At-Tamyīz: Clarifying Quantities and Sentence Relations

1. Definition of Tamyīz

فَصْلٌ: التَّمْيِيزُ: هُوَ نَكِرَةٌ تُذْكَرُ بَعْدَ مِقْدَارٍ مِنْ عَدَدٍ، أَوْ كَيْلٍ، أَوْ وَزْنٍ، أَوْ مَسَاحَةٍ، أَوْ غَيْرِ ذَلِكَ مِمَّا فِيهِ إِبْهَامٌ، تَرْفَعُ ذَلِكَ الْإِبْهَامَ.
Translation: Tamyīz is an indefinite noun mentioned after a number, volume measure, weight, area, or another ambiguous quantity, to clarify what is meant.

The word tamyīz conveys clarification. “Twenty” leaves an open question—twenty what? “Twenty dirhams” identifies the counted thing.

2. Ambiguity and Its Clarifier

Mumayyaz: the quantity or relation left unspecified.
Tamyīz: the indefinite noun clarifying it.

«عِشْرُونَ» gives the number but not the item counted. «دِرْهَمًا» supplies the missing category.

3. Source Examples: Number, Volume, Weight

نَحْوُ: «عِنْدِي عِشْرُونَ دِرْهَمًا، وَقَفِيزَانِ بُرًّا، وَمَنَوَانِ سَمْنًا».
Translation: For example: I have twenty dirhams, two qafīz measures of wheat, and two mann weights of clarified butter.

Dirhaman clarifies a number, burran a volume measure, and samnan a weight. Qafīz and mann are historical units; no modern conversion is implied.

4. Parsing: Twenty Dirhams

عِنْدِي عِشْرُونَ دِرْهَمًا
Translation: I have twenty dirhams.

عِنْدَ: adverb of location attached to an understood fronted predicate; in an iḍāfa.
ي: attached first-person pronoun, genitive as muḍāf ilayh.
عِشْرُونَ: postponed nominative subject, with wāw as the sign in a decades numeral.
دِرْهَمًا: indefinite accusative tamyīz specifying the counted item.

Dirhaman is not a direct object: the construction contains no transitive verb; it specifies the number.

5. Parsing: Two Measures of Wheat

وَقَفِيزَانِ بُرًّا
Translation: And two qafīz measures of wheat.

وَ: conjunction.
قَفِيزَانِ: dual noun coordinated with the earlier nominative subject; nominative with alif; qafīz is a measure.
بُرًّا: accusative tamyīz specifying the measured substance, wheat.

The alif marks the nominative dual, but burran is a separate accusative clarifier.

6. Parsing: Two Weights of Ghee

وَمَنَوَانِ سَمْنًا
Translation: And two mann weights of clarified butter.

وَ: conjunction.
مَنَوَانِ: dual quantity term, nominative by alif, coordinated with the earlier subject.
سَمْنًا: accusative tamyīz naming the weighed substance.

The dual provides the quantity; samnan identifies what is weighed.

7. Source: Area and Other Amounts

وَجَرِيبَانِ قُطْنًا، وَمَا فِي السَّمَاءِ قَدْرُ رَاحَةٍ سَحَابًا، وَعَلَى التَّمْرَةِ مِثْلَهَا زُبْدًا.
Translation: And two jarīb measures of cotton; there is not even a palm-sized amount of cloud in the sky; and on the date is an equal amount of butter.

Jarīb is a traditional measure; rāḥah denotes the palm of the hand and mithlahā expresses an equal amount. In each case the tamyīz identifies what the measure concerns.

8. Parsing: Two Jarīb of Cotton

وَجَرِيبَانِ قُطْنًا
Translation: And two jarīb measures of cotton.

وَ: conjunction.
جَرِيبَانِ: dual quantity noun, nominative by alif, coordinated with earlier quantity nouns.
قُطْنًا: indefinite accusative tamyīz identifying cotton.

Jarīb is the measure, not an adjective of cotton. Cotton supplies the clarifying noun.

9. Parsing: A Palm-Sized Cloud Amount

مَا فِي السَّمَاءِ قَدْرُ رَاحَةٍ سَحَابًا
Translation: There is not even a palm-sized quantity of cloud in the sky.

مَا: negation.
فِي السَّمَاءِ: prepositional phrase linked to a fronted understood predicate.
قَدْرُ: in this explanatory parsing, postponed nominative subject and muḍāf.
رَاحَةٍ: genitive muḍāf ilayh (a palm-width measure).
سَحَابًا: accusative tamyīz specifying the substance—cloud.

