نَوَاسِخُ الْمُبْتَدَأِ وَالْخَبَرِ (Influences that cancel the mubtada’ and khabar)

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته,

We’ve seen how a جُمْلُة اسْمِيَّة (nominal sentence) will have a subject called the مُبْتَدَأ (mubtada’) and some information about that subject called the خَبَر (khabar), along with the fact that they are both going to be in the state of رَفْع (raf’).  These are the third and fourth of the 7 types of nouns in رَفع.

We’ll look at the the fifth and sixth of these seven together, because they both come under the heading of “cancellers of the mubtada’ and khabar” (which we’ll get to in just a moment):

• “the ism of كانَ” and its siblings
• “the khabar of إِنَّ” and its siblings

كانَ and إنَّ are two of the influences that can come and cancel the original rule of a nominal sentence (that the mubtada’ and khabar are both in raf’) and replace it with something else, and that’s what we’re going to look at more closely now:

نَوَاسِخُ الْمُبْتَدَأِ وَالْخَبَرِ (Influences that cancel the mubtada’ and khabar)

بابُ العَوامِلِ الدَاخِلَةِ عَلَى الْمُبْتَدَأِ وَالْخَبَرِ, هِيَ ثَلاثَةُ أشْياء: كانَ وَأَخَواتُها وَإِنََ وَأَخَواتُها وَظَنَنْتُ وَأَخَواتُها

The chapter of the influences that come before the mubtada’ and khabar, and they are three things: َكان (“was”) and its sisters, إنَّ (“indeed”) and its sisters and ظَنَنْتُ (“I thought”) and its sisters.

The rule for the mubtada’ and khabar is that they will both be in raf’ (i.e. they will have a dhammah or one of its substitutes on the end).  Three influences that change that rule:

1. One that puts the mubtada’ in raf’ and the khabar in nasb – the كانَ family of verbs
   • e.g. كانَ الْجَوُّ صافِيًا (“the air was pure”) –> the fathah on صافِيًا shows the nasb
   • The mubtada’ of كَانَ is the fifth of the seven reasons why a noun will be in raf’
2. One that puts the mubtada’ in nasb and the khabar in raf’ – the إنَّ family of particles
   • e.g. إنَّ اللهَ عَزِيْزٌ حَكِيْمٌ (“Indeed, Allah is the Mighty, the Wise”) – اللهَ has a fathah
   • The the khabar of إّنَis is the sixth reason why a noun will be in raf’
3. One that puts both the mubtada’ and khabar in nasb – the ظَنَنْتُ family of verbs
   • e.g. ظَنَنْتُ الصَدِيْقَ أخًا (“I thought the friend to be a brother”) – both words have a fathah on them
   • Not related to why a noun will be in raf’, but mentioned for the sake of completeness

These influences are called النَواسِخ (“the cancellers”), because they cancel the original rule for which state the mubtada’ and khabar will be in and bring a new rule.

Let’s take a closer look at each family of these cancellers…

كانَ وَأخَواتُها (The كانَ family)

فَأمّا كانَ وَأخَوَاتُها, فَإنَّها تَرْفَعُ الاِسْمَ وَتَنْصِبُ الْخَبَرَ وَهِيَ: كانَ وَأَمْسَى وَأَصْبَحَ  وَأَضْحَى وَظَلََ وَبَاتَ وَصَارَ وَلَيْسَ وَما زَالَ وَما انْفَكَّ وَمَا فَتِئَ وَما بَرِحَ وَما دَامَ, وَما تَصَرَّفَ مِنْها نَحْوُ كانَ وَيَكُونُ وَكُنْ وَأًصْبَحَ وَيُصْبِحُ وَأًصْبِحْ. تَقُوْلُ كانَ زَيْدٌ قائِمًا وَلَيْسَ عَمْرٌو شاخِصًا وَما أشْبَهَ ذَلِكَ

As for كان and its sisters, they put the noun (اسْم) in a state of raf’ and the khabar in nasb – and they are:

