الْمَفْعُوْل مِنْ أجْلِهِ (The cause for the action)

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته,

The مَفَوْل مِنْ أجْلِهِ (also called مَفْعُوْل لَهُ by grammarians) is the 10th of the 15 types of nouns in نَصْب and tells why an action was done.  We might call it the “object of reason”, for lack of better words.  First, its definition:

وَهُوَ: الاِسْمُ، الْمَنْصُوْبُ، الَّذِيْ يُذْكَرُ بَياناً لِسَبَبِ وُقُوْعِ الفِعْلِ، نَحْوُ قَوْلِكَ: “قامَ زَيْدٌ إجْلالاً لِعَمْرٍو” وَقَصَدْتُكَ ابْتِغاءَ مَعْرُوْفِكَ

It (the reason for the action) is the nasb-ized ism that is mentioned to clarify the cause of the action’s occurrence, like your saying قامَ زَيْدٌ إجْلالاً لِعَمْرٍو (“Zayd stood out of respect for ‘Amr”) and قَصَدْتُكَ ابْتِغاءَ مَعْرُوْفِكَ (“I set out to you desiring your goodness”)

The object of reason must be a noun and it has to meet 5 conditions:

1. It has to be in the form of the masdar (infinitive) – note that even though it’s coming in the masdar form, it’s not acting as the absolute object
2. It has to be qalbi (related to actions of the heart), not related to physical acts of the limbs (i.e. ضَرْب for hitting) or tongue (i.e. قِراءَة for reciting)
3. It has to be a cause for what’s before it (i.e. it answers the question, “why?”)
4. It has to be united with its action in time
5. It has to be united with its action in the doer

An example of a noun that combines all five of these is the word تَأدِيْباً (“discipline”) in ضَرَبْتُ ابْنِيْ تَأدِيْباً (“I hit my son [for the sake of] discipline”).  It is the masdar of the verb أدَّبَ (“he disciplined”) and is not from the actions of the limbs of the body and is the reason for the hitting, and it’s united with the verb in time and with the doer.

Now, there are two possibilities for any noun that satisfies these conditions: It can either be in (1) nasb or (2) jarr, using a particle that gives the meaning of the reason or purpose of an action (مِنْ or لِ)

Also, there are three ways this noun can appear; in all three it’s legit to come in either nasb or jarr:

1. Has ال at the beginning – This usually comes in jarr using a particle as in ضَرَبْتُ ابْنِيْ لِلتَّأذِيْبِ (“I hit my son for the sake of discipline”), but in rare situations it will be in nasb
2. Is a mudhaaf (added to another noun) – Nasb and jarr are used at about the same frequency, as in زُرْتُكَ مَحَبَّةَ أدَبِكَ (“I visited you out of love for your manners”) and زُرْتُكَ لِمَحَبَةِ أدَبِكَ
3. Does not have ال and is not mudhaaf – Usually comes in nasb, as in قُمْتُ إجْلالاً لِلْأُسْتاذِ (“I stood out of reverence for the teacher”), but in rare situations it will be in jarr using a particle

From the Quran

• كَالَّذِي يُنفِقُ مَالَهُ رِئَاءَ النَّاسِ (“Like he who spends his wealth to be seen by people”) [2:264]
• وَلَا تَقْتُلُوا أَوْلَادَكُمْ خَشْيَةَ إِمْلَاقٍ (“And do not kill your children for fear of poverty”) [17:31]
• وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يَشْرِي نَفْسَهُ ابْتِغَاءَ مَرْضَاتِ اللَّهِ (“And from the people is he who sells himself seeking the means to the approval of Allah”) [2:207]
• فَأَتْبَعَهُمْ فِرْعَوْنُ وَجُنُودُهُ بَغْيًا وَعَدْوًا (“Pharaoh and his soldiers pursued them out of tyranny and enmity“) [10:90]
• يَجْعَلُونَ أَصَابِعَهُمْ فِي آذَانِهِم مِّنَ الصَّوَاعِقِ حَذَرَ الْمَوْتِ (“They put their fingers in their ears against the thunderclaps out of dread of death”) [2:19]

 

Questions

1. What is the مفعول مِنْ أجْلِهِ (or مَفْعُوْل لَهُ)?
2. What are the conditions for a noun that will occur as an object of reason?
3. How many ways can an object of reason appear in?
4. What’s the rule for an object of reason that has ال or is a mudhaaf?

Until next time, السلام عليكم

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