الجَرّ / الخَفْضThe genitive
al-jarr / al-khafḍ
Nouns are genitive after a preposition and as the second term of a construct (iḍāfa). The sign is the kasra (yāʾ in the dual and sound masculine plural; fatḥa in diptotes). Verbs are never genitive. AI
The words behind the terms
جَرّgenitive (Basran term)jarr
Root ج ر ر · drawing, pulling
The preposition or the first noun of a construct 'draws' the word into its meaning.
خَفْضgenitive (Kufan term, used by Ibn Ājurrūm)khafḍ
Root خ ف ض · lowering
Linked to the kasra, said with the jaw lowered.
In the texts (425 occurrences; 24 distinct shown)
- بِسْمِسموQuran 1:1:1
- ٱللَّهِألهQuran 1:1:2
- ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِفَعْلَانرحمQuran 1:1:3
- ٱلرَّحِيمِفَعِيلرحمQuran 1:1:4
- لِلَّهِألهQuran 1:2:2
- رَبِّرببQuran 1:2:3
18 more
- ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَفَاعَلِينعلمQuran 1:2:4
- مَـٰلِكِفَاعِلملكQuran 1:4:1 · active participle · Form I
- يَوْمِفَعْليومQuran 1:4:2
- ٱلدِّينِفِعلدينQuran 1:4:3
- غَيْرِفَعْلغيرQuran 1:7:5
- ٱلْمَغْضُوبِمَفْعُولغضبQuran 1:7:6 · passive participle · Form I
- ٱلضَّآلِّينَضللQuran 1:7:9 · active participle · Form I
- كَوْنٍفَعْلكونFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1
- جَامِعٍفاعِلجمعFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1 · active participle · Form I
- لِكَوْنِهِفَعْلكونFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1
- بِالوُجُودِفُعُولوجدFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1
- بِنَفْسِهِفَعْلنفسFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1
- رُؤْيَتِهِفُعْلَةرأيFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1
- أَمْرٍفَعْلأمرFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1
- كَالمِرْآةِرأيFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1
- صُورَةٍفُعلَةصورFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1
- وُجُودِفُعُولوجدFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1
- المَحَلِّحللFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1
Reference
What Ibn Ājurrūm saysChapter on the Nouns Put in the Genitive (makhfūḍāt)
بَابُ الْمَخْفُوضَاتِ مِنَ الْأَسْمَاءِ
بَابُ الْمَخْفُوضَاتِ الْأَسْمَاءِ
Chapter on the genitives of the nouns.
الْمَخْفُوضَاتُ ثَلَاثَةُ أَنْوَاعٍ: مَخْفُوضٌ بِالْحَرْفِ، وَمَخْفُوضٌ بِالْإِضَافَةِ، وَتَابِعٌ لِلْمَخْفُوضِ.
The nouns put in the genitive (makhfūḍāt) are of three types: a noun put in the genitive (makhfūḍ) by a particle (ḥarf), a noun put in the genitive by construct (iḍāfa), and a word that follows (tābiʿ) the genitive noun.
فَأَمَّا الْمَخْفُوضُ بِالْحَرْفِ فَهُوَ: مَا يُخْفَضُ بِمِنْ، وَإِلَى، وَعَنْ، وَعَلَى، وَفِي، وَرُبَّ، وَالْبَاءِ، وَالْكَافِ، وَاللَّامِ، وَبِحُرُوفِ الْقَسَمِ، وَهِيَ: الْوَاوُ، وَالْبَاءُ، وَالتَّاءُ، وَبِوَاوِ رُبَّ، وَبِمُذْ، وَمُنْذُ.
As for the noun put in the genitive by a particle (ḥarf), it is what is put in the genitive by min, ilā, ʿan, ʿalā, fī, rubba, the bāʾ, the kāf, the lām, and by the particles of the oath (qasam), which are: the wāw, the bāʾ, and the tāʾ; and by the wāw of rubba; and by mudh and mundhu.
وَأَمَّا مَا يُخْفَضُ بِالْإِضَافَةِ، فَنَحْوُ قَوْلِكَ: "غُلَامُ زَيْدٍ" وَهُوَ عَلَى قِسْمَيْنِ: مَا يُقَدَّرُ بِاللَّامِ، وَمَا يُقَدَّرُ بِمِنْ، فَالَّذِي يُقَدَّرُ بِاللَّامِ، نَحْوُ: "غُلَامُ زَيْدٍ"، وَالَّذِي يُقَدَّرُ بِمِنْ، نَحْوُ: "ثَوْبُ خَزٍّ" وَ"بَابُ سَاجٍ" وَ"خَاتَمُ حَدِيدٍ".
