Surah Yusuf — Study Session 11

Overview

The main topics covered in this session are:

Recap of عَطْف البَيَان — the two distinguishing points, interchangeability with badal kull min kull, and the repeated-ʿāmil litmus test
Point three — can ʿaṭf al-bayān be نَكِرَة? The majority say no; Ibn Mālik says yes (فَقَدْ يَكُونَانِ مُنَكَّرَيْنِ); last session's Quranic examples were all indefinite
Point four — can ʿaṭf al-bayān be a جُملَة? Nested vs. high-level sentences and مَحَلّ مِنَ الإِعرَاب; Ṭāhā 120 (قَالَ يَا آدَمُ ...) and al-Aʿrāf 43 (أَن تِلْكُمُ الْجَنَّةُ ...)
Tangents: Shayṭān exploits our desire for permanence; بَلِيَ / بَلَا — from wearing out to testing; اِبتِلَاء vs اِمتِحَان; تِلْكُمُ for the nearby Jannah — distance of place pointing to grandeur of status
Āyah 8 — أَحَبُّ: اِسم التَّفضِيل with إِلَى and مِن; the four agreement cases with Ibn Mālik's lines and the ḥadīth أَحَاسِنُكُمْ أَخْلَاقًا
الأَسمَاء الخَمسَة / السِّتَّة — primary vs. secondary signs of iʿrāb, implied signs before يَاء المُتَكَلِّم, and Ibn Mālik's lines on ذُو، فَم، هَن
Āyah 9 — اقْتُلُوا يُوسُفَ أَوِ اطْرَحُوهُ أَرْضًا: قَتِيل and قَتْلَى, يَخْلُ لَكُمْ وَجْهُ أَبِيكُمْ, طَرَحَ and رَمَى (تَرْمِي بِشَرَرٍ كَالْقَصْرِ), أَرْض and its plurals, قَوْم as men only, إِخَالُ and the Banū Asad dialect, صَلَحَ

1. Recap — عَطْف البَيَان So Far

There are two kinds of عَطْف: the regular عَطْف النَّسَق, and عَطْف البَيَان, the conjunction of explanation.
ʿAṭf al-bayān looks very much like بَدَل — especially بَدَل كُلّ مِن كُلّ, the "complete" badal.
Two distinguishing points: the second element is better known or clearer than the first; and in badal the second element is the concern, whereas in ʿaṭf al-bayān the first is usually the concern. So much depends on context and on a person's understanding that there is a lot of overlap.
The two are interchangeable most of the time, except in edge cases.
The litmus test: in badal the ʿāmil is repeated. Break the sentence apart and put the ʿāmil in front of both parts; if either part is not correct grammatically or in meaning, it cannot be badal — it is only ʿaṭf al-bayān.

A Reminder to the Class

The teacher had promised to share the whiteboard from last session and forgot — "whenever I say things like that and I have forgotten, and you need it, please remind me in the group."

Two things remain to complete the ʿaṭf al-bayān discussion for now.

2. Point Three — Can عَطْف البَيَان Be Indefinite?

2.1 The Disagreement

Two Positions

Many grammarians say ʿaṭf al-bayān cannot be نَكِرَة — it can only be مَعرِفَة. All our earlier examples (أَبُو حَفْصٍ عُمَرُ, إِلِيزَابِيث مَلِكَةَ بِرِيطَانِيَا) involved proper nouns, which are obviously definite.
Other grammarians say an indefinite noun can also be ʿaṭf al-bayān. Ibn Mālik, author of the Alfiyyah — whose poetry the class is working through as it goes — is of this opinion.

2.2 Ibn Mālik's Line

فَقَدْ يَكُونَانِ مُنَكَّرَيْنِ ⁂ كَمَا يَكُونَانِ مُعَرَّفَيْنِ

"They (the ʿaṭf al-bayān and what it follows) may be indefinite, just as they may be definite."

"For once this piece of poetry is really easy."

Word	Note
قَد + مُضَارِع	Sometimes / maybe — it may be, it might be
نَكَّرَ	To make something indefinite
عَرَّفَ	To make something definite
مُنَكِّر / مُنَكَّر	The one making indefinite / the noun made indefinite
مُنَكَّرَيْنِ / مُعَرَّفَيْنِ	Dual — the two elements

Notice What Is Missing

There is a قَد before يَكُونَانِ مُنَكَّرَيْنِ, but none before يَكُونَانِ مُعَرَّفَيْنِ. Being definite is accepted by everyone; being indefinite is the disputed "may be".

2.3 Examples

Jewellery

حُلِيّ — an ornament, jewellery; then, that is to say, سِوَار — a bracelet. سِوَار explains what kind of jewellery I bought. It could also be a badal, but since it is simply explaining, it is more appropriate to call it the explanatory apposition.

Last Session's Quranic Examples Were All Indefinite

Āyah	Why it is indefinite
أَوْ كَفَّارَةٌ طَعَامُ مَسَاكِينَ (al-Māʾidah 95)	طَعَامُ is a mudāf — and a muḍāf is definite or indefinite according to its muḍāf ilayh. مَسَاكِينَ is indefinite, so طَعَامُ مَسَاكِينَ is indefinite.
مِن شَجَرَةٍ مُّبَارَكَةٍ زَيْتُونَةٍ (al-Nūr 35)	زَيْتُونَةٍ is indefinite
وَيُسْقَىٰ مِن مَّاءٍ صَدِيدٍ (Ibrāhīm 16)	مَاء here means a liquid, not water; صَدِيدٍ (pus) is indefinite

Why Books Disagree

You may find some books describing these as badal, because they hold that ʿaṭf al-bayān cannot be nakirah. Keep that in mind so you don't get confused: if a grammar book gives a different explanation, at least you know why.

