Mashrabaمشربة

الإِضَافَةThe construct: annexation

al-iḍāfa

Two nouns joined so that the second defines the first: rabbi l-ʿālamīn 'Lord of the worlds', faṣṣu l-khātam 'the stone of the ring'. The chapter titles of the Fuṣūṣ are chains of annexation and qualification: faṣṣu ḥikmatin ilāhiyyatin fī kalimatin ādamiyya.

The words behind the terms

Reference

In the classics5 books · disputed · definitions
  • The ĀjurrūmiyyaIbn ĀjurrūmChapter on the Nouns Put in the Genitive (makhfūḍāt)
  • Qaṭr al-nadāIbn HishāmChapter: A noun is put in the genitive (khafḍ) either by a shared particle (ḥarf mushtarak)
  • The AlfiyyaIbn MālikAnnexation (the genitive construct) (vv. 385–419)The Noun Annexed to the Yāʾ of the Speaker (vv. 420–423)with Ibn ʿAqīl's commentary under each verse
  • Shudhūr al-dhahabIbn HishāmGenitive cases: the three, beginning with prepositions
  • Mughnī al-labībIbn Hishāmغيرمععندحيثإذ
  • DisputedIbn al-Anbārī, al-Inṣāf
    • May anything but an adverb or a prepositional phrase come between the annexed noun and the noun it is annexed to?Kufa: yes, in verse, under metrical need · Basra: no · he sides with Basra

      Question 60: مسألة القول في الفصل بين المضاف والمضاف إليه

      ذهب الكوفيون إلى أنه يجوز الفصل بين المضاف والمضاف إليه بغير الظرف وحرف الخفض لضرورة الشعر

      KufaThe Kufans held that the annexed and the annexed-to may be separated by something other than an adverb or a preposition, under the necessity of verse. al-Inṣāf, lines 4597–4598 (vol. 2, p. 427) ↗

      وذهب البصريون إلى أنه لا يجوز ذلك بغير الظرف وحرف الجر

      BasraThe Basrans held that this is not allowed except by an adverb or a preposition. al-Inṣāf, lines 4598–4599 (vol. 2, p. 427) ↗

      VerdictHe gives the Basran proofs, then answers the Kufans’ arguments one by one; that is how he sides with Basra:

      وأما الجواب عن كلمات الكوفيين

      As for the answer to the Kufans' arguments… al-Inṣāf, line 4644 (vol. 2, p. 435) ↗

      English: AI translation The summary lines are ours.

      Ibn al-Anbārī (d. 577/1181), al-Inṣāf fī masāʾil al-khilāf bayna al-naḥwiyyīn al-Baṣriyyīn wa-l-Kūfiyyīn, ed. Muḥammad Muḥyī al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd (Damascus: Dār al-Fikr; year not recorded by OpenITI). Digital text: 0577AbuBarakatAnbari.InsafFiMasail.JK001424-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.

    • May a noun be annexed to a word of the same meaning (ḥaqq al-yaqīn, ‘the truth of certainty’)?Kufa: yes, if the words differ · Basra: no · he sides with Basra

      Question 61: مسألة هل تجوز إضافة الاسم إلى اسم يوافقه في المعنى

      ذهب الكوفيون إلى أنه يجوز إضافة الشيء إلى نفسه إذا اختلف اللفظان

      KufaThe Kufans held that a thing may be annexed to itself if the two words differ. al-Inṣāf, line 4665 (vol. 2, p. 436) ↗

      وذهب البصريون إلا أنه لا يجوز

      BasraThe Basrans held that it is not allowed. al-Inṣāf, lines 4665–4666 (vol. 2, p. 436) ↗

      The digital text reads إلا for إلى; quoted as it stands.

      قال الله تعالى إن هذا لهو حق اليقين

      [The Kufans cite] God's word: ‘This is the truth of certainty’ (Q 56:95). al-Inṣāf, line 4668 (vol. 2, p. 436) ↗

      VerdictHe gives the Basran proofs, then answers the Kufans’ arguments one by one; that is how he sides with Basra:

      وأما الجواب عن كلمات الكوفيين

      As for the answer to the Kufans' arguments… al-Inṣāf, line 4685 (vol. 2, p. 438) ↗

      English: AI translation The summary lines are ours.

      Ibn al-Anbārī (d. 577/1181), al-Inṣāf fī masāʾil al-khilāf bayna al-naḥwiyyīn al-Baṣriyyīn wa-l-Kūfiyyīn, ed. Muḥammad Muḥyī al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd (Damascus: Dār al-Fikr; year not recorded by OpenITI). Digital text: 0577AbuBarakatAnbari.InsafFiMasail.JK001424-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.

  • al-Jurjānī, al-Taʿrīfāt · 3 definitions

    • الإضافة: وهي امتزاج اسمين على وجه يفيد تعريفا أو تخصيصا.

      Annexation [al-iḍāfa]: the joining of two nouns in a manner that yields definiteness [taʿrīf] or specification [takhṣīṣ].

      OpenITI · Taʿrīfāt, line 537

    • المضاف: كل اسم أضيف إلى اسم آخر، فإن الأول يجر الثاني، ويسمى الجار: مضافا، والمجرور: مضافا إليه.

      The annexed [al-muḍāf]: every noun annexed to another noun; the first puts the second in the genitive, and the one governing the genitive [al-jārr] is called muḍāf, and the genitive one [al-majrūr] muḍāf ilayhi.

      OpenITI · Taʿrīfāt, line 4389

    • المضاف إليه: كل اسم نسب إلى شيء بواسطة حرف الجر، لفظا، نحو: مررت بزيد، أو تقديرا، نحو: غلام زيد، وخاتم فضة، مرادا، احترز به عن الظرف، نحو: صمت يوم الجمعة، فإن يوم الجمعة نسب إليه شيء، وهو: صمت، بواسطة حرف الجر، وهو: في، وليس ذلك الحرف مرادا، وإلا لكان يوم الجمعة مجرورا.

      That to which something is annexed [al-muḍāf ilayhi]: every noun to which something is related by means of a preposition [ḥarf al-jarr], either overtly, as marartu bi-zaydin 'I passed by Zayd', or by assumption, as ghulāmu zaydin 'Zayd's servant' and khātamu fiḍḍatin 'a ring of silver', [the preposition] being intended [murādan]. With this he guards against the adverbial [al-ẓarf], as ṣumtu yawma al-jumʿati 'I fasted on Friday'; for something, namely ṣumtu, is related to yawm al-jumʿa by means of a preposition, namely fī, yet that preposition is not intended; otherwise yawm al-jumʿa would be in the genitive.

      OpenITI · Taʿrīfāt, line 4391

Arabic texts from OpenITI (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0); English titles and translations are AI. All the classics →

Further reading1 work