Going high with رفع, Part 4: ن

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته,

We’ve seen when dhammah, و and the ا of dual nouns can be used to show that a word is in the status of رَفع (raf’). Today, we’re going to look at the fourth and last indicator of raf’: the ن.

Substitution of ن for ضمة

وَأمَا النُونُ فَتَكُونُ علَامَةً لِلرَفعِ فِي الفِعلِ المُضارِعِ إذا اتَّصَلَ بِهِ ضَمِيْرُ تَثْنِيَةٍ أو ضَمِيرُ جَمعٍ أو ضَمِيرُ المُؤنَّثَةِ المُخاطَبَةِ

As for the ن, then it is a sign of raf’ in the present tense action when the pronoun of the dual, the pronoun of the plural or the pronoun of the feminine 2nd person attaches to it

There is only one situation when ن  at the end of the word is an indicator that the word is in raf’.  It’s when the present tense action (فِعل مُضارِِع) has any of the following attached to it:

1. the ا of the dual masculine or dual feminine
2. the و of the masculine plural
3. the ي of the feminine 2nd person

The ا of the dual

Some examples of verbs that have the ا of the masculine dual:

• الصَدِيقانِ يُسافِرانِ غَداً (“the two friends travel tomorrow”) – Talking about two people doing the action
• أنتُما تُسافِرانِ غَداً (“you both travel tomorrow”). – Talking to two people doing the action

The word يُسافِران (and likewise تُسافِرانِ) is a present tense action in raf’ because it lacks anything that causes nasb or jazm status. The indication of its being in raf’ is the presence of the ن. The doer of the action is the ا, which is مبني (permanently fixed) upon سكون, in the status of raf’.

From these examples, we see that a verb that has the ا of the masculine dual can start with ي with the meaning of 3rd person (“they”),  or with ت, with the meaning of 2nd person (“you two”).

As for what has the ا of the feminine dual:

• الهِندانِ تُسافِرانِ غداً (“the two Hinds travel tomorrow”)
• أنتُما يا هِندانِ تُسافِرانِ غداً (“You, O Hinds, both travel tomorrow”).

The word تُسافران in the two examples is a present tense action in raf’ using the presence of the ن.  The doer of the action is the ا, which is مبني (permanently fixed) upon سكون, in the status of raf’.

From these examples, we see that a  verb with the ا of the feminine dual can only start with ت, with the meaning of the feminine, regardless if it is third or second person.

The و of the masculine plural

As for the و of the masculine plural:

• ْالرِِجالُ المُخلِصُوْنَ هُمُ الذِينَ يَقُوْمُوْنَ بِواجِبِهِم (“the sincere men are the ones who do their duty”) – Talking about a group of people doing the action
• ْأَنْتُمْ يا قَوْمِ تَقُوْمُوْنَ بِواجِبِكُم (“You all, O my people, do your duty”) – Talking to a group of people doing the action

The word يَقُوْمُوْن (and likewise تَقُوْمُوْنَ) is a present tense action in raf’, and the indication of raf’ is the presence of the ن .  The doer of the action is the و, which is مَبنِي (permanently fixed) upon سكون, in the status of raf’.

From this, we see that what has the و of the masculine dual can start with ي with the meaning of the third person (“they all”), as in the first example, or it can start with ت, with the meaning of second person (“you all”), as in the 2nd example.

The ي of the feminine 2nd person

As for the ي of the feminine 2nd person (when you’re talking to a single feminine object or person):

• أنتِ يا هِندُ تَعْرِِفِينَ واجِبَكِ (“You, O Hind, know your assignment”)

The word تَعْرِِفينَ is a present tense action in raf’ using the presence of ن.  The doer of the action is the ي of the 2nd person feminine, which is مبني upon سكون, in the status of raf’.

The present tense action that has this ي can only start with ت, and it indicates that the doer is feminine.

