Continuing the discussion of what was previously covered in the chapter on *la* used to negate a genus.
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The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.
Let us return to the words of Ibn Malik (may Allah have mercy on him): "And the singular is built with an open *fa*". So let us ask: what is meant by "singular" here? Forgive me.
The student: That which is not attached to a noun, nor similar to an attached noun.
The Shaykh : Yes, and in the chapter on the subject (mubtada')?
The student: The singular is that which is not a sentence, nor similar to a sentence.
The Shaykh : And in the chapter on inflection (i'rab)?
The student: That which is not dual, nor a plural.
The Shaykh : Yes, here the meaning of "singular" is that which is not attached to a noun, nor similar to an attached noun. This includes the dual, and the sound masculine and feminine plurals, and the broken plurals. If that is the case, then in Ibn Malik's saying "built with an open *fa*," there is a deficiency, because the compound is built with an open *fa*, or with a *ya* for the accusative, or with a kasrah for the accusative. Does his statement cover all of this? No. For this reason, some of them expressed it by saying: it is built on what it is declined with in the accusative. And some of them said: if Ibn Malik had said:
"And the singular is built like the accusative, both... around *la* and *quwwah*", it would have been more comprehensive. "The singular is built like the accusative" is correct, otherwise what is correct?
The student: It is correct.
The Shaykh : For example, "There is no man in the house" is correct. "There are no two men in the house," "There are no Muslim men in the house," is that correct?
The student: Correct
The Shaykh : And here it was not built with an open *fa*, but was built with what it is declined with in the accusative, which is the *ya*. "There are no Muslim women in the house" is correct? Did we build it with an open *fa* or not?
The student: With an open *fa*.
The Shaykh : "There are no Muslim women in the house."
The student: The fath.
Another student: With a kasrah.
The Shaykh : Okay, "There are no Muslim women," did we build it with an open *fa* or not?
The student: Not with an open *fa*.
The Shaykh : Not with an open *fa*. Here we built it with a kasrah. But they say that specifically for the sound feminine plural, it is permissible to build it with an open *fa* as well, so you say "There are no Muslim women," "There are no Muslim women in the house." This is what I wanted to clarify in the words of Ibn Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) in his saying: "And the singular is built with an open *fa*". The expression that can remove this deficiency is to say: "And the singular is built like the accusative." If the accusative is with a *ya*, build it with a *ya*; if with a kasrah, build it with a kasrah. Okay.
Second: We said earlier that we will establish, so that we may build, if Allah wills, if *la* is repeated, if *la* is repeated after a conjunction, two options are permissible for the first: building
The student: And raising.
The Shaykh : And leaving it uninflected (ihmal), raising. If you build the first with an open *fa*, three options are permissible for the second: building, accusative, and raising. If you raise the first by leaving it uninflected, two options are permissible for the second: building and raising. That is complete. Okay, and the examples were previously given.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.
Let us return to the words of Ibn Malik (may Allah have mercy on him): "And the singular is built with an open *fa*". So let us ask: what is meant by "singular" here? Forgive me.
The student: That which is not attached to a noun, nor similar to an attached noun.
The Shaykh : Yes, and in the chapter on the subject (mubtada')?
The student: The singular is that which is not a sentence, nor similar to a sentence.
The Shaykh : And in the chapter on inflection (i'rab)?
The student: That which is not dual, nor a plural.
The Shaykh : Yes, here the meaning of "singular" is that which is not attached to a noun, nor similar to an attached noun. This includes the dual, and the sound masculine and feminine plurals, and the broken plurals. If that is the case, then in Ibn Malik's saying "built with an open *fa*," there is a deficiency, because the compound is built with an open *fa*, or with a *ya* for the accusative, or with a kasrah for the accusative. Does his statement cover all of this? No. For this reason, some of them expressed it by saying: it is built on what it is declined with in the accusative. And some of them said: if Ibn Malik had said:
"And the singular is built like the accusative, both... around *la* and *quwwah*", it would have been more comprehensive. "The singular is built like the accusative" is correct, otherwise what is correct?
The student: It is correct.
The Shaykh : For example, "There is no man in the house" is correct. "There are no two men in the house," "There are no Muslim men in the house," is that correct?
The student: Correct
The Shaykh : And here it was not built with an open *fa*, but was built with what it is declined with in the accusative, which is the *ya*. "There are no Muslim women in the house" is correct? Did we build it with an open *fa* or not?
The student: With an open *fa*.
The Shaykh : "There are no Muslim women in the house."
The student: The fath.
Another student: With a kasrah.
The Shaykh : Okay, "There are no Muslim women," did we build it with an open *fa* or not?
The student: Not with an open *fa*.
The Shaykh : Not with an open *fa*. Here we built it with a kasrah. But they say that specifically for the sound feminine plural, it is permissible to build it with an open *fa* as well, so you say "There are no Muslim women," "There are no Muslim women in the house." This is what I wanted to clarify in the words of Ibn Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) in his saying: "And the singular is built with an open *fa*". The expression that can remove this deficiency is to say: "And the singular is built like the accusative." If the accusative is with a *ya*, build it with a *ya*; if with a kasrah, build it with a kasrah. Okay.
Second: We said earlier that we will establish, so that we may build, if Allah wills, if *la* is repeated, if *la* is repeated after a conjunction, two options are permissible for the first: building
The student: And raising.
The Shaykh : And leaving it uninflected (ihmal), raising. If you build the first with an open *fa*, three options are permissible for the second: building, accusative, and raising. If you raise the first by leaving it uninflected, two options are permissible for the second: building and raising. That is complete. Okay, and the examples were previously given.