الأسماء الخمسة — The Five Special Nouns
The five special nouns are a group of nouns that decline using letters (long vowels) instead of short vowel marks, when they are the first term of an iḍāfa (muḍāf).
The Five Nouns
| Noun | Meaning |
|---|---|
| أَبٌ | father |
| أَخٌ | brother |
| حَمٌ | father-in-law (husband's relative) |
| فُوهٌ (with meem dropped: فَم) | mouth |
| ذُو | possessor of / owner of |
Declension When in Iḍāfa
| Case | Sign | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| مرفوع (nominative) | وَاو | أَبُو / أَخُو / فُو / ذُو | أَبُو بَكرٍ جَاءَ |
| منصوب (accusative) | أَلِف | أَبَا / أَخَا / فَا / ذَا | رَأَيتُ أَبَا بَكرٍ |
| مجرور (genitive) | يَاء | أَبِي / أَخِي / فِي / ذِي | مَرَرتُ بِـأَبِي بَكرٍ |
When not in iḍāfa: they take regular short vowel endings like any other noun (أَبٌ، أَبًا، أَبٍ).
The Special Case of فَم (Mouth)
فَم has two forms:
- With meem retained: فَمٌ → declines normally with short vowels: فَمٌ، فَمًا، فَمٍ
- With meem dropped: فُوهٌ → becomes فُو (nominative), فَا (accusative), فِي (genitive) when in iḍāfa
The five-noun declension only applies when the meem is dropped.
Why This Matters in the Hadith Text
رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنهُمَا — when referring to ابن عبَّاس, the dual is used because the chain of narration mentions both Abdullah ibn Abbas and his father Abbas — two sahabis. The noun أَب (as in عَن أَبِيهِ) appears in the genitive, correctly showing يَاء as the genitive marker.
Quick reference
| Case | Marker | Mnemonic |
|---|---|---|
| رفع | وَاو | أَبُو عَبداللهِ |
| نصب | أَلِف | رَأَيتُ أَبَا عَبداللهِ |
| جرّ | يَاء | مَرَرتُ بِأَبِي عَبداللهِ |
Session References
- From Esfahaan to Madinah Session 1: five special nouns introduced; فَم and its two forms; dual example with ابن عباس