Grammar term · Nahw · syntax
بَدَل
badal
Appositive substitute (badal)
Nahw · syntaxSyntactic roleadvanced term376+ in the Qur'an
In one line
The substitute — a follower that restates its noun and takes the same case.
Classical definition
البَدَلُ تَابِعٌ مَقْصُودٌ بِالحُكْمِ بِلَا وَاسِطَةٍ، يَتْبَعُ مُبْدَلَهُ فِي إِعْرَابِهِ.
“The badal is a follower intended by the ruling itself, with no intermediary, and it follows the substituted word in its i'rab.”
(بتصرف من الألفية)
Key words in the Arabic
مَقْصُود بِالْحُكْمِthe one actually intended by the statement
بِلَا وَاسِطَةwith no connector between them
Understand it
The badal swaps a clearer term into the same slot: اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ — the second صِرَاط re-states the first and inherits its nasb. The statement is really about the badal; the first word was the doorway to it.
How to spot it
Recognition test
A second noun that re-identifies the first and shares its case, with no connector between them, is a badal.
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