3. Point Four — Can عَطْف البَيَان Be a Sentence?

3.1 Sentences in the Place of Single Words

Sentences can come in the place of single words — in the place of a نَعت, a خَبَر, a حَال — and for these we use the terminology مَحَلّ (in the position of).

مُحَمَّدٌ ذَهَبَ

A student gave the easy example: مُحَمَّدٌ ذَهَبَ. What is the جُملَة فِعلِيَّة ذَهَبَ doing? It is in the place of a خَبَر — and a khabar is marfūʿ — so it is فِي مَحَلِّ رَفعٍ خَبَر.

High-Level vs. Nested Sentences

From an earlier session on nested sentences:

A sentence that starts the speech and is not nested inside anything is a high-level sentence (جُملَة اِبتِدَائِيَّة) — it has no position of iʿrāb.
A nested sentence sits inside another, and we must figure out what it is doing: if we replaced it with a single word, what would that word's iʿrāb be? That is the sentence's مَحَلّ.

So a jumlah can be a naʿt, a khabar, and so on. Can a jumlah also be ʿaṭf al-bayān? Again there is a difference of opinion: most grammarians say no; some say yes. The teacher gave two Quranic examples that those who say yes cite — along with the alternative iʿrāb.

3.2 Example 1 — Sūrat Ṭāhā (120)

فَوَسْوَسَ إِلَيْهِ الشَّيْطَانُ قَالَ يَا آدَمُ هَلْ أَدُلُّكَ عَلَىٰ شَجَرَةِ الْخُلْدِ وَمُلْكٍ لَّا يَبْلَىٰ

"Then Shayṭān whispered to him; he said: 'O Ādam, shall I direct you to the tree of eternity and a kingdom that will not wear out?'"

The Analysis

فَوَسْوَسَ إِلَيْهِ الشَّيْطَانُ — a جُملَة فِعلِيَّة; الشَّيْطَانُ is the fāʿil of وَسْوَسَ
قَالَ يَا آدَمُ ... — another جُملَة فِعلِيَّة

According to many scholars, قَالَ ... is عَطْف البَيَان for وَسْوَسَ, because it explains what the whispering was. An example of ʿaṭf al-bayān coming as a sentence.

The Other View

Those who say ʿaṭf al-bayān cannot be a sentence treat قَالَ ... as a high-level sentence that nonetheless explains what came before. If Arabic had punctuation, they would put a full stop after الشَّيْطَانُ; a new sentence starts — starting the speech, yet explanatory. For those who call it ʿaṭf al-bayān, the whole sentence is nested, because it is bayān for وَسْوَسَ.

Vocabulary

Word	Meaning
دَلَّ / يَدُلُّ عَلَى	To point out, direct to — usually with عَلَى, like English point you to: دُلَّنِي عَلَى الطَّرِيقِ show me the way
خَلَدَ	To be eternal
خَالِد	One who is eternal
الخُلْد	Eternity, immortality
مُلْك	Kingdom
لَا يَبْلَىٰ	That will not wear out, not end, not finish

What Is لَا يَبْلَىٰ?

It is a sentence — لَا is negation, followed by a verb — so as a nested sentence we must find its role. It is a نَعت for مُلْكٍ.

Rule

A jumlah following an indefinite noun is usually a نَعت; following a definite noun it is usually a حَال.

3.3 Tangent — Shayṭān Knows Our Psychology

The Desire for Permanence

Even on a psychological level, notice the love for things never to end, never to wear out. It is a natural desire Allah has created in human beings: we all want good times to last, we want our youth and our life to be eternal. Keeping ourselves young is a multi-billion-dollar industry — all the anti-ageing treatments and whatnot. We are hardwired this way.

He Attacks the Weak Point

Shayṭān is a very good psychologist — he understands our psychology better than we do. He attacked Ādam عليه السلام from his weak point: the desire inside every human breast.

He is not naive. He does not approach someone in good shape of īmān and suggest idol worship — that would be very difficult, even impossible. He comes with something within your heart — some weak point in you, in me, in everyone — and from there gets his grip. Eventually he may take a person to kufr and shirk if we are not careful, but he does not start blatantly with those. He might start with something very small, something we don't feel is too big — and from there his grip only gets stronger.

3.4 Word Study — بَلِيَ and بَلَا

The teacher had gone "down the rabbit hole" on يَبْلَىٰ that morning, and shared her findings.

The Form

بَلِيَ / يَبْلَىٰ — to wear out. The final radical يَاء appears as an alif (ى) in the muḍāriʿ: يَبْلَىٰ.

Two Roots, One Dictionary Entry

There is also بَلَا / يَبْلُو — to test — from which comes اِبتِلَاء. Some say the root is ب-ل-و, others ب-ل-ي. That is why, in most dictionaries, these two words — to wear out and to test — are grouped together under the same entry.

What Connects Wearing Out and Testing?

A garment you wear and wash over and over is wearing out — but as it wears, you can see its stitches and weave better. What was inside is coming out.
A rock worn by weather and water reveals what was inside it.

The idea of test started from here. When a person is tested, what was hidden inside comes out — goodness or badness, whatever it is — it surfaces through اِبتِلَاء.

اِبتِلَاء vs اِمتِحَان

اِمتِحَان — testing for knowledge.
اِبتِلَاء — Allah testing character: by hardship or by ease, by wealth or by poverty.

Wealth, health, and all the good things in life are also tests, and they too bring out our inner nature. For some people goodness comes out when they are wealthy; for others, badness.

Once again Arabic starts with a physical concept and moves to the abstract.