Summary

1. A present tense verb that has the ا of the dual or و of the masculine plural at the end can only start with ت or ي
2. A present tense verb that has the the ي of the feminine at the end can only start with ت

These five examples cover all the ways a present tense verb can end with the ن (using يَقُوْمُ [“he stands”] as the base):

1. يَقُوْمانِ – “They (m.) both stand”
2. تَقُوْمانِ – “They (f.) both stand” or “You both stand” – (depends on the context of the sentence)
3. يَقُوْمُوْنَ – “They (m.) all stand”
4. تَقُوْمُوْنَ – “You (m.) all stand”
5. تَقُوْمِيْنَ – “You (single female) stand”

These examples are called “The five verbs” (الأفعال الخمسة) that show raf’ using a ن.  They are what I was referring to in Going high with رفع, Part 1: ضمة when I said:

These are not showing raf’ using dhammah, but instead using the presence of the final ن at their ends. The ا (alif), و or the ي would be the known as the فاعِل (doer) of the action, and the explanation of that comes later in the section where ن substitutes for dhammah in the “five verbs”.

From the Quran

In this page (51:7-30), all the highlighted words are present tense verbs with the و of the masculine plural.

• the ones that start with ي are used for the third person (“they all”)
• the ones that start with with ت are used for the second person (“you all”).
• the base form of each of these verbs (“he”) begins with ي and is without وْنَ at the end, for example:
  • يَسْألُ – “he asks”
  • يُفْتَنُ – “he is tried’
  • يَسْتَعْجِلُ – “he asks to hasten”
  • يَسْتَغْفِرُ – “he asks forgiveness”
  • See if you can work the rest of these and get the base form for them!
• ِExamples of the masculine dual: وَالَّذِي قَالَ لِوَالِدَيْهِ أُفٍّ لَّكُمَا أَتَعِدَانِنِي أَنْ أُخْرَجَ وَقَدْ خَلَتِ الْقُرُونُ مِن قَبْلِي وَهُمَا يَسْتَغِيثَانِ اللَّهَ وَيْلَكَ آمِنْ إِنَّ وَعْدَ اللَّهِ حَقٌّ فَيَقُولُ مَا هَٰذَا إِلَّا أَسَاطِيرُ الْأَوَّلِينَ [Quran 46:17]
  • تَعِدانِ (“you both promise”) from يَعِدُ (“he promises”) is in the second person.  They are the words that someone is saying to his parents.  The نِي at the end is an attached pronoun for “me” which is the object of the action, so the whole word together is “you both promise me”.  More on attached pronouns come later in the section on direct objects of actions.
  • يَسْتَغِيْثَانِ (“they both invoke for help”) is in the third person, with the base being يَسْتَغِيْثُ.  The only time a dual verb will start with ي is if at least one of the two doers is masculine and we’re talking about them in the third person (“they both”).  This verse is referring to the two parents, the father and the mother.  Since the father is a male, we treat them together as a masculine dual.
• Example of a feminine dual: وَجَدَ مِن دُونِهِمُ امْرَأَتَيْنِ تَذُودَانِ [Quran 28:23] – “and he found aside from them two women holding back”
  • تَذُوْدانِ (“they (f.) both hold back”) from يَذُوْدُ (“he holds back”) is in the third person and feminine
• Example of ي (which is only used when talking to a single feminine object): قَالُوا أَتَعْجَبِينَ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ  [Quran 11:73] – “Are you amazed at the Decree of Allah?”
  • تَعْجَبِيْنَ (“you (f.) are is amazed”) comes from يَعْجَبُ (“he is amazed”)

Questions

1. In how many situations does a word show that it’s in raf’ using a ن at the end?
2. How many different letters can a present tense verb with the ا of the dual start?
   • What do these letters indicate?
3. How many different letters can a present tense verb with the و of the plural start
   • What do these letters indicate?
4. How many different letters can a present tense verb with the ي start?
   • What do these letters indicate?
5. What’s meant by the “five verbs”?

Until next time, السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته

 

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