Explanation of the words of Ibn Malik (may Allah have mercy on him): "With *af'ala* you express wonder after *ma ta'jabba* *** Or bring *af'ala* before a noun in the genitive case with *ba*."

The Shaykh : Wonder, whether as an object for the sake of which, meaning: for the sake of wonder, or as a state, meaning: a verbal noun in the position of a state, meaning: wondering. Yes, are you with us? Good, what is this? What is it? Is it an interrogative, a conditional, or a relative? They say: it is a complete indefinite noun, a complete indefinite noun, but when parsing it you say: it is an interrogative *ma*, and that is sufficient, an interrogative *ma*. Good, an example of this is: How generous the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is. Yes, how do you parse it? We say: *ma* is an interrogative *ma*, a noun built on sukun in the position of nominative, and *ajwada* is a past tense verb built on fathah, and its subject is hidden obligatorily, estimated to be "he," referring back to *ma*. Look, its estimate is "he," and yet we said it is hidden obligatorily. The rule is that what is estimated to be "he" is said to be hidden permissibly, but here they say: it is hidden obligatorily. Why? Because this form has become a proverb among the Arabs, so they do not change it. They cannot say: How beautiful so-and-so is? They cannot pronounce it, and for this reason it became explicit...
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : Tawwak, are you coming?
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : Was he with us? Good, the Prophet, what is its parsing? It is an object for *ajwada*, in the accusative case with a visible fathah. It is said that Abu al-Aswad al-Du'ali heard his daughter saying: How beautiful the sky is? So he said to her: Its stars. Because the form she used was interrogative, so he said: Its stars, meaning the sky is beautiful because of its stars. So she said: I am not asking about that, but I am wondering at its beauty. So he said to her: Why did you not open your mouth, meaning: why did you not say: How beautiful the sky is. Good, so its parsing is now clear to us. *Ma* is an interrogative *ma*, a noun built on sukun in the position of nominative as a subject, and *ahsana* is a past tense verb and its subject is hidden obligatorily, estimated to be "he," referring back to *ma*, and Zayd is an object in the accusative case with a visible fathah. Yes.
The student : The sentence is the predicate.

The Shaykh : Hm?
The student : The sentence is the predicate.

The Shaykh : And the sentence is the predicate; the sentence of the verb and its subject is the predicate of *ma*.
He said: "Or bring *af'ala* before a noun in the genitive case with *ba*". This is the second context: "Or bring *af'ala*", meaning: with a verb on the pattern *af'ala*, before a noun in the genitive case with *ba*. So you would say, for example: *Ajmil bi-Amr*, meaning: How beautiful he is, *Ajmil bi-Amr*. Here, *Ajmil* is an imperative verb in form, but it is a predicate in meaning. And for that reason, the pronoun in it is explicit. The pronoun in it is explicit; I mean the subject in it is explicit. So for *Ajmil bi-Amr*, we say: *Ajmil* is a verb of wonder built on sukun, and *ba* is an extra preposition, and *Amr* is a subject in the nominative case with a dammah estimated on its end, prevented from appearing by the occupation of the position by the movement of the extra preposition. And this letter is extra obligatorily; it cannot be deleted. It is not possible to say: *Ajmil Zayd*. Rather, it remains obligatorily. It may be deleted anomalously in poetry, but in prose it is not deleted. So, *Ajmil*, *Ajmil bi-Amr*, how do we parse it? Is this wonder or not? It is wonder, so we say: *Ajmil* is a verb of wonder built on sukun with no position in parsing, and *ba* is an extra preposition with a dammah estimated on its end, prevented from appearing by the occupation of the position by the movement of the extra preposition. Is this form and the one before it found in the Qur'an? Yes, Allah the Exalted said: Is this wonder or not? Which of the two forms?
The student: The first one.

The Shaykh : The first one. And He the Exalted said: meaning: How I make them hear and how I make them see on the Day they come to Us. So both forms are found in the Qur'an. And His saying: "Or bring *af'ala* before a noun in the genitive case with *ba*", is its genitive case with *ba* obligatory or not?
The student: It is obligatory.

The Shaykh : It is obligatory, yes.