المَاضِي وَالمُضَارِع وَالأَمْرPerfect, imperfect, imperative
al-māḍī wa-l-muḍāriʿ wa-l-amr
Arabic verbs mark completed versus ongoing action more than past versus present. The perfect is built (mabnī); the imperfect declines for mood (indicative, subjunctive, jussive). AI
The words behind the terms
مَاضٍperfectmāḍī
Root م ض ي · passing, going by
The deed has passed.
مُضَارِعimperfectmuḍāriʿ
Root ض ر ع · resembling
It 'resembles' the noun (the active participle): it declines, and yaktubu matches kātib letter for letter in vowels and stillness.
أَمْرimperativeamr
Root أ م ر · command; affair
The same word that Faṣṣ Ādam uses for 'the whole affair' (al-amr kulluhu).
In the texts (332 occurrences; 24 distinct shown)
- نَعْبُدُفَعَلَعبدQuran 1:5:2 · Form I
- نَسْتَعِينُاِسْتَفْعَلَعونQuran 1:5:4 · Form X
- ٱهْدِنَافَعَلهديQuran 1:6:1 · Form I
- أَنْعَمْتَأَفْعَلَنعمQuran 1:7:3 · Form IV
- شَاءَفعلشيأFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1 · Form I
- يَبْلُغُهَافَعَلبلغFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1 · Form I
18 more
- يَرَىفَعَلرأيFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1 · Form I
- شِئْتَفعلشيأFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1 · Form I
- قُلْتَفعلقولFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1 · Form I
- يَحْصُرُفَعَلحصرFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1 · Form I
- وَيَظْهرُفَعَلظهرFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1 · Form I
- فَإِنَّFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1
- يَكُونُفعلكونFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1 · Form I
- فَإِنَّهُFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1
- تَظْهَرُفَعَلظهرFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1 · Form I
- يُعْطِيهَاأَفْعَلَعطوFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1 · Form IV
- يَكُنْفعلكونFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1 · Form I
- يَظْهَرُفَعَلظهرFaṣṣ Ādam ¶1 · Form I
- وَقَدْFaṣṣ Ādam ¶2
- كَانَفعلكونFaṣṣ Ādam ¶2 · Form I
- أَوْجَدَأَفْعَلوجدFaṣṣ Ādam ¶2 · Form IV
- فَكَانَفعلكونFaṣṣ Ādam ¶2 · Form I
- سَوَّىسوأFaṣṣ Ādam ¶2
- يَقْبَلَفَعِلقبلFaṣṣ Ādam ¶2 · Form I
Reference
What Ibn Ājurrūm saysThe Chapter on Verbs
بَابُ الْأَفْعَالِ
الْأَفْعَالُ ثَلَاثَةٌ: مَاضٍ، وَمُضَارِعٌ، وَأَمْرٌ، نَحْوَ: ضَرَبَ، وَيَضْرِبُ، وَاضْرِبْ. فَالْمَاضِي: مَفْتُوحُ الْآخِرِ أَبَدًا. وَالْأَمْرُ: مَجْزُومٌ أَبَدًا.
Verbs are three: the past (al-māḍī), the present (al-muḍāriʿ), and the imperative (al-amr), as in: ḍaraba (he struck), yaḍribu (he strikes), iḍrib (strike!). The past: its final letter always bears a fatḥa, so it is called 'open at the end' (mafūḥ al-ākhir abadan). The imperative: it is always in the jussive-state (majzūm abadan).
وَالْمُضَارِعُ: مَا كَانَ فِي أَوَّلِهِ إِحْدَى الزَّوَائِدِ الْأَرْبَعِ الَّتِي يَجْمَعُهَا قَوْلُكَ: "أَنَيْتُ" وَهُوَ مَرْفُوعٌ أَبَدًا، حَتَّى يَدْخُلَ عَلَيْهِ نَاصِبٌ أَوْ جَازِمٌ.
The present tense (al-muḍāriʿ) is that at whose beginning stands one of the four additional letters (al-zawāʾid al-arbaʿ) gathered in the mnemonic word 'anaytu' [hamza, nūn, yāʾ, tāʾ]. It is always in the nominative (marfūʿ abadan), until an accusative-causing particle (nāṣib) or a jussive-causing particle (jāzim) enters upon it.
فَالنَّوَاصِبُ عَشَرَةٌ، وَهِيَ: أَنْ، وَلَنْ، وَإِذَنْ، وَكَيْ، وَلَامُ كَيْ، وَلَامُ الْجُحُودِ، وَحَتَّى، وَالْجَوَابُ بِالْفَاءِ وَالْوَاوِ، وَأَوْ.
The accusative-causing particles (al-nawāṣib) are ten, and they are: an, lan, idhan, kay, the lām of purpose (lām kay), the lām of denial (lām al-juḥūd), ḥattā, the response introduced by fāʾ or wāw (al-jawāb bi-l-fāʾ wa-l-wāw), and aw.
