Grammar term · I'rab · Roles in nasab

What is the object of time or place (maf'ul fihi / zarf)?

maf'ul fihi (zarf)

اَلْمَفْعُول فِيهِ (اَلظَّرْف)

I'rabRoles in nasabcore term

Also written: Maful fihi · Zarf · Adverb of time · Adverb of place · Zarf zaman · Zarf makan

In one line

The maf'ul fihi (مَفْعُول فِيهِ), also called the zarf, is an ism in nasab naming when or where the action happened — with the word “in” understood inside it.

Classical definition

ظرف الزمان هو: اسم الزمان المنصوب بتقدير «في»، نحو: اليوم والليلة وغدوة وبكرة وسحرًا وغدًا وعتمة وصباحًا ومساءً وأبدًا وأمدًا وحينًا، وما أشبه ذلك.

“The zarf of time is the noun of time put into nasab with 'in' understood before it.”

Understand it

English says in the morning, behind the house. Arabic often needs no preposition at all: the ism itself carries the “in”, and takes nasab to show it.

سَافَرْتُ صَبَاحًا (safartu sabahan), I travelled in the morning. جَلَسْتُ أَمَامَ الْبَابِ (jalastu amama al-babi), I sat in front of the door.

The five mafa'il

1مَفْعُول بِهِ–(bihi)2مَفْعُول مُطْلَق–(mutlaq)3مَفْعُول لَهُ–(lahu)4مَفْعُول مَعَهُ–(ma'ahu)5مَفْعُول فِيهِ–(fihi)

Five roles share the word مَفْعُول, and each answers a different question about the action: what it fell upon, how much of it there was, why it happened, who it happened alongside, and when or where.

It comes in two kinds — ظَرْف زَمَان (zarf zaman), of time, and ظَرْف مَكَان (zarf makan), of place.

The two kinds, with the commonest of each

Kind			Meaning
of time	صَبَاحًا	sabahan	in the morning
	لَيْلًا	laylan	at night
	يَوْمَ	yawma	on the day of
	حِينَ	hina	at the time when
of place	أَمَامَ	amama	in front of
	خَلْفَ	khalfa	behind
	فَوْقَ	fawqa	above
	تَحْتَ	tahta	below
	عِنْدَ	'inda	at — in the presence of

Every one of them answers when? or where? — and every one of them is mansub. The test the books give is finer than that: the word must carry the meaning of فِي, in. A word of time or place that does not carry it is not a zarf at all, and is parsed by whatever role it is actually filling.¹

The condition is the buried “in”. A word of time or place that does not carry that meaning is not a zarf at all — it is parsed by whatever role it is actually filling. الْيَوْمُ جَمِيلٌ (al-yawmu jamilun), the day is beautiful: يَوْم here is the mubtada', marfu', not a zarf.

How to spot it

Recognition test

Ask when or where. If the answer is an ism in nasab that means “in that time” or “in that place” without a preposition being written, it is the maf'ul fihi.

In the Qur'an

وَمِنَ ٱلَّيْلِ فَٱسْجُدْ لَهُۥ وَسَبِّحْهُ لَيْلًا طَوِيلًا

Al-Insan 76:26 — “And part of the night, prostrate thyself to Him; and glorify Him a long night through.”

لَيْلًا tells you when وَسَبِّحْهُ happens, and takes nasab for doing so. A zarf answers when or where without needing a preposition to do it.

Study this ayah word by word →

When a time-word is not a zarf

Not every word of time or place is a zarf.

The test is the hidden فِي. If you can read the word as “in that time” or “in that place”, it is a zarf and takes nasab.

If you cannot, the word is simply doing some other job and takes whatever i'rab that job requires — الْيَوْمُ جَمِيلٌ, where يَوْم is the mubtada' and marfu'.

And when a real preposition is written in front of it — فِي الصَّبَاحِ — the word is majrur after the harf jarr, not mansub as a zarf.

Common questions

What makes a zarf different from a prepositional phrase of time?

The absence of the preposition. A zarf carries the sense of in by itself and takes nasab. Put a preposition in front of the same word and it becomes majrur instead — the meaning survives, the grammar changes.

Next in the guideاَلْحَالWhat is the circumstance (hal)? →

Notes

The definition — an ism in nasab indicating the time or place of the action while containing the meaning of فِي — is اَلنَّحْو التَّطْبِيقِي's (an-Nahw at-Tatbiqi). ↩

Updated 23 August 2026