Explanation of the words of Ibn Malik (may Allah have mercy on him): "And the vowel is necessarily a matching one at its beginning *** If the opening causes confusion."
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : Then the author said:
"And the vowel is necessarily a matching one at its beginning *** If the opening causes confusion"
This is one of the issues of the grammarians, similar to the issues of the jurists of inheritance. He says: If a person dies leaving twenty grandmothers, which of the twenty grandmothers is the heir?
The student: The first one.
The Shaykh : Ah, twenty grandmothers means it is a distant case. Yes, this is what Ibn Malik just said, and as it will become clear to you, if Allah wills, it is one of the distant matters. We have now understood that the alif is attached to the end of the mandub, or not?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : The alif is attached to it. Out of necessity for attaching the alif, the letter before it must be open (fathah). The letter before it must be open, or not?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : Okay, if the vowel before the alif, if we open it, causes confusion, if we open it causes confusion, then we leave it as it is, we leave it as it is, and we change the alif to a letter that matches or is compatible with that vowel, that matches or is compatible with that vowel. It is difficult to visualize and rarely occurs, yes? Did you see:
"And the vowel is necessarily a matching one at its beginning"
The vowel at its beginning, it is known that if we want to parse the vowel, we say it is?
The student: An object placed before.
The Shaykh : No, it is the object of a deleted verb explained by what follows it. This is from the chapter of al-Ishtighal, my brothers. And "awli" is a command verb, so the stronger opinion is that it is in the accusative case, yes? And his saying "necessarily" is connected to "awli" (its beginning). The vowel at its beginning is necessarily, and what is its beginning? Where is the second object of "awli"?
The student: Necessarily.
The Shaykh : Huh?
The student: Necessarily.
The Shaykh : No, "matching" (mujanasan), meaning: the beginning of the vowel is necessarily matching. When is its beginning necessarily matching? Yes?
"If the opening causes confusion"
If leaving it with the fathah causes confusion, then you must make the alif in the mandub a letter matching the vowel before it, yes? Okay, if you want to lament an absent boy, to lament an absent boy, you say "Wa ghulama" originally. "Wa ghulama," look, now before us is "Wa ghulama," this is the mandub. "Wa ghulama" is the mandub. What is the end of the mandub?
The student: The haa.
The Shaykh : A haa with a dammah. When we attach the alif of the mandub to it, what is required?
The student: The fathah.
The Shaykh : It must be opened, so you say: "Wa ghulama-ha," "Wa ghulama-ha." Now, if we say "Wa ghulama-ha," the matter becomes confused for us. We do not know if it is the lamentation of a woman's boy or the lamentation of a man's boy, or not?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : Is it clear?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : So what do we do? We say, did you see the end of the mandub is with a dammah, and it is the haa. The end of the mandub is with a dammah. What matches the dammah?
The student: Waw.
The Shaykh : The waw. Make the alif of the mandub a waw and say "Wa ghulama-hu," "Wa ghulama-hu," because if you say "Wa ghulama-ha," the matter becomes confused for us: are you lamenting a woman's boy or lamenting a male's boy? Clear?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : So we say: "Wa ghulama-hu" and we make the alif a waw. This is the meaning of his saying:
"Its beginning is matching"
But when do we make it matching?
"If the opening causes confusion"
Okay, likewise, if it is with a kasrah and the opening causes confusion, then we change the alif to a yaa. For example, you say: "Wa ghulama-ki," addressing a woman, lamenting her boy. He was a beloved and good boy who fulfilled her needs and he died. Do you lament him or not?
The student: You lament him.
The Shaykh : You lamented him in grief for him, so you said: "Wa ghulama-ki." Do we attach to the end of the mandub?
The student: An alif.
The Shaykh : An alif. When we attach an alif to "wa ghulama-ki," the alif opens the letter before it, so you say: "Wa ghulama-ka-h," "Wa ghulama-ka-h." When we say "Wa ghulama-ka-h"?
The student: It becomes ...
The Shaykh : It becomes ... We do not know if we are lamenting a man's boy or a woman's boy. So we leave the kasrah that indicates addressing a woman as it is and we drop the alif.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Yes, matching the kasrah, the kasrah, so it becomes?
The student: Yaa.
The Shaykh : A yaa. So we say "Wa ghulama-ki-y," "Wa ghulama-ki-y." Is the matter clear now?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : Good, meaning Ibn Malik says, as if it is an exception to what came before:
"And the end of the mandub is connected with an alif"
Except if connecting it with an alif causes confusion, then it is obligatory to change the alif or to turn the alif into a letter matching the vowel. If the vowel is a kasrah, you make the alif?
The student: Yaa.
The Shaykh : A yaa. If the vowel is a dammah?
The student: A waw.
The Shaykh : You change the alif to a waw. Clear, Ghannam?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Huh?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : ... before Saturday.
The student: Obligatory, meaning before Saturday?
The Shaykh : No, not obligatory, not obligatory. Is the matter clear, Ghannam?
The student: It became clear with difficulty!
The Shaykh : Good, yes?
The student: The example clarified it.
The Shaykh : Yes, indeed.
The student: The parsing, O Shaykh, we did not talk about the parsing.
The Shaykh : The parsing, the time is over now. He says this is a mandub. "Ghulam" is a compound noun, and the haa is a suffix pronoun, built on the dammah in the place of the genitive case. "Ghulama-hu" is in its natural state.
