What is the absolute object (maf'ūl muṭlaq)?
This role has no equivalent in English, and it is one of the most common things in the Qur'an. A verb is used, and then the maṣdar of that same verb is added after it.
ضَرَبْتُ زَيْدًا ضَرْبًا (ḍarabtu zaydan ḍarban) — I struck Zayd, a striking. English has to reach for “I struck him hard” or “I really did strike him”. Arabic simply repeats the action as a noun.
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 does one of three jobs:
| Job | Example | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|---|
| confirming the verb | ضَرَبْتُ زَيْدًا ضَرْبًا | ḍarabtu zaydan ḍarban | I struck Zayd a striking |
| naming the kind | جَلَسْتُ جُلُوسَ الْأَمِيرِ | jalastu julūsa al-amīri | I sat the sitting of a prince |
| counting | ضَرَبْتُ زَيْدًا ضَرْبَتَيْنِ | ḍarabtu zaydan ḍarbatayni | I struck Zayd two strikings |
All three are the verb's own maṣdar, in nasab, standing after it.
Do not confuse it with the مَفْعُول بِهِ.
The مَفْعُول بِهِ is a different thing from the verb — something the action lands on. شَرِبَ مَاءً: the water is not the drinking.
The مَفْعُول مُطْلَق is the action itself, named again as a noun. ضَرَبَ ضَرْبًا: the striking is the striking.
The name says it: مُطْلَق means unrestricted — this object is not tied to a preposition the way the other four are.
| # | Meaning | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | مَفْعُول بِهِ | maf'ūl bihi | the thing the action is done **to** |
| 2 | مَفْعُول لَهُ | maf'ūl lahu | the thing it is done **for** — the reason |
| 3 | مَفْعُول مَعَهُ | maf'ūl ma'ahu | the thing it is done **along with** |
| 4 | مَفْعُول فِيهِ | maf'ūl fīhi | the time or place it is done **in** |
| 5 | مَفْعُول مُطْلَق | maf'ūl muṭlaq | tied to nothing — the action itself, named again |
Four of the five are named after the preposition that would complete them. The fifth is named for having none, which is what مُطْلَق means.