Sharh Ibn Aqil on Alfiyyat Ibn Malik — Volume 1 (شرح ابن عقيل على ألفية ابن مالك) — Page 374

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

إِذَا اتَّصَلَتْ « مَا » غَيْرُ الْمَوْصُولَةِ بِإِنَّ وَأَخَوَاتِهَا كَفَّتْهَا عَنِ الْعَمَلِ، إِلَّا « لَيْتَ » فَإِنَّهُ يَجُوزُ فِيهَا الْإِعْمَالُ وَالْإِهْمَالُ، فَتَقُولُ: « إِنَّمَا زَيْدٌ قَائِمٌ » وَلَا يَجُوزُ نَصْبُ « زَيْدٍ » وَكَذَلِكَ أَنَّ وَكَأَنَّ وَلَكِنَّ وَلَعَلَّ، وَتَقُولُ: « لَيْتَمَا زَيْدٌ قَائِمٌ » وَإِنْ شِئْتَ نَصَبْتَ « زَيْدًا » فَقُلْتَ: « لَيْتَمَا زَيْدًا قَائِمٌ

If the non-relative 'ma' attaches to 'inna' and its sisters, it prevents them from acting (governing), except for 'layta', for which both acting and not acting are permissible; so you say: 'innama Zaydun qa'imun' (Verily Zayd is standing), and it is not permissible to put 'Zayd' in the accusative case, and likewise for 'anna', 'ka'anna', 'lakinna', and 'la'alla', and you say: 'laytama Zaydun qa'imun' (Would that Zayd were standing), and if you wish, you may put 'Zaydan' in the accusative case, saying: 'laytama Zaydan qa'imun'.

وَظَاهِرُ كَلَامِ الْمُصَنِّفِ - رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى - أَنَّ « مَا » إِنِ اتَّصَلَتْ بِهَذِهِ الْأَحْرُفِ كَفَّتْهَا عَنِ الْعَمَلِ، وَقَدْ تَعْمَلُ قَلِيلًا، وَهَذَا مَذْهَبُ جَمَاعَةٍ مِنَ النَّحْوِيِّينَ كَالزَّجَّاجِيِّ وَابْنِ السَّرَّاجِ، وَحَكَى الْأَخْفَشُ ذَهَبَ سِيبَوَيْهِ إِلَى أَنَّ « مَا » غَيْرُ الْمَوْصُولَةِ إِذَا اقْتَرَنَتْ بِهَذِهِ الْأَدَوَاتِ أَبْطَلَتْ عَمَلَهَا، إِلَّا لَيْتَ؛ فَإِنَّ إِعْمَالَهَا مَعَ مَا جَائِزٌ، وَعَلَّلُوا ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّ هَذِهِ الْأَدَوَاتِ قَدْ أُعْمِلَتْ لِاخْتِصَاصِهَا بِالْأَسْمَاءِ، وَدُخُولُ « مَا » عَلَيْهَا يُزِيلُ هَذَا الِاخْتِصَاصَ، وَيُهَيِّئُهَا لِلدُّخُولِ عَلَى جُمَلِ الْأَفْعَالِ، نَحْوَ قَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى: « قُلْ إِنَّمَا يُوحَى إِلَيَّ أَنَّمَا إِلَهُكُمْ إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ » وَقَوْلِهِ سُبْحَانَهُ: « كَأَنَّمَا يُسَاقُونَ إِلَى الْمَوْتِ » وَنَحْوَ قَوْلِ امْرِئِ الْقَيْسِ: وَلَكِنَّمَا أَسْعَى لِمَجْدٍ مُؤَثَّلٍ وَقَدْ يُدْرِكُ الْمَجْدَ الْمُؤَثَّلَ أَمْثَالِي وَمِثْلِ قَوْلِ الْفَرَزْدَقِ: أَعِدْ نَظَرًا يَا عَبْدَ قَيْسٍ لَعَلَّمَا أَضَاءَتْ لَكَ النَّارُ الْحِمَارَ الْمُقَيَّدَا

The apparent meaning of the author's words - may God Almighty have mercy on him - is that if 'ma' attaches to these particles, it prevents them from acting, though they may act rarely, and this is the school of thought of a group of grammarians like al-Zajjaji and Ibn al-Sarraj, and al-Akhfash reported that Sibawayh held the view that the non-relative 'ma', when it joins these tools, nullifies their action, except for 'layta', for its acting with 'ma' is permissible, and they explained that by saying that these tools were made to act because of their specialization for nouns, and the entry of 'ma' upon them removes this specialization and prepares them to enter upon verbal sentences, such as His saying the Almighty: 'Say, it is only revealed to me that your God is one God', and His saying, Glory be to Him: 'As if they were being driven to death', and like the saying of Imru' al-Qais: 'But I strive for established glory, and those like me may attain established glory', and like the saying of al-Farazdaq: 'Reconsider, O Abd Qays, perhaps the fire has illuminated for you the tethered donkey'.

وَتُسَمَّى « مَا » هَذِهِ مَا الْكَافَّةُ، أَوِ مَا الْمُهَيِّئَةُ، وَوَجْهُ هَاتَيْنِ التَّسْمِيَتَيْنِ ظَاهِرٌ بَعْدَ الَّذِي ذَكَرْنَاهُ لَكَ مِنْ شَأْنِهَا، وَتُسَمَّى أَيْضًا مَا الزَّائِدَةُ، وَلِكَوْنِ « مَا » هَذِهِ لَا تُزِيلُ اخْتِصَاصَ لَيْتَ بِالْجُمَلِ الِاسْمِيَّةِ، بَلْ هِيَ بَاقِيَةٌ مَعَهَا عَلَى اخْتِصَاصِهَا بِالْأَسْمَاءِ، لَمْ تُبْطِلْ عَمَلَهَا، فَعِلَّةُ إِبْطَالِهَا إِعْمَالَ غَيْرِ لَيْتَ أَنَّهَا أَزَالَتِ السَّبَبَ الَّذِي مِنْ أَجْلِهِ عَمِلَتْ، وَعِلَّةُ بَقَاءِ لَيْتَ عَلَى الْإِعْمَالِ أَنَّ « مَا » لَمْ تُزِلِ السَّبَبَ الَّذِي مِنْ أَجْلِهِ عَمِلَتْ، وَقَدْ جَاءَ السَّمَاعُ مُعَضِّدًا لِذَلِكَ، كَمَا فِي قَوْلِ النَّابِغَةِ الذُّبْيَانِيِّ: قَالَتْ أَلَا لَيْتَمَا هَذَا الْحَمَامَ لَنَا إِلَى حَمَامَتِنَا أَوْ نِصْفَهُ فَقَدِ

This 'ma' is called 'al-kaffah' (the preventer) or 'al-muhayyi'ah' (the preparer), and the reason for these two names is clear after what we have mentioned to you regarding its nature, and it is also called 'ma al-za'idah' (the extra 'ma'), and because this 'ma' does not remove the specialization of 'layta' for nominal sentences, but rather it remains with it in its specialization for nouns, it did not nullify its action, so the reason for its nullifying the action of others besides 'layta' is that it removed the cause for which they acted, and the reason for 'layta' remaining in its acting is that 'ma' did not remove the cause for which it acted, and auditory evidence has come to support that, as in the saying of al-Nabigha al-Dhubyani: 'She said, would that this pigeon were ours, along with our pigeon, or half of it'.

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Vocabulary · المفردات (26 verbs · 77 nouns)

• اتَّصَلَ — to connect
• كَفَّ — to prevent
• جَازَ — to be permissible
• مَا — what
• مَوْصُول — relative
• أَخ — sibling