What is the substitute (badal)?
In one line
Classical definition
Understand it
A word is given, then given again more exactly. The second is the بَدَل; the first is the مُبْدَل مِنْه (mubdal minhu). Nothing stands between them — no particle, unlike the 'atf.
عَدَلَ الْخَلِيفَةُ عُمَرُ (‘adala al-khalifatu ‘umaru) — the caliph, Umar, was just. The statement is about Umar; الْخَلِيفَة only prepares the way for naming him.
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.
Three kinds are standard:1
The three kinds of badal
| Kind | Example | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|---|
| whole for whole | بَدَل كُلٍّ مِنْ كُلٍّ | عَدَلَ الْخَلِيفَةُ عُمَرُ | the caliph, Umar, was just |
| part for whole | بَدَل بَعْضٍ مِنْ كُلٍّ | قَرَأْتُ الْكِتَابَ نِصْفَهُ | I read the book, half of it |
| of inclusion | بَدَل اشْتِمَالٍ | نَفَعَنِي زَيْدٌ عِلْمُهُ | Zayd benefited me — his knowledge did |
In each one the second word is the one the sentence is really about; the first prepares the way for it.
How to spot it
In the Qur'an
Related terms
Common questions
How do I tell a badal from a description?
Delete the first word. If the sentence still stands and means the same thing, the second was a badal — it was what the sentence intended all along. A description cannot survive that test, because it would have nothing left to describe.
Next in the guideعَطْفُ الْبَيَانWhat is the explanatory apposition ('atf bayan)? →Notes
- اَلنَّحْو التَّطْبِيقِي (an-Nahw at-Tatbiqi) gives these three. اَلْآجُرُّومِيَّة (al-Ajurrumiyya) gives four, adding بَدَل الْغَلَط — the substitute of a slip of the tongue: رَأَيْتُ زَيْدًا الْفَرَسَ, where the speaker meant “the horse”, said “Zayd”, and corrected himself mid-sentence. The fourth is real, but belongs to speech rather than to composition, which is why the applied books leave it out. ↩
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