a predication, isnād ilayhi], e.g. bi-Zaydin, Zaydun, yā Zaydu, al-rajul, and the tāʾ in qumtu 'I stood'.

    OpenITI line 53 · vol. 1, p. 9 ↗
    Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 10

    ذكر المصنف رحمه الله تعالى في هذا البيت علامات الاسم

    Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 79 · vol. 1, p. 15 ↗

    In this verse the author (may God Most High have mercy on him) mentioned the signs of the noun.

    فمنها الجر وهو يشمل الجر بالحرف والإضافة والتبعية نحو مررت بغلام زيد الفاضل فالغلام مجرور بالحرف وزيد مجرور بالإضافة والفاضل مجرور بالتبعية وهو أشمل من قول غيره بحرف الجر لأن هذا لايتناول الجر بالإضافة ولا الجر بالتبعية

    Among them is the genitive (jarr). This covers the genitive by a particle, by annexation (iḍāfa), and by following (tabaʿiyya), as in marartu bi-ghulāmi Zaydin al-fāḍili ('I passed by the virtuous Zayd's servant'): ghulām is genitive by the particle, Zayd is genitive by annexation, and al-fāḍil is genitive by following. This is more comprehensive than others' expression 'by a genitive particle' (bi-ḥarf al-jarr), because that does not include the genitive by annexation or the genitive by following.

    ومنهما التنوين وهو على أربعة أقسام تنوين التمكين وهو اللاحق للأسماء المعربة كزيد ورجل إلا جمع المؤنث السالم نحو مسلمات وإلا نحو جوار وغواش وسيأتي حكمهما وتنوين التنكير وهو اللاحق للأسماء المبنية فرقا بين معرفتها ونكرتها نحو مررت بسيبويه وبسيبويه آخر وتنوين المقابلة وهو اللاحق لجمع المؤنث السالم نحو مسلمات فإنه في مقابلة النون في جمع المذكر السالم كمسلمين وتنوين العوض وهو على ثلاثة أقسام عوض عن جملة وهو الذي يلحق إذ عوضا عن جملة تكون بعدها كقوله تعالى ﴿ وأنتم حينئذ تنظرون ﴾ أي حين إذ بلغت الروح الحلقوم فحذف بلغت الروح الحلقوم وأتى بالتنوين عوضا عنه وقسم يكون عوضا عن اسم وهو اللاحق لكل عوضا عما تضاف إليه نحو كل قائم أي كل إنسان قائم فحذف إنسان وأتى بالتنوين عوضا عنه وقسم يكون عوضا عن حرف وهو اللاحق لجوار وغواش ونحوهما رفعا وجرا نحو هؤلاء جوار ومررت بجوار فحذفت الياء وأتي بالتنوين عوضا عنها

    Among them is nunation (tanwīn), which is of four kinds. (1) The tanwīn of full declinability (tanwīn al-tamkīn): it attaches to declinable (muʿrab) nouns, such as Zaydun and rajulun ('a man'), except the sound feminine plural, such as muslimātun, and except words like jawārin ('slave-girls') and ghawāshin ('coverings'); their rule will come later. (2) The tanwīn of indefiniteness (tanwīn al-tankīr): it attaches to indeclinable (mabnī) nouns to distinguish their definite from their indefinite, as in marartu bi-Sībawayhi wa-bi-Sībawayhin ākhara ('I passed by Sībawayh and by another Sībawayh'). (3) The tanwīn of correspondence (tanwīn al-muqābala): it attaches to the sound feminine plural, such as muslimātun, since it corresponds to the nūn in the sound masculine plural, such as muslimīna. (4) The tanwīn of compensation (tanwīn al-ʿiwaḍ), which is of three kinds. One compensates for a sentence: it is what attaches to idh in compensation for a sentence that would come after it, as in the words of the Most High: 'and you at that time (ḥīnaʾidhin) are looking on' [Q 56:84], meaning 'at the time when the soul has reached the throat'. 'The soul has reached the throat' was omitted and the tanwīn was brought in compensation for it. One kind compensates for a noun: it is what attaches to kull in compensation for what it is annexed to, as in kullun qāʾimun ('each is standing'), meaning 'each person is standing'. 'Person' was omitted and the tanwīn was brought in compensation for it. One kind compensates for a letter: it is what attaches to jawārin, ghawāshin and the like in the nominative and genitive, as in hāʾulāʾi jawārin ('these are slave-girls') and marartu bi-jawārin ('I passed by slave-girls'). The yāʾ was omitted and the tanwīn was brought in compensation for it.