The questioner : ...
The Shaykh : Huh?
The questioner : "Wa ghulama-hu"?
"And the vowel is necessarily a matching one at its beginning *** If the opening causes confusion"
This is one of the issues of the grammarians, similar to the issues of the jurists of inheritance. He says: If a person dies leaving twenty grandmothers, which of the twenty grandmothers is the heir?
The student: The first one.
The Shaykh : Ah, twenty grandmothers means it is a distant case. Yes, this is what Ibn Malik just said, and as it will become clear to you, if Allah wills, it is one of the distant matters. We have now understood that the alif is attached to the end of the mandub, or not?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : The alif is attached to it. Out of necessity for attaching the alif, the letter before it must be open (fathah). The letter before it must be open, or not?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : Okay, if the vowel before the alif, if we open it, causes confusion, if we open it causes confusion, then we leave it as it is, we leave it as it is, and we change the alif to a letter that matches or is compatible with that vowel, that matches or is compatible with that vowel. It is difficult to visualize and rarely occurs, yes? Did you see:
"And the vowel is necessarily a matching one at its beginning"
The vowel at its beginning, it is known that if we want to parse the vowel, we say it is?
The student: An object placed before.
The Shaykh : No, it is the object of a deleted verb explained by what follows it. This is from the chapter of al-Ishtighal, my brothers. And "awli" is a command verb, so the stronger opinion is that it is in the accusative case, yes? And his saying "necessarily" is connected to "awli" (its beginning). The vowel at its beginning is necessarily, and what is its beginning? Where is the second object of "awli"?
The student: Necessarily.
The Shaykh : Huh?
The student: Necessarily.
The Shaykh : No, "matching" (mujanasan), meaning: the beginning of the vowel is necessarily matching. When is its beginning necessarily matching? Yes?
"If the opening causes confusion"
If leaving it with the fathah causes confusion, then you must make the alif in the mandub a letter matching the vowel before it, yes? Okay, if you want to lament an absent boy, to lament an absent boy, you say "Wa ghulama" originally. "Wa ghulama," look, now before us is "Wa ghulama," this is the mandub. "Wa ghulama" is the mandub. What is the end of the mandub?
The student: The haa.
The Shaykh : A haa with a dammah. When we attach the alif of the mandub to it, what is required?
The student: The fathah.
The Shaykh : It must be opened, so you say: "Wa ghulama-ha," "Wa ghulama-ha." Now, if we say "Wa ghulama-ha," the matter becomes confused for us. We do not know if it is the lamentation of a woman's boy or the lamentation of a man's boy, or not?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : Is it clear?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : So what do we do? We say, did you see the end of the mandub is with a dammah, and it is the haa. The end of the mandub is with a dammah. What matches the dammah?
The student: Waw.
The Shaykh : The waw. Make the alif of the mandub a waw and say "Wa ghulama-hu," "Wa ghulama-hu," because if you say "Wa ghulama-ha," the matter becomes confused for us: are you lamenting a woman's boy or lamenting a male's boy? Clear?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : So we say: "Wa ghulama-hu" and we make the alif a waw. This is the meaning of his saying:
"Its beginning is matching"
But when do we make it matching?
"If the opening causes confusion"
Okay, likewise, if it is with a kasrah and the opening causes confusion, then we change the alif to a yaa. For example, you say: "Wa ghulama-ki," addressing a woman, lamenting her boy. He was a beloved and good boy who fulfilled her needs and he died. Do you lament him or not?
The student: You lament him.
The Shaykh : You lamented him in grief for him, so you said: "Wa ghulama-ki." Do we attach to the end of the mandub?
The student: An alif.
The Shaykh : An alif. When we attach an alif to "wa ghulama-ki," the alif opens the letter before it, so you say: "Wa ghulama-ka-h," "Wa ghulama-ka-h." When we say "Wa ghulama-ka-h"?
The student: It becomes ...
The Shaykh : It becomes ... We do not know if we are lamenting a man's boy or a woman's boy. So we leave the kasrah that indicates addressing a woman as it is and we drop the alif.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Yes, matching the kasrah, the kasrah, so it becomes?
The student: Yaa.
The Shaykh : A yaa. So we say "Wa ghulama-ki-y," "Wa ghulama-ki-y." Is the matter clear now?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : Good, meaning Ibn Malik says, as if it is an exception to what came before:
"And the end of the mandub is connected with an alif"
Except if connecting it with an alif causes confusion, then it is obligatory to change the alif or to turn the alif into a letter matching the vowel. If the vowel is a kasrah, you make the alif?
The student: Yaa.
The Shaykh : A yaa. If the vowel is a dammah?
The student: A waw.
The Shaykh : You change the alif to a waw. Clear, Ghannam?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Huh?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : ... before Saturday.
The student: Obligatory, meaning before Saturday?
The Shaykh : No, not obligatory, not obligatory. Is the matter clear, Ghannam?
The student: It became clear with difficulty!
The Shaykh : Good, yes?
The student: The example clarified it.
The Shaykh : Yes, indeed.
The student: The parsing, O Shaykh, we did not talk about the parsing.
The Shaykh : The parsing, the time is over now. He says this is a mandub. "Ghulam" is a compound noun, and the haa is a suffix pronoun, built on the dammah in the place of the genitive case. "Ghulama-hu" is in its natural state.
The questioner : ...
The Shaykh : Huh?
The questioner : "Wa ghulama-hu"?