Grammar term · I'rab · i'rab
حَذْف حَرْف الْعِلَّة
hadhf harf al-'illa
Elision of weak letter
I'rab · i'rabI'rab marker (alama)advanced term300+ in the Qur'an
In one line
Elision of the weak letter — how jazm shows on verbs ending in ا، و or ي.
Classical definition
وَأَمَّا الْحَذْفُ فَيَكُونُ عَلَامَةً لِلْجَزْمِ فِي الْفِعْلِ الْمُضَارِعِ الْمُعْتَلِّ الْآخِرِ…
“Elision is the marker of jazm in the present verb whose final letter is weak…”
(الآجرّومية)
Key words in the Arabic
الْمُعْتَلّ الْآخِرending in a weak letter: ا، و، ي
Understand it
يَدْعُو، يَرْمِي، يَخْشَى cannot take a sukun — their endings are barely-there letters already — so jazm removes the letter itself: لَمْ يَدْعُ، لَمْ يَرْمِ، لَمْ يَخْشَ. In the mushaf this looks startling, a root letter gone, but the gap IS the marker: فَلْيَدْعُ نَادِيَهُۥ (al-'Alaq 96:17) — the waw of يَدْعُو cut by the lam of command.
How to spot it
Recognition test
A mudari' missing its final weak letter after لَمْ / لام الأمر / a condition — that gap is the jazm.
Related terms