المَصْدَرThe verbal noun

al-maṣdar

Form I verbal nouns are many and must be learned; from Form II on they are regular (tafʿīl, ifʿāl, iftiʿāl, istifʿāl …). Much of Ibn ʿArabī's technical vocabulary is verbal nouns. AI

The words behind the terms

مَصْدَرverbal nounmaṣdar
Root ص د ر · the place from which one comes out; a source
For the Basrans the verbal noun is the 'source' from which the verb comes; the Kufans held the reverse. Either way it names the action itself: wujūd 'being, finding', istiʿdād 'preparedness', tajallī 'self-disclosure'.

In the texts (35 occurrences; 24 distinct shown)

الاِسْتِعْدَادِاِسْتِفْعالعددFaṣṣ Ādam ¶2 · verbal noun (maṣdar) · Form X
ابْتِدَاؤُهُاِفْتِعَالبدأFaṣṣ Ādam ¶3 · verbal noun (maṣdar) · Form VIII
وَانْتِهَاؤُهُاِفْتِعَالنهأFaṣṣ Ādam ¶3 · verbal noun (maṣdar) · Form VIII
الإِدْرَاكِإِفْعالدركFaṣṣ Ādam ¶4 · verbal noun (maṣdar) · Form IV
التَّجْرِيحِتَفْعِيلجرحFaṣṣ Ādam ¶7 · verbal noun (maṣdar) · Form II
التَّقْدِيسِتَفْعِيلقدسFaṣṣ Ādam ¶7 · verbal noun (maṣdar) · Form II

18 more

وَالتَّسْبِيحِتَفْعِيلسبحFaṣṣ Ādam ¶7 · verbal noun (maṣdar) · Form II
تَقْدِيسَتَفْعِيلقدسFaṣṣ Ādam ¶7 · verbal noun (maṣdar) · Form II
وَتَسْبِيْحَهُتَفْعِيلسبحFaṣṣ Ādam ¶7 · verbal noun (maṣdar) · Form II
بِالتَّقْيِيدِتَفْعِيلقيدFaṣṣ Ādam ¶7 · verbal noun (maṣdar) · Form II
التَّعْرِيفُتَفْعِيلعرفFaṣṣ Ādam ¶7 · verbal noun (maṣdar) · Form II
فَاسْتِنَادُاِفْتِعالسندFaṣṣ Ādam ¶8 · verbal noun (maṣdar) · Form VIII
الارْتِبَاطِاِفْتِعالربطFaṣṣ Ādam ¶9 · verbal noun (maṣdar) · Form VIII
التَّفَصِيلَتَفْعِيلفصلFaṣṣ Ādam ¶10 · verbal noun (maṣdar) · Form II
فَارْتِبَاطُاِفْتِعالربطFaṣṣ Ādam ¶11 · verbal noun (maṣdar) · Form VIII
وَافْتِقَارُهُاِفْتِعالفقرFaṣṣ Ādam ¶11 · verbal noun (maṣdar) · Form VIII
لِإمْكَانِهِإِفْعالمكنFaṣṣ Ādam ¶11 · verbal noun (maṣdar) · Form IV
ٱرْتِبَاطَاِفْتِعالربطFaṣṣ Ādam ¶11 · verbal noun (maṣdar) · Form VIII
افْتِقَارٍاِفْتِعالفقرFaṣṣ Ādam ¶11 · verbal noun (maṣdar) · Form VIII
اسْتِنَادُهُاِفْتِعالسندFaṣṣ Ādam ¶11 · verbal noun (maṣdar) · Form VIII
الإِخْبَارَاتُإِفْعالخبرFaṣṣ Ādam ¶13 · verbal noun (maṣdar) · Form IV
افْتِقَارُنَااِفْتِعالفقرFaṣṣ Ādam ¶13 · verbal noun (maṣdar) · Form VIII
لِإِمْكَانِنَاإِفْعالمكنFaṣṣ Ādam ¶13 · verbal noun (maṣdar) · Form IV
افْتِتَاحُاِفْتِعالفتحFaṣṣ Ādam ¶13 · verbal noun (maṣdar) · Form VIII

Quranic Arabic CorpusAutomatic analysis · CAMeL Tools

Reference

What Ibn Ājurrūm saysThe Chapter of the Verbal Noun (maṣdar)

بَابُ الْمَصْدَرِ

الْمَصْدَرُ: هُوَ الِاسْمُ الْمَنْصُوبُ، الَّذِي يَجِيءُ ثَالِثًا فِي تَصْرِيفِ الْفِعْلِ، نَحْوَ: ضَرَبَ يَضْرِبُ ضَرْبًا.

The *maṣdar* (verbal noun) is the noun in the accusative (*manṣūb*), which comes third in the conjugation (*taṣrīf*) of the verb, as in: ḍaraba, yaḍribu, ḍarban (he struck, he strikes, a striking).

وَهُوَ قِسْمَانِ: لَفْظِيٌّ وَمَعْنَوِيٌّ، فَإِنْ وَافَقَ لَفْظُهُ لَفْظَ فِعْلِهِ فَهُوَ لَفْظِيٌّ، نَحْوَ: قَتَلْتُهُ قَتْلًا.

It is of two kinds: verbal (*lafẓī*) and notional (*maʿnawī*). If its wording matches the wording of its verb, it is verbal (*lafẓī*), as in: qataltuhu qatlan (I killed him, a killing).

