What is the object of accompaniment (maf'ul ma'ahu)?

In one line

Classical definition

Understand it

A waw does not always join two equals. Sometimes it means مَعَ — along with — and the ism after it is then the مَفْعُول مَعَهُ.

سِرْتُ وَالنِّيلَ (sirtu wa-al-nila) — I walked alongside the Nile. The Nile did not walk. It is what the walking happened beside, so it takes nasab, not the rafa a partner in the action would take.

The five mafa'il

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.

Everything turns on what the waw is doing. جَاءَ مُحَمَّدٌ وَعَلِيٌّ joins two doers, and عَلِيٌّ is marfu' by copying مُحَمَّدٌ. جَاءَ مُحَمَّدٌ وَالْجَيْشَ means Muhammad came along with the army — and الْجَيْشَ is mansub.

The waw must follow a clause containing a verb, or an ism that carries a verb's meaning and its letters — an active participle, a passive participle, a masdar.

How to spot it

Don't confuse it with the ma'tuf

Do not confuse it with the مَعْطُوف — a word joined by an ordinary waw.

A مَعْطُوف copies the i'rab of the word before it: جَاءَ مُحَمَّدٌ وَعَلِيٌّ — both marfu', both came.

A مَفْعُول مَعَهُ does not copy anything. It is mansub in its own right: جَاءَ مُحَمَّدٌ وَالْجَيْشَ — the army did not come, Muhammad came alongside it.

Read the waw first, then the ending will make sense.

Related terms

Common questions

Is the waw here a linking particle?

No, and that is the whole point. A linking waw makes what follows share the first word's case. This waw means alongside, and what follows takes nasab regardless of what came before — the two are not partners in the action.