The Two Nūns of Emphasis
نُونَا التَّوْكِيدِ
Verses 635–648 · chapter 55 of 78
This chapter covers the heavy nūn (-anna) and the light nūn (-an) that emphasize a verb, and the verbs they may attach to: the imperative always, and the imperfect when it expresses a request, follows conditional immā, or is an affirmative future answer to an oath. It then sets out how the verb's ending changes before the nūn: the final letter takes fatḥa or a vowel matching a pronoun, a final alif becomes yā or is dropped, and an alif is placed before the nūn after the dual alif or the feminine plural nūn. It closes with where the light nūn cannot stand, when it is dropped, and how it is treated in pause. AI
- 635
الرَّجَزal-rajaz––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–∪∪–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.
The verb can be emphasized with two nūns. They are like the two nūns of idhhabanna ['go!', with the heavy nūn] and iqṣidan-humā ['aim for the two of them!', with the light nūn].
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 635Arabic
أي يلحق الفعل للتوكيد نونان إحداهما ثقيلة ك اذهبن والأخرى خفيفة ك اقصدنهما وقد اجتمعا في قوله تعالى ﴿ ليسجنن وليكونن من الصاغرين ﴾
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 6262 · vol. 3, p. 307 ↗ - 636
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.
They emphasize if‘al [the imperative] and yaf‘al [the imperfect] when it expresses a request, or when it is a condition following immā [in + the extra mā], e.g. lā taḍribanna, hal taḍribanna, immā taḍribanna.
- 637
الرَّجَزal-rajaz––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–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.
[They also emphasize the imperfect] when it is affirmative and future in [the answer to] an oath, e.g. wa-llāhi la-aḍribanna. The emphasis is rare after [the extra] mā, after lam, and after [negating] lā,
- 638
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.
and after the particles that require a jussive apodosis other than immā [e.g. in without mā, man]. Give the last letter of the emphasized verb fatḥa, as in ubruzā [= ubruzan, 'come out!', with the light nūn turned into alif in pause].
Ibn ʿAqīl on verses 636–638Arabic
أي تلحق نونا التوكيد فعل الأمر نحو اضربن زيدا والفعل المضارع المستقبل الدال على طلب نحو لتضربن زيدا ولا تضربن زيدا وهل تضربن زيدا والواقع شرطا بعد إن المؤكدة ما نحو إما تضربن زيدا أضربه ومنه قوله تعالى ﴿ فإما تثقفنهم في الحرب فشرد بهم من خلفهم ﴾ أو الواقع جواب قسم مثبتا مستقبلا نحو والله لتضربن زيدا
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 6267 · vol. 3, p. 308 ↗فإن لم يكن مثبتا لم يؤكد بالنون نحو والله لا تفعل كذا وكذا إن كان حالا نحو والله ليقوم زيد الآن
وقل دخول النون في الفعل المضارع الواقع بعد ما الزائدة التي لا تصحب إن نحو بعين ما أرينك ههنا والواقع بعد لم كقوله
317 ( يحسبه الجاهل ما لم يعلما … شيخا على كرسيه معمما
والواقع بعد لا النافية كقوله تعالى ﴿ واتقوا فتنة لا تصيبن الذين ظلموا منكم خاصة ﴾
والواقع بعد غير إما من أدوات الشرط كقوله
318 ( من نثقفن منهم فليس بآيب …
وأشار المصنف بقوله وآخر المؤكد افتح إلى أن الفعل المؤكد بالنون يبنى على الفتح إن لم تله ألف الضمير أو ياؤه أو واوه نحو اضربن زيدا واقتلن عمرا
- 639
الرَّجَزal-rajaz––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–∪∪–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.
Before a soft pronoun [the wāw of the plural or the yā of the feminine singular], give the last letter the vowel that matches it, which is known [ḍamma before wāw, kasra before yā]: iḍribunna [masculine plural], iḍribinna [feminine singular].
- 640
الرَّجَزal-rajaz––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–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.
