Grammar term · Sarf · morphology
صِفَة مُشَبَّهَة
sifa mushabbaha
Quasi-participle (permanent quality)
Sarf · morphologyDerived noun (mushtaqq)core term1,916+ in the Qur'an
In one line
The quasi-participle — names a settled, lasting quality (e.g. كريم, “noble”).
Classical definition
الصِّفَةُ المُشَبَّهَةُ صِفَةٌ تُؤْخَذُ مِنَ الفِعْلِ اللَّازِمِ لِلدَّلَالَةِ عَلَى الثُّبُوتِ.
“The assimilated attribute is an attribute taken from the intransitive verb to indicate permanence.”
(بتصرف من شذا العرف)
Key words in the Arabic
الْفِعْل اللَّازِمthe intransitive verb
الثُّبُوتpermanence, fixedness
Understand it
The pin's key word is thubut — fixedness. Where the ism fa'il catches someone mid-act (ضَاحِك, laughing now), the sifa mushabbaha names what they simply ARE: كَرِيم noble, حَسَن beautiful, عَطْشَان thirsty by state. It is 'assimilated' because it resembles the ism fa'il in deriving from a verb, without its tie to a moment. Common moulds: فَعِيل (كريم), فَعْلَان (غضبان), أَفْعَل for colours and defects (أَحْمَر، أَعْمَى), فَعَل (حَسَن).
How to spot it
Recognition test
A quality-word from an intransitive root where 'is by nature/state' fits better than 'is doing': sifa mushabbaha. If the quality could stop mid-sentence (writing, striking), you want the ism fa'il instead.
In the Qur'an
إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
Al-Baqarah 2:173 — “Indeed, Allah is Forgiving, Merciful”
رَحِيم on فَعِيل — a fixed, permanent attribute, not a passing act: the sifa mushabbaha's thubut.
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