    وتنوين الترنم وهو الذي يلحق القوافي المطلقة بحرف علة كقوله

    (5) The tanwīn of singing (tanwīn al-tarannum): it is what attaches to unrestricted rhymes (qawāfī muṭlaqa), those ending in a weak letter (ḥarf ʿilla), as in the poet's words:

    أقلى اللوم عاذل والعتابن … وقولي إن أصبت لقد أصابن

    Lessen blame, O reproacher, and reproach (al-ʿitāban), and say, if I have acted rightly: 'He has acted rightly (aṣāban).' [cited for al-ʿitāban and aṣāban: the tanwīn of tarannum in place of the rhyme's long alif]

    فجيء بالتنوين بدلا من الألف لأجل الترنم وكقوله

    The tanwīn was brought in place of the alif for the sake of singing. And as in the poet's words:

    أزف الترحل غير أن ركابنا … لما تزل برحالنا وكأن قدن

    Departure has drawn near, except that our riding camels have not yet moved off with our saddles, and it is as though it already had (wa-kaʾan qadin). [cited for qadin: the tanwīn of tarannum attached to the particle qad]

    والتنوين الغالي وأثبته الأخفش وهو الذي يلحق القوافي المقيدة كقوله

    (6) The excessive tanwīn (al-tanwīn al-ghālī), which al-Akhfash affirmed: it is what attaches to restricted rhymes (qawāfī muqayyada), those ending in a quiescent letter, as in the poet's words:

    وقاتم الأعماق خاوي المخترقن …

    And many a desert, dark in its depths, empty of passage (khāwī al-mukhtaraqin). [cited for al-mukhtaraqin: the excessive tanwīn (ghālī) on a restricted rhyme, even though the noun has the article]

    وظاهر كلام المصنف أن التنوين كله من خواص الاسم وليس كذلك بل الذى يختص به الاسم إنما هو تنوين التمكين والتنكير والمقابلة والعوض وأما تنوين الترنم والغالي فيكونان في الاسم والفعل والحرف

    The apparent sense of the author's words is that all tanwīn is peculiar to the noun. That is incorrect. The kinds peculiar to the noun are only the tanwīn of full declinability, of indefiniteness, of correspondence and of compensation. The tanwīn of singing and the excessive tanwīn occur on the noun, the verb and the particle.

    ومن خواص الاسم النداء نحو يا زيد والألف واللام نحو الرجل والإسناد إليه نحو زبد قائم

    Among the properties of the noun are also the vocative (nidāʾ), as in yā Zaydu ('O Zayd'); the alif and lām (the definite article), as in al-rajul ('the man'); and predication to it (al-isnād ilayhi), as in Zaydun qāʾimun ('Zayd is standing').

    فمعنى البيت حصل للاسم تمييز عن الفعل والحرف بالجر والتنوين والنداء والألف واللام والإسناد إليه أي الإخبار عنه

    So the meaning of the verse is: the noun is distinguished from the verb and the particle by the genitive, tanwīn, the vocative, the alif and lām, and predication to it, that is, giving information about it.

    واستعمل المصنف أل مكان الألف واللام وقد وقع ذلك في عبارة بعض المتقدمين وهو الخليل واستعمل المصنف مسند مكان الإسناد له

    The author used al in place of 'the alif and lām'; this occurs in the wording of one of the early authorities, namely al-Khalīl. The author also used musnad ('predicated to') in place of al-isnād lahu ('predication to it').

