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Words on the Pattern of Faa’il
By ArabicTree | August 24, 2008
Bismillah. It’s been a while since we had a post (due to family stuff); so insha’Allah we’ll go with something easy.
In Arabic, words on the pattern of faa’il (فاعل) denote a doer of an action. Here are some common words you probably know on the pattern of faa’il:
- طالِب Taalib: student
- عالِم ‘Aalim: scholar. (’Allama means to teach; ‘alima to learn)
- حاكِم Haakim: judge
- صادِق Saadiq: friend. The root word is sadaqa, which means to be truthful; from an Arabic language perspective, friends are the ones who tell you the truth!
Here are some words from the Qur’an and Sunnah on the pattern of faa’il:
- كافِر Kaafir: disbeliever, the one who does kafara (disbelief)
- كاذِب Kaathib: liar (the one who does kathaba)
- مالِك Maalik: king
- راحِم Raahim: merciful person (the one who does rahmah)
Here are some names of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) on the pattern of faa’il:
- الخالِق Al-Khaaliq: The Creator, the one who creates out of nothing (the one who does khalaqa)
- الهادى Al-Haadiy: the one who guides; The Guide
- البارى Al-Baariy: the one who forms, who evolves, life
Wallahu ‘alim. For more details on the intricate meanings of Allah’s names, you can try the GodNames.org sitemap (it has a list of names). You can also try Ilm Fruits, they have details on a few names (Al-Ghaffaar, Al-Ghafuwr, Al-Haleem, and Al-Qahhar).
Topics: Vocabulary |
August 26th, 2008 at 1:29 am
As-Salaamu alaykum,
Jazaaka Allahu Khayran for your post.
If I can add a few small clarifications -
طالِب Taalib: student - The literal meaning is one who seeks; the student is one who seeks knowledge i,e. طالِب العلم for which طالِب is short.
عالِم ‘Aalim: scholar - literally one who knows (‘alima means to come to know and ya’lamu to know)
صادِق Saadiq: Truthful
صديق Sadeeq: Friend; the pattern is فعيل and it is called sifah mushibihah bi faa’il. In general, the pattern فعيل is used to characterize continuous possession of a trait, whereas فاعل can indicate one-time performance of an action. So a friend is someone who will always be true to you.
مالِك Maalik: The owner or possessor
ملِك Malik: king (There is also مليك maleek, sovereign - one who possesses dominion and honor)
For راحِم Raahim, there is also رحيم raheem (again following the pattern فعيل), which is more common
October 8th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
i want to extend greetings and praying for your well being,may Allah reward you immnsely for the effort of helping non -Arab speakers.
October 10th, 2008 at 8:50 am
Ameen, and for you too; the irony is, I’m also a non-Arab speaker