Explanation of the saying of Ibn Malik (may Allah have mercy on him): "A particle and its like are free from inflection *** And everything else is fit for inflection."
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The Shaykh :"A particle and its like are free from inflection"
"Particle" is the subject, and "its like" is conjoined to it. "Free" is the predicate of the subject. It is permissible to begin with an indefinite noun here because of the division. Ibn Malik says that it is not permissible to begin with an indefinite noun unless it conveys a benefit. As for his saying: "and its like", what is the like of a particle? The like of a particle is of two types: one is from nouns, and the second is from verbs. The one from nouns is the built nouns, so every built noun is free from inflection. For example, you cannot say its measure is fa'ala. We cannot say its measure is what?
The student: Fa'lu.
The Shaykh : Fa'lu, it is not possible. Every built noun has no inflection whatsoever, and the inflectional patterns are not applied to it. As for the second type: it is every static noun from verbs, which does not undergo inflection, such as laysa and 'asa. Do you understand?
The student: And ni'ma.
The Shaykh : And ni'ma.
The student: Every verb, or what?
The Shaykh : Every static verb has no share in inflection, so do not say, for example, in a measure, what is the measure of ni'ma? You do not say fi'la like this, because it is free from inflection; the inflectional pattern is not applied to it. What is the measure of laysa and wa?
The student: Fa'la.
The Shaykh : But it has no measure, my dear ones. If someone asks for its measure, we say it has no measure in inflection. Ibn Malik says: "free", meaning: disclaimed from inflection. The particle and its like are free from inflection. Now, do you say the measure of 'asa is fa'ala? No, because it is static, so its like includes the built ones, do you understand?
The student: And the static verb.
The Shaykh : And the static verb. So the things free from inflection are three: the particle, the built nouns, and the static verbs. None of these can undergo inflection.
"And everything else is fit for inflection"
Meaning: worthy of inflection, everything other than the particle and its like. So this includes all inflected nouns and all verbs, what?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : The non-static ones, the non-static ones, yes, good.
"Particle" is the subject, and "its like" is conjoined to it. "Free" is the predicate of the subject. It is permissible to begin with an indefinite noun here because of the division. Ibn Malik says that it is not permissible to begin with an indefinite noun unless it conveys a benefit. As for his saying: "and its like", what is the like of a particle? The like of a particle is of two types: one is from nouns, and the second is from verbs. The one from nouns is the built nouns, so every built noun is free from inflection. For example, you cannot say its measure is fa'ala. We cannot say its measure is what?
The student: Fa'lu.
The Shaykh : Fa'lu, it is not possible. Every built noun has no inflection whatsoever, and the inflectional patterns are not applied to it. As for the second type: it is every static noun from verbs, which does not undergo inflection, such as laysa and 'asa. Do you understand?
The student: And ni'ma.
The Shaykh : And ni'ma.
The student: Every verb, or what?
The Shaykh : Every static verb has no share in inflection, so do not say, for example, in a measure, what is the measure of ni'ma? You do not say fi'la like this, because it is free from inflection; the inflectional pattern is not applied to it. What is the measure of laysa and wa?
The student: Fa'la.
The Shaykh : But it has no measure, my dear ones. If someone asks for its measure, we say it has no measure in inflection. Ibn Malik says: "free", meaning: disclaimed from inflection. The particle and its like are free from inflection. Now, do you say the measure of 'asa is fa'ala? No, because it is static, so its like includes the built ones, do you understand?
The student: And the static verb.
The Shaykh : And the static verb. So the things free from inflection are three: the particle, the built nouns, and the static verbs. None of these can undergo inflection.
"And everything else is fit for inflection"
Meaning: worthy of inflection, everything other than the particle and its like. So this includes all inflected nouns and all verbs, what?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : The non-static ones, the non-static ones, yes, good.