  4. 11

    الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ

    Ibn Jinnī on al-rajaz, “the trembling”

    وهو على ستة أجزاء مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن

    It has six feet: mustafʿilun, six times. Kitāb al-ʿArūḍ, lines 842–843 (p. 101) ↗

    Scanned by rule, not by a model. The vowelled text is read as it is pronounced, as Ibn Jinnī says scansion must be: doubled letters count twice, tanwīn adds an n, long vowels lengthen, the connecting alif drops inside the line, the article's l merges into a sun letter, and the last vowel of a line is drawn out. The syllables, long (–) and short (∪), are then fitted to each metre's feet with the common licences (zihāfāt) and line-endings. A poem has one metre: the one that fits most of its verses. A verse that does not fit it is marked 'not scanned'; nothing is guessed. Vowels scanned: AI vowelling (no vowelled edition is available to us).

    Scanned by rule English: AI translation

    Ibn Jinnī (d. 392/1002), Kitāb al-ʿArūḍ, ed. Aḥmad Fawzī al-Hayb (Kuwait: Dār al-Qalam, 1407/1987). Digital text: 0392IbnJinniMawsili.Carud.JK000956-ara1 (OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9). CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (OpenITI digital text); the classical text is public domain, the modern edition is not.

    A verb is made clear by the tāʾ of faʿalta [the subject tāʾ, -tu/-ta/-ti], by [the feminine tāʾ of] atat 'she came', by the yāʾ of ifʿalī [the feminine singular addressee], and by the nūn of aqbilanna [the energetic nūn].

    OpenITI line 54 · vol. 1, p. 9 ↗
    Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 11

    ثم ذكر المصنف أن الفعل يمتاز عن الاسم والحرف بتاء فعلت والمراد بها تاء الفاعل وهي المضمومة للمتكلم نحو فعلت والمفتوحة للمخاطب نحو تباركت والمكسورة للمخاطبة نحو فعلت

    Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 112 · vol. 1, p. 21 ↗

    Then the author stated that the verb is distinguished from the noun and the particle by the tāʾ of faʿalta, meaning the subject tāʾ (tāʾ al-fāʿil): it has ḍamma for the speaker, as in faʿaltu ('I did'); fatḥa for the masculine addressee, as in tabārakta ('Blessed are You'); and kasra for the feminine addressee, as in faʿalti ('you [f.] did').

    ويمتاز أيضا بتاء أتت والمراد بها تاء التأنيث الساكنة نحو نعمت وبئست فاحترزنا بالساكنة عن اللاحقة للأسماء فإنها تكون متحركة بحركة الإعراب نحو هذه مسلمة ورأيت مسلمة ومررت بمسلمة ومن اللاحقة للحرف نحو لات وربت وثمت وأما تسكينها مع رب وثم فقليل نحو ربت وثمت

    It is also distinguished by the tāʾ of atat, meaning the quiescent feminine tāʾ (tāʾ al-taʾnīth al-sākina), as in niʿmat ('excellent is') and biʾsat ('evil is'). By 'quiescent' we exclude the tāʾ attached to nouns, since that one moves with the case vowel, as in hādhihi muslimatun ('this is a Muslim woman'), raʾaytu muslimatan ('I saw a Muslim woman') and marartu bi-muslimatin ('I passed by a Muslim woman'). We also exclude the tāʾ attached to particles, as in lāta, rubbata and thummata; making it quiescent with rubba and thumma is rare, as in rubbat and thummat.

    ويمتاز أيضا بياء أفعلي والمراد بها ياء الفاعلة وتلحق فعل الأمر نحو اضربي والفعل المضارع نحو تضربين ولا تلحق الماضي

    It is also distinguished by the yāʾ of ifʿalī, meaning the feminine subject yāʾ (yāʾ al-fāʿila). It attaches to the imperative verb, as in iḍribī ('strike! [f.]'), and to the imperfect (muḍāriʿ) verb, as in taḍribīna ('you [f.] strike'). It does not attach to the perfect (māḍī).