The printed source does not specify the vowels here. The nominative analysis of qadr is one explanatory parsing, not an explicit case assignment quoted from the author.

10. Parsing: An Equal Amount of Butter

وَعَلَى التَّمْرَةِ مِثْلُهَا زُبْدًا
Translation: And upon the date there is an equal amount of butter.

وَ: conjunction.
عَلَى التَّمْرَةِ: prepositional phrase linked to a fronted predicate.
مِثْلُ: postponed nominative subject, muḍāf; هَا: pronoun as muḍāf ilayh.
زُبْدًا: accusative tamyīz explaining what substance is equal in measure.

The pronoun refers to the date; zubdan clarifies the substance involved in the equality of quantity.

11. Four Types of Measured Quantity

Number: عِشْرُونَ دِرْهَمًا → dirhaman.
Volume: قَفِيزَانِ بُرًّا → burran.
Weight: مَنَوَانِ سَمْنًا → samnan.
Area: جَرِيبَانِ قُطْنًا → quṭnan.

Each quantity is followed by a noun that identifies what is counted or measured.

12. Is Tamyīz Always Accusative?

Most of this lesson’s examples are accusative tamyīz. The book then contrasts an accusative clarifier with a more common genitive iḍāfa form, as in «خَاتَمُ حَدِيدٍ».

Do not assume every noun expressing a material must be accusative.

13. Source: Clarification Without a Measure

وَقَدْ يَكُونُ عَنْ غَيْرِ مِقْدَارٍ، نَحْوُ: «هَذَا خَاتَمٌ حَدِيدًا، وَسِوَارٌ ذَهَبًا».
Translation: Tamyīz may also occur without a number or measure, as in: “This is an iron ring and a gold bracelet.”

The question is not “how much?” but “made of what?”. Ḥadīdan and dhahaban identify the material.

14. Parsing: A Ring of Iron

هَذَا خَاتَمٌ حَدِيدًا
Translation: This is a ring made of iron.

هَذَا: demonstrative, indeclinable in the nominative position as topic.
خَاتَمٌ: nominative predicate.
حَدِيدًا: indefinite accusative tamyīz identifying the material of the ring.

Ḥadīdan is not a direct object; the nominal sentence is complete and the noun clarifies the material.

15. Parsing: A Gold Bracelet

وَسِوَارٌ ذَهَبًا
Translation: And a gold bracelet.

وَ: conjunction.
سِوَارٌ: nominative noun coordinated with khātamun, a further item under the shared topic hādhā.
ذَهَبًا: accusative tamyīz indicating that the bracelet is made of gold.

A ring and a bracelet are two objects, each followed by its material clarifier.

16. Source: The Genitive Is More Common

وَالْخَفْضُ فِيهِ أَكْثَرُ، نَحْوُ: «خَاتَمُ حَدِيدٍ».
Translation: The genitive construction is more common here, as in: “a ring of iron.”

«خاتمُ حديدٍ» is an iḍāfa: ḥadīdin is a genitive muḍāf ilayh rather than accusative tamyīz.

17. Parsing: Genitive Construction

هَذَا خَاتَمُ حَدِيدٍ
Translation: This is a ring of iron.

هَذَا: demonstrative topic, nominative in position.
خَاتَمُ: nominative predicate and muḍāf; no tanwīn because of iḍāfa.
حَدِيدٍ: genitive muḍāf ilayh, marked with kasra.

The source excerpt is «خاتم حديد». The demonstrative hādhā is added here to provide a complete teaching sentence.

18. Accusative Clarifier vs Iḍāfa

هَذَا خَاتَمٌ حَدِيدًا: khātamun is the predicate; ḥadīdan is accusative tamyīz.
هَذَا خَاتَمُ حَدِيدٍ: khātamu is both predicate and muḍāf; ḥadīdin is genitive muḍāf ilayh.

Meanings are similar but syntax is not. The book says the genitive construction is more frequent.

19. Source: Tamyīz of a Sentence Relation

وَقَدْ يَقَعُ التَّمْيِيزُ بَعْدَ الْجُمْلَةِ؛ لِرَفْعِ الْإِبْهَامِ عَنْ نِسْبَتِهَا، نَحْوُ: «طَابَ زَيْدٌ نَفْسًا أَوْ عِلْمًا أَوْ أَبًا».
Translation: Tamyīz may follow a whole sentence to clarify an ambiguous relation, as in: “Zayd is good in disposition, or in knowledge, or regarding his father.”

