Sharh Ibn Aqil on Alfiyyat Ibn Malik — Volume 1 (شرح ابن عقيل على ألفية ابن مالك) — Page 31

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

الْمُعْرَبُ وَالْمَبْنِيُّ [ وَاحِدٍ ] ، كَالتَّاءِ فِي ضَرَبْتُ ، أَوْ عَلَى حَرْفَيْنِ كَـ « نَا » فِي « أَكْرَمْنَا » ، وَإِلَى ذَلِكَ أَشَارَ بِقَوْلِهِ : « فِي أَسْمَى جِئْتَنَا » فَالتَّاءُ فِي جِئْتَنَا اسْمٌ ؛ لِأَنَّهُ فَاعِلٌ وَهُوَ مَبْنِيٌّ ؛ لِأَنَّهُ أَشْبَهَ الْحَرْفَ فِي الْوَضْعِ فِي كَوْنِهِ عَلَى حَرْفٍ وَاحِدٍ ، وَكَذَلِكَ « نَا » اسْمٌ ؛ لِأَنَّهَا مَفْعُولٌ ، وَهُوَ مَبْنِيٌّ ؛ لِشَبَهِهِ بِالْحَرْفِ فِي الْوَضْعِ فِي كَوْنِهِ عَلَى حَرْفَيْنِ.

Declinable and indeclinable forms may consist of a single letter, like the 'ta' in 'darabtu' (I hit), or two letters, like the 'na' in 'akramna' (he honored us). The author points to this in his statement: 'in the most elevated of what we have come to.' The 'ta' in 'ji'tuna' (we came to you) is a noun because it acts as the subject, yet it is indeclinable because its single-letter structure mimics that of a particle. Similarly, 'na' is a noun because it acts as the object, and it is likewise indeclinable because its two-letter structure mimics that of a particle.

وَالثَّانِي ) شَبَهُ الِاسْمِ لَهُ فِي الْمَعْنَى ، وَهُوَ قِسْمَانِ : أَحَدُهُمَا مَا أَشْبَهَ حَرْفاً مَوْجُوداً وَالثَّانِي مَا أَشْبَهَ حَرْفاً غَيْرَ مَوْجُودٍ ؛ فَمِثَالُ الْأَوَّلِ « مَتَى » فَإِنَّهَا مَبْنِيَّةٌ لِشَبَهِهَا.

The second category is a noun's resemblance to a particle in meaning. This is divided into two types: one that resembles an existing particle and one that resembles a non-existent one. An example of the first is 'mata' (when), which is indeclinable due to this resemblance.

