Lamentation (al-Nudba)
النُّدْبَةُ
Verses 601–607 · chapter 50 of 78
The chapter treats the lamented noun (al-mandūb), a noun called with wā in grief or pain. It states which nouns may be lamented and says that the mandūb takes the rules of the vocative. It then explains the alif of lamentation added to its end, the deletions and vowel changes this causes, the optional pausal hāʾ, and how nouns suffixed with the first-person yāʾ are lamented. AI
- 601
الرَّجَزal-rajaz––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ––∪–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.
Give the lamented noun (mandūb) the rules that belong to the vocative (munādā) [built on ḍamma when singular and definite, accusative when construct, etc.]. What is indefinite is not lamented, nor what is vague (mubham) [such as demonstratives and a relative pronoun without a well-known ṣila]; so *wā rajulāh* and *wā hādhāh* are not said.
- 602
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–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 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 relative pronoun is lamented when it is joined to [a ṣila] that is well known. An example is *biʾra zamzam* following *wā man ḥafar*: *wā man ḥafara biʾra zamzamāh* 'Alas for the one who dug the well of Zamzam!' [This refers to ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib.]
Ibn ʿAqīl on verses 601–602Arabic
المندوب هو المتفجع عليه نحو وازيداه والمتوجع منه نحو واظهراه ولا يندب إلا المعرفة فلا تندب النكرة فلا يقال وارجلاه ولا المبهم كاسم الإشارة نحو واهذاه ولا الموصول إلا إن كان خاليا من أل واشتهر بالصلة كقولهم وامن حفر بئر زمزماه
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 6077 · vol. 3, p. 281 ↗ - 603
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–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.
Join the end of the lamented noun to an alif [the alif of lamentation], e.g. *wā Zaydā*. If what precedes this alif is itself an alif, the earlier one is deleted: *wā Mūsā* → *wā Mūsāh*.
- 604
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ––∪–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 tanwīn of the word that completes [the lamented expression] is likewise deleted, whether that word is a ṣila or something else [such as the second term of an iḍāfa]: *wā man ḥafara biʾra zamzamāh*, *wā ghulāma Zaydāh*. [*nilta l-amal*, 'may you attain your hope', is a filler.]
Ibn ʿAqīl on verses 603–604Arabic
يلحق آخر المنادى المندوب ألف نحو وازيدا لا تبعد ويحذف ما قبلها إن كان ألفا كقولك واموساه فحذف ألف موسى وأتى بالألف للدلالة على الندبة أو كان تنوينا في آخر صلة أو غيرها نحو وامن حفر بئر زمزماه ونحو يا غلام زيداه
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 6083 · vol. 3, p. 282 ↗ - 605
الرَّجَزal-rajaz––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ–∪∪–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.
If changing the final vowel to fatḥa [before the alif] would cause confusion, you must keep that vowel and follow it with the letter that matches it. After ḍamma you add wāw, and after kasra you add yāʾ. Examples are *wā ghulāmahūh* 'alas for his servant', which avoids confusion with *ghulāmahā* 'her servant', and *wā ghulāmakīh* 'alas for your (f.) servant', which avoids confusion with *ghulāmaka* 'your (m.) servant'.
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 605Arabic
إذا كان آخر ما تلحقه ألف الندبة فتحة لحقته ألف الندبة من غير تغيير لها فتقول واغلام أحمداه وإن كان غير ذلك وجب فتحه إلا إن أوقع في لبس
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 6087 · vol. 3, p. 283 ↗فمثال ما لا يوقع في لبس قولك في غلام زيد واغلام زيداه وفي زيد وازيداه
ومثال ما يوقع فتحه في لبس واغلامهوه واغلامكيه وأصله واغلامك بكسر الكاف واغلامه بضم الهاء فيجب قلب ألف الندبة بعد الكسرة ياء وبعد الضمة واوا لأنك لو لم تفعل ذلك وحذفت الضمة والكسرة وفتحت وأتيت بألف الندبة فقلت واغلامكاه واغلامهاه لالتبس المندوب المضاف إلى ضمير المخاطبة بالمندوب المضاف إلى ضمير المخاطب والتبس المندوب المضاف إلى ضمير الغائبة بالمندوب المضاف إلى ضمير الغائب
وإلى هذا أشار بقوله والشكل حتما إلى آخره أي إذا شكل آخر المندوب بفتح أو ضم أو كسر فأوله مجانسا له من واو أو ياء إن كان الفتح موقعا في لبس نحو واغلامهوه واعلامكيه وإن لم يكن الفتح موقعا في لبس فافتح آخره وأوله ألف الندبة نحو وازيداه وواغلام زيداه
- 606
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–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.
When pausing, you may add a pausal hāʾ (hāʾ al-sakt) if you wish: *wā Zaydāh*. You may also keep only the long vowel and add no hāʾ: *wā Zaydā*. [In continuous speech the hāʾ is not added.]
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 606Arabic
أي إذا وقف على المندوب لحقه بعد الألف هاء السكت نحو وازيداه أو وقف على الألف نحو وازيدا ولا تثبت الهاء في الوصل إلا ضرورة
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 6101 · vol. 3, p. 284 ↗كقوله
314 ( ألا يا عمرو عمراه … وعمرو بن الزبيراه
- 607
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–––مَفْعُولُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–––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.
A speaker who pronounces the yāʾ with sukūn in the vocative (*yā ʿabdī*) says, in lamentation, either *wā ʿabdiyā* [giving the yāʾ fatḥa before the alif] or *wā ʿabdā* [deleting the yāʾ]. [A speaker who says *yā ʿabdiya*, with fatḥa on the yāʾ, says only *wā ʿabdiyā*.]
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 607Arabic
أي إذا ندب المضاف إلى ياء المتكلم على لغة من سكن الياء قيل فيه واعبديا بفتح الياء وإلحاق ألف الندبة أو ياعبدا بحذف الياء وإلحاق ألف الندبة
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 6106 · vol. 3, p. 285 ↗وإذا ندب على لغة من يحذف الياء أو يستغنى بالكسرة أو يقلب الياء ألفا والكسرة فتحة ويحذف الألف ويستغنى بالفتحة أو يقلبها ألفا ويبقيها قيل واعبدا ليس إلا
وإذا ندب على لغة من يفتح الياء يقال واعبديا ليس إلا
فالحاصل أنه إنما يجوز الوجهان أعني واعبديا واعبدا على لغة من سكن الياء فقط كما ذكر المصنف
- النُّدْبَةُ al-nudba · lamentation; calling on a mourned person or a source of pain · ندب
- الْمَنْدُوبُ al-mandūb · the lamented noun · ندب
- الْمُنَادَى al-munādā · the vocative noun; the one called · ندو
- الْمُبْهَمُ al-mubham · vague noun (demonstratives and relative pronouns) · بهم
- الْمَوْصُولُ al-mawṣūl · relative pronoun · وصل
- الصِّلَةُ al-ṣila · relative clause (the clause completing a relative pronoun) · وصل
- التَّنْوِينُ al-tanwīn · nunation; the final unwritten n of indefinite and inflected nouns · نون
- هَاءُ السَّكْتِ hāʾ al-sakt · pausal hāʾ · سكت
- مُجَانِسٌ mujānis · matching, homogeneous (a long letter of the same kind as the preceding vowel) · جنس
- الْوَقْفُ al-waqf · pause; stopping on a word · وقف