وَإِنْ وَافَقَ مَعْنَى فِعْلِهِ دُونَ لَفْظِهِ فَهُوَ مَعْنَوِيٌّ، نَحْوَ: جَلَسْتُ قُعُودًا، وَقُمْتُ وُقُوفًا، وَمَا أَشْبَهَ ذَلِكَ.

If it matches the meaning of its verb without matching its wording, it is notional (*maʿnawī*), as in: jalastu quʿūdan (I sat, a sitting), and qumtu wuqūfan (I stood, a standing), and the like.

Vowelling and English: AIWhole chapter and text →

In the classics7 books · why the rule holds · disputed · definitions

The ĀjurrūmiyyaIbn ĀjurrūmThe Chapter of the Verbal Noun (maṣdar)
Qaṭr al-nadāIbn HishāmChapter: The object (mafʿūl) is in the accusative (manṣūb), and there are five kinds Section: The one calling for help says: "yā la-llāhi li-l-muslimīn" (O God, to the Muslims' aid!)Chapter: Seven [kinds of word] govern as their verb governs
The AlfiyyaIbn MālikThe Absolute Object (al-mafʿūl al-muṭlaq) (vv. 286–297)The Government of the Verbal Noun (Maṣdar) (vv. 424–427)The Patterns of Verbal Nouns (Maṣdars) (vv. 440–456)with Ibn ʿAqīl's commentary under each verse
Shudhūr al-dhahabIbn HishāmNouns that govern like verbs, beginning with the verbal noun
Mughnī al-labībIbn Hishāmأن المفتوحة الهمزة الساكنة النون ما
al-ShāfiyaIbn al-ḤājibThe verbal noun (maṣdar)The mīm-prefixed verbal noun The noun of single instance
Sībawayh, al-KitābSībawayhVerbal nouns used as time expressions for concision
Why?al-Zajjājī, al-ĪḍāḥThe verb is taken from the verbal noun (Sībawayh and the Basrans), not the reverse (al-Farrāʾ and the Kufans): the event comes before the telling of it.
قال سيبويه وجميع البصريين: الفعل مأخوذ من المصدر سابق له
Sībawayh and all the Basrans said: the verb is taken from the verbal noun, which comes before it. al-Īḍāḥ, line 347 (vol. 1, p. 56) ↗
قال الفراء وجميع الكوفيين: المصدر مأخوذ من الفعل
al-Farrāʾ and all the Kufans said: the verbal noun is taken from the verb. al-Īḍāḥ, line 354 (vol. 1, p. 56) ↗
والمصدر الحدث، لأنه الحدث الذي أحدثه زيد، ثم حدث عنه، والفعل حديث عنه، والحدث سابق للحديث عنه
The verbal noun is the event, the event that Zayd brought about and that was then told of him; the verb is the telling of it, and the event comes before the telling. al-Īḍāḥ, lines 363–364 (vol. 1, p. 57) ↗
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
- Which is the origin of derivation, the verb or the verbal noun?Kufa: the verb: the verbal noun is derived from it · Basra: the verbal noun: the verb is derived from it · he sides with Basra
  Question 28: مسألة القول في أصل الاشتقاق الفعل هو أو المصدر
  ذهب الكوفيون إلى أن المصدر مشتق من الفعل وفرع عليه نحو ضرب ضربا وقام قياما
  KufaThe Kufans held that the verbal noun is derived from the verb and is a branch of it, as in ḍaraba ḍarban, qāma qiyāman. al-Inṣāf, lines 2643–2644 (vol. 1, p. 235) ↗
  وذهب البصريون إلى أن الفعل مشتق من المصدر وفرع عليه
  BasraThe Basrans held that the verb is derived from the verbal noun and is a branch of it. al-Inṣāf, line 2644 (vol. 1, p. 235) ↗
  VerdictHe gives the Basran proofs, then answers the Kufans’ arguments one by one; that is how he sides with Basra:
  الجواب عن كلمات الكوفيين
  …the answer to the Kufans' arguments… al-Inṣāf, lines 2707–2708 (vol. 1, p. 239) ↗
  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 · 2 definitions
- المصدر: هو الاسم الذي اشتق منه الفعل وصدر عنه.
  The verbal noun [al-maṣdar]: the noun from which the verb is derived and from which it issues. AI
  OpenITI · Taʿrīfāt, line 4373
- المفعول المطلق: هو اسم ما صدر عن فاعل فعل مذكور بمعناه، أي بمعنى الفعل، احترز بقوله ما صدر عن فاعل فعل عما لا يصدر عنه، كزيد، وعمرو، وغيرهما، وبقوله: مذكور، عن نحو: أعجبني قيامك، فإن قيامك ليس مما فعله فاعل فعل مذكور، وبقوله: بمعناه، عن: كرهت قيامي، فإن قيامي، وإن كان صادرا عن فاعل فعل مذكور إلا أنه ليس بمعناه.
  The absolute object [al-mafʿūl al-muṭlaq]: the name of what issues from the agent of a mentioned verb, having its meaning, that is, the meaning of the verb. By his saying 'what issues from the agent of a verb' he guards against what does not issue from it, such as Zayd, ʿAmr, and others; by his saying 'mentioned', against the like of aʿjabanī qiyāmuka 'your standing pleased me', for qiyāmuka is not something done by the agent of a mentioned verb; and by his saying 'having its meaning', against karihtu qiyāmī 'I disliked my standing', for qiyāmī, although it issues from the agent of a mentioned verb, does not have its meaning. AI
  OpenITI · Taʿrīfāt, line 4544

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