اسم الموصول — Relative Pronouns
An ism al-mawṣūl (relative pronoun) is a connecting word that introduces extra information about a noun, equivalent to English who, which, or that. It is always followed by a complete clause — the ṣilat al-mawṣūl — which must contain a pronoun referring back to the ism mawṣūl.
The Arabic Relative Pronouns
| Arabic | Transliteration | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| الَّذِي | al-ladhī | Singular masculine |
| الَّذِينَ | al-ladhīna | Plural masculine |
| الَّتِي | al-latī | Singular feminine |
| اللَّاتِي / اللَّوَاتِي | al-lātī / al-lawātī | Plural feminine |
The ism mawṣūl must match the number and gender of the noun it refers to.
صِلَة الموصول — The Relative Clause
The clause that follows the ism mawṣūl is called the ṣilat al-mawṣūl. It must be:
- A complete sentence (jumlah tāmmah) — verbal or nominal
- Or a shibh jumlah (quasi-sentence) — a jarr-majrūr phrase
العائد — The Referent Pronoun
Within every ṣilat al-mawṣūl there must be a pronoun that returns to the ism mawṣūl. This is the عائد (ʿāʾid), from ع-و-د (to return).
Two Rules for the ʿĀʾid
- Must match the ism mawṣūl in number and gender.
- Must be identifiable in the ṣilat — this is what grammatically links the clause to its antecedent.
Worked Example 1 — Nominal Silah
اعْبُدُوا الَّذِي لَهُ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ
Worship the One to Whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth.
| Element | Role |
|---|---|
| الَّذِي | Ism mawṣūl |
| لَهُ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ | Ṣilat al-mawṣūl (nominal — shibh jumlah + khabar) |
| هُ in لَهُ | ʿĀʾid — singular masculine pronoun referring to الَّذِي |
Worked Example 2 — Verbal Silah (from Sūrat Al-Ḥujurāt)
الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا — those who believed
| Element | Role |
|---|---|
| الَّذِينَ | Ism mawṣūl — plural masculine |
| آمَنُوا | Ṣilat al-mawṣūl — fiʿl māḍī verbal sentence |
| وَاو in آمَنُوا | ʿĀʾid — plural masculine pronoun (fāʿil), returning to الَّذِينَ |
How to Spot the ʿĀʾid
Look at the ism mawṣūl's number and gender — then find a matching pronoun inside the ṣilah. In verbal sentences it is often the pronoun embedded in the verb. In complex sentences the ʿāʾid can be harder to identify, but it is always there.
Examples from the Quran
The formula يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا occurs dozens of times in the Quran. الَّذِينَ is the ism mawṣūl; آمَنُوا is the ṣilat al-mawṣūl; the wāw in آمَنُوا is the ʿāʾid.
Mabni Words and فِي مَحَلِّ (Fī Maḥall)
Ism mawṣūl words (like الَّذِي, الَّذِينَ) are mabni — they never change their endings regardless of grammatical position. Because their form does not show case, we use the phrase فِي مَحَلِّ to state their grammatical position:
- فِي مَحَلِّ رَفع = occupying a marfūʿ position (e.g. acting as mubtadaʾ or fāʿil)
- فِي مَحَلِّ نَصب = occupying a manṣūb position (e.g. acting as ism inna or mafʿūl)
- فِي مَحَلِّ جَرّ = occupying a majrūr position
In Āyah 3 — Sūrat Al-Ḥujurāt
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَغُضُّونَ أَصوَاتَهُم
الَّذِينَ is the ism inna (subject of إِنَّ). As ism inna, a normal noun would be manṣūb. But الَّذِينَ is mabni — it never changes. We say: fī maḥalli naṣb.
جُملَة لَا مَحَلَّ لَهَا — Sentences with No Iʿrāb Position
Not every embedded clause has an iʿrāb position. The ṣilat al-mawṣūl (the relative clause following an ism mawṣūl) is the primary example:
جُملَة لَا مَحَلَّ لَهَا مِنَ الإِعرَاب "A sentence that has no iʿrāb standing"
The ṣilat al-mawṣūl cannot be described as being in maḥall rafʿ or naṣb because it does not occupy a slot that a single declinable word could fill. It only exists to define/describe the ism mawṣūl.
Contrast with a jumlah fī maḥall: a clause that does substitute for a single word in the sentence (e.g. a verbal sentence acting as khabar — fī maḥalli rafʿ) has an iʿrāb position. The ṣilat al-mawṣūl does not.
Ṣilah as Shibh-Jūmlah — The Implied ʿĀʾid
When the ṣilat al-mawṣūl is a shibh-jūmlah (a prepositional phrase or ẓarf rather than a full sentence), there is no visible pronoun to serve as the ʿāʾid. The solution: the shibh-jūmlah always implies an omitted verb (يَستَقِرُّ / يَكُونُ), and the fāʿil of that omitted verb is the ʿāʾid.
لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ — مَا = ism mawṣūl; فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ = ṣilah (shibh-jūmlah) Reconstruct as: مَا يَستَقِرُّ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ — the hidden فاعل is the ʿāʾid
ʿĀʾid Omission Rules
| Role of ʿāʾid | Rule |
|---|---|
| Fāʿil | Cannot be omitted — the sentence needs its subject |
| Mafʿūl bih | Can be omitted — the sentence remains complete without the object pronoun |
When omitted, iʿrāb states: "The ʿāʾid is the pronoun X in [verb], which has been omitted (maḥdhūf)."
Ism Mawṣūl as Bridge for Definite Nouns
Since an embedded jūmlah is always nakira, it can only serve as naʿt for a nakira noun. To attach a sentence as naʿt to a definite noun, the ism mawṣūl is used as a bridge:
❌ جَاءَ الطِّفلُ يَبكِي — ḥāl (not naʿt — sentence after maʿrifa) ✅ جَاءَ الطِّفلُ الَّذِي يَبكِي — naʿt via ism mawṣūl
Session References
- Surah Al-Hujuraat Session 2: Introduction to ism mawsool, silat al-mawsool, and the ʿāʾid — with worked examples from Sūrat Al-Ḥujurāt Āyah 1.
- Surah Al-Hujuraat Session 5: Mabni words and fī maḥall analysis; jumlah lā maḥalla lahā — applied to iʿrāb of Āyah 3.
- Selections from the Glorious Quran Session 4: ʿĀʾid omission rules (fāʿil vs mafʿūl bih); ism mawṣūl as bridge for sentence-naʿt on definite nouns; iʿrāb of Āyah 7 of al-Fātiḥah.