Consider the following sentences:
nur-u al-shams-i qawiyy
— The light of the sun is strong.
ʿunq-u al-jamal-i tawil
— The neck of the camel is long.
asmaʿ-u bukaʾ-a tifl
— I hear the crying of a child.
ashumm-u raʾihat-a ward
— I smell the scent of a rose.
If you reflect on the underlined words, you will find that we have annexed and related them to each other. In the first sentence, we annexed 'nur' to 'al-shams' and related it to it. We did the same with each of the words ('ʿunq al-jamal', 'bukaʾ tifl', 'raʾihat ward'). This operation is called: al-idafa (annexation / construct).
The first noun is called al-mudaf (the possessed / annexed) and the second is called al-mudaf ilayh (the possessor / annexed-to).
Definition of Al-Mudaf and Al-Mudaf Ilayh
Examples of Al-Mudaf and Al-Mudaf Ilayh
talibat-u al-jamiʿat-i yuqaddirna al-ʿilm
— The female students of the university appreciate knowledge.
labis-tu thawb-a qutn
— I wore a garment of cotton.
saniʿ-u al-maʿruf-i mashkur
— The doer of good is praised.
sariʿ-u al-ghadab-i madhmum
— The quick-tempered is blameworthy.
hadha kitab-u al-tilmidh
— This is the pupil's book.
inna hurriyat-a al-shuʿub-i umniyat-un ghaliya
— Indeed, the freedom of peoples is a precious aspiration.
Types of Al-Idafa
Al-idafa is of two types: maʿnawiyya (semantic) and lafziyya (verbal/formal).
1 — Al-Idafa al-Maʿnawiyya (Semantic Annexation)
In this type, the mudaf gains either definiteness or specification from the mudaf ilayh. Al-idafa al-maʿnawiyya carries the meaning of the prepositions: lam (li-, 'belonging to'), min (al-bayaniyya, 'of [a kind]'), or fi (al-zarfiyya, 'in [a time/place]'). E.g.:
dar-i: original is darun li (a house belonging to me)
— My house: originally 'a house [belonging] to me'.
hadha raʾyu ʿIsam: original is raʾyun min ʿIsam
— This is ʿIsam's opinion: originally 'an opinion from ʿIsam'.
atʿaba-ni sahr-u al-layl: original is sahrun fi al-layl
— Staying up at night exhausted me: originally 'staying up in the night'.
2 — Al-Idafa al-Lafziyya (Verbal Annexation)
This is one that has no benefit in meaning — it does not give the mudaf definiteness or specification. Its purpose is rather to lighten the wording by what is dropped through annexation: namely the tanwin and the nun of the dual and plural. E.g.:
– هذا الرجلُ طالبُ علمٍ .
Here 'talib' is the mudaf and 'ʿilm' is the mudaf ilayh. The original sentence before annexation was: hadha al-rajulu talibun ʿilman ('this man is a seeker of knowledge').
By annexation, the wording was lightened by the dropping of the tanwin, and the mudaf ilayh was put in the genitive.
— hadhani taliba ʿilmin muhadhdhabani ('these two are well-mannered seekers of knowledge').
The word 'taliba' is the mudaf, and 'ʿilm' is the mudaf ilayh in the genitive. The nun of the dual ('talibani') was dropped in annexation, lightening the wording.
Iʿrab of Al-Mudaf and Al-Mudaf Ilayh
Al-mudaf ilayh is always in the genitive. Al-mudaf is parsed according to its position in the sentence.
Special Rulings for Al-Mudaf and Al-Mudaf Ilayh
1 — Al-mudaf may take its masculinity or femininity from al-mudaf ilayh, treating it as if it were of that gender. E.g.:
suhbat-u Khalid-in nafiʿa
— Khalid's company is beneficial.
The word 'suhba' is feminine, but here it can be treated as masculine (suhbatu Khalid… nafiʿun) because the mudaf ilayh ('Khalid') is masculine.
2 — Some nouns are bound to annexation and cannot be separated from it. Of these, some must be annexed to a singular noun, e.g.:
ʿinda
(at, with)
lada
(at, with)
ladun
(from)
bayna
(between)
wasta
(amid)
kila
(both — masc.)
kilta
(both — fem.)
siwa
(other than)
ghayr
(other than)
dhu
(possessor of)
baʿd
(some of)
ulu
(those of)
qusara
(utmost of)
subhana
(glory be to)
wahd
(alone)
labbayka
(at your service — repeatedly)
la-ʿamr
(by the life of)
— Some are bound to be annexed to a clause, e.g.:
idh
(when — past)
haythu
(where)
idha
(when — future)
lamma
(when)
mudh
(since)
mundhu
(since)
3 — The tanwin is dropped upon annexation. So one says: qalam-u Muhammad ('Muhammad's pen'), not 'qalamun Muhammadin'.
4 — 'Al-' is dropped if the annexation is semantic (maʿnawiyya). So one says: kitab-u Saʿd ('Saʿd's book'), not 'al-kitabu Saʿdin'.
