The verbVoicecore term
In one line
The passive verb: the doer is dropped and something else steps into its place — كُتِبَ الدَّرْسُ, 'the lesson was written'.
Classical definition
فإن كان الفعل ماضيًا ضم أوله وكسر ما قبل آخره، وإن كان مضارعًا ضم أوله وفتح ما قبل آخره.
“If the verb is past, its first letter takes a damma and the letter before its last takes a kasra; and if it is present, its first letter takes a damma and the letter before its last takes a fatha.”
Understand it
Three things happen at once.1 The fa'il is dropped, a deputy (the na'ib fa'il, in rafa) replaces it, and the verb changes costume — madi to فُعِلَ (كُتِبَ), mudari' to يُفْعَلُ (يُكْتَبُ); the amr never does it, since a command cannot hide its doer. Some grammarians prefer the name الْمَبْنِيُّ لِمَا لَمْ يُسَمَّ فَاعِلُهُ — 'built for the unnamed doer' — out of adab, since 'unknown' sits ill where the doer is Allah.
How to spot it
Recognition test
Madi opening with damma + kasra before the last letter (قُضِيَ، كُتِبَ), or mudari' opening with damma + fatha before the last (يُقْضَى، يُكْتَبُ): majhul — then find the na'ib fa'il in rafa.
In the Qur'an
وَقِيلَ يَٰٓأَرْضُ ٱبْلَعِى مَآءَكِ وَيَٰسَمَآءُ أَقْلِعِى وَغِيضَ ٱلْمَآءُ وَقُضِىَ ٱلْأَمْرُ وَٱسْتَوَتْ عَلَى ٱلْجُودِىِّ ۖ وَقِيلَ بُعْدًا لِّلْقَوْمِ ٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ
Hud 11:44 — “Then the word went forth: "O earth! swallow up thy water, and O sky! Withhold (thy rain)!" and the water abated, and the matter was ended. The Ark rested on Mount Judi, and the word went forth: "Away with those who do wrong!"”
قُضِىَ wears the damma–kasra pattern; the doer is unstated and ٱلْأَمْرُ stands in as na'ib fa'il, in rafa'.
Study this ayah word by word →Related terms
الْجُمْلَة الْفِعْلِيَّة · al-jumla al-fi'liyya
اَلْفَاعِل · fa'il
مَبْنِيّ لِلْمَعْلُوم · mabni li-l-ma'lum
نَائِبُ الْفَاعِل · na'ib al-fa'il
Common questions
Does the passive mean the doer is unknown?
Not necessarily. Built for the unknown is its name, not always its reason. The doer may be obvious, or deliberately left unsaid, or simply beside the point. What the form guarantees is only that he is not named.
Next in the guideحُرُوف الْمَعَانِيThe particles that carry meaning →Notes
- The three-part description — the doer dropped, a deputy raised in its place, the verb re-formed — follows اَلنَّحْو التَّطْبِيقِي (an-Nahw at-Tatbiqi). ↩
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