How to Form the Dual of the Maqṣūr and the Mamdūd, and Their Sound Plurals
كَيْفِيَّةُ تَثْنِيَةِ الْمَقْصُورِ وَالْمَمْدُودِ وَجَمْعِهِمَا تَصْحِيحًا
Verses 778–790 · chapter 67 of 78
The chapter explains what happens to the final alif of a maqṣūr noun and the final hamza of a mamdūd noun when the dual endings (-āni/-ayni), the sound masculine plural (-ūna/-īna) or the feminine plural in -āt are added. It then covers the feminine plural in -āt of triliteral nouns with a sukūn on the second radical, whose ʿayn may take the vowel of the first radical (itbāʿ), take fatḥa, or stay sākin. It also lists the exceptions to this rule. AI
Topic:Singular, dual, plural
- 778
الرَّجَزal-rajaz–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–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.
When you put a maqṣūr noun in the dual, make its last letter [the alif] a yāʾ if the word has risen above three letters, e.g. ḥublā → ḥublayāni, muṣṭafā → muṣṭafayāni.
- 779
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪∪∪–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.
The same applies to [a three-letter maqṣūr] whose alif comes from an original yāʾ, such as al-fatā → fatayāni. It also applies to an underived [non-declinable] word whose alif has been pronounced with imāla, such as matā [used as a name] → matayāni.
- 780
الرَّجَزal-rajaz––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–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.
In all other cases the alif is changed into a wāw [e.g. ʿaṣā → ʿaṣawāni; ilā used as a name → ilawāni]. After it [the changed letter], add what you already know [from the sound noun: the dual endings -āni/-ayni].
Ibn ʿAqīl on verses 778–780Arabic
الاسم المتمكن إن كان صحيح الآخر أو كان منقوصا لحقته علامه التثنية من غير تغيير فتقول في رجل وجارية وقاض رجلان وجاريتان وقاضيان
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 7286 · vol. 4, p. 104 ↗وإن كان مقصورا فلا بد من تغييره على ما نذكره الآن
وإن كان ممدودا فسيأتي حكمه
فإن كانت ألف المقصور رابعة فصاعدا قلبت ياء فتقول في ملهى ملهيان وفي مستقصى مستقصيان وإن كانت ثالثة فإن كانت بدلا من الياء كفتى ورحى قلبت أيضا ياء فتقول فتيان ورحيان وكذا إذا كانت ثالثة مجهولة الأصل وأميلت فتقول في متى علما متيان وإن كانت ثالثة بدلا من واو كعصا وقفا قلبت واوا فتقول عصوان وقفوان وكذا إن كانت ثالثة مجهولة الأصل ولم تمل كإلى علما فتقول إلوان
فالحاصل أن ألف المقصور تقلب ياء في ثلاثة مواضع
الأول إذا كانت رابعة فصاعدا
الثاني إذا كانت ثالثة بدلا من ياء
الثالث إذا كانت ثالثة مجهولة الأصل وأميلت
وتقلب واوا في موضعين
الأول إذا كانت ثالثة بدلا من الواو
الثاني إذا كانت ثالثة مجهولة الأصل ولم تمل
وأشار بقوله وأولها ما كان قبل قد ألف إلى أنه إذا عمل هذا العمل المذكور في المقصور أعني قلب الألف ياء أو واو لحقتها علامة التثنية التي سبق ذكرها أول الكتاب وهي الألف والنون المسكورة رفعا والياء المفتوح ما قبلها والنون المكسورة جرا ونصبا
- 781
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ––∪–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.
A word like ṣaḥrāʾ [whose hamza marks the feminine] is put in the dual with wāw: ṣaḥrāwāni. Words like ʿilbāʾ [hamza standing for an augment of ilḥāq], kisāʾ [hamza from an original wāw] and ḥayāʾ [hamza from an original yāʾ; shortened to ḥayā in the verse]…
- 782
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.
…[are put in the dual] with wāw or with hamza: ʿilbāwāni or ʿilbāʾāni, kisāwāni or kisāʾāni. Keep the hamza unchanged in everything other than what has been mentioned [i.e. a hamza that is an original radical, e.g. qurrāʾ → qurrāʾāni]. Forms that deviate from these rules [e.g. ḥamrāyāni] are limited to what has been transmitted.
