Is "ghulamān" (two boys) a descriptive attribute in the phrase "O the two boys," and on what is it based?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : All right, Shaykh, how do we parse: "O the two boys"?
The Shaykh : "O the two"?
The questioner : "The two boys"?
The Shaykh : "The two boys" is the same; we say: "The two boys" is a descriptive attribute for "ayy" (which).
The questioner : Is it a noun built on the dammah (raised vowel)?
The Shaykh : On the alif, because the dual is raised with the alif, and it is built on what it is raised with, so we say "the two boys": a descriptive attribute for "ayy," built on the alif in the position of the accusative.
The questioner : And is it built on the alif and built on the yā'?
The Shaykh : Like: "O the Muslims," built on the wāw. All right, we passed over the fact that "ayy" remains singular, even if the attribute here is dual or plural, but if the attribute is feminine, it is feminized.
And it is permissible for it to remain masculine; it is permissible to say: "O the woman" and "O the woman," as Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Fajr 89:27].
The student: No, Shaykh, perhaps I was surprised by the feminine tā'!
The Shaykh : Yes, the tā' is for the feminine, and the hā' is for emphasis.
The Shaykh : "O the two"?
The questioner : "The two boys"?
The Shaykh : "The two boys" is the same; we say: "The two boys" is a descriptive attribute for "ayy" (which).
The questioner : Is it a noun built on the dammah (raised vowel)?
The Shaykh : On the alif, because the dual is raised with the alif, and it is built on what it is raised with, so we say "the two boys": a descriptive attribute for "ayy," built on the alif in the position of the accusative.
The questioner : And is it built on the alif and built on the yā'?
The Shaykh : Like: "O the Muslims," built on the wāw. All right, we passed over the fact that "ayy" remains singular, even if the attribute here is dual or plural, but if the attribute is feminine, it is feminized.
And it is permissible for it to remain masculine; it is permissible to say: "O the woman" and "O the woman," as Allah the Exalted said:
[To the righteous it will be said], "O reassured soul,
يا أيتها النفس المطمئنةThe student: No, Shaykh, perhaps I was surprised by the feminine tā'!
The Shaykh : Yes, the tā' is for the feminine, and the hā' is for emphasis.