What is the conjunctive follower ('atf nasaq)?
In one line
Classical definition
Understand it
Two words, one particle between them, and whatever ending the first wears, the second wears too.
حَضَرَ مُحَمَّدٌ وَعَلِيٌّ (hadara muhammadun wa-'aliyyun) — Muhammad and Ali came. مُحَمَّد is marfu' as the doer; عَلِيّ is marfu' because the waw passed the ending on.
رَأَيْتُ مُحَمَّدًا وَعَلِيًّا — change the first to nasab and the second follows.
The followers
A follower has no i'rab of its own. It copies the word before it — which is why the followers sit outside the twenty-two roles.
The word before the particle is the مَعْطُوف عَلَيْه; the particle is the حَرْف عَطْف; the word after it is the مَعْطُوف.
Nine particles do this work, and each joins in its own way.
The nine linking particles
| # | Meaning | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | الْوَاو | al-waw | joins the two in one ruling — no order implied |
| 2 | الْفَاء | al-fa' | joins, orders, and puts them straight together — no interval |
| 3 | ثُمَّ | thumma | joins and orders, but with an interval between |
| 4 | أَوْ | aw | choice, permission, doubt, deliberate vagueness, or division |
| 5 | أَمْ | am | either equality between two, or asking which of the two |
| 6 | بَلْ | bal | after a statement, it moves the ruling on; after a negative, it confirms it and asserts the opposite |
| 7 | لَا | la | affirms the first and denies the second |
| 8 | لَكِنْ | lakin | rectifies — confirms what precedes, asserts the opposite for what follows |
| 9 | حَتَّى | hatta | even — and what follows must be part of what came before |
Whichever one is used, the word after it takes the i'rab of the word before it. Only the meaning of the link changes.1
How to spot it
In the Qur'an
Don't confuse it with maf'ul ma'ahu
Do not confuse the مَعْطُوف with the مَفْعُول مَعَهُ.
Both come after a waw. Only one copies.
A مَعْطُوف copies the ending of the word before it: جَاءَ مُحَمَّدٌ وَعَلِيٌّ — both marfu', both came.
A مَفْعُول مَعَهُ is mansub in its own right, whatever came before: جَاءَ مُحَمَّدٌ وَالْجَيْشَ — the army did not come; Muhammad came alongside it.
Read the waw: if it means and, you have an 'atf. If it means along with, you do not.
Related terms
Common questions
What is nasq, and why the extra word?
It distinguishes this from the other kind of joining. In 'atf nasaq a linking particle stands between the two words; in 'atf bayan nothing stands between them at all. The particle is the whole difference, and the name records it.
Next in the guideمَعْطُوفConjoined element (ma'tuf) →Notes
- The nine, and their meanings, follow اَلنَّحْو التَّطْبِيقِي (an-Nahw at-Tatbiqi): عَلَى الرَّأْيِ الصَّحِيحِ — “according to the sound view”, there are nine. ↩
Updated