qama Zayd
— Zayd stood. (Here al-faʿil is Zayd, because the action of standing proceeded from him.)
marida Muhammad
— Muhammad fell ill. (Here al-faʿil is Muhammad, with whom the illness was associated — i.e., he did not fall ill by his own will.)
Types of Al-Faʿil
Al-faʿil is divided into two kinds:
1 — Manifest (zahir), e.g.:
qama Muhammad / yaqumu Muhammad
— Muhammad stood / stands. (Here al-faʿil is Muhammad — singular masculine.)
qama al-muʿallimani / yaqumu al-muʿallimani
— The two teachers stood / stand. (Here al-faʿil is 'al-muʿallimani' — dual masculine.)
qama al-mujtahiduna / yaqumu al-mujtahiduna
— The diligent ones stood / stand. (Here al-faʿil is 'al-mujtahiduna' — sound masculine plural.)
qama al-rijalu / yaqumu al-rijalu
— The men stood / stand. (Here al-faʿil is 'al-rijal' — broken plural.)
qamat Hindu / taqumu Hindu
— Hind stood / stands. (Here al-faʿil is Hind — singular feminine.)
qamat al-fatatani / taqumu al-fatatani
— The two girls stood / stand. (Here al-faʿil is 'al-fatatani' — dual feminine.)
qamat al-mumarridatu / taqumu al-mumarridatu
— The nurses stood / stand. (Here al-faʿil is 'al-mumarridat' — sound feminine plural.)
qamat al-hunudu / taqumu al-hunudu
— The Hinds stood / stand. (Here al-faʿil is 'al-hunud' — broken plural of Hind.)
qama abu-ka / yaqumu abu-ka
— Your father stood / stands. (Here al-faʿil is 'abu-ka' — one of the Five Nouns.)
qama muʿallim-i / yaqumu muʿallim-i
— My teacher stood / stands. (Here al-faʿil is 'muʿallim-i' — annexed to the speaker's yaʾ.)
2 — Implicit (mudmar — a pronoun), e.g.:
darab-tu
— I struck. (Here al-faʿil is the taʾ — a connected pronoun in the position of nominative.)
darab-na
— We struck. (Here al-faʿil is 'na' — a connected pronoun fixed on sukun, in the position of nominative.)
darab-tuma
— You two struck. (Here al-faʿil is the taʾ — a connected pronoun fixed on damma, in the position of nominative; the 'ma' is the sign of duality.)
darab-tum
— You — masc. plural — struck. (Here al-faʿil is the taʾ; the mim is the sign of plural.)
darab-tunna
— You — fem. plural — struck. (Here al-faʿil is the taʾ; the nun is the sign of plural.)
Iʿrab of Al-Faʿil
jaʾa al-rajul-u
— The man came.
jaʾa: a past-tense verb fixed on fatha. al-rajul: al-faʿil in the nominative, marked by the manifest damma at its end.
tasabaqa al-sadiqani
— The two friends raced.
tasabaqa: a past-tense verb fixed on fatha. al-sadiqani: al-faʿil in the nominative, marked by alif because it is dual; the nun substitutes for the tanwin of the singular noun.
qama al-laʿibun
— The players stood.
qama: a past-tense verb fixed on fatha. al-laʿibun: al-faʿil in the nominative, marked by waw because it is a sound masculine plural.
dhahaba akh-u-ka
— Your brother went.
dhahaba: a past-tense verb fixed on fatha. akh-u-ka: al-faʿil in the nominative, marked by waw because it is one of the Five Nouns; the kaf is a connected pronoun fixed on (its position) in the position of genitive as a mudaf ilayh.
Definition of Naʾib al-Faʿil (the Deputy Subject)
akala Muhammad-un al-taʿam-a
— Muhammad ate the food.
Where is al-faʿil?
Al-faʿil is Muhammad; al-taʿam is the direct object.
ukila al-taʿam-u
— The food was eaten.
Where is al-faʿil?
It is omitted, and 'al-taʿam' has taken its place [as naʾib al-faʿil].
The Passive-Voice Verb
We said that naʾib al-faʿil requires the verb to be in the passive voice. The form requires giving its first letter a damma and the letter before its last a kasra if it is past-tense, e.g., duriba al-ghulam ('the boy was struck'), ukila al-taʿam ('the food was eaten'), quriʾa al-Qurʾan ('the Quran was recited').
– ضُرب الغلام
– أُكل الطعام
– قُرأ القرآن .
— And giving its first letter a damma and the letter before its last a fatha if it is present-tense, e.g., yuʿaqabu al-mujrim ('the criminal is punished'), yuʾjaru al-sabir ('the patient one is rewarded'), yukarramu al-najih ('the successful one is honored').
– يُعاقَب المجرم
– يُؤجَر الصابر
– يُكرَّم الناجح .
Types of Naʾib al-Faʿil
Naʾib al-faʿil, like al-faʿil, is divided into two kinds:
1 — Manifest (zahir), e.g.:
ukila al-taʿam
— The food was eaten. (singular)
duriba al-waladani
— The two boys were struck. (dual)
ʿuqiba al-mujrimuna
— The criminals were punished. (sound masculine plural)
duriba akh-u-ka
— Your brother was struck. (Five Nouns)
And so on with similar examples — the matter is, I think, clear.
2 — Implicit (mudmar — a pronoun), e.g.: buʿith-tu ('I was sent'), buʿith-na ('we were sent'), buʿith-ta ('you — masc. — were sent'), buʿith-ti ('you — fem. — were sent'), buʿith-u ('they were sent'), buʿith-na ('they — fem. — were sent'), and so on.
Iʿrab of Naʾib al-Faʿil
durib-tu
— I was struck.
A past-tense passive verb, fixed on sukun. The taʾ is naʾib al-faʿil — a connected pronoun fixed on damma, in the position of nominative.
durib-tuma
— You two were struck.
A past-tense passive verb, fixed on sukun. The taʾ is naʾib al-faʿil — a connected pronoun fixed on damma, in the position of nominative; the mim and the alif are the sign of duality.
ukila
— It was eaten.
A past-tense passive verb. Naʾib al-faʿil is a permissibly concealed pronoun, implied as 'huwa'.
duriba akh-u-ka
— Your brother was struck.
duriba: a past-tense passive verb fixed on fatha. akh-u-ka: naʾib al-faʿil in the nominative, marked by waw because it is one of the Five Nouns; the kaf is a connected pronoun fixed on (its position) in the position of genitive as a mudaf ilayh.
yuʿrafu al-amin-u bi-l-sidq
— The trustworthy one is recognized by his honesty.
yuʿrafu: a present-tense passive verb. al-amin: naʾib al-faʿil in the nominative, marked by the manifest damma at its end. bi-l-sidq: a prepositional phrase (jarr wa-majrur).