Delete the pronoun [wāw or yā] in every case except alif [the dual alif stays: iḍribānni]. If the verb ends in alif [e.g. yas‘ā],
- 641
الرَّجَزal-rajaz––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–––مَفْعُولُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪––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.
then, when the verb has as its subject something other than [the pronoun] yā or wāw, change that alif into yā, as in is‘ayanna sa‘yā ['strive, truly strive!']; likewise yas‘ayanna, yas‘ayānni.
- 642
الرَّجَزal-rajaz––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ–∪∪–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.
Delete the alif from a verb whose subject is one of these two [the wāw or the yā]. The wāw and the yā then receive a matching vowel [ḍamma on wāw, kasra on yā].
OpenITI line 842 · vol. 1, p. 54 ↗AI vowelling differs in letters from OpenITIAI note on the transcription: ʿajuz: وَاوٍ وَيَا شَكْلٌ مُجَانِسٌ قُفِي — the transcription has «وا» for «واو»; the dropped final wāw is required by the sense (the letter wāw is meant) and by the metre (wā-win wa-yā = mustaf‘ilun).
- 643
الرَّجَزal-rajaz––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–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.
For example ikhshayin yā Hindu ['fear, O Hind!'], with kasra [on the yā], and yā qawmu ikhshawun ['fear, O people!'], where you give [the wāw] ḍamma. Apply this analogy uniformly [to the heavy nūn as to the light, and to similar verbs].
Ibn ʿAqīl on verses 639–643Arabic
الفعل المؤكد بالنون إن اتصل به ألف اثنين أو واو جمع أو ياء مخاطبة حرك ما قبل الألف بالفتح وما قبل الواو بالضم وما قبل الياء بالكسر
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 6290 · vol. 3, p. 313 ↗ويحذف الضمير إن كان واوا أو ياء ويبقى إن كان ألفا فتقول يا زيدان هل تضربان ويا زيدون هل تضربن ويا هند هل تضربن والأصل هل تضربانن وهل تضربونن وهل تضربينن فحذفت النون لتوالي الأمثال ثم حذفت الواو والياء لالتقاء الساكنين فصار أهل تضربن وهل تضربن ولم تحذف الألف لخفتها فصار هل تضربان وبقيت الضمة دالة على الواو والكسرة دالة على الياء
هذا كله إذا كان الفعل صحيحا
فإن كان معتلا فإما أن يكون آخره ألفا أو واوا أو ياء
فإن كان آخره واوا أو ياء حذفت لأجل واو الضمير أو يائه وضم ما بقي قبل واو الضمير وكسر ما بقي قبل ياء الضمير فتقول يا زيدون هل تغزون وهل ترمون ويا هند هل تغزين وهل ترمين
فإذا ألحقته نون التوكيد فعلت به ما فعلت بالصحيح فتحذف نون الرفع وواو الضمير أو ياءه فتقول يا زيدون هل تغزن وهل ترمن ويا هند هل تغزن وهل ترمن هذا إن أسند إلى الواو والياء
وإن أسند إلى الألف لم يحذف آخره وبقيت الآلف وشكل ما قبلها بحركة تجانس الألف وهي الفتحة فتقول هل تغزوان وهل ترميان وإن كان آخر الفعل ألفا فإن رفع الفعل غير الواو والياء كالألف والضمير المستتر انقلبت الألف التي في آخر الفعل ياء وفتحت نحو اسعيان وهل تسعيان واسعين يازيد
وإن رفع واوا أو ياء حذفت الألف وبقيت الفتحة التي كانت قبلها وضمت الواو وكسرت الياء فتقول يا زيدون اخشون ويا هند اخشين
هذا إن لحقته نون التوكيد وإن لم تلحقه لم تضم الواو ولم تكسر الياء بل تسكنهما فتقول يا زيدون هل تخشون ويا هند هل تخشين ويا زيدون اخشوا ويا هند اخشى
- 644
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–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.
The light nūn does not occur after alif. The heavy nūn does occur there, and kasra is its usual vowel in that position: iḍribānni, lā taḍribānni.
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 644Arabic
لاتقع نون التوكيد الخفيفة بعد الألف لكن شديدة وكسرها ألف لا تقع نون التوكيد الخفيفة بعد الألف فلا تقول اضربان بنون مخففة بل يجب التشديد فتقول اضربان بنون مشددة مكسورة خلافا ليونس فإنه أجاز وقوع النون الخفيفة بعد الألف ويجب عنده كسرها
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 6315 · vol. 3, p. 314 ↗ - 645
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ––∪–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.