• َكَان (“was [in general]”)
• أَمْسَى (“was in the afternoon or evening”/”became”)
• َأَصْبَح (“was in the morning”/”became”)
• أَضْحَى (“was in the late morning”/”became”)
• ظَلَّ (“was during the daytime”)
• َبَات (“was during the nighttime”)
• َصَار (“became”)
• َلَيْس (“is not”)
• َمَا زَال (“continued”/”was still”)
• مَا انْفَكّ (“continued”/”was still”)
• َمَا فَتِئ (“continued”/”was still”)
• َمَا بَرِح (“continued”/”was still”)
• َمَا دَام (“as long as”/”for the duration”)

as well as what conjugates from them into the present tense and command forms like كَانَ – يَكُوْنُ – كُنْ (“was” – “is/will be” – “Be!”) and أَصْبَحَ – يُصْبِحُ – أَصْبِحْ [“was” – “is/will be” – “Be!” (all in the morning)]

You say: كَانَ زَيْدٌ قائمًا (“Zayd was standing”) and لَيْسَ عَمْرٌو شاخِصًا (“‘Amr is not present/going”) and what is similar to that.

The first group that cancels the mubtada’ and khabar is كانَ and its siblings (other verbs that have the same effect).  The effect they have is:

• They come before the mubtada’ and remove its raf’ and give it a new raf’
• The mubtada’ is then renamed as “the ism of كانَ”
• The khabar is nasb-ized and renamed as “the khabar of كانَ”

So we don’t have a mubtada’ and khabar anymore.  Instead, we will have كان, its ism and its khabar.

This division has 13 verbs in it, and I give the you the past tense form below.  The first 7 can be used in the past, present or command forms.  The others are limited, as some can only be used in the past and present tense forms and some only in the past tense form:

1. كانَ – this means the khabar is a description of the ism in the past, and this description could stop being true as in كانَ مُحَمَّدٌ مُجْتَهِدٌ (“Muhammad was a striver”), or continuous as in وَكانَ رَبُّكَ قَدِيْرًا (“And your Lord has always been capable”)
2. أمْسَى – the ism takes on the description in the khabar in the مَساء (evening), as in أَمْسَى الجَوُّ بَارِدًا (“The air got cold in evening”)
3. أصْبَحَ – the ism takes on the description in the khabar in the صَباح (morning), as in أصْبَحَ الْجَوَّ مُكْفَهِرًّا (“The air became cloudy in the morning”)
4. أضْحَى – the ism takes on the description in the khabar in the ضُحُى (late morning), as in أَضْحَى الطَالِبُ نَشِيْطًا (“The student became active in the late morning”)
5. ظَلَّ – the ism takes on the description in the khabar in the daytime, as in ظَلَّ وَجْهُهُ مُسْوَدًّا (“His face darkened in the day”)
6. بَاتَ – the ism takes on the description in the khabar in the nighttime, as in بَاتَ مُحَمَّدٌ مَسْرُوْرًا (“Muhammad became happy at night”)
7. صَارَ – the ism changes to the condition mentioned in the khabar, as in صاَرَ الطِيْنُ إبْرِيْقًا (“The clay became a pitcher”)
8. لَيْسَ – Negates the khabar for the ism in the present, as in لَيْسَ مُحَمَّدٌ فَاهِمًا (“Muhammad is not understanding”).  This can only be used in the past tense form
9. ما زَالَ –  This and the next three all mean that the khabar holds true for the ism for as long as the situation calls for, as in مَا زَالَ إبْراهِيْمُ مُنْكِرًا (“Ibrahim continued to censure”).
   • To cancel the mubtada’, these four need a negation, question word, or prohibition before them
   • They can only be used in their past tense and present tense forms, not the command form
10. مَا انْفَكَّ
11. ما فَتِئَ
12. مَا بَرِحَ  – as in ما بَرِحَ عَلِيٌّ صَدِيقا مُخْلِصًا (“Ali was still a sincere friend”)
13. مَا دَامَ – also used to mean that the khabar sticks to the ism with the meaning  of “as long as”, as in لا أعْذِلُ خاَلِدًا مَا دُمْتُ حَيًّا (“I will not blame Khalid as long as I’m alive”).
    • It always comes with ما before it.  The stronger opinion is that it can only be used in the past tense (you won’t see the present tense يَدُوْمُ used)

إِنَّ وَأخَوَاتُها (The إِنَّ family)