وَالْجَوَازِمُ ثَمَانِيَةَ عَشَرَ، وَهِيَ: لَمْ، وَلَمَّا، وَأَلَمْ، وَأَلَمَّا، وَلَامُ الْأَمْرِ وَالدُّعَاءِ، وَ"لَا" فِي النَّهْيِ وَالدُّعَاءِ، وَإِنْ، وَمَا، وَمَنْ، وَمَهْمَا، وَإِذْمَا، وَأَيٌّ، وَمَتَى، وَأَيَّانَ، وَأَيْنَ، وَأَنَّى، وَحَيْثُمَا، وَكَيْفَمَا، وَإِذَا فِي الشِّعْرِ خَاصَّةً.
The jussive-causing particles (al-jawāzim) are eighteen, and they are: lam, lammā, a-lam, a-lammā, the lām of command and supplication (lām al-amr wa-l-duʿāʾ), and 'lā' used in prohibition and supplication (al-nahy wa-l-duʿāʾ), in (if), mā, man, mahmā, idhmā, ayy, matā, ayyāna, ayna, annā, ḥaythumā, kayfamā, and idhā—in poetry specifically.
Vowelling and English: AIWhole chapter and text →
In the classics7 books · why the rule holds · disputed · definitions
- The ĀjurrūmiyyaIbn ĀjurrūmThe Chapter on Verbs
- Qaṭr al-nadāIbn HishāmThe Word and Its DivisionsSection: The imperfect verb is in the indicative when free of [any subjunctive or jussive particle]
- The AlfiyyaIbn MālikThe Declinable and the Indeclinable (vv. 15–51)The Inflection of the Verb [the moods of the imperfect: indicative, subjunctive, jussive] (vv. 676–694)The Agents of the Jussive (jazm) (vv. 695–708)with Ibn ʿAqīl's commentary under each verse
- Shudhūr al-dhahabIbn HishāmJussive verbs and the particles causing the jussive
- Mughnī al-labībIbn Hishāmالسينسوفلملن
- al-ShāfiyaIbn al-ḤājibThe past tense verb and its patternsThe imperfect (present) verb
- Sībawayh, al-KitābSībawayhCommand and prohibition
Why?al-Zajjājī, al-ĪḍāḥThe future comes first, because a thing is not and then is. The present has no form of its own: it is always passing into the past, so it borrows the imperfect.
إعلم أن اسبق الأفعال في التقدم للفعل المستقبل. لأن الشيء لم يكن ثم كان، والعدم سابق للوجود
Know that the first of the verbs in precedence is the future verb, because a thing was not and then was, and non-being comes before being. al-Īḍāḥ, lines 886–887 (vol. 1, p. 85) ↗
ففعل الحال في الحقيقة مستقبل، لأنه يكون أولا أولا، فكل جزء خرح منه إلى الوجود صار في حيز المضي. فلهذه العلة جاء فعل الحال بلفظ المستقبل
The present verb is in truth a future, for it comes to be bit by bit, and every part of it that comes out into being passes into the past. For this reason the present comes in the form of the future. al-Īḍāḥ, lines 906–908 (vol. 1, p. 87) ↗
The digital text reads خرح for خرج; quoted as it stands.
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
Is the sa- of the future (sa-afʿalu) cut down from sawfa, or a particle in its own right?Kufa: cut down from sawfa · Basra: a particle in its own right · he sides with Basra
Question 92: مسألة السين مقتطعة من سوف أو أصل برأسه
ذهب الكوفيون إلى أن السين التي تدخل على الفعل المستقبل نحو سأفعل أصلها سوف
KufaThe Kufans held that the sīn that comes on the future verb, as in sa-afʿalu, is originally sawfa. al-Inṣāf, lines 6970–6971 (vol. 2, p. 646) ↗
وذهب البصريون إلى أنها أصل بنفسها
BasraThe Basrans held that it is a root in itself. al-Inṣāf, line 6971 (vol. 2, p. 646) ↗
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 6986 (vol. 2, p. 647) ↗
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 · 3 definitions
الماضي: هو الدال على اقتران حدث بزمان قبل زمانك.
The past [al-māḍī]: that which indicates the connection of an event with a time before your time. AI
OpenITI · Taʿrīfāt, line 3911المضارع: ما تعاقب في صدره الهمزة والنون والياء والتاء.
The imperfect [al-muḍāriʿ]: that at whose beginning hamza, nūn, yāʾ, and tāʾ alternate. AI
OpenITI · Taʿrīfāt, line 4401الأمر: قول القائل لمن دونه: افعل.
The command [al-amr]: a speaker's saying to one beneath him: 'Do [ifʿal]!' AI
OpenITI · Taʿrīfāt, line 715
Arabic texts from OpenITI (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0); English titles and translations are AI. All the classics →