    وإنما قال المصنف يا افعلى ولم يقل ياء الضمير لأن هذه تدخل فيها ياء المتكلم وهي لا تختص بالفعل بل تكون فيه نحو أكرمني وفى الاسم نحو غلامي وفى الحرف نحو إني بخلاف ياء افعلي فإن المراد بها ياء الفاعلة على ما تقدم وهي لا تكون إلا في الفعل

    The author said 'the yāʾ of ifʿalī' and did not say 'the pronoun yāʾ' because the latter would include the first-person yāʾ (yāʾ al-mutakallim), which is not peculiar to the verb: it occurs in the verb, as in akramanī ('he honoured me'), in the noun, as in ghulāmī ('my servant'), and in the particle, as in innī ('indeed I'). The yāʾ of ifʿalī means the feminine subject yāʾ, as stated above, and it occurs only in the verb.

    ومما يميز الفعل نون أقبلن والمراد بها نون التوكيد خفيفة كانت أو ثقيلة فالخفيفة نحو قوله تعالى ﴿ لنسفعا بالناصية ﴾ والثقيلة نحو قوله تعالى ﴿ لنخرجنك يا شعيب ﴾

    Among what distinguishes the verb is the nūn of aqbilanna, meaning the nūn of emphasis (nūn al-tawkīd), whether light or heavy. The light, as in the words of the Most High: 'We will surely seize (la-nasfaʿan) him by the forelock' [Q 96:15]; the heavy, as in the words of the Most High: 'We will surely drive you out (la-nukhrijannaka), O Shuʿayb' [Q 7:88].

    فمعنى البيت ينجلي الفعل بتاء الفاعل وتاء التأنيث الساكنة وياء الفاعلة ونون التوكيد

    So the meaning of the verse is: the verb becomes clear by the subject tāʾ, the quiescent feminine tāʾ, the feminine subject yāʾ, and the nūn of emphasis.

  5. 12

    الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ

    Ibn Jinnī on al-rajaz, “the trembling”

    وهو على ستة أجزاء مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن

    It has six feet: mustafʿilun, six times. Kitāb al-ʿArūḍ, lines 842–843 (p. 101) ↗

    Scanned by rule, not by a model. The vowelled text is read as it is pronounced, as Ibn Jinnī says scansion must be: doubled letters count twice, tanwīn adds an n, long vowels lengthen, the connecting alif drops inside the line, the article's l merges into a sun letter, and the last vowel of a line is drawn out. The syllables, long (–) and short (∪), are then fitted to each metre's feet with the common licences (zihāfāt) and line-endings. A poem has one metre: the one that fits most of its verses. A verse that does not fit it is marked 'not scanned'; nothing is guessed. Vowels scanned: AI vowelling (no vowelled edition is available to us).

    Scanned by rule English: AI translation

    Ibn Jinnī (d. 392/1002), Kitāb al-ʿArūḍ, ed. Aḥmad Fawzī al-Hayb (Kuwait: Dār al-Qalam, 1407/1987). Digital text: 0392IbnJinniMawsili.Carud.JK000956-ara1 (OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9). CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (OpenITI digital text); the classical text is public domain, the modern edition is not.

    What is other than these two [a word that takes neither the noun's signs nor the verb's signs] is the particle, like hal, fī, and lam. The muḍāriʿ verb [present-future] is one that comes after lam, like yasham 'smell' [lam yasham].

