I'rabThe three statescore term14,031+ in the Qur'an
Also written: Rafa · Raf · Rafa' · Marfoo' · Marfu · Marfoo
In one line
Raf' (رَفْع) is the raised state of i'rab; a word standing in it is called marfū' (مَرْفُوع), and eight roles put an ism there.
Definition — the four divisions of i'rab
وَأَقْسَامُهُ أَرْبَعَةٌ: رَفْعٌ وَنَصْبٌ وَخَفْضٌ وَجَزْمٌ. فَلِلْأَسْمَاءِ مِنْ ذٰلِكَ الرَّفْعُ وَالنَّصْبُ وَالْخَفْضُ وَلَا جَزْمَ فِيهَا، وَلِلْأَفْعَالِ مِنْ ذٰلِكَ الرَّفْعُ وَالنَّصْبُ وَالْجَزْمُ وَلَا خَفْضَ فِيهَا.
“Its divisions are four: rafa, nasab, khafd (jarr) and jazm. Of these, nouns take rafa, nasab and khafd, and there is no jazm in them; verbs take rafa, nasab and jazm, and there is no khafd in them.”
(الآجرّومية)
Key words in the Arabic
وَأَقْسَامُهُ أَرْبَعَةٌits divisions are four
خَفْضkhafd — the older name for jarr
وَلَا جَزْمَ فِيهَاand there is no jazm in them (nouns)
وَلَا خَفْضَ فِيهَاand there is no khafd in them (verbs)
Understand it
رَفْع (rafa) is the name of the state; مَرْفُوع (marfū') is what you call a word standing in it. The two words are not interchangeable: the state is rafa, the word is marfū'.
For the great majority of isms, rafa shows as a ḍamma — مُسْلِمٌ (muslimun) when indefinite, الْمُسْلِمُ (al-muslimu) with الـ. Other categories show it differently: the dual with ـَانِ, the sound masculine plural with ـُونَ, the five nouns with a وَاو.
What puts a word in rafa
Eight roles put an ism into rafa. The doer, the subject and the predicate are the three met first.
Raf' is never chosen for the sound of it. A word is marfū' because its role demands rafa — because it is the doer, or the subject, or the predicate, or one of the other five roles that call for it.
How to spot it
Recognition test
A ḍamma or tanwīn ḍamm at the end is the usual sign — but check the category first. مُسْلِمَانِ ends in a kasra and is still marfū'.
Don't confuse it with
Like most Arabic grammar terms, رَفْع (rafa) was taken from everyday speech and then given one precise technical sense.
In everyday Arabic it means lifting or raising something up.
رَفَعَ يَدَهُ (rafaa yadahu) — “he raised his hand”
In Arabic grammar it means the state whose sign is the raised vowel, the ḍamma, and what stands in place of it.
Related terms
Next in the guideاَلنَّصْبWhat is nasab (al-nasab), and what is a manṣūb word? →
Draft · awaiting final review. This page is being rewritten and checked against the source books.