Imāla (Inclining Fatḥa and Alif toward Kasra and Yāʾ)
الإِمَالَةُ
Verses 900–914 · chapter 72 of 78
This chapter lists what causes imāla, the pronunciation of an alif toward yāʾ and of a fatḥa toward kasra. The causes are the alif's origin in or change to yāʾ, a neighbouring yāʾ or kasra, and the need for congruence with a nearby imāla. It also names what blocks imāla: the elevated (mustaʿlī) letters and a non-kasra rāʾ. It then explains how a kasra-vowelled rāʾ overrides that block, restricts imāla in indeclinable words, and extends imāla to a fatḥa before a final kasra-rāʾ and before the feminine hāʾ in pause. AI
- 900
الرَّجَزal-rajaz–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ––∪–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.
Give imāla to a word-final alif that replaces a yāʾ [e.g. al-hudā, ramā]. Treat in the same way a final alif that a yāʾ replaces in some other form of the word [e.g. ḥublā, whose dual is ḥublayāni].
- 901
الرَّجَزal-rajaz–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ∪–∪–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.
[This applies only when the yāʾ appears] without an added element or anomaly [so qafā, which becomes yāʾ only with an augment, as in the diminutive quṭayy, does not count]. An alif followed by the feminine hāʾ is treated as the alif that lacks the hāʾ [so fatāh and qanāh take imāla like fatā].
Ibn ʿAqīl on verses 900–901Arabic
الإمالة عبارة عن أن ينحى بالفتحة نحو الكسرة وبالألف نحو الياء
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 7908 · vol. 4, p. 181 ↗وتمال الألف إذا كانت طرفا بدلا من ياء أو صائرة إلى الياء دون زيادة أو شذوذ فالأول كألف رمى ومرمى والثاني كألف ملهى فإنها تصير ياء في التثنية نحو ملهيان
واحترز بقوله دون مزيد أو شذوذ مما يصير ياء بسبب زيادة ياء التصغير نحو قفى أو في لغة شاذة كقول هذيل في قفا إذا أضيف إلى ياء المتكلم قفى
وأشار بقوله ولما تليه ها التأنيث ما الها عدما إلى أن الألف التي وجد فيها سبب الإمالة تمال وإن وليتها هاء التأنيث كفتاة
- 902
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ––∪–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.
Likewise the alif that stands in place of the verb's middle radical (ʿayn), if the verb comes to the pattern filtu [when joined to a subject pronoun]. Examples are the past tenses of khaf ('fear!') and din ('owe!'): khāfa, khiftu; dāna, dintu.
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 902Arabic
أي كما تمال الألف المتطرفة كما سبق تمال الألف الواقعة بدلا من عين فعل يصير عند إسناده إلى تاء الضمير على وزن فلت بكسر الفاء سواء كانت العين واوا كخاف أو ياء كباع وكدان فيجوز إمالتها كقولك خفت ودنت وبعت
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 7918 · vol. 4, p. 182 ↗فإن كان الفعل يصير عند إسناده إلى التاء على وزن فلت بضم الفاء امتنعت الإمالة نحو قال وجال فلا تملها كقولك قلت وجلت
- 903
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–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.
So too an alif that follows a yāʾ [e.g. bayān]. A separation between them is overlooked if it is one letter [e.g. shaybān], or one letter together with hāʾ, as in jaybahā adir ('turn her collar').
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 903Arabic
كذاك تمال الألف الواقعة بعد الياء متصلة بها نحو بيان أو منفصلة بحرف نحو يسار أو بحرفين أحدهما هاء نحو أدر جيبها فإن لم يكن أحدهما هاء امتنعت الإمالة لبعد الألف عن الياء نحو بيننا والله أعلم
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 7925 · vol. 4, p. 183 ↗ - 904
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ∪–∪–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.
So too an alif followed by a kasra [e.g. ʿālim]. The same holds for an alif that comes right after the letter following a kasra [e.g. kitāb]. It also holds for an alif after a letter that follows a sukūn, when that sukūn follows…
- 905
الرَّجَزal-rajaz––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–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.
