Explanation of the author's (may Allah have mercy on him) statement: "… and its divisions are four: nominative, accusative, genitive, and jussive …"
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The Shaykh : The author (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "And its divisions are four". The divisions of inflection are four. From where did we take this, or how did we know that the divisions are four? I mentioned to you that the evidence for grammar is not from the Book nor from the Sunnah, but from
The student: The following.
The Shaykh : observation and induction. That is, the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) observed and inducted from the speech of the Arabs and found that inflection does not go beyond these four divisions: nominative, accusative, genitive, and jussive. These are the divisions of inflection. That means there is no word among the words of the Arabs except that it is either nominative, accusative, what? Or genitive, or jussive. No speech of the Arabs goes beyond this, not a single word, because this classification was known through observation and induction. The scholars labored in documenting the Arabic language; it is not an easy matter. Now, for the nominative, you say: "The man stood up." "The man" here is nominative. For the accusative: "I honored the man." For the genitive: "I passed by the man." Yes, the genitive: "I passed by the man." And for the jussive: "Zayd did not stand up." "Zayd did not stand up" — do not confuse us, my brothers … later — "Zayd did not stand up." The example of the nominative is: "The man stood up." The accusative: "I honored the man." The genitive: "I passed by the man."
The jussive: "Zayd did not stand up." "Zayd did not stand" is jussive. You will not find a word among the words of the Arabs that goes beyond one of these four. It must be nominative, accusative, genitive, or jussive. Now,
Do these four divisions include the verb, the noun, and the particle? No. As for the particle, it is not included at all. The particle does not enter with us at all. It is not said to be nominative, accusative, genitive, or jussive. Why? Because it is built (mabni). It is built. Ibn Malik said:
"And every particle is entitled to be built". And the built is not inflected. The built is like the dead; it does not move. Do you know if the dead move? The built is dead. Where is the particle? Where is the interrogative noun? Let us answer. Is "hal" a particle or not? It never changes. All speech of the Arabs, "hal" is "hal." Yes, whether it is at the beginning of the speech, in the middle, or at the end, it cannot change. And for this reason, we say that all particles do not enter into inflection. Now, it is correct that one-third of the Arabic language, according to the divisions, is three: noun, verb, and particle. One-third is gone. What remains with us is the noun and the verb. Do these four divisions apply to the noun and the verb? Let us see. I will go, and you with me, to the genitive.
The student: It does not apply to the verb.
The Shaykh : It applies only to the noun. It does not apply to the verb, because the genitive has passed among us as one of the markers of the noun. So if the genitive is a marker of the noun, it means that we do not find a genitive verb. Now, the genitive has come out. The genitive is specific to what? To the noun. The jussive is specific to the verb. You will not find a jussive noun, ever, right? Now, we do not find a jussive noun, ever. Someone will say: "Raise your hand." What do you have? He said: I have a jussive noun that we read in the Book of Allah.[Ali 'Imran 3:75]. It is a noun, and its end is sakin (quiescent). We say this is not jussive. What is it? It is building (bina'). And the built has no connection to inflection at all, as I told you. The built is dead; it does not move. And for this reason, "man" (who), for example, "The one we love came." "The one we love came." Is "man" the subject or the object?
The student: The subject.
The Shaykh : The subject. Now, "I honor the one you love." "I honor the one you love."
The student: The object.
The Shaykh : The object. "I passed by the one you love" or "Look at the one you love."
The student: Genitive.
The Shaykh : Genitive. Did "man" change? It did not change. Look, it came in the nominative case, it did not change. It came in the accusative case, it did not change. It came in the genitive case, it did not change. Why? Because it is built. Built. So Allah brought something, and then it fell away from us in the chapter of inflection. The particles fell away, and what else fell away? All the built forms. All the built forms from the nouns and the verbs fell away from us. Clear, my brothers? Now.
The student: The following.
The Shaykh : observation and induction. That is, the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) observed and inducted from the speech of the Arabs and found that inflection does not go beyond these four divisions: nominative, accusative, genitive, and jussive. These are the divisions of inflection. That means there is no word among the words of the Arabs except that it is either nominative, accusative, what? Or genitive, or jussive. No speech of the Arabs goes beyond this, not a single word, because this classification was known through observation and induction. The scholars labored in documenting the Arabic language; it is not an easy matter. Now, for the nominative, you say: "The man stood up." "The man" here is nominative. For the accusative: "I honored the man." For the genitive: "I passed by the man." Yes, the genitive: "I passed by the man." And for the jussive: "Zayd did not stand up." "Zayd did not stand up" — do not confuse us, my brothers … later — "Zayd did not stand up." The example of the nominative is: "The man stood up." The accusative: "I honored the man." The genitive: "I passed by the man."
The jussive: "Zayd did not stand up." "Zayd did not stand" is jussive. You will not find a word among the words of the Arabs that goes beyond one of these four. It must be nominative, accusative, genitive, or jussive. Now,
Do these four divisions include the verb, the noun, and the particle? No. As for the particle, it is not included at all. The particle does not enter with us at all. It is not said to be nominative, accusative, genitive, or jussive. Why? Because it is built (mabni). It is built. Ibn Malik said:
"And every particle is entitled to be built". And the built is not inflected. The built is like the dead; it does not move. Do you know if the dead move? The built is dead. Where is the particle? Where is the interrogative noun? Let us answer. Is "hal" a particle or not? It never changes. All speech of the Arabs, "hal" is "hal." Yes, whether it is at the beginning of the speech, in the middle, or at the end, it cannot change. And for this reason, we say that all particles do not enter into inflection. Now, it is correct that one-third of the Arabic language, according to the divisions, is three: noun, verb, and particle. One-third is gone. What remains with us is the noun and the verb. Do these four divisions apply to the noun and the verb? Let us see. I will go, and you with me, to the genitive.
The student: It does not apply to the verb.
The Shaykh : It applies only to the noun. It does not apply to the verb, because the genitive has passed among us as one of the markers of the noun. So if the genitive is a marker of the noun, it means that we do not find a genitive verb. Now, the genitive has come out. The genitive is specific to what? To the noun. The jussive is specific to the verb. You will not find a jussive noun, ever, right? Now, we do not find a jussive noun, ever. Someone will say: "Raise your hand." What do you have? He said: I have a jussive noun that we read in the Book of Allah.
And among the People of the Scripture is he who
ومن أهل الكتاب من إن تأمنهThe student: The subject.
The Shaykh : The subject. Now, "I honor the one you love." "I honor the one you love."
The student: The object.
The Shaykh : The object. "I passed by the one you love" or "Look at the one you love."
The student: Genitive.
The Shaykh : Genitive. Did "man" change? It did not change. Look, it came in the nominative case, it did not change. It came in the accusative case, it did not change. It came in the genitive case, it did not change. Why? Because it is built. Built. So Allah brought something, and then it fell away from us in the chapter of inflection. The particles fell away, and what else fell away? All the built forms. All the built forms from the nouns and the verbs fell away from us. Clear, my brothers? Now.