Assimilation (al-Idghām) of Identical Consonants
الْإِدْغَامُ
Verses 991–998 · chapter 77 of 78
The chapter states when two identical consonants that are both vowelled in one word must be merged into a doubled consonant, and lists the patterns and conditions that block the merger. It then covers cases where merging and separating are both allowed (ḥayiya, verbs with two tāʾs, the jussive and imperative), the dropping of one tāʾ at the start of a verb, and the fixed forms afʿil bi- (separated) and halumma (merged). AI
Topic:Sound and weak roots
- 991
الرَّجَزal-rajaz–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ––∪–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.
Merge the first of two identical consonants that are both vowelled within one word [into the second, e.g. radda from *radada], though not in a word like ṣufaf [a noun on the pattern fuʿal],
- 992
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.
nor in dhulul [fuʿul], kilal [fiʿal], or labab [faʿal, all nouns]; nor in a word like jussas [where the first of the pair is itself the second half of a doubled letter]; nor in one like ikhṣuṣa abī [where the second consonant's vowel is only transferred to it from a following hamza],
- 993
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–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.
nor in a word like haylal [a form made to match a four-consonant pattern (mulḥaq), where merging would spoil the match]. Keeping the consonants apart in alila [of teeth: 'to be spoiled'] and words like it is irregular; it is accepted because it is transmitted.
Ibn ʿAqīl on verses 991–993Arabic
إذا تحرك المثلان في كلمة أدغم أولهما في ثانيهما إن لم يتصدرا ولم يكن ما هما فيه اسما على وزن فعل أو على وزن فعل أو فعل أو فعل ولم يتصل أول المثلين بمدغم ولم تكن حركة الثاني منهما عارضة ولا ما هما فيه ملحقا بغيره
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 8453 · vol. 4, p. 247 ↗فإن تصدرا فلا إدغام كددن وكذا إن وجد واحد مما سبق ذكره فالأول كصفف ودرر والثاني كذلل وجدد والثالث ككلل ولمم والرابع كطلل ولبب والخامس كجسس جمع جاس والسادس كاخصص أبي وأصله اخصص أبي فنقلت حركة الهمزة إلى الصاد وحذفت الهمزة والسابع كهيلل أي أكثر من قول لا إله إلا الله ونحوه قردد ومهدد
فإن لم يكن شيء من ذلك وجب الإدغام نحو رد وضن أي بخل ولب والأصل ردد وضنن ولبب
وأشار بقوله وشذ في ألل ونحوه فك بنقل فقبل إلى أنه قد جاء الفك في ألفاظ قياسها وجوب الإدغام فجعل شاذا يحفظ ولا يقاس عليه نحو ألل السقاء إذا تغيرت رائحته ولححت عينه إذا النصقت بالرمص
- 994
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ––∪–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.
In ḥayiya you may keep the consonants apart or merge them [ḥayya] without hesitation. The same choice applies to words like tatajallā [merged: ittajallā] and istatara [merged: sattara].
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 994Arabic
أشار في هذا البيت إلى ما يجوز فيه الإدغام والفك
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 8468 · vol. 4, p. 249 ↗وفهم منه أن ما ذكره قبل ذلك واجب الإدغام
والمراد بحيى ما كان المثلان فيه ياءين لازما تحريكهما نحو حبى وعيى فيجوز الإدغام نحو حى وعى فلو كانت حركة أحد المثلين عارضة بسبب العامل لم يجز الإدغام اتفاقا نحو لن يحيى
وأشار بقوله كذلك نحو تتجلى واستتر إلى أن الفعل المبتدأ بتاءين مثل تتجلى يجوز فيه الفك والإدغام فمن فك وهو القياس نظر إلى أن المثلين مصدران ومن أدغم أراد التخفيف فيقول أتجلى فيدغم أحد المثلين في الآخر فتسكن إحدى التاءين فيؤتى بهمزة الوصل توصلا للنطق بالساكن
وكذلك قياس تاء استتر الفك لسكون ما قبل المثلين ويجوز الإدغام فيه بعد نقل حركة أول المثلين إلى الساكن نحو ستر يستر ستارا
- 995
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ–∪∪–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.
In a verb that begins with two tāʾs, one tāʾ alone is sometimes kept, as in tabayyanu l-ʿibaru ['the lessons become clear', for tatabayyanu].
OpenITI line 1282 · vol. 1, p. 79 ↗AI vowelling differs in letters from OpenITIAI note on the transcription: فِيهِ عَلَى تَا كَتَبَيَّنُ الْعِبَرْ — the transcription has تاكبين; a تاء has dropped. The text reads تا كتبين (تَا + كَـ + تَبَيَّنُ). The metre requires the extra syllable, and the example must be the verb tabayyanu.