وَأَمَّا إِنَّ وَأَخَوَاتُهَا فَإنََهَا تَنْصِبُ الاِسْمَ وَتَرْفَعُ الْخَبَرَ, هِيَ إِنَّ وَأَنَّ وَلَكِنَّ وَكَأَنَّ وَلَيْتَ وَلَعَلَّ.  تَقُوْلُ إِنَ زَيْدًا قَائِمٌ وَلَيْتَ عَمْرًا شَاخِصٌ وَمَا أَشْبَهَ ذَلِكَ, وَمَعْنَى إِنَّ وَأَنَّ التَوْكِيْدُ, وَلَكِنَّ لِلاِسْتِدْراكِ, وَكَأّنَّ لِلتَّشْبِيْهِ, وَلَيْتَ لِلتَّمَنِّيْ, وَلَعَلَّ لِلتَّرَجِّيْ وَالتَّوَقُّعِ

As for إنَّ and its sisters, they nasbi-ize the ism and raf’-ize the khabar – and they are:

• إِنَّ (“indeed”/”verily”)
• أَنَّ (“that”)
• لَكِنَّ (“but”/”however”)
• كَأَنَّ (“as if”)
• َلَيْت (“if only”)
• لَعَلَّ (“hopefully”)

You say: إنّ زَيْدًا قائمٌ (“Indeed, Zayd is standing”) and لَيْتَ عَمْرًا شاخِصٌ (“If only ‘Amr is present/going”) and what is similar to that.

إِنَّ and أنَّ are for emphasis and corroboration لَكِنَّ is for setting something straight, كأنَّ is for comparison, لَيْتَ is for expressing a wish (تَمَنِّي) and لَعَلَّ is forexpressing a hope (تَرَجِّي) or expectation (تَوَقُّع).

The second group that cancels the mubtada’ and khabar is إِنَّ and its siblings, and their effect is:

• They come before the mubtada’ and give it nasb
• The mubtada’ is then renamed as “the ism of إِنَّ”
• The khabar  has its raf’ renewed and is named as “the khabar of إِنَّ”

Instead of having a mubtada’ and khabar, we will have إِنَّ, its ism and its khabar.  This family has 6 members, all of them particles:

1. إِنَّ (inna) – this and أّنَّ are for emphasis (تَوْكِيْد), which is means that you are strengthening the relationship between the mubtada’ and khabar
   • إِنَّ أَباكَ حاضِرٌ (“Indeed, your father is present”)
2. أَنّ (anna)
   • عَلِمْتُ أّنََ أَبَاكَ مُسَافِرٌ (“I knew that your father is a traveler”)
3. لَكِنَّ (laakinna) – this is used for اسْتِدْرَاك (to set something straight).  To correct a misunderstanding that could arise, you follow up what you said with something else that negates what someone might think is true or confirms what someone might think is false because of it
   • For example: مُحَمَّدٌ شُجاعٌ وَلَكِنَّ صَدِيْقَهُ جَبانٌ (“Muhammad is brave, but his friend is a coward”)
4. كَأّنَ (ka-anna) – This is used to make a comparison (تَشْبِيْه) between the mubtada’ and khabar
   • كَأّنَّ الْجَارِيَةَ بَدْرٌ (“As if the servant girl is a full moon”)
5. لَيْتَ (layta) – Expresses a wish (تَمَنِّيْ) for something that’s impossible or only happens with difficulty
   • لَيْتَ الشَبَابَ عَائِدٌ (“If only youth were returning”)
6. لَعَلَّ (la’alla) – Expresses hope (تَرَجِّيْ) of something possible to happen or dreading (تَوّقُّع) something disliked
   • لَعَلَّ اللًهَ يَرْحَمُنِيْ (“Hopefully Allah will have mercy on me”)
   • لَعَلَّ الْعَدُوَّ قَرِيْبٌ مِنّا (“Perhaps the enemy is near us”)

ظَنَنْتُ وَأَخَوَاتُها (The ظَنَنْتُ family)