    OpenITI line 56 · vol. 1, p. 9 ↗
  6. 13

    الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ

    Ibn Jinnī on al-rajaz, “the trembling”

    وهو على ستة أجزاء مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن

    It has six feet: mustafʿilun, six times. Kitāb al-ʿArūḍ, lines 842–843 (p. 101) ↗

    Scanned by rule, not by a model. The vowelled text is read as it is pronounced, as Ibn Jinnī says scansion must be: doubled letters count twice, tanwīn adds an n, long vowels lengthen, the connecting alif drops inside the line, the article's l merges into a sun letter, and the last vowel of a line is drawn out. The syllables, long (–) and short (∪), are then fitted to each metre's feet with the common licences (zihāfāt) and line-endings. A poem has one metre: the one that fits most of its verses. A verse that does not fit it is marked 'not scanned'; nothing is guessed. Vowels scanned: AI vowelling (no vowelled edition is available to us).

    Scanned by rule English: AI translation

    Ibn Jinnī (d. 392/1002), Kitāb al-ʿArūḍ, ed. Aḥmad Fawzī al-Hayb (Kuwait: Dār al-Qalam, 1407/1987). Digital text: 0392IbnJinniMawsili.Carud.JK000956-ara1 (OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9). CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (OpenITI digital text); the classical text is public domain, the modern edition is not.

    Distinguish the past (māḍī) among verbs by the tāʾ [of faʿalta or atat]. Mark the imperative verb (fiʿl al-amr) by the nūn [of emphasis], provided that a command is understood [from the word], e.g. iḍribanna.

    OpenITI line 58 · vol. 1, p. 9 ↗
    Ibn ʿAqīl on verses 12–13

    يشير إلى أن الحرف يمتاز عن الاسم والفعل بخلوه عن علامات الأسماء وعلامات الأفعال ثم مثل بهل وفي ولم منبها على أن الحرف ينقسم إلى قسمين مختص وغير مختص فأشار بهل إلى غير المختص وهو الذي يدخل على الأسماء والأفعال نحو هل زيد قائم وهل قام زيد وأشار بفي ولم إلى المختص وهو قسمان مختص بالأسماء كفي نحو زيد في الدار ومختص بالأفعال كلم نحو لم يقم زيد

    Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 133 · vol. 1, p. 23 ↗

    He indicates that the particle is distinguished from the noun and the verb by lacking the signs of nouns and the signs of verbs. Then he gave hal, fī and lam as examples, pointing out that the particle divides into two kinds: specialized (mukhtaṣṣ) and non-specialized (ghayr mukhtaṣṣ). With hal he indicated the non-specialized, which enters on both nouns and verbs, as in hal Zaydun qāʾimun ('Is Zayd standing?') and hal qāma Zaydun ('Did Zayd stand?'). With fī and lam he indicated the specialized, which is of two kinds: specialized to nouns, like fī, as in Zaydun fī al-dāri ('Zayd is in the house'), and specialized to verbs, like lam, as in lam yaqum Zaydun ('Zayd did not stand').

    ثم شرع في تبيين أن الفعل ينقسم إلى ماض ومضارع وأمر فجعل علامة المضارع صحة دخول لم عليه كقولك في يشم لم يشم وفي يضرب لم يضرب وإليه أشار بقوله فعل مضارع يلي لم كيشم

    Then he began to explain that the verb divides into the perfect (māḍī), the imperfect (muḍāriʿ) and the imperative (amr). He made the sign of the imperfect the soundness of lam entering on it, as when you say lam yashamm ('he did not smell') for yashammu, and lam yaḍrib ('he did not strike') for yaḍribu. He indicated this with his words: 'an imperfect verb follows lam, like yashamm.'

    ثم أشار إلى ما يميز الفعل الماضي بقوله وماضي الأفعال بالتامز أي ميز ماضي الأفعال بالتاء والمراد بها تاء الفاعل وتاء التأنيث الساكنة وكل منهما لا يدخل إلا على ماضي اللفظ نحو تباركت ياذا الجلال والإكرام ونعمت المرأة هند وبئست المرأة دعد

    Then he indicated what distinguishes the perfect verb with his words: 'and the perfect of verbs, distinguish it by the tāʾ', that is, distinguish the perfect of verbs by the tāʾ. This means the subject tāʾ and the quiescent feminine tāʾ; each of them enters only on a verb whose form is perfect, as in tabārakta yā dhā al-jalāli wa-al-ikrām ('Blessed are You, O Possessor of Majesty and Honour'), niʿmati al-marʾatu Hindun ('an excellent woman is Hind') and biʾsati al-marʾatu Daʿdun ('an evil woman is Daʿd').