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 995Arabic
يقال في تتعلم وتتنزل وتتبين ونحوها تعلم وتنزل وتبين بحذف إحدى التاءين وإبقاء الأخرى وهو كثير جدا ومنه قوله تعالى ﴿ تنزل الملائكة والروح فيها ﴾
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 8480 · vol. 4, p. 251 ↗ - 996
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ∪–∪–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.
Keep the consonants apart when the one that would receive the merger has a sukūn because a nominative pronoun is attached to it,
- 997
الرَّجَزal-rajaz–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ∪∪∪–فَعِلَتُنْ––∪–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.
as in ḥalaltu mā ḥalaltahu ['I untied what you untied']. In the jussive and in forms like the jussive [the imperative], a choice between separating and merging is transmitted [lam yaḥlul or lam yaḥulla; uḥlul or ḥulla].
Ibn ʿAqīl on verses 996–997Arabic
إذا اتصل بالفعل المدغم عينه في لامه ضمير رفع سكن آخره فيجب حينئذ الفك نحو حللت وحللنا والهندات حللن فإذا دخل عليه جازم جاز الفك نحو لم يحلل ومنه قوله تعالى ﴿ ومن يحلل عليه غضبي ﴾ وقوله ﴿ ومن يرتدد منكم عن دينه ﴾ والفك لغة أهل الحجاز وجاز الإدغام نحو لم يحل ومنه قوله تعالى ﴿ ومن يشاق الله فإن ﴾ في سورة الحشر وهي لغة تميم والمراد بشبه الجزم سكون الآخر في الأمر نحو احلل وإن شئت قلت حل لأن حكم الأمر كحكم المضارع المجزوم
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 8485 · vol. 4, p. 252 ↗ - 998
الرَّجَزal-rajaz∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ∪–∪–مَفَاعِلُنْ–∪∪–مُفْتَعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ––∪–مُسْتَفْعِلُنْ
Ibn Jinnī on al-rajaz, “the trembling”
وهو على ستة أجزاء مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن مستفعلن
It has six feet: mustafʿilun, six times. Kitāb al-ʿArūḍ, lines 842–843 (p. 101) ↗
Scanned by rule, not by a model. The vowelled text is read as it is pronounced, as Ibn Jinnī says scansion must be: doubled letters count twice, tanwīn adds an n, long vowels lengthen, the connecting alif drops inside the line, the article's l merges into a sun letter, and the last vowel of a line is drawn out. The syllables, long (–) and short (∪), are then fitted to each metre's feet with the common licences (zihāfāt) and line-endings. A poem has one metre: the one that fits most of its verses. A verse that does not fit it is marked 'not scanned'; nothing is guessed. Vowels scanned: AI vowelling (no vowelled edition is available to us).
Scanned by rule English: AI translation AI
Ibn Jinnī (d. 392/1002), Kitāb al-ʿArūḍ, ed. Aḥmad Fawzī al-Hayb (Kuwait: Dār al-Qalam, 1407/1987). Digital text: 0392IbnJinniMawsili.Carud.JK000956-ara1 (OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9). CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (OpenITI digital text); the classical text is public domain, the modern edition is not.
Separation is obligatory in afʿil [bi-] of wonder [e.g. aḥbib bi-zaydin, 'how lovable Zayd is!']. Merging is likewise obligatory in halumma ['come here!'].
Ibn ʿAqīl on verse 998Arabic
ولما ذكر أن فعل الأمر يجوز فيه وجهان نحو احلل وحل استثنى من ذلك شيئين
Ibn ʿAqīl, OpenITI line 8493 · vol. 4, p. 252 ↗أحدهما أفعل في التعجب فإنه يجب فكه نحو أحبب بزيد وأشدد ببياض وجهه
الثاني هلم فإنهم التزموا إدغامه والله سبحانه وتعالى أعلم
- الْإِدْغَامُ al-idghām · assimilation; merging two identical consonants into one doubled consonant · دغم
- الْمِثْلَانِ al-mithlān · two identical consonants · مثل
- الْفَكُّ al-fakk · separation; leaving identical consonants unmerged · فكك
- الْمُدْغَمُ فِيهِ al-mudgham fīhi · the consonant into which another is merged (the second of the pair) · دغم
- النَّقْلُ al-naql · transfer of a vowel, especially from a dropped hamza to the preceding consonant · نقل
- الْجَزْمُ al-jazm · the jussive mood · جزم
- الْمُضْمَرُ al-muḍmar · pronoun (here the attached subject pronoun such as -tu, -ta, -na) · ضمر
- التَّعَجُّبُ al-taʿajjub · the construction expressing wonder (mā afʿalahu / afʿil bihi) · عجب