The Proper Noun
الْعَلَمُ
Verses 72–81 · chapter 5 of 78
This chapter defines the proper noun (ʿalam) as a name that designates its referent without any outside qualifier, and gives examples of names for people, tribes, places, and animals. It sorts proper nouns into ism, kunya, and laqab, with rules for their order and for combining them; into transferred (manqūl) and coined (murtajal) names; and into single, sentence, blended-compound, and annexed forms. It ends with the generic proper noun (ʿalam al-jins), which behaves like a personal name in grammar but refers to a whole kind or to an abstract idea. AI
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الرَّجَزal-rajaz––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–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 AI
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 noun that designates what it names without any qualifier [unlike a pronoun, a demonstrative, or a noun with the article, which need context, pointing, or a definite article] is that thing's proper noun (ʿalam), e.g. Jaʿfar [a man's name] and Khirniq [a woman's name].
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الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–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 AI
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.
And [likewise] Qaran [a tribe], ʿAdan [a place], Lāḥiq [a horse], Shadhqam [a camel], Hayla [a ewe], and Wāshiq [a dog]. [Proper nouns are given to people, groups, places, and domestic animals.]
AI note on the transcription: وَشَذْقَمٍ وَهَيْلَةٍ وَوَاشِقِ — the transcription has شدقم with dāl. The camel's name is Shadhqam with dhāl (شذقم), as in the standard editions. The dot has been dropped.
Ibn ʿAqīl on verses 72–73Arabic
العلم هو الاسم الذي يعين مسماه مطلقا أي بلا قيد التكلم أو الخطاب أو الغيبة فالاسم جنس يشمل النكرة والمعرفة ويعين مسماه فصل أخرج النكرة وبلا قيد أخرج بقية المعارف كالمضمر فإنه يعين مسماه بقيد التكلم كأنا أو الخطاب كأنت أو الغيبة كهو ثم مثل الشيخ بأعلام الأناسي وغيرهم تنبيها على أن مسميات الأعلام العقلاء وغيرهم من المألوفات فجعفر اسم رجل وخرنق اسم امرأة من شعراء العرب وهي أخت طرفة بن العبد لأمه وقرن اسم قبيلة وعدن اسم مكان ولاحق اسم فرس وشذقم اسم جمل وهيلة اسم شاة وواشق اسم كلب
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 711 · vol. 1, p. 117 ↗ - 74
الرَّجَزal-rajaz––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ
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 AI
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 proper noun comes as an ism [a given name, e.g. Zayd], a kunya [a name beginning with Abū or Umm, e.g. Abū ʿAbdillāh], and a laqab [a nickname implying praise or blame, e.g. Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn, Anf an-Nāqa]. Put this [the laqab] last if it accompanies something else [the ism], e.g. Saʿīdun Kurz, not Kurz Saʿīd.
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 74Arabic
ينقسم العلم إلى ثلاثة أقسام إلى اسم وكنية ولقب والمراد بالاسم هنا ما ليس بكنية ولا لقب كزيد وعمرو وبالكنية ما كان في أوله أب أو أم كأبي عبد الله وأم الخير وباللقب ما أشعر بمدح كزين العابدين أو ذم كأنف الناقة
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 719 · vol. 1, p. 118 ↗وأشار بقوله وأخرن ذا إلخ إلى أن اللقب إذا صحب الاسم وجب تأخيره كزيد أنف الناقة ولا يجوز تقديمه على الاسم فلا تقول أنف الناقة زيد إلا قليلا ومنه قوله
بأن ذا الكلب عمرا خيرهم حسبا … ببطن شريان يعوي حوله الذيب
وظاهر كلام المصنف أنه يجب تأخير اللقب إذا صحب سواه ويدخل تحت قوله سواه الاسم والكنية وهو إنما يجب تأخيره مع الاسم فأما مع الكنية فأنت بالخيار بين أن تقدم الكنية على اللقب فتقول أبو عبد الله زين العابدين وبين أن تقدم اللقب على الكنية فتقول زين العابدين أبو عبد الله ويوجد في بعض النسخ بدل قوله وأخرن ذا إن سواه صحبا وذا اجعل آخرا إذا اسما صحبا وهو أحسن منه لسلامته مما ورد على هذا فإنه نص في أنه إنما يجب تأخير اللقب إذا صحب الاسم ومفهومه أنه لا يجب ذلك مع الكنية وهو كذلك كما تقدم ولو قال وأخرن ذا إن سواها صحبا لما ورد عليه شيء إذ يصير التقدير وأخر اللقب إذا صحب سوى الكنية وهو الاسم فكأنه قال وأخر اللقب إذا صحب الاسم
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Metre: not scanned
As vowelled here, this verse does not fit al-rajaz, the metre of the poem; it is left unscanned rather than forced.
