Grammar term · Sarf · morphology
اِسْم مَفْعُول
ism maf'ul
Passive participle
Sarf · morphologyDerived noun (mushtaqq)core term516+ in the Qur'an
Also written: Sarf · Mizan · Meezan · Roots · Word scales
In one line
The passive participle — the one the action is done to (e.g. مكتوب, “written”).
Classical definition
اسْمُ المَفْعُولِ صِفَةٌ تُؤْخَذُ مِنَ المَصْدَرِ لِلدَّلَالَةِ عَلَى مَنْ وَقَعَ عَلَيْهِ الفِعْلُ.
“The passive participle is a description derived from the masdar to point to the one the action falls upon.”
(بتصرف من شذا العرف)
Key words in the Arabic
وَقَعَ عَلَيْهِ الفِعْلُthe action fell upon him
Understand it
The mould مَفْعُول names the receiver: كَتَبَ gives مَكْتُوب “written”. Pair it with the ism fa'il and one root yields both sides of an event: قَاتِل (killer) and مَقْتُول (killed). You recite one in every prayer: ٱلْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ in the Fatiha — “those upon whom anger has fallen” — is an ism maf'ul.
How to spot it
Recognition test
On the pattern مَفْعُول (from a 3-letter root) and naming the receiver — مكتوب، معلوم، مرحوم.
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