Nouns Ending in Short Alif and Nouns Ending in Long Alif with Hamza
الْمَقْصُورُ وَالْمَمْدُودُ
Verses 771–777 · chapter 66 of 78
A maqṣūr noun ends in a fixed alif (e.g. al-fatā), and a mamdūd noun ends in a hamza preceded by an extra alif (e.g. al-kisāʾ). The chapter shows how to know by analogy which form a weak-final noun takes: it takes the form of its sound-final counterpart of the same pattern. Words without such a counterpart are known only from transmitted usage. The chapter ends with the poetic licence of shortening a long word, which all grammarians accept, and lengthening a short word, which is disputed. AI
Topic:Singular, dual, plural
- 771
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–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.
If a [sound-final] noun requires a fatḥa before its last letter, and it has an analogue [a weak-final word of the same pattern and meaning], as asaf ['grief', maṣdar of asifa, pattern faʿal] does, …
- 772
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–∪∪–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.
… then its analogue whose last letter is weak is short by clear analogy [so jawā 'heartache', maṣdar of jawiya, is maqṣūr because it matches asaf from asifa].
- 773
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–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.
[Another case] is the patterns fiʿal and fuʿal used as plurals of words on the patterns fiʿla and fuʿla. An example is ad-dumā, plural of dumya ['statue'], which matches qurab, plural of qurba. Likewise mirā, plural of mirya, matches kisar, plural of kisra.
Ibn ʿAqīl on verses 771–773Arabic
المقصور هو الاسم الذي حرف إعرابه ألف لازمة
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 7244 · vol. 4, p. 98 ↗فخرج بالأسم الفعل نحو يرضى وبحرف إعرابه المبنى نحو إذا وبلازمة المثنى نحو الزيدان فإن ألفه تنقلب ياء في الجر والنصب
والمقصور على قسمين قياسي وسماعي
فالقياسي كل اسم معتل له نظير من الصحيح ملتزم فتح ما قبل آخره وذلك كمصدر الفعل اللازم الذي على وزن فعل فإنه يكون فعلا بفتح الفاء والعين نحو أسف أسفا فإذا كان معتلا وجب قصره نحو جوى جوى لأن نظيره من الصحيح الآخر ملتزم فتح ماا قبل آخره ونحو فعل في جمع فعلة بكسر الفاء وفعل في جمع فعلة بضم الفاء نحو مرى جمع مرية ومدى جمع مدية فإن نظيرهما من الصحيح قرب وقرب جمع قربة وقربة لأن جمع فعلة بكسر الفاء يكون على فعل بكسر الأول وفتح الثاني وجمع فعلة بضم الفاء يكون على فعل بضم الأول وفتح الثاني
والدمى جمع دمية وهي الصورة من العاج ونحوه
- 774
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–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.
If a [sound-final] noun requires an alif before its last letter, then its [weak-final] analogue is known to be necessarily mamdūd.
- 775
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–∪∪–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.
An example is the maṣdar of a verb that begins with a connecting hamza, such as irʿawā ['he desisted'] and irtaʾā ['he considered']. Their maṣdars irʿiwāʾ and irtiʾāʾ are mamdūd because they match sound maṣdars such as inṭilāq and iqtidār.
Ibn ʿAqīl on verses 774–775Arabic
ولما فرغ من المقصور شرع في الممدود وهو الاسم الذي في آخره همزة تلى ألفا زائداة نحو حمراء وكساء ورداء
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 7258 · vol. 4, p. 100 ↗فخرج بالاسم الفعل نحو يشاء وبقوله تلى ألفا زائدة ما كان في آخره همزة تلى ألفا غير زائدة كماء وآء جمع آءة وهو شجر
والممدود أيضا كالمقصور قياسي وسماعي
فالقياسي كل معتل له نظير الصحيح الآخر ملتزم زيادة ألف قبل آخره وذلك كمصدر ما أوله همزة وصل نحو أرعوى أرعواء وأرتأى إرتئاء واستقصى استقصاء فإن نظيرها من الصحيح انطلق انطلاقا واقتدر اقتدارا واستخرج استخراجا وكذا مصدر كل فعل معتل يكون على وزن أفعل نحو أعطى إعطاء فإن نظيره من الصحيح أكرم إكراما
- 776
الرَّجَزal-rajaz––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–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.
A word that has no analogue is known to be short or long only by transmission [from the Arabs]. Examples are al-ḥijā ['intelligence', maqṣūr] and al-ḥidhāʾ ['sandal', mamdūd; its hamza is dropped here at the rhyme].
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 776Arabic
هذا هو القسم الثاني وهو المقصور السماعي والممدود السماعي
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 7269 · vol. 4, p. 101 ↗وضابطهما أن ما ليس له نظير اطرد فتح ما قبل آخره فقصره موقوف على السماع وما ليس له نظير الهرد زيادة ألف قبل آخره فمده مقصور على السماع
فمن المقصور السماعي الفتى واحد الفتيان والحجا العقل والثري التراب والسنا الضوء
ومن الممدود السماعي الفتاء حداثة السن والسناء الشرف والثراء كثرة المال والحذاء النعل
- 777
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–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.
All grammarians agree that a mamdūd word may be shortened under poetic necessity. The reverse, lengthening a maqṣūr word, is disputed [the Kufans allow it; most Basrans reject it].
OpenITI line 1010 · vol. 1, p. 63 ↗AI vowelling differs in letters from OpenITIAI note on the transcription: وَالْعَكْسُ بِخُلْفٍ يَقَعُ — the transcription reads بحلف with ḥāʾ. The sense ('with disagreement') and the standard text require بخلف with khāʾ (khulf).
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 777Arabic
لا خلاف بين البصريين والكوفيين في جواز قصر الممدود للضرورة
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 7277 · vol. 4, p. 101 ↗واختلف في جواز مد القصور فذهب البصريون إلى المنع وذهب الكوفيون إلى الجواز واستدلوا بقوله
353 ( يا لك من تمر ومن شيشاء … ينشب في المسعل والهاء
فمد اللهاء للضرورة وهو مقصور
كيفية تثنية المقصور والممدود وجمعهما تصحيحا $
- الْمَقْصُورُ al-maqṣūr · noun ending in a fixed alif, with no hamza after it (e.g. al-fatā) · قصر
- الْمَمْدُودُ al-mamdūd · noun ending in a hamza preceded by an extra alif (e.g. al-kisāʾ) · مدد
- الْقَصْرُ al-qaṣr · being maqṣūr; shortening a final alif · قصر
- الْمَدُّ al-madd · being mamdūd; lengthening an alif before a final hamza · مدد
- النَّظِيرُ an-naẓīr · analogue: a sound-final word of the same pattern and type used to decide a weak-final word's form · نظر
- الْقِيَاسُ al-qiyās · analogy; a rule applied beyond attested words · قيس
- النَّقْلُ an-naql · transmission; knowledge taken from attested Arab usage (also called samāʿ) · نقل
- الْمُعَلُّ al-muʿall · weak; a word containing a weak letter (alif, wāw, yāʾ) that undergoes change · علل
- هَمْزَةُ الْوَصْلِ hamzat al-waṣl · connecting hamza, pronounced only at the start of an utterance (e.g. in irʿawā) · وصل
- الْمَصْدَرُ al-maṣdar · verbal noun · صدر
- الِاضْطِرَارُ al-iḍṭirār · poetic necessity; a deviation allowed in verse for metre or rhyme · ضرر