3.5 Example 2 — Sūrat al-Aʿrāf (43)

وَنَزَعْنَا مَا فِي صُدُورِهِم مِّنْ غِلٍّ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهِمُ الْأَنْهَارُ ۖ وَقَالُوا الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي هَدَانَا لِهَٰذَا وَمَا كُنَّا لِنَهْتَدِيَ لَوْلَا أَنْ هَدَانَا اللَّهُ ۖ لَقَدْ جَاءَتْ رُسُلُ رَبِّنَا بِالْحَقِّ ۖ وَنُودُوا أَن تِلْكُمُ الْجَنَّةُ أُورِثْتُمُوهَا بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ

"And We will remove whatever is in their breasts of rancour, while rivers flow beneath them. And they will say: 'Praise be to Allah, who guided us to this; we would never have been guided had Allah not guided us. Certainly the messengers of our Lord came with the truth.' And they will be called: 'That is Paradise, which you have been made to inherit for what you used to do.'"

A description of the people of Jannah.

Word	Note
نَزَعَ	To remove, take away
غِلّ	Grudge, rancour (Urdu کِینہ)
نُودُوا	They will be called — from نِدَاء: نَادَى / يُنَادِي to call someone; نُودُوا is the passive
أُورِثْتُمُوهَا	You have been made to inherit it

Where Is the ʿAṭf al-Bayān?

A student suggested something within تِلْكُمُ الْجَنَّةُ (an interesting thought). But what the grammar books that accept sentential ʿaṭf al-bayān say is that the whole sentence تِلْكُمُ الْجَنَّةُ أُورِثْتُمُوهَا ... is the ʿaṭf al-bayān — because it explains what they are called with, what is said to them.

The teacher's own inclination was that the jumlah أُورِثْتُمُوهَا could be a حَال for those who are called.

3.6 Why تِلْكُمُ for a Jannah They Are Already In?

Shouldn't It Be هَٰذِهِ?

تِلْكَ is used for something far — but they are already in Jannah. So why are they called with تِلْكُمُ?

Distance to Show Respect

Here the "far" demonstrative is used to show respect — the grand status of Jannah. Just as with a very honourable person, we do not go very near; we keep a distance.

Some people likewise interpret ذَٰلِكَ in the first āyah of al-Baqarah (ذَٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ) as showing respect for the Quran.

The Terminology — مَكَان and مَكَانَة

مَكَان means a place; مَكَانَة means a status, a position. Sometimes distance of place (بُعْدٌ مَكَانِيّ) points to a status that is far above (مَكَانَة).

Jannah Is Not Cheap

Jannah is so grand that nobody can enter it solely because of their own deeds. Even if a person stayed in sajdah from the moment they were born till the moment they died, they could not earn Jannah by their deeds alone. It is only Allah's mercy that makes us inherit it without deserving it. تِلْكُمُ tells us: this Jannah is not something you could have earned — but Allah made you inherit it, because of what you were doing.

3.7 Checking the Iʿrāb Book for al-Aʿrāf 43

The teacher then looked up the iʿrāb of the āyah:

وَنُودُوا — the start of the speech; a high-level sentence, so nothing is said about its position.
أَنْ — explained as carrying the meaning of calling — i.e. explaining what they were called with.
For تِلْكُمُ الْجَنَّةُ أُورِثْتُمُوهَا, the options given matched the teacher's own thinking: أُورِثْتُمُوهَا as a حَال, or الجَنَّةُ as a بَدَل from تِلْكُمُ, in which case أُورِثْتُمُوهَا would be the خَبَر.

What the Book Does Not Say

Notice that this iʿrāb book does not call the whole sentence ʿaṭf al-bayān. It is among the many scholars who do not accept that ʿaṭf al-bayān can be a sentence. But because many others do, it is important to understand where they are coming from.

With that, the ʿaṭf al-bayān discussion is complete for now.

4. Āyah 8 — أَحَبُّ and اِسم التَّفضِيل

4.1 The Form

أَحَبُّ means more beloved. It is on the أَفْعَل pattern — but because the root is مُضَاعَف (the same letter doubling as two root letters, ح-ب-ب), there is assimilation: أَحْبَبُ → أَحَبُّ. See Mudaaf (Doubled) Verbs.

4.2 إِلَى and مِن

From the Book

أَبِي حَبِيبٌ إِلَيَّ، وَأُمِّي أَحَبُّ إِلَيَّ مِنْهُ — My father is beloved to me, and my mother is more beloved to me than him.
My country is beloved to me, but … is more beloved to me than it.
أَحَبُّ النَّاسِ إِلَيْنَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ — The most beloved of people to us is the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

The Ḥadīth

لَا يُؤْمِنُ أَحَدُكُمْ حَتَّى أَكُونَ أَحَبَّ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ وَالِدِهِ وَوَلَدِهِ وَالنَّاسِ أَجْمَعِينَ

"None of you has believed until I become more beloved to him than his father, his children, and all the people together."

Two Prepositions

إِلَى — the person to whom someone is beloved
مِن — the comparison

أَفْعَل can be used for both the comparative and the superlative. When it is followed by مِن, we know it is comparative (my mother is more beloved to me than my father). In أَحَبُّ النَّاسِ إِلَيْنَا there is no مِن — it is superlative.

"These things are quite easy; we are just focusing on getting used to reading things in Arabic."

4.3 The Four Agreement Cases

When does اِسم التَّفضِيل agree with what it describes in number and gender?

Case 1 — Free of ال and Iḍāfah → Singular Masculine (Compulsory)

When it has neither ال nor iḍāfah (as in أَحَبُّ إِلَىٰ أَبِينَا مِنَّا), it is compulsory to make it singular and masculine — even when talking about many people, and even about females:

أَحْمَدُ أَطْوَلُ مِنْ ... — Aḥmad is taller than …
أَحْمَدُ وَإِخْوَتُهُ أَطْوَلُ مِنْ ... — multiple people, still أَطْوَل
For a group of females — still أَطْوَل

Parsing the Book's Sentence

The teacher paused on the book's wording here — وَجَبَ (it became compulsory) — and asked the class to identify its fāʿil: what is it that becomes compulsory? Making it singular and masculine.

