Nahw - The Anatomy of a Sentence - Part 3

In this post I will explain , Insha Allah, some points regarding the use of the relative pronoun ‫ ﺍﻟﳲﺬﻱ‬in

the Arabic Language. We will use the following sentence as our example:

‫ﻛﺎﻥﹶ ﺇﺳﻤﺎﻋﻴﻞﹸ ﻭﹶﻟﹷﺪﴽ ﺻﻐﻴﹻﺮﴽ ﻳﹷﺠﺮﹺﻱ ﻭﹶ ﻳﹷﺨﹿﺮﹸﺝﹸ ﻣﹷﻊﹶ ﻭﺍﻟﹻﺪﹺﻩﹺ‬

(Ismail was a small boy who would run and go out with is father)
In English a relative pronoun is used to describe a noun whenever the noun is being described by a full

sentence rather than a single word. For example, in the sentence The pen, which I bought yesterday, is

unique, the word which is connecting the pen with its adjective. The analogous word in Arabic is ‫ﺍﻟﳲﺬﻱ‬

and it gives the meaning of who .The technical term for it is ‫ ﺍﹺﺳﻢ ﻣﻮﺻﹹﻮﻝ‬.

Note that we have translated the sentence given above into English using the word who even though

there is no ‫ ﺍﻟﳲﺬﻱ‬in it. To understand this apparent anomaly understand that ‫ ﻭﹶﻟﹷﺪﴽ‬is an ‫ ﺍﹺﺳﻢ‬being

described by the adjective ‫( ﺻﻐﻴﹻﺮﴽ‬both of them form a ‫ ﻣﻮﺻﹹﻮﻑ‬and ‫ ﺻﹻﻔﻪ‬relationship, and thus

match each other in being indefinite). Also, the word ‫ ﻭﹶﻟﹷﺪﴽ‬is being described further by the verbal

sentence which starts at ‫ ﻳﹷﺠﺮﹺﻱ‬and ends at ‫ﻭﺍﻟﹻﺪﹺﻩﹺ‬. In effect, the ‫ ﻣﻮﺻﹹﻮﻑ‬has two ‫ ﺻﹻﻔﻪ‬in the main
sentence. Plus, the second ‫ ﺻﹻﻔﻪ‬is a complete sentence in itself as opposed to the first one which is a

single word. So we have an instance where a noun is being described by a sentence. To be consistent

with the ‫ ﺻﹻﻔﻪ‬- ‫ ﻣﻮﺻﹹﻮﻑ‬rules, whatever is describing ‫ ﻭﹶﻟﹷﺪﴽ‬has to be indefinite. In the Arabic

Language, as a rule, all sentences are considered indefinite by default. Hence, there is no grammatical

problem when connecting ‫ ﻭﹶﻟﹷﺪﴽ‬with its adjective (i.e. the verbal sentence) since both are indefinite.

Now consider a case where the noun being described is definite and we have a sentence which is

describing it. This will cause a problem since we need to have a way of converting the indefinite

sentence into a definite sentence before letting it describe a definite noun. This functionality is provided

by ‫ ﺍﻟﳲﺬﻱ‬which transform the value of a sentence from indefinite to definite . An example of this can be

seen in Al-Hashr [22-24]:

*+‫ﻴﻢ‬,‫ح‬.‫ﺍﻟﺮ‬+‫ن‬0‫ﻤ‬1‫ح‬.‫ﺍﻟﺮ‬+‫ه‬0‫ﻮ‬,‫ة‬0‫ﺪ‬0‫ه‬.‫ﺍﻟش‬0‫ ﻭ‬,‫ب‬1‫ﻴ‬0‫ﻐ‬7‫ﺍﻟ‬
+‫ﻢ‬,‫ل‬0‫ﻋ‬+‫ه‬0‫ﺎﻮ‬9‫ﻟ‬,‫ﺇ‬0‫ﻟﹶﻪ‬,‫ﻱ ﻟﹶﺎ ﺇ‬,‫ﺬ‬9‫ﺍﻟ‬
+‫ﻪ‬9‫ ﺍﻟل‬+‫ه‬
0‫ﻮ‬

