The Substitute (Badal)
الْبَدَلُ
Verses 565–572 · chapter 44 of 78
This chapter defines the badal as the follower that is itself the intended object of the ruling, joined to what it follows without any connecting particle. It sets out its kinds: whole for whole, part for whole, inclusion, and the kind that resembles a noun coordinated with bal, which divides into change of mind (iḍrāb) and slip (ghalaṭ). It then covers limits on substituting an overt noun for a first- or second-person pronoun, the hamza that must precede a substitute for an interrogative word, and substituting one verb for another. AI
- 565
الرَّجَزal-rajaz––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ∪–∪–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 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 follower that is [itself] intended by the ruling, without an intermediary [i.e. without a conjunction between it and the word it follows], is what is called a badal (substitute).
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 565Arabic
البدل هو التابع المقصود بالنسبة بلا واسطة
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 5854 · vol. 3, p. 246 ↗فالتابع جنس والمقصود بالنسبة فصل أخرج النعت والتوكيد وعطف البيان لأن كل واحد منها مكمل للمقصود بالنسبة لا مقصود بها وبلا واسطة أخرج المعطوف ببل نحو جاء زيد بل عمرو فإن عمرا هو المقصود بالنسبة ولكن بواسطة وهي بل وأخرج المعطوف بالواو ونحوها فإن كل واحد منهما مقصود بالنسبة ولكن بواسطة
- 566
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.
It is found either identical [to the replaced word: badal kull min kull], or a part [of it: badal baʿḍ min kull], or something that [the replaced word] includes [badal ishtimāl], or like a word coordinated with bal [the fourth kind, divided in the next bayt].
- 567
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–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.
Assign this [last kind] to iḍrāb (change of mind) if intention accompanied it [i.e. the first word was also meant and the speaker then turns from it]; without intention [of the first word] it is ghalaṭ (a slip), and by it [the badal] the [mistaken first word] is taken away.
- 568
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ––∪–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.
As in zurhu Khālidan 'visit him, Khālid' [whole for whole], qabbilhu l-yada 'kiss him, the hand' [part for whole], iʿrifhu ḥaqqahu 'recognise him, his due' [inclusion], and khudh nablan mudā 'take arrows, knives' [mudā replaces nablan: iḍrāb if both were meant, ghalaṭ if nablan was a slip of the tongue].
OpenITI line 735 · vol. 1, p. 48 ↗AI vowelling differs in letters from OpenITIAI note on the transcription: وَاعْرِفْهُ حَقَّهُ وَخُذْ نَبْلًا مُدَى — the transcription has خد (dāl); the imperative 'take' is خُذْ with dhāl.
Ibn ʿAqīl on verses 566–568Arabic
البدل على أربعة أقسام
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 5862 · vol. 3, p. 248 ↗الأول بدل الكل من الكل وهو البدل المطابق للمبدل منه المساوى له في المعنى نحو مررت بأخيك زيد ورزه خالدا
الثاني بدل البعض من الكل نحو أكلت الرغيف ثلثه وقبله اليد
الثالث بدل الاشتمال وهو الدال على معنى في متبوعه نحو أعجبني زيد علمه واعرفه حقه
الرابع البدل المباين للمبدل منه وهو المراد بقوله أو كمعطوف ببل وهو على قسمين أحدهما ما يقصد متبوعه كما يقصد هو ويسمى بدل الإضراب وبدل البداء نحو أكلت خبزا لحما قصدت أولا الإخبار بأنك أكلت خبزا ثم بدا لك أنك تخبر أنك أكلت لحما أيضا وهو المراد بقوله وذا للاضراب اعز إن قصدا صحب أي البدل الذي هو كمعطوف ببل انسبه للاضراب إن قصد متبوعه كما يقصد هو الثاني مالا يقصد متبوعه بل يكون المقصود البدل فقط وإنما غلط المتكلم فذكر المبدل منه ويسمى بدل الغلط والنسيان نحو رأيت رجلا حمارا أردت أنك تخبر أولا أنك رأيت حمارا فغلطت بذكر الرجل وهو المراد بقوله ودون قصد غلط به سلب أي إذا لم يكن المبدل منه مقصودا فيسمى البدل بدل الغلط لأنه مزيل الغلط الذي سبق وهو ذكر غير المقصود
وقوله خذ نبلا مدى يصلح أن يكون مثالا لكل من القسمين لأنه إن قصد النبل والمدى فهو بدل الإضراب وإن قصد المدى فقط وهو جمع مدية وهي الشفرة فهو بدل الغلط
- 569
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ––∪–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 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.
Do not substitute an overt noun for the pronoun of one present [first or second person], except one that makes comprehensiveness plain [a whole-for-whole badal expressing inclusion of all, e.g. jiʾtum ṣaghīrukum wa-kabīrukum 'you came, your young and your old'].
- 570
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.