Ibn ʿAqīl on verses 781–782Arabic
لما فرغ من الكلام على كيفية تثنية المقصور شرع في ذكر كيفية تثنية الممدود
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 7309 · vol. 4, p. 106 ↗والممدود إما أن تكون همزته بدلا من ألف التأنيث أو للإلحاق أو بدلا من أصل أو أصلا
فإن كانت بدلا من ألف التأنيث فالمشهور قلبها واوا فنقول في صحراء وحمراء صحراوان وحمراوان
وإن كانت للإلحاق كعلباء أو بدلا من أصل نحو كساء وحياء جاز فيها وجهان أحدهما قلبها واوا فتقول علباوان وكساوان وحياوان والثاني إبقاء الهمزة من غير تغيير فتقول علباءان وكساءان وحياءان والقلب في الملحقة أولى من إبقاء الهمزة وإبقاء الهمزة المبدلة من أصل أولى من قلبها واوا
وإن كانت الهمزة الممدودة أصلا وجب إبقاؤها فتقول في قراء ووضاء قراءان ووضاءان
وأشار بقوله وما شذ على نقل قصر إلى أن ما جاء من تثنية المقصور أو الممدود على خلاف ما ذكر اقتصر فيه على السماع كقولهم في الخوزلي الخوزلان والقياس الخوزليان وقولهم في حمراء حمرايان والقياس حمراوان
- 783
الرَّجَزal-rajaz––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–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.
In a plural formed on the pattern of the dual [the sound masculine plural in -ūna/-īna], delete from the maqṣūr noun the letter that completed it [its final alif].
- 784
الرَّجَزal-rajaz––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ–∪∪–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.
Keep the fatḥa [before it], since it signals what was deleted, e.g. muṣṭafā → muṣṭafawna, muṣṭafayna. If you put it in the plural with tāʾ and alif [the ending -āt]…
- 785
الرَّجَزal-rajaz–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–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.
…change the alif in the same way it is changed in the dual, e.g. ḥublā → ḥublayāt, ʿaṣā → ʿaṣawāt. For a word that ends in tāʾ [marbūṭa], always remove that tāʾ, e.g. fatāh → fatayāt, qanāh → qanawāt.
Ibn ʿAqīl on verses 783–785Arabic
إذا جمع صحيح الآخر على حد المثنى وهو الجمع بالواو والنون لحقته العلامة من غير تغيير فتقول في زيد زيدون
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 7328 · vol. 4, p. 108 ↗وإن جمع المنقوص هذا الجمع حذفت ياؤه وضم ما قبل الواو وكسر ما قبل الياء فتقول في قاض قاضون رفعا وقاضين جرا ونصبا
وإن جمع الممدود هذا الجمع عومل معاملته في التثنية فإن كانت الهمزة بدلا من أصل أو للالحاق جاز فيه وجهان إبقاء الهمزة وإبدالها واوا فيقال في كساء علما كساؤون وكساوون وكذلك علباء وإن كانت الهمزة أصلية وجب إبقاؤها فتقول في قراء قراؤون
وأما المقصور وهو الذي ذكره المصنف فتحذف ألفه إذا جمع بالواو والنون وتبقى الفتحة دالة عليها فتقول في مصطفى مصطفون رفعا ومصطفين جرا ونصبا بفتح الفاء مع الواو والياء وإن جمع بألف وتاء قلبت ألفه كما تقلب في التثنية فتقول في حبلى حبليات وفي فتى وعصا علمى مؤنث فتيات وعصوات
وإن كان بعد ألف المقصور تاء وجب حينئذ حذفها فتقول في فتاة فتيات وفي قناة قنوات
- 786
الرَّجَزal-rajaz––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–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.
When a triliteral word is a noun [not an adjective] and its ʿayn is sound [not wāw or yāʾ], give it itbāʿ: the ʿayn takes the same vowel as its fāʾ…
- 787
الرَّجَزal-rajaz––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ––∪–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.
…provided it has a sukūn on its ʿayn and is feminine, whether it ends in tāʾ or has none, e.g. jafnah → jafanāt, sidrah → sidirāt, ghurfah → ghurufāt, daʿd → daʿadāt, hind → hinidāt.
- 788
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–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.
When the [ʿayn] follows a vowel other than fatḥa, you may give it sukūn, or lighten it with fatḥa, e.g. sidrāt or sidarāt beside sidirāt, and ghurfāt or ghurafāt beside ghurufāt. They have transmitted all of these forms.