«ṭāba Zaydun» tells us Zayd is good in some respect but not which respect. Nafsan, ʿilman and aban identify alternative aspects.

20. Parsing: Good in Disposition

طَابَ زَيْدٌ نَفْسًا
Translation: Zayd is good in disposition.

طَابَ: past verb, built on fatḥ, expressing goodness.
زَيْدٌ: nominative subject by ḍamma.
نَفْسًا: accusative tamyīz of a sentence relation; it specifies disposition.

Remove nafsan and the respect in which Zayd is good becomes unspecified.

21. Parsing: Good in Knowledge

طَابَ زَيْدٌ عِلْمًا
Translation: Zayd is good in knowledge.

طَابَ: past verb.
زَيْدٌ: nominative subject.
عِلْمًا: accusative relational tamyīz clarifying that knowledge is the relevant aspect.

ʿIlman is not a direct object: ṭāba is not “to know”; the noun specifies the respect in which goodness applies.

22. Parsing: Good in Relation to Fatherhood

طَابَ زَيْدٌ أَبًا
Translation: Zayd is good with respect to his father / paternal relation.

طَابَ: past verb.
زَيْدٌ: nominative subject.
أَبًا: accusative tamyīz of relation, identifying the paternal aspect.

The source uses “or” to present alternative readings, not to require all three clarifiers simultaneously.

23. Quantity Tamyīz vs Relation Tamyīz

Quantity tamyīz: clarifies a number/measure: “twenty what?” → dirhaman.
Relation tamyīz: clarifies the sentence-level relation: “good in what respect?” → nafsan.

These headings are explanatory teaching labels; the book illustrates the distinction through its examples.

24. Ḥāl vs Tamyīz

Ḥāl describes a condition during an event: «جَاءَ زَيْدٌ مُسْرِعًا».
Tamyīz resolves an unclear quantity or relation: «عِنْدِي عِشْرُونَ دِرْهَمًا».

In «طَابَ زَيْدٌ نَفْسًا», nafsan is not ḥāl; it clarifies the respect in which the statement holds.

25. Tamyīz vs Direct Object

«اِشْتَرَيْتُ كِتَابًا»: kitāban is the direct object of “bought.”
«عِنْدِي عِشْرُونَ كِتَابًا»: kitāban is number tamyīz clarifying what was counted.

Both nouns are accusative, but they perform different grammatical functions.

26. Important Limitation: Number Constructions

The source illustrates number tamyīz with «عِشْرُونَ دِرْهَمًا», not a universal rule for every numeral.

Additional comparison: «ثَلَاثَةُ كُتُبٍ» uses genitive iḍāfa, whereas «عِشْرُونَ كِتَابًا» uses accusative tamyīz.

27. Four-Step Identification Method

1. Locate the preceding number, measure, or complete sentence.
2. Ask what quantity or relation was unclear.
3. Identify the indefinite noun resolving that ambiguity.
4. Confirm whether it is accusative tamyīz or a genitive noun in an iḍāfa construction.

28. All Source Examples: Overview

«عِشْرُونَ دِرْهَمًا»: number.
«قَفِيزَانِ بُرًّا»: volume.
«مَنَوَانِ سَمْنًا»: weight.
«جَرِيبَانِ قُطْنًا»: area.
«قَدْرُ رَاحَةٍ سَحَابًا», «مِثْلُهَا زُبْدًا»: other amounts.
«خَاتَمٌ حَدِيدًا», «سِوَارٌ ذَهَبًا»: material.
«خَاتَمُ حَدِيدٍ»: iḍāfa.
«طَابَ زَيْدٌ نَفْسًا / عِلْمًا / أَبًا»: sentence relation.

29. Additional Practice with Short Parsing

اِشْتَرَيْتُ عِشْرِينَ قَلَمًا: verb with attached subject; ʿishrīna is accusative direct object with yāʾ, and qalaman accusative number tamyīz.
امْتَلَأَ الْإِنَاءُ مَاءً: past verb, nominative subject, and accusative relation tamyīz (“filled with what?”).

These are additional teaching examples, not quoted from the printed book.

30. Lesson Summary

Tamyīz is an indefinite noun clarifying an unclear quantity or sentence relation.
The book gives number, volume, weight, area and related measures.
A material can also be clarified without an explicit measure; in some such uses genitive iḍāfa is more common.
Sentence-level tamyīz clarifies the relation itself, as in «طَابَ زَيْدٌ نَفْسًا».

Distinguish it from ḥāl, adjectives, and direct objects.