Nahw · syntaxVerb class (in syntax)core term9,166+ in the Qur'an
Also written: Madi · Maadi · Past tense · Perfect tense · Al-Madi
In one line
The past-tense verb — reports an action that has already happened.
Classical definition
الفِعْلُ المَاضِي مَا دَلَّ عَلَى حَدَثٍ وَقَعَ قَبْلَ زَمَنِ التَّكَلُّمِ، وَهُوَ مَبْنِيٌّ.
“The past verb points to an event that occurred before the moment of speaking, and its ending is fixed (mabni).”
(بتصرف من شذا العرف)
Key words in the Arabic
حَدَثan event, an action
وَقَعَhappened, took place
زَمَن التَّكَلُّمthe moment of speaking
مَبْنِيّfixed-ending, does not take i'rab
Understand it
The madi reports what has already happened, so an English past tense usually translates it: خَلَقَ “He created”. Its doer is written into the ending — فَعَلْتُ (I), فَعَلْتُمْ (you all), فَعَلُوا (they) — which is why a single word of the Quran is often a complete sentence. Grammar never alters its ending; only the doer does.
How to spot it
Recognition test
A verb form like فَعَلَ that accepts the تاء of doership (فَعَلْتُ) and is built (mabni) is past tense.
In the Qur'an
قَدْ أَفْلَحَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ
Al-Mu'minun 23:1 — “Certainly the believers have succeeded”
أَفْلَحَ is a madi — and the قَدْ before it is one of the four verb-signs listed under fi'l.
Forms it takes
للغائبللغائبينللمتكلمينللمخاطبينللغائبةللمخاطبللمتكلمللغائبات
Don't confuse it with
Beware the near-twins ـنَا (we) and ـنَ (they, feminine plural): فَتَحْنَا is “we opened”, فَتَحْنَ is “they (f.) opened” — one letter changes the doer of a Quranic ayah entirely.
Related terms
Common questions
Is al-madi the same as the English past tense?
Close, but not identical: it marks completed action — and the Quran also uses it for future events so certain they are expressed as already done, especially scenes of the Day of Judgement.
Do I have to learn new endings for Forms 2–10?
No. The same 14 suffixes conjugate every madi verb in the language, Form I through Form X. Learn them once on فَتَحَ and you can conjugate عَلَّمَ, أَسْلَمَ and every other madi you will ever meet.
Domain: Nahw · Category: Verb class (in syntax) · Frequency in the Qur'an: 9,166 · Source: بتصرف من شذا العرف, cross-checked against the Quranic corpus · Reviewed by Ustad M. Arjan Ali