…a kasra [e.g. shimlāl]. Separation by hāʾ is counted as no separation. So whoever gives imāla to dirhamāk ('your two dirhams') is not turned back [the hāʾ is ignored, so it is like the sukūn-then-letter case].
Ibn ʿAqīl on verses 904–905Arabic
أي كذلك تمال الألف إذا وليتها كسرة نحو عالم أو وقعت بعد حرف يلي كسرة نحو كتاب أو بعد حرفين وليا كسرة أولهما ساكن نحو شملال أو كلاهما متحرك ولكن أحدهما هاء نحو يريد أن يضربها
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 7930 · vol. 4, p. 184 ↗وكذلك يمال ما فصل فيه الهاء بين الحرفين اللذين وقعا بعد الكسرة أولهما ساكن نحو هذان درهماك والله أعلم
- 906
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–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.
An elevated letter (kh, ṣ, ḍ, gh, ṭ, q, ẓ) blocks the imāla that an overt kasra or yāʾ would cause. A rāʾ [that is not kasra-vowelled] blocks it in the same way.
OpenITI line 1160 · vol. 1, p. 72 ↗AI vowelling differs in letters from OpenITIAI note on the transcription: وَكَذَا تَكُفُّ رَا: the transcription has زا (zāy) for را (rāʾ). Rāʾ is the letter grammarians pair with the elevated letters as a blocker, and bayt 909 refers back to it as 'rāʾ'.
- 907
الرَّجَزal-rajaz––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–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.
[It blocks] if the blocker comes after the alif and is adjacent to it [e.g. sākhiṭ, ḥāqid]. It also blocks if it comes one letter later [e.g. nāfiq] or is separated by two letters [e.g. mawāthīq, manāshīṭ].
- 908
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–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.
Likewise when the elevated letter comes before the alif [e.g. ṭālib, qāʾim], unless it has kasra [e.g. ṭilāb] or has sukūn right after a kasra. In that case imāla is allowed, as in al-miṭwāʿa mir ('command the compliant one').
Ibn ʿAqīl on verses 906–908Arabic
حروف الاستعلاء سبعة وهي الخاء والصاد والضاد والطاء والظاء والعين والقاف وكل واحد منهما يمنع الإمالة إذا كان سببها كسرة ظاهرة أو ياء موجودة ووقع بعد الألف متصلا بها كساخط وحاصل أو مفصولا بحرف كنافخ وناعق أو حرفين كمناشيط ومواثيق
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 7938 · vol. 4, p. 185 ↗وحكم حرف الاستعلاء في منع الإمالة يعطى للراء التي هي غير مكسورة وهي المضمومة نحو هذا عذار والمفتوحة نحو هذان عذاران بخلاف المكسورة على ما سيأتي إن شاء الله تعالى
وأشار بقوله كذا إذا قدم البيت إلى أن حرف الاستعلاء المتقدم يكف سبب الإمالة ما لم يكن مكسورا أو ساكنا إثر كسرة فلا يمال نحو صالح وظالم وقاتل ويمال نحو طلاب وغلاب وإصلاح
- 909
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–––مَفْعُولُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–––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.
The blocking of an elevated letter or of a rāʾ is itself cancelled by a kasra-vowelled rāʾ. An example is ghāriman lā ajfū ('I do not shun a debtor'): ghāriman takes imāla despite the ghayn.
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 909Arabic
يعني أنه إذا اجتمع حرف الاستعلاء أو الراء التي ليست مكسورة مع المكسورة غلبتهما المكسورة وأميلت الألف لأجلها فيمال نحو على أبصارهم ودار القرار
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 7949 · vol. 4, p. 186 ↗وفهم منه جواز إمالة نحو حمارك لأنه إذا كانت الألف تمال لأجل الراء المكسورة مع وجود المقتضى لترك الإمالة وهو حرف الاستعلاء أو الراء التي ليست مكسورة فإمالتها مع عدم المقتضى لتركها أولى وأحرى
- 910
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ––∪–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.
