اسم الفِعل — Noun with the Force of a Verb
اسم الفِعل (ism al-fiʿl) is a word that is a noun in form but carries the complete meaning of a verb sentence. It is one of the "frozen" (مَبنِي) word categories — it never declines and cannot be inflected.
Definition and Characteristics
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Form | Noun |
| Function | Carries the meaning of a complete verbal sentence |
| Declension | Mabnī — frozen; never changes form |
| Derivation | Cannot be derived by morphological rules — it is organic/primitive |
Key Example: أُفّ
أُفّ / أُفٍّ / أُفَّ are all valid variant forms (the tanwīn or lack thereof is not grammatical marking — it is part of the organic word).
| Form | Meaning |
|---|---|
| أُفٍّ (with tanwīn) | I am fed up of everything in general |
| أُفَّ / أُفّ (without tanwīn) | I am fed up of this particular thing |
In Surah al-Israa 23, Allah uses أُفٍّ to forbid even this most minimal expression of exasperation toward parents.
Other Examples of Ism al-Fiʿl
| Word | Meaning / Force |
|---|---|
| آمِين | May Allah accept it (force of a complete supplication) |
| هَيهَات | How far/impossible! (force of: "that is very far away") |
| صَهٍ / صَه | Silence! (force of: "be quiet") |
| إِيهٍ | Go on! / Tell me more! |
Why Ism al-Fiʿl is Mabnī
Mabnī words are those whose form is fixed regardless of grammatical position. Ism al-fiʿl is mabnī because: 1. It is not derived from a root by standard morphological patterns — it is a primitive, organic expression. 2. It has no iʿrāb — it does not function as fāʿil, mafʿūl, mubtadaʾ, etc. in the normal sense.
Examples from the Quran
فَلَا تَقُل لَّهُمَا أُفٍّ — Surah al-Israa 23 Do not say to your parents "Uff!" — even this minimal expression of disgust is prohibited.
Session References
- Selected Ayaat of Surah al-Israa Session 2: أُفّ identified as ism al-fiʿl; mabnī nature explained; comparison to Urdu اُف and آمِین as parallels.