Add an alif before the [heavy] nūn when you emphasize a verb whose subject is the feminine plural nūn: iḍribnānni ['strike, you women!'].
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 645Arabic
إذا أكد الفعل المسند إلى نون الإناث بنون التوكيد وجب أن يفصل بين نون الإناث ونون التوكيد بألف كراهية توالي الأمثال فتقول اضربنان بنون مشددة مكسورة قبلها ألف
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 6320 · vol. 3, p. 315 ↗ - 646
الرَّجَزal-rajaz––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–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.
Delete the light nūn when an unvowelled letter follows it, e.g. iḍriba r-rajula for iḍriban. Also delete it in pause when the vowel before it is anything other than fatḥa: iḍribun becomes iḍribū, iḍribin becomes iḍribī.
- 647
الرَّجَزal-rajaz––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–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.
When you delete it in pause, restore what had been removed because of it in continuous speech, e.g. the wāw in iḍribū and the yā in iḍribī. [In a verb with a nominative ending, the nūn of the five verbs also returns: hal taḍribun becomes hal taḍribūn.]
- 648
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ––∪–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.
After fatḥa, change the light nūn into alif in pause. For qifan ['stop!'] you say qifā.
Ibn ʿAqīl on verses 646–648Arabic
إذا ولى الفعل المؤكد بالنون الخفيفة ساكن وجب حذف النون لالتقاء الساكنين فتقول اضرب الرجل بفتح الباء والأصل اضربن فحذفت نون التوكيد لملافاة الساكن وهو لام التعريف ومنه قوله
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 6326 · vol. 3, p. 316 ↗319 ( لا تهين الفقير علك أن … تركع يوما والدهر قد رفعه
وكذلك تحذف نون التوكيد الخفيفة في الوقف إذا وقعت بعد غير فتحة أي بعد ضمة أو كسرة ويرد حينئذ ما كان حذف لأجل نون التوكيد فتقول في اضربن يا زيدون إذا وقفت على الفعل اضربوا وفي اضربن يا هند اضربي فتحذف نون التوكيد الخفيفة للوقف وترد الواو التي حذفت لأجل نون التوكيد وكذلك الياء
فإن وقعت نون التوكيد الخفيفة بعد فتحة أبدلت النون في الوقف أيضا ألفا فتقول في اضربن يا زيد اضربا
- تَوْكِيدٌ tawkīd · emphasis (here, of the verb by a nūn) · وكد
- نُونٌ خَفِيفَةٌ nūn khafīfa · light (single, unstressed) nūn of emphasis: -an · خفف
- نُونٌ شَدِيدَةٌ nūn shadīda · heavy (doubled) nūn of emphasis: -anna · شدد
- طَلَبٌ ṭalab · request (command, prohibition, question, wish, etc.) · طلب
- شَرْطٌ sharṭ · condition; the protasis of a conditional sentence · شرط
- طَوَالِبُ الْجَزَاءِ ṭawālib al-jazāʾ · particles that require an apodosis (conditional particles) · جزي
- قَسَمٌ qasam · oath · قسم
- مُثْبَتٌ muthbat · affirmative (not negated) · ثبت
- مُسْتَقْبَلٌ mustaqbal · future · قبل
- مُضْمَرٌ muḍmar · pronoun (here, the subject pronouns alif, wāw, yā attached to the verb) · ضمر
- لَيْنٌ layn (for layyin) · soft, i.e. the weak letters wāw and yā · لين
- رَافِعٌ rāfiʿ · that which puts something in the nominative; here, a verb that has the given pronoun as its subject · رفع
- أُسْنِدَ usnida · was predicated of / attributed to (a subject) · سند
- شَكْلٌ shakl · vowel sign; the vowel given to a letter · شكل
- وَقْفٌ waqf · pause (pronunciation at the end of an utterance) · وقف
- وَصْلٌ waṣl · continuous speech (a word joined to what follows) · وصل
- إِبْدَالٌ ibdāl · replacement of one letter by another · بدل