Case 2 — Muḍāf to an Indefinite → Singular Masculine (Compulsory)

When it is a muḍāf to something indefinite, singular masculine is again compulsory. This is the superlative:

… the best student in the class — أَفْضَلُ طَالِبٍ
القَاهِرَةُ أَكْبَرُ مَدِينَةٍ فِي العَالَمِ الإِسْلَامِيِّ — Cairo is the biggest city in the Islamic world. القَاهِرَة is feminine, yet أَكْبَر stays singular masculine, because مَدِينَةٍ is indefinite.

One of the First Concepts

The class has done this before — it is one of the very first concepts in the basic books.

Case 3 — Muḍāf to a Definite → Either (Permissible)

When it is a muḍāf to something definite, مُطَابَقَة (agreement in number and gender) is جَائِز — and so is leaving it singular masculine. Both are permissible.

The Ḥadīth

إِنَّ مِنْ أَحَبِّكُمْ إِلَيَّ وَأَقْرَبِكُمْ مِنِّي مَجْلِسًا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ أَحَاسِنَكُمْ أَخْلَاقًا

"Among the most beloved of you to me, and the nearest of you to me in sitting on the Day of Resurrection, are the best of you in character." — narrated by al-Tirmidhī in the book of البِرّ وَالصِّلَة (righteousness and kinship).

Word	Form	Muḍāf to
أَحَبِّكُمْ	Singular masculine	كُمْ — definite
أَقْرَبِكُمْ	Singular masculine	كُمْ — definite
أَحَاسِنَكُمْ	Plural (of أَحْسَن)	كُمْ — definite

All three are muḍāf to a definite pronoun. In two, the Prophet ﷺ left agreement; in the third, he matched. Both are permissible.

مَجْلِسًا — the position of sitting: in a gathering, a مَجْلِس, those most beloved to him will sit closest to him on that day.
أَخْلَاقًا — best in what? In character.

Tamyīz, Not Ḥāl — the Teacher's Correction

The teacher first called مَجْلِسًا a حَال, then corrected herself ("my mistake, and nobody called me out"): after اِسم التَّفضِيل we have تَمْيِيز. Both مَجْلِسًا and أَخْلَاقًا are tamyīz. The meaning stays similar, but the label matters.

Why tamyīz? If I say you are better than me, you could be better than me in lots of things — so the tamyīz specifies in exactly what thing. See Tamyiz.

Case 4 — With ال → Agreement (Compulsory)

With ال, it is compulsory that it conforms to what it describes. With ال it is usually a نَعت, so just like any other naʿt it must agree with its مَنعُوت in number, gender, and everything.

جَاءَ ابْنِيَ الأَكْبَرُ — My oldest son came. الأَكْبَرُ is a naʿt for ابْن.

For a daughter it must be the feminine: الكُبْرَى — there is no choice.

4.4 Ibn Mālik's Lines

وَأَفْعَلَ التَّفْضِيلِ صِلْهُ أَبَدَا ⁂ تَقْدِيرًا اوْ لَفْظًا بِمِنْ إِنْ جُرِّدَا

When أَفْعَل stands on its own (free of ال and iḍāfah), always join it with مِن — either mentioned or implied. The مِن is always there.

وَإِنْ لِمَنْكُورٍ يُضَفْ أَوْ جُرِّدَا ⁂ أُلْزِمَ تَذْكِيرًا وَأَنْ يُوَحَّدَا

If it is muḍāf to an indefinite, or stands alone, it must be masculine and singular.

وَتِلْوُ أَلْ طِبْقٌ وَمَا لِمَعْرِفَهْ ⁂ أُضِيفَ ذُو وَجْهَيْنِ عَنْ ذِي مَعْرِفَهْ

What follows ال agrees (طِبْق) with what it describes. What is muḍāf to a definite has two faces — plural or singular masculine are both permissible — according to the people of knowledge (ذِي مَعْرِفَه).

"That wasn't that bad for poetry. Alhamdulillah, we are getting better at poetry."

اِسم التَّفضِيل — Quick Reference

Case	Agreement
No ال, no iḍāfah (with مِن, stated or implied)	Singular masculine — compulsory
Muḍāf to an indefinite	Singular masculine — compulsory
Muḍāf to a definite	Either — permissible
With ال	Full agreement — compulsory

See Ism al-Tafdhil.

4.5 The Brothers' Mindset — Then and Now

"Indeed our father prefers Yūsuf and his brother over us, although we are a strong group."

A Mindset That Hasn't Gone Away

In those days, adult or young-adult strong sons were seen as assets; younger children (because they were weak) and girls were seen as liabilities. This materialistic mindset is captured in the brothers' words.

Unfortunately, it is still there in many parts of the world: preferring boys over girls, or preferring the children who earn more or have a higher social status over those who are weaker in social settings. May Allah protect us from this materialistic mindset.

5. الأَسمَاء الخَمسَة — أَبِينَا

5.1 What Is Special About Them

Recap

The special five nouns: when they are muḍāf, their signs of iʿrāb become letters — وَاو, أَلِف, يَاء — instead of the ḥarakāt.

Condition: they are muḍāf, and the muḍāf ilayh is not يَاء المُتَكَلِّم. So أَبُوهَا has a وَاو, but in أَبِي (my father) there is no wāw.

See Five Special Nouns.

5.2 Primary and Secondary Signs of Iʿrāb

العَلَامَات الأَصلِيَّة and الفَرعِيَّة

ḍammah, fatḥah, kasrah are the primary (original, default, "true") signs of iʿrāb.
وَاو, أَلِف, يَاء are secondary signs.