‫ﻛﹸﻮﻥﹶ‬,‫ﺮ‬1‫ش‬+‫ﻳ‬
‫ﺎ‬.‫ﻤ‬0‫ ﻋ‬,‫ﻪ‬9‫ ﺍﻟل‬0‫ن‬0‫ح‬1‫ب‬+‫ﺳ‬
+‫كﹶب<ﺮ‬0‫ت‬+‫ﻤ‬7‫ﺍﻟ‬
+‫ﺎر‬.‫ب‬0‫ﺠ‬7‫ﺍﻟ‬
+‫ﻳز‬,‫ز‬0‫ع‬7‫ ﺍﻟ‬+‫ن‬,‫ﻤ‬1‫ﻴ‬0‫ه‬+‫ﻤ‬7‫ﺍﻟ‬
+‫ن‬,‫ﻣ‬1‫ؤ‬+‫ﻤ‬7‫ ﺍﻟ‬+‫لﹶﻢ‬.‫ ﺍﻟس‬+‫ﻭس‬E‫قﹸﺪ‬7‫ ﺍﻟ‬+‫ك‬,‫ل‬0‫ﻤ‬7‫ﻟ ﺍﻟ‬0‫ﻮ‬+‫ه‬
‫ﻱ‬,‫ﺬ‬9‫ﺍﻟ‬
‫ﺎ‬9‫ﻟ‬,‫ﺇ‬+‫ﻪ‬9‫ﺍﻟل‬
0‫ﻟﹶﻪ‬,‫*ﺇ‬0‫ﻮ‬+‫ه‬
‫ﹶﺎ‬

+‫ﻴﻢ‬,‫ك‬0‫ح‬7‫ﺍﻟ‬
+‫ﻳز‬,‫ز‬0‫ع‬7‫ﺍﻟ‬+‫ه‬0‫ﻭ‬
0‫ﻮ‬,‫ض‬1‫أﹶر‬7‫ﺍﻟ‬0‫ ﻭ‬,‫ت‬0‫ﻮ‬0‫ﻤ‬.‫ﺎﺍﻟس‬0‫يﻣ‬,‫ف‬
+‫ﻟﹶﻪ‬+‫ب<ح‬0‫س‬+‫ىﻳ‬0‫ن‬1‫س‬+‫ح‬7‫ﺍﻟ‬P‫ﺎء‬0‫ﻤ‬1‫أﹶﺳ‬7‫ﺍﻟ‬
+‫ﻟﹶﻪ‬+‫ﻮ<ر‬0‫ص‬+‫ﻤ‬7‫ ﺍﻟ‬+‫ئ‬,‫ﺎر‬0‫ب‬7‫ ﺍﻟ‬+‫ق‬,‫ل‬0‫ﺨ‬7‫ *ﺍﻟ‬+‫ﻪ‬9‫ ﺍﻟل‬0‫ﻮ‬+‫ه‬

Note that the first two verses have ‫ ﺍﻟﳲﺬﻱ‬in it since the noun ‫ﻪ‬9‫ ﺍﻟل‬is being described by ‫ﻮ‬+‫ﺎ ه‬9‫ﻟ‬,‫ ﺇ‬0‫ﻟﹶﻪ‬,‫ﺇ‬which
‫ﻟﹶﺎ‬

is a complete sentence. However, this is not the case with the final verse where the noun ‫ﻪ‬9‫ ﺍﻟل‬is being

described by ‫ق‬,‫ل‬0‫ﺨ‬7‫(ﺍﻟ‬and other adjectives) which is a definite noun (and single word, as well), so ‫ ﺍﻟﳲﺬﻱ‬is

not needed here.

I hope this will explain some basic points regarding the use of ‫ ﺍﻟﳲﺬﻱ‬in the Arabic Language.