نَائِب فَاعِل
na'ib fa'il
Deputy agent (passive subject)
Nahw · syntaxSyntactic rolecore term1,168+ in the Qur'an
In one line
The deputy agent — the noun in raf' that stands in for the doer when the verb is passive.
Classical definition
المَفْعُولُ الَّذِي لَمْ يُسَمَّ فَاعِلُهُ هُوَ الاسْمُ المَرْفُوعُ الَّذِي لَمْ يُذْكَرْ مَعَهُ فَاعِلُهُ.
(الآجرّومية)
How to spot it
Recognition test
When the doer is dropped and the verb is built for the passive, the word that takes raf' in its place is the naa'ib al-fa'il.
In the Qur'an
وَخُلِقَ ٱلْإِنسَٰنُ ضَعِيفًا
An-Nisa 4:28 — “And man was created weak”
ٱلْإِنسَٰنُ is the naa'ib al-fa'il in raf' — the doer of خُلِقَ is unnamed.
Related terms