There are many other secondary signs. For example, in مُسْلِمَات, the naṣb is marked with a kasrah (رَأَيْتُ مُسْلِمَاتٍ) — naṣb is usually a fatḥah, so here the kasrah is a secondary sign of naṣb.

A Clarification

The teacher introduced this example under diptotes. The kasrah-for-naṣb pattern described belongs to the sound feminine plural (جَمْع المُؤَنَّث السَّالِم). In a diptote, the secondary sign is the fatḥah standing in for jarr. See Mamnu min al-Sarf.

5.3 Before يَاء المُتَكَلِّم — Implied Primary Signs

When these nouns are muḍāf to يَاء المُتَكَلِّم, they take the primary signs — but implied (مُقَدَّرَة).

Why Implied?

يَاء المُتَكَلِّم always gives the letter before it a kasrah, so whatever ḥarakah should have fallen on that letter is no longer visible.

That kasrah can be problematic, especially for verbs, where it might change the meaning or the understanding of the verb. That is why we sometimes insert نُون الوِقَايَة before the yāʾ: عَلَّمَنِي — he taught me. But not always — in أَبِي there is no nūn al-wiqāyah. See Nun al-Wiqaya.

جَاءَ أَبِي

أَبِي is the fāʿil, so it is marfūʿ — yet there is a kasrah under the بَاء. Is that kasrah because it is majrūr? No — it is because of the يَاء.

Analysis: جَاءَ — fiʿl; أَبُ — fāʿil, marfūʿ with a ḍammah muqaddarah on the last letter. Why muqaddarah? For a phonetic reason: the بَاء has lost its ḍammah to the kasrah that the yāʾ requires. We know it is there — it simply does not appear.

Three Special Nouns in One Sentence

The book gives a sentence with حَمِي (my in-law — e.g. father-in-law), أَبِي, and أَخِي together. One is the fāʿil and one is the mafʿūl bih — and yet they look identical, each with a kasrah before the yāʾ. أَبِي is manṣūb here, but it takes no fatḥah. That is exactly why all three were put in one sentence: whether fāʿil, mafʿūl, or majrūr, the word looks the same before يَاء المُتَكَلِّم.

Not Muḍāf — Ordinary Primary Signs

When these nouns are not muḍāf, their signs are the ordinary visible ḥarakāt: who is this brother (الأَخُ)? — I gave the notebook to that brother (الأَخَ).

5.4 Ibn Mālik on the Five (Six) Nouns

وَارْفَعْ بِوَاوٍ وَانْصِبَنَّ بِالأَلِفْ ⁂ وَاجْرُرْ بِيَاءٍ مَا مِنَ الأَسْمَا أَصِفْ

مِنْ ذَاكَ ذُو إِنْ صُحْبَةً أَبَانَا ⁂ وَالفَمُ حَيْثُ المِيمُ مِنْهُ بَانَا

أَبٌ أَخٌ حَمٌ كَذَاكَ وَهَنُ ⁂ وَالنَّقْصُ فِي هَذَا الأَخِيرِ أَحْسَنُ

وَشَرْطُ ذَا الإِعْرَابِ أَنْ يُضَفْنَ لَا ⁂ لِليَا كَجَا أَخُو أَبِيكَ ذَا اعْتِلَا

Line	Meaning
وَارْفَعْ بِوَاوٍ ...	The nouns I am describing: make them marfūʿ with wāw, manṣūb with alif, majrūr with yāʾ
ذُو إِنْ صُحْبَةً أَبَانَا	ذُو — when it shows possession. It always shows possession, so it is always muḍāf, with a muḍāf ilayh after it
وَالفَمُ حَيْثُ المِيمُ مِنْهُ بَانَا	فَم — when its mīm is dropped. You can say it either way: with the mīm it takes normal ḥarakāt (فَمُكَ); without it, it takes the letters (فُوكَ)
أَبٌ أَخٌ حَمٌ	Father, brother, in-law
وَهَنُ ... وَالنَّقْصُ فِي هَذَا الأَخِيرِ أَحْسَنُ	هَن is a placeholder word, like English so-and-so. It can take the letters, but treating it as a normal noun (with ḥarakāt) is seen as the better option
وَشَرْطُ ذَا الإِعْرَابِ ...	The condition: they must be muḍāf — but not to the yāʾ
جَا أَخُو أَبِيكَ ذَا اعْتِلَا	Your father's brother came — the honourable one

6. Āyah 9 — اقْتُلُوا يُوسُفَ

اقْتُلُوا يُوسُفَ أَوِ اطْرَحُوهُ أَرْضًا يَخْلُ لَكُمْ وَجْهُ أَبِيكُمْ وَتَكُونُوا مِن بَعْدِهِ قَوْمًا صَالِحِينَ

"Kill Yūsuf or cast him out to [some] land; your father's countenance will [then] be only for you, and you will be after that a righteous people."

6.1 Translation — and a Method

The Class's Attempts

One student began ("they killed…") and was not sure of the meaning; another translated: "Kill Yūsuf, or cast him onto the land, … your father, and after that you will be a righteous people."

Always Look for the Fāʿil

The key question: where is the fāʿil of يَخْلُ? It is وَجْهُ أَبِيكُمْ. Your father's face will become free for you — your father, who is so taken up with these two brothers: if we kill Yūsuf, his attention will be free for us.

Whenever you are not sure what is happening, or you have translated something slightly wrong, if it is a verb, look for the fāʿil — and the meaning becomes much clearer.

اقْتُلُوا, Not قَتَلُوا

They killed would be قَتَلُوا. اقْتُلُوا is the imperative: kill!