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 AI
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.
If the two [the ism and the laqab] are both single words, you must annex [the ism to the laqab], e.g. Saʿīdu Kurzin. Otherwise [if either or both are compound], make the one that comes second follow the first [as an appositive in the same case], e.g. ʿAbdu llāhi Kurzun, Saʿīdun Anfu n-Nāqati.
AI note on the transcription: حَتْماً وَإِلاَّ أَتْبِعِ الَّذِي رَدِفْ — the transcription has «اي» where the standard text reads «الَّذِي» ('the one that'). «اي» makes no sense here and breaks the rajaz metre. The ʿajuz above keeps the transcribed letters, and «اي» is left unvowelled because it cannot be read meaningfully.
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 75Arabic
إذا اجتمع الاسم واللقب فإما أن يكونا مفردين أو مركبين أو الاسم مركبا واللقب مفردا أو الاسم مفردا واللقب مركبا
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 737 · vol. 1, p. 121 ↗فإن كانا مفردين وجب عند البصريين الإضافة نحو هذا سعيد كرز ورأيت سعيد كرز ومررت بسعيد كرز وأجاز الكوفيون الإتباع فتقول هذا سعيد كرز ورأيت سعيدا كرزا ومررت بسعيد كرز ووافقهم المصنف على ذلك في غير هذا الكتاب
وإن لم يكونا مفردين بأن كانا مركبين نحو عبد الله أنف الناقة أو مركبا ومفردا نحو عبد الله كرز وسعيد أنف الناقة وجب الإتباع فتتبع الثاني الأول في إعرابه ويجوز القطع إلى الرفع أو النصب نحو مررت بزيد أنف الناقة وأنف الناقة فالرفع على إضمار مبتدأ والتقدير هو أنف الناقة والنصب على إضمار فعل والتقدير أعني أنف الناقة فيقطع مع المرفوع إلى النصب ومع المنصوب إلى الرفع ومع المجرور إلى النصب أو الرفع نحو هذا زيد أنف الناقة ورأيت زيدا أنف الناقة ومررت بزيد أنف الناقة وأنف الناقة
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الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ
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 AI
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.
Some proper nouns are transferred (manqūl) [from an earlier use], e.g. Faḍl [originally a verbal noun, 'bounty'] and Asad [originally a common noun, 'lion']. Others are coined (murtajal) [made as names from the start], e.g. Suʿād and Udad.
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الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–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 AI
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 proper noun may also be] a sentence [e.g. Taʾabbaṭa Sharran, Shāba Qarnāhā], or a compound formed by blending two words (murakkab mazjī) [e.g. Baʿlabakk, Ḥaḍramawt, Sībawayh]. This [blended compound] is declined if it ends in something other than -wayh [e.g. jāʾa Baʿlabakku, raʾaytu Baʿlabakka, as a diptote]. [A compound ending in -wayh is indeclinable and always ends in kasra, e.g. Sībawayhi. A sentence-name is quoted unchanged.]
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الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ∪––فَعُولُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ∪––فَعُولُنْ
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 AI
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 annexation compound (murakkab iḍāfī) is common among proper nouns, e.g. ʿAbd Shams and Abū Quḥāfa. [The first part takes the case required by the sentence, and the second part is in the genitive.]
