A brief summary of what has preceded
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The Shaykh : So, in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may prayers and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. It has been established for us that the descriptor follows the described in inflection, as follows:
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : If the described is raised, the descriptor is raised; if it is accusative, the descriptor is accusative; if it is genitive, the descriptor is genitive.
Second, it follows the described in definiteness and indefiniteness. If the described is definite, the descriptor is definite; if the described is indefinite, the descriptor is indefinite. The author (may Allah have mercy on him) digressed to mention the definite and the indefinite.
It has also been established for us that it follows the described in gender, except when the descriptor is an attribute of something other than the described; in that case, it follows the attributed thing, meaning it follows what comes after it, following the attributed thing. An example of this is:
"I passed by a man whose mother is standing" and "a woman whose father is standing." Here, we said "a man whose mother is standing," making the descriptor feminine because it describes the mother, who is the one standing; he did not stand. And we said:
"I passed by a woman whose father is standing," so we made the descriptor masculine even though the described is feminine. Why? Because the descriptor describes what comes after it, which is masculine.
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : If the described is raised, the descriptor is raised; if it is accusative, the descriptor is accusative; if it is genitive, the descriptor is genitive.
Second, it follows the described in definiteness and indefiniteness. If the described is definite, the descriptor is definite; if the described is indefinite, the descriptor is indefinite. The author (may Allah have mercy on him) digressed to mention the definite and the indefinite.
It has also been established for us that it follows the described in gender, except when the descriptor is an attribute of something other than the described; in that case, it follows the attributed thing, meaning it follows what comes after it, following the attributed thing. An example of this is:
"I passed by a man whose mother is standing" and "a woman whose father is standing." Here, we said "a man whose mother is standing," making the descriptor feminine because it describes the mother, who is the one standing; he did not stand. And we said:
"I passed by a woman whose father is standing," so we made the descriptor masculine even though the described is feminine. Why? Because the descriptor describes what comes after it, which is masculine.