Explanation of the words of Ibn Malik (may Allah have mercy on him): "And some of what is specific to the vocative *** Lu'man, Numan, thus..."
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The Shaykh : And for a woman, it is *fulah*. The grammarians differed on this; some said that the origin of *ful* is *fulan* and the origin of *fulah* is *fulanah*. Others said: No, it is an independent word in its own right, not derived from a root. When you say: *Ya ful*, it means *Ya mar'* (O man); *Ya fulah*, it means *Ya mar'ah* (O woman). Based on this, we say: *Ya ful*, always. This is unlike the case where we say it is contracted from *fulan*, in which case it is permissible to say: *Ya ful* and *Ya fal*. But here we say: *Ya ful*, on the basis that it is a word independent in itself, a reference to? Hmm?
The student: To *ful*.
The Shaykh : To *ful*?! To the man. You say: *Ya ful*, be upright, meaning: O man, be upright. *Ya fulah*, be modest, meaning: O woman, be modest. Is it permissible to say: *Ful* is standing?
The student: No.
The Shaykh : No, because this is among the words that are specific to the vocative. You cannot say: I saw *fal*, nor can you say: I passed by *fal*, because it is specific to the vocative. Also:
"Lu'man, Numan":
All of this, praise be to Allah, is not found among us. *Lu'man* means: one who is much in baseness and great in baseness, meaning a base person, a base person in abundance. This is also among the words specific to the vocative. So you say: *Ya Lu'man*. The reason is that it contains an element of rebuke; there is an element of rebuke in being a base person who is much in baseness. So *Ya Lu'man*: *Ya* is the particle of vocative, and *Lu'man* is the vocative noun, built on *dammah* in the position of *naseb* (accusative), because it is an intended indefinite noun, so *Lu'man* was said of it.
"Numan": *Numan* means: one who sleeps a lot, you hardly see him except sleeping. This is also among the words specific to the vocative.
The student: We use this among us.
The Shaykh : Huh?
The student: This is found, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Found?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : *Ya Numan*?
The student: Yes, indeed.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The student: *Ya Numan*.
The Shaykh : *Ya Numan*, but it is *Numan* on the pattern of *Sakran* (drunk).
The student: No, among us it is *Naman*.
The Shaykh : Yes, *Naman*.
The student: *Naman*.
The Shaykh : Fine, *Naman*: means one who sleeps a lot. And this is specific to the vocative, because sleeping a lot is actually a defect; excessive sleeping is a defect. For this reason, if a person becomes one who sleeps a lot, there must be a reason. He should present himself to doctors, because there may be an illness he is unaware of.
So sleep must be balanced with wakefulness. It is true that children, glory be to Allah the Great, these children sleep a lot; they may sleep twenty-four hours, twenty hours, the important thing is they sleep. *Numan* like this: So *Lu'man* is the subject (*mubtada'*), and *Numan* is conjoined to it with the omission of the conjunction, and *kadhā* (thus) is a preposition and its object, which is the predicate (*khabar*) of the subject. So what we have is four words: *ful*, *fulah*, *Numan*, and *Lu'man*.
The student: Shaykh!
The Shaykh : Yes?
The student: His saying "an intended indefinite noun"!
The Shaykh : Yes
The student: Do you parse it?
The Shaykh : Do you know the parsing of an intended indefinite noun?
The student: To *ful*.
The Shaykh : To *ful*?! To the man. You say: *Ya ful*, be upright, meaning: O man, be upright. *Ya fulah*, be modest, meaning: O woman, be modest. Is it permissible to say: *Ful* is standing?
The student: No.
The Shaykh : No, because this is among the words that are specific to the vocative. You cannot say: I saw *fal*, nor can you say: I passed by *fal*, because it is specific to the vocative. Also:
"Lu'man, Numan":
All of this, praise be to Allah, is not found among us. *Lu'man* means: one who is much in baseness and great in baseness, meaning a base person, a base person in abundance. This is also among the words specific to the vocative. So you say: *Ya Lu'man*. The reason is that it contains an element of rebuke; there is an element of rebuke in being a base person who is much in baseness. So *Ya Lu'man*: *Ya* is the particle of vocative, and *Lu'man* is the vocative noun, built on *dammah* in the position of *naseb* (accusative), because it is an intended indefinite noun, so *Lu'man* was said of it.
"Numan": *Numan* means: one who sleeps a lot, you hardly see him except sleeping. This is also among the words specific to the vocative.
The student: We use this among us.
The Shaykh : Huh?
The student: This is found, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Found?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : *Ya Numan*?
The student: Yes, indeed.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The student: *Ya Numan*.
The Shaykh : *Ya Numan*, but it is *Numan* on the pattern of *Sakran* (drunk).
The student: No, among us it is *Naman*.
The Shaykh : Yes, *Naman*.
The student: *Naman*.
The Shaykh : Fine, *Naman*: means one who sleeps a lot. And this is specific to the vocative, because sleeping a lot is actually a defect; excessive sleeping is a defect. For this reason, if a person becomes one who sleeps a lot, there must be a reason. He should present himself to doctors, because there may be an illness he is unaware of.
So sleep must be balanced with wakefulness. It is true that children, glory be to Allah the Great, these children sleep a lot; they may sleep twenty-four hours, twenty hours, the important thing is they sleep. *Numan* like this: So *Lu'man* is the subject (*mubtada'*), and *Numan* is conjoined to it with the omission of the conjunction, and *kadhā* (thus) is a preposition and its object, which is the predicate (*khabar*) of the subject. So what we have is four words: *ful*, *fulah*, *Numan*, and *Lu'man*.
The student: Shaykh!
The Shaykh : Yes?
The student: His saying "an intended indefinite noun"!
The Shaykh : Yes
The student: Do you parse it?
The Shaykh : Do you know the parsing of an intended indefinite noun?