Lesson 91
Derived Nouns Ism al-Fāʿil and Ism al-Mafʿūl
اسم الفاعل اسم المفعول
Active participles (اسم الفاعل) and passive participles (اسم المفعول) can be derived from every verb form. They function as adjectives, nouns, and can take objects making them one of the most versatile word types in Arabic.
Active and Passive Participle Patterns
FormActive (فَاعِل type)Passive (مَفْعُول type)Diagnostic
Iفَاعِل: كَاتِبمَفْعُول: مَكْتُوبNo prefix internal vowel pattern
IIمُفَعِّل: مُعَلِّممُفَعَّل: مُعَلَّممُـ + kasra (act.) / fatḥa (pass.) before last root
IIIمُفَاعِل: مُسَافِرمُفَاعَل: مُسَافَر إِلَيْهمُـ + long ā
IVمُفْعِل: مُسْلِممُفْعَل: مُسْلَممُـ + sukūn on first root letter
VIIIمُفْتَعِل: مُجْتَمِعمُفْتَعَل: مُجْتَمَعمُـ + inserted تَ
Xمُسْتَفْعِل: مُسْتَغْفِرمُسْتَفْعَل: مُسْتَغْفَرمُسْتَـ prefix
Active Participle as Verb
ConstructionNotesExample
AP + object (acc.)Present or habitual meaningهُوَ كَاتِبٌ رِسَالَةً
AP in iḍāfaPast meaning (definite object)هُوَ كَاتِبُ الرِّسَالَةِ
PP as predicateDescribes state of nounالرِّسَالَةُ مَكْتُوبَةٌ
هُوَ عَالِمٌ بِالْحَدِيثِ الرِّسَالَةُ مَكْتُوبَةٌ بِالْعَرَبِيَّةِ
Huwa ʿālimun bil-ḥadīth Ar-risālatu maktūbatun bil-ʿarabiyya
He is a scholar of ḥadīth. The letter is written in Arabic. (عَالِم = Form I AP; مَكْتُوبَة = Form I PP, feminine)
وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ عَلِيماً حَكِيماً
Wa-llāhu bimā taʿmalūna baṣīr Wa-kāna llāhu ʿalīman ḥakīmā
"And Allah is Seeing of what you do." "And Allah is ever Knowing, Wise." بَصِير, عَلِيم, حَكِيم are Form I active participles / intensives the Asmāʾ al-Ḥusnā use this pattern extensively.
- For Forms II–X: active participle = مُـ prefix + kasra before last root letter; passive participle = مُـ prefix + fatḥa before last root letter.
- Active participle (AP) can take an object: هُوَ كَاتِبٌ رِسَالَةً (he is [currently] writing a letter) present/habitual. With iḍāfa: كَاتِبُ الرِّسَالَةِ (the writer of the letter) past or specific.
- مُسْلِم (Form IV AP): someone who has submitted to Allah Islam's central self-identifying term is a grammatical participle.
- The Divine Names (Asmāʾ al-Ḥusnā) are largely Form I active participles: عَالِم, سَمِيع, بَصِير, قَدِير Form I AP of states and qualities.
- Passive participle (مَكْتُوب, مَعْلُوم, مَحْبُوب) expresses the result state the thing has been acted upon and remains in that state.