Ibn ʿAqīl on verses 786–788Arabic
إذا جمع الاسم الثلاثي الصحيح العين الساكنها المؤنث المختوم بالتاء أو المجرد عنها بألف وتاء أتبعت عينه فاءه في الحركة مطلقا فتقول في دعد دعدات وفي جفنة جفنات وفي جمل وبسرة جملات وبسرات بضم الفاء والعين وفي هند وكسرة هندات وكسرات بكسر الفاء والعين
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 7346 · vol. 4, p. 110 ↗ويجوز في العين بعد الضمة والكسرة التسكين والفتح فتقول جملات وجملات وبسرات وبسرات وهندات وهندات وكسرات وكسرات ولا يجوز ذلك بعد الفتحة بل يجب الإتباع
واحتزر بالثلاثي من غيره كجعفر علم مؤنث وبالاسم عن الصفة كضخمة وبالصحيح العين من معتلها كجوزة وبالساكن العين من محركها كشجرة فإنه لا إتباع في هذه كلها بل يجب إبقاء العين على ما كانت عليه قبل الجمع فتقول جعفرات وضخمات وجوزات وشجرات واحترز بالمؤنث من المذكر كبدر فإنه لا يجمع بالألف والتاء
- 789
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪––فَعُولُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪––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.
They did not allow itbāʿ in words like dhirwah [kasra followed by lām wāw] and zubyah [ḍamma followed by lām yāʾ], so *dhiriwāt and *zubuyāt are not formed. The kasra in jiriwāt, from jirwah, is anomalous.
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 789Arabic
يعني أنه إذا كان المؤنث المذكور مكسور الفاء وكانت لامه واوا فإنه يمتنع فيه إتباع العين للفاء فلا يقال في ذروة ذروات بكسر الفاء والعين استثقالا للكسرة قبل الواو بل يجب فتح العين أو تسكينها فتقول ذروات أو ذروات وشذ قولهم جروات بكسر الفاء والعين
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 7359 · vol. 4, p. 110 ↗وكذلك لا يجوز الإتباع إذا كانت الفاء مضمومة واللام ياء نحو زبية فلا تقول زبيات بضم الفاء والعين استثقالا للضمة قبل الياء بل يجب الفتح أو التسكين فقول زبيات أو زبيات
- 790
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–∪∪–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.
Anything other than what I have set out is rare, or is due to poetic necessity, or belongs to [the dialect of] a particular group of people [e.g. the Hudhayl form jawazāt for jawzah, with a wāw ʿayn].
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 790Arabic
يعني أنه إذا جاء جمع هذا المؤنث على خلاف ما ذكر عد نادرا أو ضرورة أو لغة لقوم
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 7367 · vol. 4, p. 111 ↗فالأول كقولهم في جروة جروات بكسر الفاء والعين
والثاني كقوله
354 ( وحملت زفرات الضحى فأطقتها … ومالي بزفرات العشى يدان
فسكن عين زفرات ضرورة والقياس فتحها إتباع
والثالث كقول هذيل في جوزة وبيضة ونحوهما جوزات وبيضات بفتح الفاء والعين والمشهور في لسان العرب تسكين العين إذا كانت غير صحيحة
- الْمَقْصُورُ al-maqṣūr · a declinable noun ending in a fixed alif, e.g. al-fatā · قصر
- الْمَمْدُودُ al-mamdūd · a declinable noun ending in hamza preceded by an extra alif, e.g. ṣaḥrāʾ · مدد
- التَّثْنِيَةُ at-tathniya · forming the dual · ثني
- جَمْعُ التَّصْحِيحِ jamʿ at-taṣḥīḥ · sound plural (in -ūna/-īna or -āt) · صحح
- الْجَمْعُ al-jamʿ · the plural · جمع
- الْإِمَالَةُ al-imāla · inclining the alif toward yāʾ in pronunciation (fatḥa toward kasra) · ميل
- الْجَامِدُ al-jāmid · an underived or non-declining word · جمد
- الْإِتْبَاعُ al-itbāʿ · vowel harmony: giving the ʿayn the same vowel as the fāʾ · تبع
- السَّالِمُ الْعَيْنِ as-sālim al-ʿayn · having a sound (non-weak) second radical · سلم
- الْمُؤَنَّثُ al-muʾannath · feminine · أنث
- الشَّاذُّ ash-shādhdh · anomalous; deviating from the rule · شذذ
- الِاضْطِرَارُ al-iḍṭirār · poetic necessity · ضرر