Grammar term · Nahw · syntax
مَفْعُول لِأَجْلِهِ
maf'ul li-ajlih
Object of purpose
Nahw · syntaxSyntactic roleadvanced term92+ in the Qur'an
In one line
The object of purpose — a verbal noun in nasb giving the reason for the action.
Classical definition
وَهُوَ الِاسْمُ الْمَنْصُوبُ الَّذِي يُذْكَرُ بَيَانًا لِسَبَبِ وُقُوعِ الْفِعْلِ.
“It is the nasb-state noun mentioned to explain the reason the action occurred.”
(الآجرّومية)
Key words in the Arabic
بَيَانًا لِسَبَبِas an explanation of the reason
وُقُوع الْفِعْلِthe occurring of the action
Understand it
Actions have motives, and Arabic can state one in a single nasb noun: قُمْتُ إِجْلَالًا — “I stood out of respect”. It is always a masdar at heart (a why-noun), and you can test it by asking لِمَاذَا؟ — if the nasb noun answers “why?”, it is maf'ul li-ajlih.
How to spot it
Recognition test
It answers “why?” with a masdar in nasb — e.g. “he stood up out of respect.”
In the Qur'an
يَجْعَلُونَ أَصَٰبِعَهُمْ فِىٓ ءَاذَانِهِم مِّنَ ٱلصَّوَٰعِقِ حَذَرَ ٱلْمَوْتِ
Al-Baqarah 2:19 — “they put their fingers in their ears... in dread of death”
حَذَرَ is maf'ul li-ajlih in nasb — the reason for the action.
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