Coordination (ʿaṭf), part one: the explicative apposition (ʿaṭf al-bayān)
اَلْعَطْفُ
Verses 534–539 · chapter 42 of 78
Ibn Mālik divides ʿaṭf into two kinds, the explicative (ʿaṭf al-bayān) and the conjunctive (ʿaṭf al-nasaq), and in these verses treats the first. He defines ʿaṭf al-bayān as a follower that resembles the adjective in making clear what is meant, and says it agrees with its antecedent in the same things the naʿt agrees in, so both may be indefinite or both definite. He adds that it can usually also be parsed as a badal, and names two constructions where that parsing is ruled out. AI
- 534
الرَّجَزal-rajaz––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ∪–∪–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.
ʿAṭf is either explicative (dhū bayān, i.e. ʿaṭf al-bayān) or conjunctive (nasaq, i.e. ʿaṭf al-nasaq); the aim now is to explain the one mentioned first [ʿaṭf al-bayān].
- 535
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ–∪∪–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 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 explicative ʿaṭf is a follower (tābiʿ) that resembles the adjective (ṣifa): through it the real intended referent [of the antecedent] is made clear. [It is a non-derived noun, usually a proper name, that clarifies the one before it, as in aqsama bi-llāhi Abū Ḥafṣin ʿUmar, 'Abū Ḥafṣ, ʿUmar, swore by God'.]
Ibn ʿAqīl on verses 534–535Arabic
العطف كما ذكر ضربان أحدهما عطف النسق وسيأتي والثاني عطف البيان وهو المقصود بهذا الباب
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 5659 · vol. 3, p. 217 ↗وعطف البيان هو التابع الجامد المشبه للصفة في إيضاح متبوعه وعدم استقلاله نحو
292 ( أقسم بالله أبو حفص عمر …
فعمر عطف بيان لأنه موضح لأبي حفص
فخرج بقوله الجامد الصفة لأنها مشتقة أو مؤولة به وخرج بما بعد ذلك التوكيد وعطف النسق لأنهما لا يوضحان متبوعهما والبدل الجامد لأنه مستقل
- 536
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–∪∪–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 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.
So give it [the ʿaṭf al-bayān] the same agreement with the first [word] that the naʿt has been given in its agreement with the first. [It agrees with its antecedent in case, gender, number, and definiteness or indefiniteness.]
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 536Arabic
لما كان عطف البيان مشبها للصفة لزم فيه موافقة المتبوع كالنعت فيوافقه في إعرابه وتعريفه أو تنكيره وتذكيره أو تأنيثه وإفراده أو تثنيته أو جمعه
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 5669 · vol. 3, p. 219 ↗ - 537
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.
So the two [the ʿaṭf al-bayān and its antecedent] may both be indefinite, just as they may both be definite. [Indefinite: min māʾin ṣadīdin, 'of water, pus' (Qurʾān 14:16); definite: Abū Ḥafṣin ʿUmar.]
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 537Arabic
ذهب أكثر النحويين إلى امتناع كون عطف البيان ومتبوعه نكرتين وذهب قوم منهم المصنف إلى جواز ذلك فيكونان منكرين كما يكونان معرفين قيل ومن تنكيرهما قوله تعالى ﴿ يوقد من شجرة مباركة زيتونة ﴾ وقوله تعالى ﴿ ويسقى من ماء صديد ﴾ فزيتونة عطف بيان لشجرة وصديد عطف بيان لماء
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 5672 · vol. 3, p. 219 ↗فبشر عطف بيان ولا يجوز كونه بدلا إذ لا يصح أن يكون التقدير أنا ابن التارك بشر
وأشار بقوله وليس أن يبدل بالمرضى إلى أن تجويز كون بشر بدلا غير مرضى وقصد بذلك التنبيه على مذهب الفراء والفارسي
الأولى أن يكون التابع مفردا معرفه معربا والمتبوع منادى نحو يا غلام يعمرا فيتعين أن يكون يعمرا عطف بيان ولا يجوز أن يكون بدلا لأن البدل على نية تكرار العامل فكان يجب بناء يعمرا على الضم لأنه لو لفظ بيا معه لكان كذلك
الثانية أن يكون التابع خاليا من أل والمتبوع بأل وقد أضيفت إليه صفة بأل نحو أنا الضارب الرجل زيد فيتعين كون زيد عطف بيان ولا يجوز كونه بدلا من الرجل لأن البدل على نية تكرار العامل فيلزم أن يكون التقدير أنا الضارب زيد وهو لا يجوز لما عرفت في باب الإضافة من أن الصفة إذا كانت بأل لا تضاف إلا إلى ما فيه أل أو ما أضيف إلى ما فيه أل ومثل أنا الضارب الرجل زيد قوله
293 ( أنا ابن التارك البكري بشر … عليه الطير ترقبه وقوعا
فبشر عطف بيان ولا يجوز كونه بدلا إذ لا يصح أن يكون التقدير أنا ابن التارك بشر
وأشار بقوله وليس أن يبدل بالمرضى إلى أن تجويز كون بشر بدلا غير مرضى وقصد بذلك التنبيه على مذهب الفراء والفارسي
- 538
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–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.
It is regarded as fit to be parsed as a badal, except in cases like yā ghulāmu Yaʿmura. [In yā ghulāmu Yaʿmura the name Yaʿmar is in the accusative, following the vocative's underlying position (maḥall). A badal counts as a new vocative, so as a badal it would have to be built on ḍamma (yā ghulāmu Yaʿmaru). The accusative form therefore can only be ʿaṭf al-bayān.]
- 539
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–––مَفْعُولُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ–––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.
And [except in cases] like Bishr following al-Bakrī: parsing it as a badal is not the accepted view. [In anā bnu t-tāriki l-Bakriyyi Bishrin, 'I am the son of the one who left al-Bakrī, Bishr', the word Bishr can only be ʿaṭf al-bayān. A badal stands in the place of its antecedent, which would give *at-tāriki Bishrin: a participle with al- annexed to a noun without al-, which is not allowed. Al-Farrāʾ permits the badal reading, but Ibn Mālik does not accept it.]
- اَلْعَطْفُ al-ʿaṭf · coordination; a follower joined to what precedes it, either explicatively or with a conjunction · عطف
- عَطْفُ الْبَيَانِ ʿaṭf al-bayān · explicative apposition: a follower, usually a proper name, that clarifies its antecedent · بين
- عَطْفُ النَّسَقِ ʿaṭf al-nasaq · conjunctive coordination, made with a particle such as wa-, fa-, thumma, aw · نسق
- تَابِعٌ tābiʿ · follower: a word that takes its case from the word before it (naʿt, tawkīd, ʿaṭf, badal) · تبع
- صِفَةٌ ṣifa · adjective, attribute (a synonym of naʿt) · وصف
- نَعْتٌ naʿt · adjectival qualifier, agreeing with its noun · نعت
- بَدَلِيَّةٌ badaliyya · status as a badal (substitute), a follower that stands in place of its antecedent · بدل
- مُنَكَّرٌ munakkar · indefinite (made or treated as indefinite) · نكر
- مُعَرَّفٌ muʿarraf · definite (made known, by al-, annexation, or being a proper name) · عرف