As for what is put in the genitive by construct (iḍāfa), it is like your saying, "the servant of Zayd." It is of two kinds: that which is understood as if with lām, and that which is understood as if with min. That which is understood as if with lām is like "the servant of Zayd," and that which is understood as if with min is like "a garment of silk," "a door of teak," and "a ring of iron."
Vowelling and English: AIWhole chapter and text →
In the classics6 books · why the rule holds · disputed · definitions
- The ĀjurrūmiyyaIbn ĀjurrūmChapter on Knowing the Signs of Declension (iʿrāb)Chapter on the Nouns Put in the Genitive (makhfūḍāt)
- Qaṭr al-nadāIbn HishāmSection: The kinds of inflection (iʿrāb) are fourChapter: A noun is put in the genitive (khafḍ) either by a shared particle (ḥarf mushtarak)
- The AlfiyyaIbn MālikThe Declinable and the Indeclinable (vv. 15–51)The Particles of Jarr (Prepositions) (vv. 364–384)Annexation (the genitive construct) (vv. 385–419)The Diptote: Nouns That Do Not Take Ṣarf (vv. 649–675)with Ibn ʿAqīl's commentary under each verse
- Shudhūr al-dhahabIbn HishāmInflection: its definition and what it affectsGenitive cases: the three, beginning with prepositions
- Mughnī al-labībIbn Hishāmالباءفيمناللامإلىعلىعنربالكافحتى
- Sībawayh, al-KitābSībawayhThe genitive
Why?al-Zajjājī, al-ĪḍāḥWhy “drawing”: the particles of jarr draw what comes before them through to what comes after. And verbs never take it, because jarr comes only by annexation, and nothing is annexed to a verb.
وأما الجر فإنما سمي بذلك لأن معنى الجر الإضافة؛ وذلك أن الحروف الجارة تجر ما قبلها فتوصله إلى ما بعدها
Jarr is so called because the meaning of jarr is annexation: the particles of jarr draw what is before them and bring it through to what is after them. al-Īḍāḥ, lines 996–997 (vol. 1, p. 93) ↗
فالباء أوصلت مرورك إلى زيد
[In marartu bi-Zaydin, ‘I passed by Zayd’] the bāʾ carried your passing through to Zayd. al-Īḍāḥ, line 998 (vol. 1, p. 93) ↗
فقالوا لانخفاض الحنك الأسفل عند النطق به
[Those who call it khafḍ, ‘lowering’, explain it] by the lowering of the lower jaw when it is pronounced. al-Īḍāḥ, line 1000 (vol. 1, p. 93) ↗
لم تخفض الأفعال، لأن الخفض لا يكون إلا بالإضافة والإضافة إلى الأفعال مستحيلة
Verbs do not take the genitive, because the genitive comes only by annexation, and annexation to verbs is impossible. al-Īḍāḥ, lines 1248–1249 (vol. 1, p. 108) ↗
English: AI translation AI The summary lines are ours.
al-Zajjājī (d. 337/949), al-Īḍāḥ fī ʿilal al-naḥw, ed. Māzin al-Mubārak (Beirut: Dār al-Nafāʾis, 5th ed., 1406/1986). Digital text: 0337IbnIshaqZajjaji.IdahCilalNahw.Sham19Y0143170-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.
- DisputedIbn al-Anbārī, al-Inṣāf
May a noun be joined by ‘and’ to a pronoun in the genitive, without repeating the preposition (marartu bika wa-Zaydin)?Kufa: yes · Basra: no · he sides with Basra
Question 65: مسألة هل يجوز العطف على الضمير المخفوض
ذهب الكوفيون إلى أنه يجوز العطف على الضمير المخفوض وذلك نحو قولك مررت بك وزيد
KufaThe Kufans held that one may join a noun to a pronoun in the genitive, as when you say marartu bika wa-Zaydin, ‘I passed by you and Zayd’. al-Inṣāf, lines 4951–4952 (vol. 2, p. 463) ↗
وذهب البصريون إلى أنه لا يجوز
BasraThe Basrans held that it is not allowed. al-Inṣāf, line 4953 (vol. 2, p. 463) ↗
قال الله تعالى واتقوا الله الذي تساءلون به
[The Kufans cite] God's word: ‘Fear God, by whom you ask one another’ (Q 4:1) [read by some with wa-l-arḥāmi in the genitive]. al-Inṣāf, line 4955 (vol. 2, p. 463) ↗
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 5002 (vol. 2, p. 467) ↗
The Kufans cite Q 4:1 as some read it, tasāʾalūna bihi wa-l-arḥāmi; he reads the verse otherwise.
English: AI translation AI 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 · 1 definition
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. AI
OpenITI · Taʿrīfāt, line 4391
Arabic texts from OpenITI (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0); English titles and translations are AI. All the classics →