Do not give imāla for a cause that is not in the same word [e.g. the kasra in li-zaydin māl does not tilt māl]. Blocking, however, may be brought about by a letter in a separate word [e.g. atā qāsim, where the qāf of the next word blocks the imāla of atā].
OpenITI line 1164 · vol. 1, p. 72 ↗AI vowelling differs in letters from OpenITIAI note on the transcription: وَلَا تُمِلْ لِسَبَبٍ لَمْ يَتَّصِلْ: the transcription inserts ما before لم. The standard text lacks it, and the extra syllable breaks the rajaz foot.
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 910Arabic
إذا انفصل سبب الإمالة لم يؤثر بخلاف سبب المنع فإنه قد يؤثر منفصلا فلا يمال أتى قاسم بخلاف أتى أحمد
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 7955 · vol. 4, p. 187 ↗ - 911
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪∪∪–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.
They have also given imāla for the sake of congruence, with no other cause. One example is ʿimādā, where the pausal alif after the dāl is tilted to match the first alif. Another is talā in Sūrat al-Shams, tilted to match the neighbouring verse-endings.
OpenITI line 1165 · vol. 1, p. 72 ↗AI vowelling differs in letters from OpenITIAI note on the transcription: دَاعٍ سِوَاهُ: the transcription has سواها. The pronoun refers back to the masculine تَنَاسُب, so the standard text reads سواه.
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 911Arabic
قد تمال الألف الخالية من سبب الإمالة لمناسبة ألف قبلها مشتملة على سبب الإمالة كإمالة الألف الثانية من نحو عمادا لمناسبة الألف الممالة قبلها وكإمالة ألف تلا كذلك
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 7958 · vol. 4, p. 187 ↗ - 912
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–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.
Do not give imāla to a word that is not fully declinable [a mabnī word such as idhā or mā] unless imāla is heard from the Arabs [e.g. matā, balā, annā]. The exceptions are hā and nā [e.g. yaḍribuhā, marra binā], which may take imāla freely.
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 912Arabic
الإمالة من خواص الأسماء المتمكنة فلا يمال غير المتمكن إلا سماعا إلا ها ونا فإنهما يمالان قياسا مطردا نحو يريد أن يضربها ومر بنا
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 7962 · vol. 4, p. 188 ↗ - 913
الرَّجَزal-rajaz––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–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.
Give imāla to a fatḥa before a word-final kasra-vowelled rāʾ, as in li-l-aysari mil tukfa l-kulaf ('incline to the easier course and you will be spared the burdens'). Here the fatḥa of the sīn in al-aysari is tilted.
- 914
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–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.
Likewise the fatḥa of the letter followed by the feminine hāʾ, in pause [e.g. raḥmah, qāʾimah], provided that letter is not an alif [so ṣalāh is excluded here].
Ibn ʿAqīl on verses 913–914Arabic
أي تمال الفتحة قبل الراء المكسورة وصلا ووقفا نحو بشرر وللايسر مل
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 7966 · vol. 4, p. 189 ↗وكذلك يمال ما وليه هاء التأنيث من نحو قيمه ونعمه
- الإِمَالَةُ al-imāla · imāla: pronouncing a fatḥa toward kasra and an alif toward yāʾ · ميل
- حَرْفُ الاسْتِعْلَاءِ ḥarf al-istiʿlāʾ · elevated letter (kh, ṣ, ḍ, gh, ṭ, q, ẓ) · علو
- الكَفُّ al-kaff · blocking (of imāla) · كفف
- التَّنَاسُبُ at-tanāsub · congruence: imāla made only to match a nearby imāla · نسب
- التَّمَكُّنُ at-tamakkun · full declinability (of a noun) · مكن
- هَاءُ التَّأْنِيثِ hāʾ at-taʾnīth · the feminine hāʾ (tāʾ marbūṭa pronounced as h in pause) · أنث
- الفَصْلُ al-faṣl · separation (letters intervening between the cause of imāla and the alif) · فصل
- الشُّذُوذُ ash-shudhūdh · anomaly: a form outside the regular pattern · شذذ