6.2 قَتَلَ — From the Book

قَتْل is the maṣdar, meaning إِزْهَاقُ الرُّوحِ — destroying the life. (زَهَقَ means to perish, to be destroyed.)

Word	Meaning
قَتِيل	A person who has been killed
قَاتِل	The killer, the murderer
قَتْلَى	Plural of قَتِيل

قَتِيل Has No تَاء — Until It Becomes a Noun

رَجُلٌ قَتِيلٌ — a man who was killed.
For a woman who was killed we also say قَتِيل — not قَتِيلَة — when it is used as an adjective with its مَوصُوف mentioned.
When you remove the mawṣūf, the word changes from an adjective to a noun, and now the tāʾ enters upon it: القَتِيلَة.

The Dead Body

Notice the book says, in effect, the killed one (fem.) was transported to the hospital — not the murdered woman. Without a mawṣūf, القَتِيلَة carries more of the meaning of the dead body, and because it is now a normal noun, it takes the ة. If we meant the murdered woman, we would mention the mawṣūf. See Hadhf al-Mawsuf.

قَتْلَى — Why a Diptote?

قَتْلَى is a plural on the فَعْلَى pattern, and it is مَمنُوع مِن الصَّرف. Grammar books usually tell you why something is a diptote: here it is because it contains أَلِف التَّأنِيث المَقصُورَة — an alif that makes the word feminine, in its short form. That alone is enough. See Mamnu min al-Sarf.

6.3 يَخْلُ لَكُمْ وَجْهُ أَبِيكُمْ

خَلَا / يَخْلُو

خَلَا — to become empty: a place, or a bowl, becomes void of whatever was in it — it has been taken away. The maṣdar is خُلُوّ.

An Idiom, Not a Literal Phrase

خُلُوُّ الوَجْهِ — the emptying of the face (وَجْه = face, or countenance) — is a metaphor for complete attention or complete affection (الْتِفَات).

When your child comes to you while you are busy on your phone and just replying to them — that is not complete attention. But if you put the phone down and sit facing them — that is complete attention, and complete affection.

So يَخْلُ لَكُمْ وَجْهُ أَبِيكُمْ: your father's affection will be only for you — once we remove the objects of his affection whom he loves more than us.

"If I say 'the face becomes empty,' it does not make sense. Every language has expressions like this that you can't translate literally."

The Book's Illustration

I want to ask you about something, but there are so many people asking questions in class. So do you permit me to visit you at home لِيَخْلُوَ لِي وَجْهُكَ — so that you can give me your complete attention.

Not "so that your face becomes empty for me."

Why لِيَخْلُوَ with a fatḥah? After this لَام there is always an أَنْ (implied), which makes the muḍāriʿ manṣūb.

6.4 طَرَحَ and رَمَى

طَرَحَ

طَرَحَ — to fling, to throw. The book notes it can be used directly, or with a preposition after it.

رَمَى

رَمَى also means to fling, to throw — hence الرَّمْي of the jamarāt in Ḥajj.

Sūrat al-Mursalāt (32)

إِنَّهَا تَرْمِي بِشَرَرٍ كَالْقَصْرِ

"Indeed, it throws sparks [as huge] as a palace."

Allah is describing Jahannam and its horrors: شَرَر — sparks, small flames — thrown as big as palaces.

Why a Palace?

Today, to say something is huge, we might say as tall as the Burj Khalifa. But in Arabia at that time there were no skyscrapers — mostly tent-dwellers. Even in a city like Makkah, a double-storey house was a sign of great wealth, because you had to dig deep into the rocky ground for the foundation, requiring much labour and resources.

To people with no idea of high-rises, a palace — like those they saw in al-Shām and Persia, with multiple storeys — was their Burj Khalifa. The sparks will be as big as that.

6.5 أَرْض

أَرْض is a well-known word, and it is feminine. It has two plurals:

Plural	Usage
أَرَضُون	Lands in the broader sense — worlds, or countries
أَرَاضٍ	Mostly agricultural land, acres of land

أَرَاضٍ / الأَرَاضِي

The يَاء comes back when you add ال — الأَرَاضِي — or when it becomes muḍāf. There is no grammatical rule behind that yāʾ — it is not a root letter; it is just how it is done. In أَرَاضٍ we know there is a yāʾ which is not appearing, like the مَنقُوص words such as وَادٍ / الوَادِي. And أَرَاضٍ with tanwīn does not mean it is majrūr — it could be marfūʿ as well. See Ism Manqus.

6.6 قَوْم — Originally Men Only

A Group of Men

قَوْم is a group of people, a nation — and today it is used for a nation of men and women both. But its original meaning was a group of men, without women. (The class covered this in the Sūrat al-Ḥujurāt sessions.)

Sūrat al-Ḥujurāt (11)

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا يَسْخَرْ قَوْمٌ مِّن قَوْمٍ عَسَىٰ أَن يَكُونُوا خَيْرًا مِّنْهُمْ وَلَا نِسَاءٌ مِّن نِّسَاءٍ عَسَىٰ أَن يَكُنَّ خَيْرًا مِّنْهُنَّ

"O you who believe, let not a group of men mock another; perhaps they are better than them. Nor let women mock women; perhaps they are better than them."

قَوْم is set against نِسَاء — here it means men. (This does not mean men may mock women or vice versa; it is just how Allah has put it.)

Zuhayr's Taunt

وَمَا أَدْرِي وَسَوْفَ إِخَالُ أَدْرِي ⁂ أَقَوْمٌ آلُ حِصْنٍ أَمْ نِسَاءُ

"I do not know — and I don't think I will ever know — are the people of Ḥiṣn men, or women?"