الْأَصْلُ فِي وَضْعِ الْحَرْفِ أَنْ يَكُونَ عَلَى حَرْفِ هِجَاءٍ وَاحِدٍ كَبَاءِ الْجَرِّ وَلَامِهِ وَكَافِهِ وَفَاءِ الْعَطْفِ وَوَاوِهِ وَأَلِفِ الِاسْتِفْهَامِ وَمَا شَاكَلَ ذَلِكَ ، أَوْ عَلَى حَرْفَيْ هِجَاءٍ ثَانِيهِمَا لِينٌ كَلَا وَمَا النَّافِيَتَيْنِ ، وَالْأَصْلُ فِي وَضْعِ الِاسْمِ أَنْ يَكُونَ عَلَى ثَلَاثَةِ أَحْرُفٍ فَصَاعِداً كَمَا لَا يُحْصَى مِنَ الْأَسْمَاءِ ، فَمَا زَادَ مِنْ حُرُوفِ الْمَعَانِي عَلَى حَرْفَيْنِ مِنْ حُرُوفِ الْهِجَاءِ مِثْلَ إِنَّ وَلَيْتَ وَإِلَّا وَثُمَّ وَلَعَلَّ وَلَكِنَّ فَهُوَ خَارِجٌ عَنِ الْأَصْلِ فِي نَوْعِهِ ، وَمَا نَقَصَ مِنَ الْأَسْمَاءِ عَنْ ثَلَاثَةِ الْأَحْرُفِ كَتَاءِ الْفَاعِلِ وَنَا وَأَكْثَرِ الضَّمَائِرِ فَهُوَ خَارِجٌ عَنِ الْأَصْلِ فِي نَوْعِهِ ، وَمَا خَرَجَ مِنَ الْحُرُوفِ عَنِ الْأَصْلِ فِي نَوْعِهِ قَدْ أَشْبَهَ الْأَسْمَاءَ ، وَمَا خَرَجَ مِنَ الْأَسْمَاءِ عَنِ الْأَصْلِ فِي نَوْعِهِ أَشْبَهَ الْحُرُوفَ ، وَكِلَا الشَّبَهَيْنِ رَاجِعٌ إِلَى الْوَضْعِ ، وَكَانَ ذَلِكَ يَقْتَضِي أَنْ يَأْخُذَ الْمُشَبَّهُ حُكْمَ الْمُشَبَّهِ بِهِ فِي الْمَوْضِعَيْنِ ، إِلَّا أَنَّهُمْ أَعْطَوْا الِاسْمَ الَّذِي يُشْبِهُ الْحَرْفَ حُكْمَ الْحَرْفِ وَهُوَ الْبِنَاءُ ، وَلَمْ يُعْطُوا الْحَرْفَ الَّذِي أَشْبَهَ الِاسْمَ حُكْمَ الِاسْمِ وَهُوَ الْإِعْرَابُ ، لِسَبَبَيْنِ ، أَوَّلُهُمَا : أَنَّ الْحَرْفَ حِينَ أَشْبَهَ الِاسْمَ قَدْ أَشْبَهَهُ فِي شَيْءٍ لَا يَخُصُّهُ وَحْدَهُ ، فَإِنَّ الْأَصْلَ فِي وَضْعِ الْفِعْلِ أَيْضاً أَنْ يَكُونَ عَلَى ثَلَاثَةِ أَحْرُفٍ ، بِخِلَافِ الِاسْمِ الَّذِي قَدْ أَشْبَهَ الْحَرْفَ ؛ فَإِنَّهُ قَدْ أَشْبَهَهُ فِي شَيْءٍ يَخُصُّهُ وَلَا يَتَجَاوَزُهُ إِلَى نَوْعٍ آخَرَ مِنْ أَنْوَاعِ الْكَلِمَةِ ، وَالسَّبَبُ الثَّانِي : أَنَّ الْحَرْفَ لَا يَحْتَاجُ فِي حَالَةٍ مَا إِلَى الْإِعْرَابِ ؛ لِأَنَّ الْإِعْرَابَ إِنَّمَا يُحْتَاجُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ أَنْوَاعِ الْكَلِمَةِ مَا يَقَعُ فِي مَوَاقِعَ مُتَعَدِّدَةٍ مِنَ التَّرَاكِيبِ بِحَيْثُ لَا يَتَمَيَّزُ بَعْضُهَا عَنْ بَعْضٍ بِغَيْرِ الْإِعْرَابِ ، وَالْحَرْفُ لَا يَقَعُ فِي هَذِهِ الْمَوَاقِعِ الْمُتَعَدِّدَةِ ، فَلَمْ يَكُنْ ثَمَّةَ مَا يَدْعُو إِلَى أَنْ يَأْخُذَ حُكْمَ الِاسْمِ حِينَ يُشْبِهُهُ ، وَمَعْنَى هَذَا الْكَلَامِ أَنَّ فِي مُشَابَهَةِ الْحَرْفِ لِلِاسْمِ قَدْ وُجِدَ الْمُقْتَضَى وَلَكِنْ لَمْ يَنْتَفِ الْمَانِعُ ؛ فَالْمُقْتَضَى هُوَ شَبَهُ الِاسْمِ ، وَالْمَانِعُ هُوَ عَدَمُ تَوَارُدِ الْمَعَانِي الْمُخْتَلِفَةِ عَلَيْهِ وَشَرْطُ تَأْثِيرِ الْمُقْتَضَى أَنْ يَنْتَفِيَ الْمَانِعُ.

Particles are typically formed from a single letter, such as the 'ba' of the genitive, the 'lam', the 'kaf', the 'fa' of conjunction, the 'waw', the interrogative 'alif', and similar forms, or from two letters where the second is a soft letter, like the negatives 'la' and 'ma'. Nouns are typically formed from three or more letters, as seen in countless examples. Consequently, particles that exceed two letters—such as 'inna', 'layta', 'illa', 'thumma', 'la'alla', and 'lakinna'—deviate from their standard form. Similarly, nouns that consist of fewer than three letters, such as the subject-marking 'ta', 'na', and most pronouns, deviate from their standard form. Particles that deviate from their standard form resemble nouns, and nouns that deviate from their standard form resemble particles. Both resemblances are based on structure. Logically, this should mean that the word resembling another should adopt its grammatical status, yet grammarians assigned the noun that resembles a particle the particle's status—indeclinability—without assigning the particle that resembles a noun the noun's status—declinability. There are two reasons for this. First, when a particle resembles a noun, it does so in a way that is not exclusive to nouns, as verbs are also typically three letters long. This differs from a noun that resembles a particle, as it mimics a structural trait exclusive to particles. Second, particles have no need for declinability. Declinability is required only for words that appear in various syntactic positions where they must be distinguished from one another; particles do not occupy such varied positions, so there is no reason for them to adopt the noun's status. In short, while the condition for the particle to behave like a noun is met, the obstacle remains: particles do not host the varying meanings that require declinability. For the rule to take effect, the obstacle must be removed.

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Vocabulary · المفردات (24 verbs · 52 nouns)

• ضَرَبَ — to hit
• أَكْرَمَ — to honor
• أَشَارَ — to point
• مُعْرَبٌ — inflected word
• مَبْنِيٌّ — indeclinable word
• وَاحِدٌ — one