Grammar term · Sarf · morphology
اِسْم فَاعِل
ism fa'il
Active participle
Sarf · morphologyDerived noun (mushtaqq)core term3,341+ in the Qur'an
Also written: Sarf · Mizan · Meezan · Roots · Word scales
In one line
The active participle — the one who does the action (e.g. كاتِب, “a writer”).
Classical definition
اسْمُ الفَاعِلِ صِفَةٌ تُؤْخَذُ مِنَ المَصْدَرِ لِلدَّلَالَةِ عَلَى مَنْ قَامَ بِالفِعْلِ.
“The active participle is a description derived from the masdar to point to the one who performs the action.”
(بتصرف من شذا العرف)
Key words in the Arabic
صِفَةa description-word
تُؤْخَذُ مِنَis taken, derived from
قَامَ بِالفِعْلِcarried out the action
Understand it
Take a root, cast it in the mould فَاعِل, and you have named the doer: كَتَبَ “he wrote” gives كَاتِب “writer”. It behaves as a noun — accepting ال, tanwin and case-endings — while keeping the verb's meaning alive inside it. Many of the divine names are active participles: الْخَالِق (the One who creates), الْغَافِر (the One who forgives) — the doer-form made majestic.
How to spot it
Recognition test
On the pattern فَاعِل (from a 3-letter root) and naming the doer — كاتِب، عالِم، قائِل.
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