حِصْن is a fort — as in the famous book حِصْنُ المُسْلِم, the Fortress of the Muslim. The line is a taunt on the enemy: they are hiding in the fort and not fighting, like cowards — like women who don't fight. Again, قَوْم stands opposite نِسَاء.

The teacher believed the line is by Zuhayr ibn Abī Sulmā, the famous pre-Islamic poet, but was not sure which poem.

دَرَى vs أَدْرَى

أَدْرِي Is Form I

We see وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ a lot in the Quran — that is Form IV, أَدْرَى / يُدْرِي: to inform (what has informed you…). But أَدْرِي here is Form I, دَرَى / يَدْرِي: to know, with the أ of the first person. مَا أَدْرِي — I do not know.

إِخَالُ — The Banū Asad Kasrah

Why إِخَالُ?

إِخَالُ means I think. But what kind of word is it? A first-person muḍāriʿ prefix normally takes a fatḥah (أَكْتُبُ) or, for four-letter verbs like Form IV, a ḍammah (أُنْزِلُ). There is never a kasrah. So why إِ?

The Dialect of Banū Asad

Verbs fall into families according to the ḥarakah of the second radical in the māḍī — كَتَبَ, or شَرِبَ with a kasrah. In the dialect of the clan of Banū Asad, whenever a verb's second radical had a kasrah in the māḍī, they marked it by putting a kasrah on the muḍāriʿ prefix: standard يَشْرَبُ, but Banū Asad يِشْرَبُ.

This was considered a dialect, not classical enough. Literature did not usually use it, and the other clans — who thought their dialects superior — never did; they called it inferior.

Only one word survived into mainstream accepted usage with a kasrah on the prefix: إِخَالُ. It is the one exceptional word.

Train Your Mind to Ask Why

This isn't part of Sūrat Yūsuf — the teacher's question was: did you notice? Did the question come to your mind — why إِخَالُ? It doesn't look like a normal verb.

That is what your mind should be trained to do. Whenever you read anything, go through each word and analyse it: why this, why that. When you come across an abnormality, pick it up — this doesn't look right — and if it isn't, find out why. Then go and do your research.

Why Men Are Called قَوْم

From قَامَ

Men are called قَوْم because they were the ones responsible for the important and difficult matters — war, trade, and so on. قَوْم carries the meaning of قِيَام — standing (to a task). This definition comes from a very old, excellent dictionary.

No Singular of Its Own

قَوْم is a singular word that always carries a plural meaning. There is no singular from the same word; to express one, a different word is used.

6.7 صَالِحِينَ

Word	Meaning
صَلَحَ	Something became right, correct (the teacher corrected herself — not to make right)
صَلُحَ	Also found in some dialects instead of صَلَحَ — also correct language
فَسَدَ	The opposite: something became corrupted, rotten
صَالِح / صَالِحُون	One who has become right; righteous

Plurals in Sūrat ʿAbasa (38–42)

وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ مُّسْفِرَةٌ ۝ ضَاحِكَةٌ مُّسْتَبْشِرَةٌ ۝ وَوُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَلَيْهَا غَبَرَةٌ ۝ تَرْهَقُهَا قَتَرَةٌ ۝ أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْكَفَرَةُ الْفَجَرَةُ

"Some faces that Day will be radiant — laughing, rejoicing. And some faces that Day will have dust upon them — darkness covering them. Those are the disbelievers, the wicked."

Faces fresh and radiant, laughing and smiling; and faces with blackness over them, fear clouding them. Who are they? الكَفَرَة — plural of كَافِر — and الفَجَرَة — plural of فَاجِر: because of their sins. It is a description of their faces.