5 — The nun of the dual and the sound masculine plural is dropped, e.g.:
jaʾa-ni raghiba tawba
— Two seekers of repentance came to me. (originally 'raghibani')
jaʾa-ni ʿamilu haql
— Workers of a field came to me. (originally 'ʿamiluna')
Omission of Al-Mudaf
Frequently, al-mudaf is omitted, and al-mudaf ilayh takes its place in the sentence — when the meaning is clear and there is no confusion. E.g.:
qarrarat al-mahkamat-u al-hukm
— The court decreed the ruling. (i.e., 'the judge of the court decreed the ruling')
ma kull-u baydaʾa shahmatun, wa-la sawdaʾa tamratun
— Not every white thing is fat, nor every black thing a date. (i.e., 'nor every black thing [is] a date')
Annexation to the Speaker's Yaʾ
If a noun is annexed to the speaker's yaʾ, its ending takes a kasra to accommodate the yaʾ, and the yaʾ may be sukun-bearing or fatha-bearing — except if the noun is maqsur, manqus, dual, or sound masculine plural, in which case the mudaf must take sukun and the yaʾ must take fatha.
Examples:
qum-tu bi-nasib-i min al-ʿamal — or bi-nasib-i-ya
— I did my share of the work.
samaw-tu bi-adab-i — or bi-adab-i-ya
— I rose with my literary achievements.
antuma sahib-a-ya al-wafiyan
— You two are my faithful companions.
inna ʿasa-ya la-jamila
— Indeed, my staff is beautiful.
Examples of Iʿrab for Al-Mudaf and Al-Mudaf Ilayh
ahdir qalam-a Saʿid
— Bring Saʿid's pen.
ahdir: an imperative verb fixed on sukun; the subject is an obligatorily concealed pronoun, implied as 'anta'.
qalam: a direct object in the accusative, marked by the manifest fatha at its end; a mudaf.
Saʿid: a mudaf ilayh in the genitive, marked by the manifest kasra at its end.
ashumm-u raʾihat-a ward
— I smell the scent of a rose.
ashumm: a present-tense verb in the nominative, marked by the manifest damma; the subject is an obligatorily concealed pronoun, implied as 'ana'.
raʾiha: a direct object in the accusative, marked by the manifest fatha; a mudaf.
ward: a mudaf ilayh in the genitive, marked by the manifest kasra at its end.
surir-tu hin-a raʾay-tu-ka
— I was pleased when I saw you.
surirtu: a past-tense verb fixed on sukun; the taʾ is a connected pronoun fixed on damma, in the position of nominative as the subject.
hina: an adverb of time (mafʿul fih, zarf zaman) in the accusative, marked by the manifest fatha at its end.
raʾaytuka: a past-tense verb fixed on sukun; the taʾ is a connected pronoun fixed on damma, in the position of nominative as the subject; the kaf of address is a connected pronoun fixed on fatha, in the position of accusative as the direct object; this is a mudaf, and the verbal clause (raʾaytuka) is in the position of genitive as a mudaf ilayh.
kila-na muwafiqan
— Both of us agree.
kila-na: kila is a mubtadaʾ in the nominative, marked by alif because it is treated like a dual; a mudaf. 'na' is a connected pronoun fixed on sukun, in the position of genitive as a mudaf ilayh.
muwafiqani: khabar in the nominative, marked by alif because it is dual; the nun substitutes for the tanwin of the singular noun.
Examples of Al-Mudaf Ilayh from the Noble Quran
Allah Most High said:
- – ‘ وجاءَ إخوةُ يوسفَ ‘ ( يوسف 58 ) .
- – ‘ وقومَ نوحٍ لما كذبوا الرسل أغرقناهم ‘ ( الفرقان 37 ) .
- – ‘ وعلى الذين يطيقونه فدية طعامُ مسكينٍ ‘ ( البقرة 184 ) .
- – ‘ فاطرِ السماوات والأرض جاعلِ الملائكة رسلا ‘ ( فاطر 1 ) .
- – ‘ لقد نصركم الله في مواطنَ كثيرةٍ ويومَ حنينٍ ‘ ( التوبة 25 ) .
- – ‘ اعلموا أنّ الله شديدُ العقابِ ‘ ( المائدة 98 ) .
- – ‘ إنّ قرآنَ الفجرِ كان مشهودا ‘ ( الإسراء 78 ) .
Exercises on Al-Mudaf and Al-Mudaf Ilayh
1 — Provide the full vowel-marking on the endings of the words in the following, then identify al-mudaf, al-mudaf ilayh, and the type of annexation:
- – أقدّر معين الضعفاء ، فقوته مجردة لعمل الخير .
- – صديقي محمود السيرة ، نقي الضمير ، لطيف المعشر .
- – ابتليت بجار ظاهر الفساد ، مرذول الصفات .
- – حضرت إلى الحفلة فتاة جميلة ترتدي ثوب حرير بهيّ الألوان ، ويشع حول معصمها سوار ذهب ، فأخذ الحضور يرمقونها بنظرات الإعجاب .
- -هذه دراجة سعيد تدلت منها حقيبته .
2 — Provide the iʿrab for the underlined portions:
Al-Mutanabbi said:
[Al-Mutanabbi, classical poetry]: 'We are the children of the dead — so why do we abhor what we must inevitably drink?'
And another said:
[Classical poetry]: 'Treating the bodies, when they fall ill, is an easier matter than treating minds.'