Explanation of the words of Ibn Malik (may Allah have mercy on him): "Or a separator, what, and without a separator it occurs *** in poetry, widespread, and its weakness is believed."
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The Shaykh :"Or a separator, what":
"Or a separator, what": Let us look at the grammatical parsing of "what" here, because it is rare for it to occur in this kind of thing. "Or a separator, what": What is its grammatical parsing?
The student: An apposition of explanation.
The Shaykh : No.
The student: Substitute.
The Shaykh : And it is not a substitute, yes?
The student: It is a subject, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : No.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : And its grammatical parsing?
The student: It is a noun with many grammatical functions.
The Shaykh :"Or a separator, what": You have the possible meanings of "what." Look at which of these ten meanings fits, which one is suitable for it?
The student: It is an indefinite noun.
The Shaykh : Huh?
The student: It is an indefinite noun.
The Shaykh : Yes, is it a described noun? No.
The student: A definite noun!
The Shaykh : An indefinite noun with a description, an indefinite noun with a description means: "Or a separator, i.e., any separator." This is the estimation. "Separator, what" means: "Or separate with any separator," even if it is not a detached subject pronoun. So you say, for example: "I stood up hurriedly and Zayd," right? Does it work or not?
The student: It is correct.
The Shaykh : It works, because we separated here with a separator, which is the state (hal). "I sat in the mosque and 'Umar," is it the same or not?
The student: It is the same.
The Shaykh : It is the same, because we separated with the preposition and its object. And Ibn Malik says: "So separate with a pronoun or with any separator."
"And without a separator it occurs *** in poetry":
It means: And the conjunction to a connected subject pronoun may occur without a separator, not separated by a pronoun or by anything other than a pronoun, but in poetry. His saying:
"Widespread": Meaning frequently, but:
"And its weakness is believed":
It means: Even if it occurs, it is believed that the conjunction is weak. So what is the stronger and more correct position?
The student: Separation.
The Shaykh : We did not find separation. The accusative case for accompaniment is stronger. The stronger is the accusative for accompaniment. Do you have, I think, verses on this example? What do they say?
The student: "I said, when I approached and the flowers swayed ***".
The Shaykh : When I approached!
The student: "I said, when I approached and the flowers swayed *** Like the sheep of the plain, trampling the sand".
The Shaykh : "Trampling the sand": The meaning is: "I said, when I approached and the flowers": And "flowers" here is conjoined to the hidden pronoun in "I approached," yes, and without a separator or not?
The student: Without a separator.
The Shaykh : And if it were not for poetry, he would have said: "When she approached." Now, Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Baqarah 2:35], is this from this category or not?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh :[Al-Baqarah 2:35], so the grammatical parsing of "settle" is: an imperative verb, and its doer is a hidden pronoun, obligatory to be hidden, estimated as "you." And "you" is an emphasis for the hidden pronoun. And "wa" (and) is a conjunction particle, and "your wife" is conjoined to the hidden pronoun. Which one?
The student: In the doer, yes.
The Shaykh : The hidden pronoun in the first "settle."
"And without a separator it occurs *** in poetry, widespread, and its weakness is believed":
What put "its weakness" in the accusative case?
The student: The object, a fronted object.
The Shaykh : No, a fronted object is wrong.
The student: A fronted object.
The Shaykh : No mistake.
The student: It is a predicate, O Shaykh!
Another student: It is the beginning of the sentence.
The Shaykh : It is a subject. He was saying: "And its weakness"?
The student: He believes its weakness.
Another student: It is the doer of a deleted verb, and it is in the accusative case due to a deleted verb.
The Shaykh : It is like what Muhammad said from the perspective of "ishghal" (occupation), because—"patience, no, the apparent is wrong"—the correct is what you said: that "weakness" is a fronted object for "believed," because "believed" has not taken its object. Meaning: "And he believed its weakness".
"Or a separator, what": Let us look at the grammatical parsing of "what" here, because it is rare for it to occur in this kind of thing. "Or a separator, what": What is its grammatical parsing?
The student: An apposition of explanation.
The Shaykh : No.
The student: Substitute.
The Shaykh : And it is not a substitute, yes?
The student: It is a subject, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : No.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : And its grammatical parsing?
The student: It is a noun with many grammatical functions.
The Shaykh :"Or a separator, what": You have the possible meanings of "what." Look at which of these ten meanings fits, which one is suitable for it?
The student: It is an indefinite noun.
The Shaykh : Huh?
The student: It is an indefinite noun.
The Shaykh : Yes, is it a described noun? No.
The student: A definite noun!
The Shaykh : An indefinite noun with a description, an indefinite noun with a description means: "Or a separator, i.e., any separator." This is the estimation. "Separator, what" means: "Or separate with any separator," even if it is not a detached subject pronoun. So you say, for example: "I stood up hurriedly and Zayd," right? Does it work or not?
The student: It is correct.
The Shaykh : It works, because we separated here with a separator, which is the state (hal). "I sat in the mosque and 'Umar," is it the same or not?
The student: It is the same.
The Shaykh : It is the same, because we separated with the preposition and its object. And Ibn Malik says: "So separate with a pronoun or with any separator."
"And without a separator it occurs *** in poetry":
It means: And the conjunction to a connected subject pronoun may occur without a separator, not separated by a pronoun or by anything other than a pronoun, but in poetry. His saying:
"Widespread": Meaning frequently, but:
"And its weakness is believed":
It means: Even if it occurs, it is believed that the conjunction is weak. So what is the stronger and more correct position?
The student: Separation.
The Shaykh : We did not find separation. The accusative case for accompaniment is stronger. The stronger is the accusative for accompaniment. Do you have, I think, verses on this example? What do they say?
The student: "I said, when I approached and the flowers swayed ***".
The Shaykh : When I approached!
The student: "I said, when I approached and the flowers swayed *** Like the sheep of the plain, trampling the sand".
The Shaykh : "Trampling the sand": The meaning is: "I said, when I approached and the flowers": And "flowers" here is conjoined to the hidden pronoun in "I approached," yes, and without a separator or not?
The student: Without a separator.
The Shaykh : And if it were not for poetry, he would have said: "When she approached." Now, Allah the Exalted said:
And We said, "O Adam, dwell, you and your wife, in Paradise
قلنا يا آدم اسكن أنت وزوجك الجنةThe student: Yes.
The Shaykh :
dwell, you and your wife
اسكن أنت وزوجكThe student: In the doer, yes.
The Shaykh : The hidden pronoun in the first "settle."
"And without a separator it occurs *** in poetry, widespread, and its weakness is believed":
What put "its weakness" in the accusative case?
The student: The object, a fronted object.
The Shaykh : No, a fronted object is wrong.
The student: A fronted object.
The Shaykh : No mistake.
The student: It is a predicate, O Shaykh!
Another student: It is the beginning of the sentence.
The Shaykh : It is a subject. He was saying: "And its weakness"?
The student: He believes its weakness.
Another student: It is the doer of a deleted verb, and it is in the accusative case due to a deleted verb.
The Shaykh : It is like what Muhammad said from the perspective of "ishghal" (occupation), because—"patience, no, the apparent is wrong"—the correct is what you said: that "weakness" is a fronted object for "believed," because "believed" has not taken its object. Meaning: "And he believed its weakness".