    ثم ذكر في بقية البيت أن علامة فعل الأمر قبول نون التوكيد والدلالة على الأمر بصيغته نحو اضربن واخرجن

    Then in the rest of the verse he stated that the sign of the imperative verb is acceptance of the nūn of emphasis together with signifying a command by its form, as in iḍriban ('strike!') and ukhrujan ('go out!').

    فإن دلت الكلمة على الأمر ولم تقبل نون التوكيد فهي اسم فعل وإلى ذلك أشار بقوله

    If a word signifies a command but does not accept the nūn of emphasis, it is a verbal noun (ism fiʿl). He indicated this with his words:

  7. 14

    الرَّجَزal-rajaz––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ

    Ibn Jinnī on al-rajaz, “the trembling”

    وهو على ستة أجزاء مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن

    It has six feet: mustafʿilun, six times. Kitāb al-ʿArūḍ, lines 842–843 (p. 101) ↗

    Scanned by rule, not by a model. The vowelled text is read as it is pronounced, as Ibn Jinnī says scansion must be: doubled letters count twice, tanwīn adds an n, long vowels lengthen, the connecting alif drops inside the line, the article's l merges into a sun letter, and the last vowel of a line is drawn out. The syllables, long (–) and short (∪), are then fitted to each metre's feet with the common licences (zihāfāt) and line-endings. A poem has one metre: the one that fits most of its verses. A verse that does not fit it is marked 'not scanned'; nothing is guessed. Vowels scanned: AI vowelling (no vowelled edition is available to us).

    Scanned by rule English: AI translation

    Ibn Jinnī (d. 392/1002), Kitāb al-ʿArūḍ, ed. Aḥmad Fawzī al-Hayb (Kuwait: Dār al-Qalam, 1407/1987). Digital text: 0392IbnJinniMawsili.Carud.JK000956-ara1 (OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9). CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (OpenITI digital text); the classical text is public domain, the modern edition is not.

    A word expressing command that has no room for the nūn [i.e. cannot take the nūn of emphasis] is a noun [an ism fiʿl, verbal noun], like ṣah 'hush!' and ḥayyahal 'come on!'.

    OpenITI line 59 · vol. 1, p. 9 ↗AI vowelling differs in letters from OpenITI

    AI note on the transcription: فِيهِ هُوَ اسْمٌ نَحْوُ صَهْ وَحَيَّهَلْ: the transcription has فهو. The added fāʾ makes the first foot fī-hi-fah-was (– ∪ – –), which is not a permitted rajaz foot. The standard reading هُوَ gives fī-hi-hu-was (– ∪ ∪ –, muftaʿilun). The expected fāʾ of the conditional apodosis is dropped here for the metre.

    Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 14

    فصه وحيهل اسمان وإن دلا على الأمر لعدم قبولهما نون التوكيد فلا تقول صهن ولا حيهلن وإن كانت صه بمعنى اسكت وحيهل بمعنى أقبل فالفارق بينهما قبول نون التوكيد وعدمه نحو اسكتن وأقبلن ولا يجوز ذلك في صه وحيهل

    Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 150 · vol. 1, p. 25 ↗

    So ṣah ('hush!') and ḥayyahal ('come on!') are nouns, even though they signify a command, because they do not accept the nūn of emphasis: you do not say ṣahan or ḥayyahalan. Although ṣah means uskut ('be silent') and ḥayyahal means aqbil ('come forward'), the difference between them is acceptance or non-acceptance of the nūn of emphasis: one says uskutanna and aqbilanna, and this is not permitted with ṣah and ḥayyahal.