7. Vocabulary Summary

Arabic	Root	Pattern / Form	Meaning
نَكَّرَ / مُنَكَّر	ن-ك-ر	Form II / ism mafʿūl	To make indefinite / made indefinite
عَرَّفَ / مُعَرَّف	ع-ر-ف	Form II / ism mafʿūl	To make definite / made definite
حُلِيّ	ح-ل-ي	—	Jewellery, ornament
سِوَار	س-و-ر	فِعَال	Bracelet
مَحَلّ	ح-ل-ل	Ism makān	Position (of iʿrāb)
وَسْوَسَ	و-س-و-س	Quadriliteral	To whisper (evil suggestions)
دَلَّ عَلَى	د-ل-ل	Form I, doubled	To point out, direct to
خَلَدَ / خَالِد / الخُلْد	خ-ل-د	Form I / ism fāʿil / maṣdar	To be eternal / eternal / eternity
مُلْك	م-ل-ك	—	Kingdom, dominion
بَلِيَ / يَبْلَى	ب-ل-ي	Form I	To wear out
بَلَا / يَبْلُو	ب-ل-و	Form I	To test
اِبتِلَاء	ب-ل-و	Maṣdar, Form VIII	Test of character (by hardship or ease)
اِمتِحَان	م-ح-ن	Maṣdar, Form VIII	Examination of knowledge
نَزَعَ	ن-ز-ع	Form I	To remove, pull out
غِلّ	غ-ل-ل	—	Rancour, grudge
نَادَى / نُودُوا	ن-د-و	Form III / passive	To call / they were called
أُورِثَ	و-ر-ث	Form IV, passive	To be made to inherit
مَكَان / مَكَانَة	ك-و-ن	—	Place / status, rank
أَحَبُّ	ح-ب-ب	أَفْعَل (tafḍīl), doubled	More / most beloved
أَقْرَب	ق-ر-ب	أَفْعَل	Nearer, nearest
أَحْسَن / أَحَاسِن	ح-س-ن	أَفْعَل / أَفَاعِل	Better, best / plural
مَجْلِس	ج-ل-س	مَفْعِل	Sitting, gathering
أَخْلَاق	خ-ل-ق	أَفْعَال (pl.)	Character
طِبْق	ط-ب-ق	—	Matching, in agreement
مُطَابَقَة	ط-ب-ق	Maṣdar, Form III	Agreement (in number and gender)
حَم / حَمِي	ح-م-و	One of the special nouns	In-law / my in-law
هَن	ه-ن-و	One of the special nouns	So-and-so (placeholder)
ذُو	—	One of the special nouns	Possessor of
قَتَلَ / قَتْل	ق-ت-ل	Form I / maṣdar	To kill / killing
إِزْهَاق	ز-ه-ق	Maṣdar, Form IV	Destroying (life)
قَتِيل / قَتْلَى	ق-ت-ل	فَعِيل / فَعْلَى	Killed (person) / plural — diptote
قَاتِل	ق-ت-ل	Ism fāʿil	Killer
خَلَا / يَخْلُو / خُلُوّ	خ-ل-و	Form I / maṣdar	To become empty / emptiness
وَجْه	و-ج-ه	—	Face, countenance
الْتِفَات	ل-ف-ت	Maṣdar, Form VIII	Attention, turning towards
طَرَحَ	ط-ر-ح	Form I	To fling, throw
رَمَى / رَمْي	ر-م-ي	Form I / maṣdar	To throw / throwing (of jamarāt)
شَرَر	ش-ر-ر	Collective	Sparks
قَصْر	ق-ص-ر	—	Palace
أَرْض / أَرَضُون / أَرَاضٍ	أ-ر-ض	Fem. / plurals	Land / lands, worlds / plots of land
قَوْم	ق-و-م	—	A group of men; a people
حِصْن	ح-ص-ن	فِعْل	Fort, fortress
سَخِرَ مِن	س-خ-ر	Form I	To mock
دَرَى / يَدْرِي	د-ر-ي	Form I	To know
أَدْرَى / يُدْرِي	د-ر-ي	Form IV	To inform
خَالَ / إِخَالُ	خ-ي-ل	Form I	To think / I think (Banū Asad kasrah)
صَلَحَ / صَلُحَ	ص-ل-ح	Form I	To become right, sound
فَسَدَ	ف-س-د	Form I	To become corrupt
صَالِح / صَالِحُون	ص-ل-ح	Ism fāʿil	Righteous
كَفَرَة	ك-ف-ر	فَعَلَة (pl. of كَافِر)	Disbelievers
فَجَرَة	ف-ج-ر	فَعَلَة (pl. of فَاجِر)	The wicked

8. Key Lessons from This Session

Summary of Lessons

Can ʿaṭf al-bayān be indefinite? Many grammarians say no; Ibn Mālik says yes — فَقَدْ يَكُونَانِ مُنَكَّرَيْنِ كَمَا يَكُونَانِ مُعَرَّفَيْنِ. The قَد marks the disputed case.
The Quranic examples from last session — طَعَامُ مَسَاكِينَ, زَيْتُونَةٍ, صَدِيدٍ — are all indefinite. Books that deny indefinite ʿaṭf al-bayān label them badal instead; knowing the dispute prevents confusion.
A muḍāf takes its definiteness from its muḍāf ilayh.
Nested sentences have a مَحَلّ — ask what single word could replace them. High-level sentences have none.
Can ʿaṭf al-bayān be a sentence? Most say no; some say yes, citing قَالَ يَا آدَمُ (Ṭāhā 120) and أَن تِلْكُمُ الْجَنَّةُ (al-Aʿrāf 43). Those who say no read such sentences as high-level explanatory sentences, or give other iʿrāb.
A jumlah after an indefinite noun is usually a naʿt (مُلْكٍ لَا يَبْلَىٰ); after a definite noun, usually a ḥāl.
Shayṭān attacks through our natural desires — like the longing for permanence — and starts small.
بَلِيَ (wear out) and بَلَا (test) share a dictionary entry: wearing reveals what is inside, and a test brings out what is hidden in the heart. اِبتِلَاء tests character through ease and hardship; اِمتِحَان tests knowledge.
تِلْكُمُ for the Jannah they are standing in shows distance of rank, not place. Jannah is inherited by Allah's mercy — not earned by deeds alone.
اِسم التَّفضِيل takes إِلَى for the one who loves and مِن for the comparison; مِن signals comparative.
Four agreement cases: alone or muḍāf to an indefinite → singular masculine; muḍāf to a definite → either (أَحَبِّكُمْ … أَحَاسِنَكُمْ); with ال → full agreement.
After اِسم التَّفضِيل comes tamyīz, not ḥāl — it specifies in what the superiority lies.
The special nouns take secondary signs (letters) when muḍāf to anything but يَاء المُتَكَلِّم; before that yāʾ, their primary signs are implied because the yāʾ demands a kasrah.
When a translation is unclear, find the fāʿil — يَخْلُ لَكُمْ وَجْهُ أَبِيكُمْ opens up once وَجْهُ أَبِيكُمْ is identified.
خُلُوُّ الوَجْهِ is an idiom for complete attention and affection; idioms must not be translated literally.
قَتِيل takes no ة as an adjective with its mawṣūf; once the mawṣūf is dropped it becomes a noun and can take ة. قَتْلَى is a diptote because of أَلِف التَّأنِيث المَقصُورَة.
Imagery must be read in its world: sparks like palaces was the Burj Khalifa of 7th-century Arabia.
قَوْم originally means men, as its contrast with نِسَاء shows in al-Ḥujurāt 11 and Zuhayr's taunt.
إِخَالُ is the lone survivor of the Banū Asad kasrah on the muḍāriʿ prefix — and noticing such anomalies, and asking why, is exactly the habit a student should build.

The class stopped partway through the book's notes on Āyah 9 and will pick up from there next week, in shāʾ Allāh.