وَأمّا ظَنَنْتُ وَأَخَوَاتُهَا فَإِنَّهَا تَنْصِبُ الْمُبْتَدَأَ وَالْخَبَرَ عَلَى أنَّهُمَا مَفْعُوْلَانِ لَهَا, وَهِيَ ظَنَنْتُ وَحَسِبْتُ وَخِلْتُ وَعَزَمْتُ وَرَأَيْتُ وَعَلِمْتُ وَوَجَدْتُ وَاتَّخَذْتُ وَجَعْلتُ وَسَمِعْتُ. تَقُوْلُ ظَنَنْتُ زَيْدًا قَائِمًا وَرَأَيْتُ عَمْرًا شَاخِصًا وَما أَشْبَهَ ذَلِكَ

As for ظَنَنْتُ and its sisters, they put the mubtada’ and the khabar in the state of nasb, as they are two objects of it, and they are:

• ظَنَنْتُ (“I thought”)
• حَسِبْتُ (“I reckoned/supposed/deemed”)
• خِلْتُ (“I supposed/imagined/deemed”)
• زَعَمْتُ (“I claimed”)
• رَأَيْتُ (“I regarded/viewed/consider”)
• عَلِمْتُ (“I knew”)
• وَجَدْتُ (“I found”)
• اتَّخَذْتُ (“I took/assumed”)
• جَعَلْتُ (“I made/made into”)
• سَمِعْتُ (“I heard”)

You say ظَنَنْتُ زَيْدًا قَائِمًا (“I thought Zayd to be standing”) and خِلْتُ عَمْرًا شَاخِصًا (“I imagined ‘Amr to be present/going”) and what is similar to that.

The third group that cancels the mubtada’ and khabar is ظَنَنْتُ and its siblings.  They come before the mubtada’ and the khabar and give both of them nasb.  The mubtada’ is then renamed as the مَفْعُوْل أوَّل (” first object”), and the khabar is the مَفْعُوْل ثَانٍ (“second object”).  So, instead of having a mubtada’ and khabar, we will have ظَنَنْتُ and its two objects, both of which are in nasb.  This family has 10 members, all of them verbs.  Below are their past tense forms, conjugated for “I” as the doer (noted by تُ at the end):

1. ظَنْنْتُ (“I thought”), as in ظَنَنْتُ مُحَمَّدًا صَدِيْقًا (“I thought Muhammad to be a friend”)
2. حَسِبْتُ (“I reckoned/supposed/deemed”), as in حَسِبْتُ المَالَ نَافِعًا (“I supposed the wealth to beneficial”)
3. خِلْتُ (“I supposed/imagined/deemed”), as in خِلْتُ الحَدِيْقَةَ مُثْمِرَةً (“I imagined the garden to be fruitful”)
4. زَعَمْتُ (“I claimed”), as in زَعَمْتُ بَكْرًا جَرِيْئًا (“I claimed Bakr was bold”)
5. رَأَيْتُ (“I regarded/viewed/considered”), as in رَأَيْتُ إبْرَاهِيْمَ مُفْلِحًا (“I considered Ibrahim successful”)
6. عَلِمْتُ (“I knew”), as in عَلِمْتُ الصِدْقَ مُنْجِيًا (“I knew truthfulness to be a rescuer”)
7. وَجَدْتُ (“I found”), as in وَجَدْتُ الصَلاحَ بابَ الخَيْرِ (“I found propriety to be the door of goodness”)
8. اتَّخَذْتُ (“I took/assumed”), as in اتَّخَذْتُ مُحَمَّدًا صَدِيْقًا (“I assumed Muhammad to be a friend”)
9. جَعَلْتُ (“I made/made into”) as in جَعَلْتُ الذَهَبَ خاتَمًا (“I made the gold into a ring”)
10. سَمِعْتُ (“I heard”), as in سَمِعْتُ خَلِيْلًا يَقْرَأُ (“I heard Khaleel reciting”)

Usages of the ظَنَنْتُ family

• ظَنْتُ – حَسِبْتُ – خِلْتُ – زَعمْتُ: used when the speaker believes the khabar is most likely to be true
• رَأيْت – عَلِمْتُ – وجَدْتُ: used when the speaker is certain that khabar is true
• اتَّخَذْتُ and جَعَلْتُ: used when changing or moving something between states
• سَمِعْتُ: It’s associated with the act of listening.  Some of the scholars lean to the view that it would make more sense to say that the khabar is in nasb not because it’s a second object of a verb, but because it’s a circumstance or condition (حَال) associated with it.  The discussion on the reasons for why a noun will be in nasb comes in a later section إن شاء الله

Note 1: The ظَنَنْتُ family  has nothing to do with the 7 reasons why a noun will be in raf’, but actually relates to a reason why a noun would be in nasb (i.e. it’s a detail of a verb besides the doer).