Or [except one that] entails a part [badal baʿḍ, e.g. aʿjabtanī wajhuka 'you pleased me, your face'] or inclusion [badal ishtimāl], as in innaka ibtihājaka stamālā 'you, your delight has won [me] over' [ibtihājaka replaces the pronoun -ka].
AI note on the transcription: كَإِنَّكَ ابْتِهَاجَكَ اسْتَمَالَا — the transcription has أنك (hamza above); the example uses the particle إِنَّ, written with hamza below. Read as أَنَّكَ, the phrase would mean 'as if you', which is not the example.
Ibn ʿAqīl on verses 569–570Arabic
أي لا ببدل الظاهر من ضمير الحاضر إلا إن كان البدل بدل كل من كل واقتضى الإحاطة والشمول أو كان بدل اشتمال أو بدل بعض من كل
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 5883 · vol. 3, p. 249 ↗فالأول كقوله تعالى ﴿ تكون لنا عيدا لأولنا وآخرنا ﴾ فأولنا بدل من الضمير المجرور باللام وهو نا فإن لم يدل على الإحاطة امتنع نحو رأيتك زيدا
والثاني كقوله
302 ( ذرينى إن أمرك لن يطاعا … وما الفيتني حلمي مضاعا
فحلمي بدل اشتمال من الياء في ألفيتني
والثالث كقوله
303 ( أو عدني بالسجن والأداهم … رجلي فرجلي شثنة المناسم
فرجلي بدل بعض من الياء في أوعدني
وفهم من كلامه أنه يبدل الظاهر من الظاهر مطلقا كما تقدم تمثيله وأن ضمير الغيبة يبدل منه الظاهر مطلقا نحو زره خالدا
- 571
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ––∪–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 substitute for a word that has the [interrogative] hamza implied in it [an interrogative noun such as man, mā, kayfa] comes after a hamza, as in man dhā? a-Saʿīdun am ʿAlī? 'Who is this? Saʿīd or ʿAlī?'
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 571Arabic
إذا أبدل من أسم الاستفهام وجب دخول همزة الاستفهام على البدل نحو من ذا أسعيد أم علي وما تفعل أخيرا أم شرا ومتى تأتينا أغدا أم بعد غد
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 5897 · vol. 3, p. 252 ↗ - 572
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–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 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 verb may be substituted for a verb, as in man yaṣil ilaynā yastaʿin binā yuʿan 'whoever comes to us, seeks help from us, is helped' [yastaʿin replaces yaṣil and takes its jussive].
OpenITI line 739 · vol. 1, p. 48 ↗AI vowelling differs in letters from OpenITIAI note on the transcription: يَصِلْ إِلَيْنَا يَسْتَعِنْ بِنَا يُعَنْ — the transcription has بما (mīm); the standard text and the sense ('seeks help from us') require بنا (nūn).
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 572Arabic
كما يبدل الاسم من الاسم يبدل الفعل من الفعل فيستعن بنا بدل من يصل إلينا ومثله قوله تعالى ﴿ ومن يفعل ذلك يلق أثاما يضاعف له العذاب ﴾ فيضاعف بدل من يلق فإعرابه بإعرابه وهو الجزم وكذا قوله
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 5900 · vol. 3, p. 252 ↗304 ( إن على الله أن تبعايعا … تؤخذ كرها أو تجيء طائعا
فتؤخذ بدل من تبايعا ولذلك نصب . .
- الْبَدَلُ al-badal · substitute; appositive that replaces the preceding word as the real object of the ruling · بدل
- التَّابِعُ at-tābiʿ · follower; a word that takes the case of the word before it · تبع
- الْحُكْمُ al-ḥukm · the ruling; what is predicated or asserted in the sentence · حكم
- وَاسِطَةٌ wāsiṭa · intermediary; here, a conjunction standing between follower and followed · وسط
- الْمُطَابِقُ al-muṭābiq · identical substitute (badal kull min kull): whole for whole · طبق
- بَدَلُ الْبَعْضِ badal al-baʿḍ · substitute of a part for the whole · بعض
- بَدَلُ الِاشْتِمَالِ badal al-ishtimāl · substitute of inclusion: something connected with or contained in the first word, neither identical nor a part · شمل
- الْإِضْرَابُ al-iḍrāb · change of mind; turning away from a first word that was meant, to another · ضرب
- الْغَلَطُ al-ghalaṭ · slip; substitute that corrects an unintended first word · غلط
- ضَمِيرُ الْحَاضِرِ ḍamīr al-ḥāḍir · pronoun of one present: first- or second-person pronoun · حضر
- الظَّاهِرُ aẓ-ẓāhir · overt noun; any noun that is not a pronoun · ظهر
- الْإِحَاطَةُ al-iḥāṭa · comprehensiveness; covering all members of a group · حوط
- الْهَمْزُ al-hamz · the interrogative hamza (a-) · همز