Ibn ʿAqīl on verses 76–78Arabic
ينقسم العلم إلى مرتجل وإلى منقول فالمرتجل هو ما لم يسبق له استعمال قبل العلمية في غيرها كسعاد وأدد والمنقول ما سبق له استعمال في غير العلمية والنقل إما من صفة كحارث أو من مصدر كفضل أو من اسم جنس كأسد وهذه تكون معربة أو من جملة كقام زيد وزيد قائم وحكمها أنها تحكى فتقول جاءني زيد قائم ورأيت زيد قائم ومررت بزيد قائم وهذه من الأعلام المركبة
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 752 · vol. 1, p. 124 ↗ومنها أيضا ما ركب تركيب مزج كبعلبك ومعدي كرب وسيبويه وذكر المصنف أن المركب تركيب مزج إن ختم بغير ويه أعرب ومفهومه أنه إن ختم بويه لا يعرب بل يبنى وهو كما ذكره فتقول جاءني بعلبك ورأيت بعلبك ومررت ببعلبك فتعربه إعراب ما لا ينصرف ويجوز فيه أيضا البناء على الفتح فتقول جاءني بعلبك ورأيت بعلبك ومررت ببعلبك ويجوز أيضا أن يعرب أيضا إعراب المتضايفين فتقول جاءني حضرموت ورأيت حضرموت ومررت بحضرموت
وتقول فيما ختم بويه جاءني سيبويه ورأيت سيبويه ومررت بسيبويه فتبنيه على الكسر وأجاز بعضهم إعرابه إعراب ما لا ينصرف نحو جاءنى سيبويه ورأيت سيبوية ومررت بسيبوية
ومنها ما ركب تركيب إضافة كعبد شمس وأبي قحافة وهو معرب فتقول جاءني عبد شمس وأبو قحافة ورأيت عبد شمس وأبا قحافة ومررت بعبد شمس وأبي قحافة
ونبه بالمثالين على أن الجزء الأول يكون معربا بالحركات كعبد وبالحروف كأبي وأن الجزء الثاني يكون منصرفا كشمس وغير منصرف كقحافة
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الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ––∪–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 AI
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 Arabs] set up a proper noun for some genera (ʿalam al-jins). It is like the personal proper noun in its grammatical form [it takes no article, it cannot be annexed, a circumstantial ḥāl may follow it, and it is a diptote when it has a second cause], but it is general in meaning [it refers to any member of the kind].
- 80
الرَّجَزal-rajaz––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ∪–∪–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 AI
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.
Examples of this are Umm ʿIryaṭ for the scorpion, and likewise Thuʿāla for the fox. [These are generic proper nouns for kinds of animals.]
- 81
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ∪––فَعُولُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ–––مَفْعُولُنْ
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 AI
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.
Similar to it is Barratu [a proper noun, without tanwīn] for al-mabarra ('piety'), and likewise Fajāri [indeclinable, ending in kasra] is a proper noun for al-fajra ('wickedness'). [Generic proper nouns can also name abstract ideas.]
Ibn ʿAqīl on verses 79–81Arabic
العلم على قسمين علم شخص وعلم جنس
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 773 · vol. 1, p. 126 ↗فعلم الشخص له حكمان معنوي وهو أن يراد به واحد بعينه كزيد وأحمد ولفظي وهو صحة مجيء الحال متأخرة عنه نحو جاءني زيد ضاحكا ومنعه من الصرف مع سبب آخر غير العلمية نحو هذا أحمد ومنع دخول الألف واللام عليه فلا تقول جاء العمرو
وعلم الجنس كعلم الشخص في حكمه اللفظي فتقول هذا أسامه مقبلا فتمنعه من الصرف وتأتى بالحال بعده ولا تدخل عليه الألف واللام فلا تقول هذا الأسامة
وحكم علم الجنس في المعنى كحكم النكرة من جهة أنه لا يخص واحدا بعينه فكل أسد يصدق عليه أسامة وكل عقرب يصدق عليها أم عريط وكل ثعلب يصدق عليه ثعالة
وعلم الجنس يكون للشخص كما تقدم ويكون للمعنى كما مثل بقوله برة للمبرة وفجار للفجرة
- عَلَمٌ ʿalam · proper noun · علم
- كُنْيَةٌ kunya · patronymic-style name (Abū…/Umm…) · كني
- لَقَبٌ laqab · nickname, epithet · لقب
- مَنْقُولٌ manqūl · transferred (proper noun) · نقل
- ارْتِجَالٌ / مُرْتَجَلٌ irtijāl / murtajal · coinage / coined (proper noun) · رجل
- مُرَكَّبٌ مَزْجِيٌّ murakkab mazjī · blended compound · مزج
- إِضَافَةٌ iḍāfa · annexation (genitive construct) · ضيف
- إِتْبَاعٌ itbāʿ · making a word follow (in case) · تبع
- أُعْرِبَ / إِعْرَابٌ uʿriba / iʿrāb · was declined / declension (case inflection) · عرب
- جِنْسٌ jins · genus, kind · جنس
- مُسَمًّى musammā · referent, thing named · سمو