Explanation of the saying of Ibn Malik (may Allah have mercy on him): The prepositions.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : This is from the chapter of adding a thing to its type, because they are letters that govern the genitive, just as there are letters that...?
The student: They govern the accusative.
The Shaykh : They govern the accusative, and there are letters that govern the jussive, and likewise there are letters that govern the genitive, and there are letters that govern the nominative, right?
The student: No.
The Shaykh : In it, "in" and its sisters are letters that raise the predicate, so now the letters are such that some raise, some govern the accusative, some govern the genitive, and some govern the jussive. Yes, all inflection. All the prepositions share in the same function; they all share in the function, meaning that they all govern the genitive. There is nothing among them that does not govern the genitive, but they differ in what they enter upon and in their meaning, as will become clear to you, if Allah wills. They differ in what they enter upon and in their meaning, but they share in the function. Is that so, Ghannam?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : They all govern the genitive, but what they enter upon differs; some enter upon this and some enter upon that. Likewise, their meaning differs; some mean this and some mean that.
The student: They govern the accusative.
The Shaykh : They govern the accusative, and there are letters that govern the jussive, and likewise there are letters that govern the genitive, and there are letters that govern the nominative, right?
The student: No.
The Shaykh : In it, "in" and its sisters are letters that raise the predicate, so now the letters are such that some raise, some govern the accusative, some govern the genitive, and some govern the jussive. Yes, all inflection. All the prepositions share in the same function; they all share in the function, meaning that they all govern the genitive. There is nothing among them that does not govern the genitive, but they differ in what they enter upon and in their meaning, as will become clear to you, if Allah wills. They differ in what they enter upon and in their meaning, but they share in the function. Is that so, Ghannam?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : They all govern the genitive, but what they enter upon differs; some enter upon this and some enter upon that. Likewise, their meaning differs; some mean this and some mean that.