Note 2: If you stripped the canceller out from all the example sentences I’ve given, you’d still be left with a regular sentence that makes sense.  For example, ظَنَنْتُ مُحَمَّدًا صَدِيْقًا (“I thought Muhammad to be a friend”) was just مُحَمَّدٌ صَدِيْقٌ (“Muhammad is a friend”).  All that you did is add  ظَنَنْتُ for the meaning of speculation, which then made changes in the endings.

From the Quran

Below is a page from the Quran (4:122-127) with some highlighted cancellers of the mubtada’ and khabar.  I give you the original mubtada’ and khabar for each sentence so that you can see how these cancellers behaved on them (based on what we’ve explained above).

 

Canceller	Family	Original mubtada’	Original khabar
لَيْسَ	كَانَ	هُوَ (embedded in لَيْسَ) “He”	مُتَعَلِّقٌ] بِأمَانِيِّكُمْ] “[associated] with your wishful thoughts
يَجِدْ	ظَنَنْتُ	وَلِيٌّ مِنْ دُونِ اللهِ “ِA protector besides Allah”	لَهُ “for him”
اتَّخَذَ	ظَنَنْتُ	إبْرَاهِيْمُ “Ibrahim”	خَلِيْلٌ “an intimate friend”
كانَ	كَانَ	اللهُ “Allah”	بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ مُحِيْطٌ “of all things, aware”
إِنَّ	إِنَّ	اللهُ “ِAllah”	كَانَ بِهِ عَلِيْمًا “He has been knowing of it”
كانَ	كَانَ	هُوَ (embedded in كانَ) “He”	بِهِ علِيْمٌ “knowing of it”

• لَيْسَ – The ism is the pronoun embedded inside لَيْسَ (i.e. هُوَ – “he/it”), which refers back to the entrance into paradise mentioned in the aayah before this one. The meaning would be “His entering Paradise is not linked to your wishes”.  The implied khabar مُتَعَلِّقًا would have a fathah on it if wasn’t dropped
• يَجِدْ – This is the present tense form of وَجَدَ and has a sukoon on it because it was put into jazm by the particle لَمْ before it.
  • Yes, if the khabar is a particle of jarr along with a jarr-ized noun, it’s allowed to put it ahead of the mubtada’!
  • يَجِد  makes both parts of the sentence as its objects, and the meaning of يَجِدُ لَهُ مِنْ دُوْنِ اللهِ وَلِيًّا (“He finds a protector other than Allah for him”) is negated using لَمْ
• اتَّخَذَ – The doer of this verb is ُالله because it’s after it and in raf’.  The sentence means “Allah took Ibrahim as an intimate friend”, with both parts now in nasb as objects of the verb اتَّخَذَ
• كانَ – The sentence changed to mean that “Allah has always been, of all things, encompassing”, with the khabar in nasb (using fathah)
• إنَّ – comes to emphasize that Allah has been knowing of whatever good we do
• كانَ – comes again to add a continuous meaning to Allahs knowledge of the good we’ve done

Questions

1. How many divisions are there for the cancellers of the mubtada’ and khabar?
2. What effect does the َكان family have?
3. What effect does the إنَّ family have?
4. What meanings do كَأّنَّ and لَيْتَ add?
5. What does الاسْتِدْرَاك mean?
6. What does التَرّجِّيْ mean?
7. What does التَوَقُّع mean?
8. What effect does the ظَنَنْتُ family have?
9. Break down these sentences
   • لَيْتَنِيْ مِتُّ قَبْلَ هَذا (“If only I had died before this”).  قَبْلَ is a tharf that means “before”
   • لَعَلِّيْ أبْلُغُ الْأسْبابَ (“Perhaps, I will reach the ways”)

Until next time, السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته

Like this post? Simply enter your e-mail and click “Yes, include me!” for updates