Grammar term · I'rab · i'rab
مَرْفُوع
marfu'
Nominative state (raf')
I'rab · i'rabI'rab statecore term14,031+ in the Qur'an
In one line
In the nominative state (raf') — the case of the subject, doer, and predicate.
The classical list
الْمَرْفُوعَاتُ سَبْعَةٌ، وَهِيَ: الْفَاعِلُ، وَالْمَفْعُولُ الَّذِي لَمْ يُسَمَّ فَاعِلُهُ، وَالْمُبْتَدَأُ وَخَبَرُهُ، وَاسْمُ كَانَ وَأَخَوَاتِهَا، وَخَبَرُ إِنَّ وَأَخَوَاتِهَا، وَالتَّابِعُ لِلْمَرْفُوعِ.
“The raf'-state words are seven: the doer; the object whose doer is unnamed (passive subject); the mubtada and its khabar; the ism of kana and its sisters; the khabar of inna and its sisters; and whatever follows a raf' word in agreement.”
(الآجرّومية)
Key words in the Arabic
الْمَفْعُولُ الَّذِي لَمْ يُسَمَّ فَاعِلُهُthe passive subject (na'ib al-fa'il)
أَخَوَات'sisters' — words of the same family
التَّابِعthe follower — adjective, conjunct, emphasis
Understand it
Raf' is the state of the sentence's principals: whoever or whatever the sentence is about stands in raf'. Its base marker is the damma, with و, ا and the retained nun deputising in the special classes. So when a damma ends a word, ask which of the seven slots it fills — fa'il, mubtada, khabar… — and the sentence opens up.
How to spot it
Recognition test
A damma (or its substitutes و / ا / ثبوت النون) on the end signals raf'.
Related terms