Sharh Qatr an-Nada by Ibn Hisham (شرح قطر الندى وبل الصدى) — Page 422

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

أَوْ غَدًا وَإِضَافَةُ الصِّفَةِ الْمُشَبَّهَةِ بِاسْمِ الْفَاعِلِ كَـ « هَذَا رَجُلٌ حَسَنُ الْوَجْهِ » وَتُسَمَّى إِضَافَةً لَفْظِيَّةً ؛ لِأَنَّهَا تُفِيدُ أَمْرًا لَفْظِيًّا وَهُوَ التَّخْفِيفُ ؛ أَلَا تَرَى أَنَّ قَوْلَكَ ضَارِبُ زَيْدٍ أَخَفُّ مِنْ قَوْلِكَ ضَارِبٌ زَيْدًا ، وَكَذَا الْبَاقِي ، وَلَا تُفِيدُ تَعْرِيفًا وَلَا تَخْصِيصًا ؛ وَلِهَذَا صَحَّ وَصْفُ هَدْيًا بِـ بَالِغٍ مَعَ إِضَافَتِهِ إِلَى الْمَعْرِفَةِ فِي قَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى : ﴿ هَدْيًا بَالِغَ الْكَعْبَةِ ﴾ ، وَصَحَّ مَجِيءُ ثَانِي حَالًا مَعَ إِضَافَتِهِ إِلَى الْمَعْرِفَةِ فِي قَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى : ﴿ ثَانِيَ عِطْفِهِ

Or tomorrow. Attaching the assimilated adjective or active participle to a noun, as in 'This is a man of good face,' is called verbal annexation. It is termed this because it serves a purely phonetic purpose: lightening the pronunciation. Notice how saying 'daribu Zaidin' is easier than 'daribun Zaidan,' a principle that applies throughout. This type of annexation provides neither definition nor specification. For this reason, it is grammatically correct to describe an offering as 'reaching' the Kaaba in the Quranic verse, 'an offering reaching the Kaaba,' or to use the word 'second' as a state of being when annexed to a definite noun, as in the verse, 'turning his side.'

وَلَا تُجَامِعُ الْإِضَافَةُ تَنْوِينًا وَلَا نُونًا تَالِيَةً لِلْإِعْرَابِ مُطْلَقًا ، وَلَا أَلْ إِلَّا فِي نَحْوِ : الصَّارِبَا زَيْدٍ وَالصَّارِبُو زَيْدٍ وَالصَّارِبُ الرَّجُلِ وَالصَّارِبُ رَأْسِ الْجَانِي وَالرَّجُلُ الصَّارِبُ غُلَامِهِ

Annexation never occurs alongside tanwin, nor with the nun that follows inflectional endings. It also excludes the definite article 'al-', except in specific constructions such as 'al-dariba Zaidin,' 'al-daribu Zaidin,' 'al-daribu al-rajuli,' 'al-daribu ra'si al-jani,' and 'al-rajulu al-daribu ghulamihi.'

اعْلَمْ أَنَّ الْإِضَافَةَ لَا تَجْتَمِعُ مَعَ التَّنْوِينِ ، وَلَا مَعَ النُّونِ التَّالِيَةِ لِلْإِعْرَابِ ؛ وَلَا مَعَ الْأَلِفِ وَاللَّامِ ، تَقُولُ : جَاءَنِي غُلَامٌ يَا هَذَا ، فَتُنَوِّنُ ، وَإِذَا أَضَفْتَ تَقُولُ : جَاءَنِي غُلَامُ زَيْدٍ ، فَتَحْذِفُ التَّنْوِينَ ، وَذَلِكَ لِأَنَّهُ يَدُلُّ عَلَى كَمَالِ الِاسْمِ ، وَالْإِضَافَةُ تَدُلُّ عَلَى نُقْصَانِهِ ، وَلَا يَكُونُ الشَّيْءُ كَامِلًا نَاقِصًا ، وَتَقُولُ : جَاءَنِي مُسْلِمَانِ ، وَمُسْلِمُونَ ، فَإِذَا أَضَفْتَ قُلْتَ : مُسْلِمَاكَ ، وَمُسْلِمُوكَ ، فَتَحْذِفُ النُّونَ ، قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى : ﴿ وَالْمُقِيمِي الصَّلَاةِ ﴾ وَلَهُ ﴿ إِنَّكُمْ لَذَائِقُو الْعَذَابِ ﴾ فَلَوْ إِنَّا مُرْسِلُو النَّاقَةِ

Understand that annexation is incompatible with tanwin, the nun of inflection, and the definite article. For example, you say 'ja'ani ghulamun ya hadha' with the tanwin, but if you annex it, you say 'ja'ani ghulamu Zaidin' and drop the tanwin. This is because tanwin signifies the completeness of a noun, while annexation implies its incompleteness; a thing cannot be both complete and incomplete. Similarly, you say 'ja'ani muslimani' or 'muslimuna,' but when annexing, you say 'muslimaka' or 'muslimuka,' dropping the nun. God Almighty says, 'and those who establish prayer,' and elsewhere, 'indeed you are tasters of the punishment,' and 'if we were senders of the she-camel.'

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Vocabulary · المفردات (20 verbs · 46 nouns)

• سَمَّى — to name
• أَفَادَ — to yield or provide
• رَأَى — to see
• إِضَافَة — addition
• صِفَة — adjective
• مُشَبَّهَة — assimilated