Mukhtasar al-Ma'ani by al-Taftazani, Vol. 1 (مختصر المعاني) — Page 516

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

الْفَصْلُ وَالْوَصْلُ، حَالًا كَثُرَ فِيهَا أَيْ فِي تِلْكَ الْحَالِ تَرْكُهَا أَيْ تَرْكُ الْوَاوِ، نَحْوَ قَوْلِ بَشَّارٍ: إِذَا أَنْكَرَتْنِي بَلْدَةٌ أَوْ نَكَرْتُهَا خَرَجْتُ مَعَ الْبَازِي عَلَى سَوَادٍ.

Regarding separation and connection, there is a state in which omitting it—that is, omitting the 'waw'—is frequent, such as the saying of Bashshar: 'If a town rejects me or I reject it, I depart with the falcon in the darkness of night.'

بَلْدَةٌ بِسُكُونِ الْيَاءِ طَائِرٌ مَعْرُوفٌ، أَيْ بَقِيَّةٌ مِنَ اللَّيْلِ، يَعْنِي إِذَا لَمْ يَعْرِفْ قَدْرِي أَهْلُ بَلْدَةٍ أَوْ لَمْ أَعْرِفْهُمْ خَرَجْتُ مِنْهُمْ مُصَاحِبًا لِلْبَازِي الَّذِي هُوَ أَبْكَرُ الطُّيُورِ مُشْتَمِلًا عَلَى شَيْءٍ مِنْ ظُلْمَةِ اللَّيْلِ غَيْرَ مُنْتَظِرٍ لِإِسْفَارِ الصُّبْحِ، فَقَوْلُهُ: عَلَى سَوَادٍ حَالٌ تُرِكَ فِيهِ الْوَاوُ، ثُمَّ قَالَ الشَّيْخُ: الْوَجْهُ أَنْ يَكُونَ الِاسْمُ فِي مِثْلِ هَذَا فَاعِلًا لِلظَّرْفِ لِاعْتِمَادِهِ عَلَى ذِي الْحَالِ لَا مُبْتَدَأً، وَيَنْبَغِي أَنْ يُقَدَّرَ هَهُنَا خُصُوصًا أَنَّ الظَّرْفَ فِي تَقْدِيرِ اسْمِ الْفَاعِلِ دُونَ الْفِعْلِ، فَهُوَ فِي تَأْوِيلِ الْمُفْرَدِ حَالًا أَيْ مِنْ مَعْرِفَةٍ قَبْلَهُ نَحْوَ: جَاءَ زَيْدٌ عَلَى كَتِفِهِ سَيْفٌ، فَلَوْ كَانَ صَاحِبُ الْحَالِ نَكِرَةً لَوَجَبَتِ الْوَاوُ؛ لِئَلَّا يَلْتَبِسَ الْحَالُ بِالنَّعْتِ، كَقَوْلِكَ: جَاءَ رَجُلٌ طَوِيلٌ وَعَلَى كَتِفِهِ سَيْفٌ، فَتَجِبُ الْوَاوُ هَكَذَا وَإِلَّا كَانَ نَعْتًا.

The word 'sawad' (darkness), with the ya' quiescent, refers to a well-known bird, meaning the remainder of the night; he means if the people of a town do not recognize my worth, or I do not recognize them, I depart from them accompanied by the falcon, which is the earliest of birds, enveloped in some of the darkness of the night, not waiting for the break of dawn; thus, his saying 'in the darkness' is a state in which the 'waw' is omitted. Then the Sheikh said: The correct approach in such a case is for the noun to be the subject of the adverb, due to its reliance on the possessor of the state, not as a subject of a nominal sentence. It is appropriate to assume here, specifically, that the adverb is equivalent to an active participle rather than a verb, so it is interpreted as a singular state, that is, from a definite noun preceding it, such as: 'Zayd came with a sword on his shoulder.' If the possessor of the state were indefinite, the 'waw' would be mandatory so that the state is not confused with an adjective, as in your saying: 'A tall man came, and on his shoulder was a sword'; the 'waw' is mandatory here, otherwise it would be an adjective.

كَثُرَ فِيهَا لِمَا ذَكَرَهُ عَبْدُ الْقَاهِرِ مِنَ التَّعْلِيلِ الْآتِي، وَهُوَ جَعْلُ الِاسْمِ مُرْتَفِعًا بِالظَّرْفِ لِاعْتِمَادِهِ عَلَى مَا قَبْلَهُ، فَتَكُونُ الْحَالُ مُفْرَدَةً لَا جُمْلَةً اسْمِيَّةً، وَحِينَئِذٍ فَلَا يُسْتَنْكَرُ تَرْكُ الْوَاوِ.

It is frequent in it due to the reasoning mentioned by Abd al-Qahir which follows, which is making the noun elevated by the adverb due to its reliance on what precedes it, so the state is singular, not a nominal sentence, and in that case, the omission of the 'waw' is not considered objectionable.

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Vocabulary · المفردات (27 verbs · 60 nouns)

• كَثُرَ — to be frequent
• تَرَكَ — to leave
• أَنْكَرَ — to deny
• فَصْلٌ — separation
• وَصْلٌ — connection
• حَالٌ — state