Explanation of the words of Ibn Malik (may Allah have mercy on him): "And there is no word of fewer than three letters that is seen *** as capable of inflection, except what has been altered."
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh :"And there is no word of fewer than three letters that is seen *** as capable of inflection, except what has been altered"
"And there is no word of fewer than three letters" means: it is impossible for a word that is capable of inflection to be of fewer than three letters, ever. The meaning is that everything capable of inflection, whether a noun or a verb, does not fall below?
The student: Three.
The Shaykh : Three letters, except what has been altered. "Except what has been altered" means what has undergone alteration by deletion. This may result in fewer than three letters. For example, "yad" (hand) has two letters, or does it not? It has two letters, and yet it is among the words that undergo inflection, even though it is fewer than three. But it has a deletion. Is the cause of the deletion an inflectional rule? He says: No, it is a deletion by arbitrary choice, meaning: by force. The Arabs marked it this way, and that is the end of it. And on this basis, we say that everything capable of inflection, whether a verb, a noun, or a particle, cannot be reduced to fewer than three letters...
The student: ...
The Shaykh : ... here, then, everything capable of inflection, whether a noun or a verb, cannot be reduced to fewer than three letters, unless it is subjected to a beneficial alteration. Is the imperative verb "fi" capable of inflection, or is it not?
The student: It is a particle.
The Shaykh : No, no, "fi," "fi" with the covenant? "Fi" with the covenant?
The student: It is capable of inflection.
The Shaykh : Capable of inflection? Okay, is it one letter now?
The student: Two letters were deleted from it.
The Shaykh : Two letters were deleted from it because it is from "wa-fa," and "wa-fa" has three letters, or does it not? So it has a defect. For this reason, he said:
"except what has been altered"
"And there is no word of fewer than three letters" means: it is impossible for a word that is capable of inflection to be of fewer than three letters, ever. The meaning is that everything capable of inflection, whether a noun or a verb, does not fall below?
The student: Three.
The Shaykh : Three letters, except what has been altered. "Except what has been altered" means what has undergone alteration by deletion. This may result in fewer than three letters. For example, "yad" (hand) has two letters, or does it not? It has two letters, and yet it is among the words that undergo inflection, even though it is fewer than three. But it has a deletion. Is the cause of the deletion an inflectional rule? He says: No, it is a deletion by arbitrary choice, meaning: by force. The Arabs marked it this way, and that is the end of it. And on this basis, we say that everything capable of inflection, whether a verb, a noun, or a particle, cannot be reduced to fewer than three letters...
The student: ...
The Shaykh : ... here, then, everything capable of inflection, whether a noun or a verb, cannot be reduced to fewer than three letters, unless it is subjected to a beneficial alteration. Is the imperative verb "fi" capable of inflection, or is it not?
The student: It is a particle.
The Shaykh : No, no, "fi," "fi" with the covenant? "Fi" with the covenant?
The student: It is capable of inflection.
The Shaykh : Capable of inflection? Okay, is it one letter now?
The student: Two letters were deleted from it.
The Shaykh : Two letters were deleted from it because it is from "wa-fa," and "wa-fa" has three letters, or does it not? So it has a defect. For this reason, he said:
"except what has been altered"