Relative Nouns — Ṣilah, ʿĀʾid, Forms and Syntax

1. Definition of the relative noun

الْمَوْصُولُ: اسْمٌ لَا يَصْلُحُ أَنْ يَكُونَ جُزْءًا تَامًّا مِنْ جُمْلَةٍ إِلَّا بِصِلَةٍ بَعْدَهُ، وَالصِّلَةُ جُمْلَةٌ خَبَرِيَّةٌ.
Translation: A relative noun cannot function as a complete sentence component without a following relative clause (ṣilah); the clause is declarative.

الَّذِي alone leaves the listener asking “which person?” In «الَّذِي جَاءَ», the clause «جَاءَ» supplies the missing identification.

2. Relative noun and its ṣilah

The relative noun identifies an as-yet-unspecified referent.
The ṣilah is the following clause that completes its description.

«جَاءَ الَّذِي نَجَحَ» — The one who succeeded came.
«جَاءَ» belongs to the main clause; «نَجَحَ» belongs to the relative clause. They have different syntactic roles.

3. A condition for the ṣilah

وَالصِّلَةُ جُمْلَةٌ خَبَرِيَّةٌ.
Translation: The relative clause is declarative.

A declarative clause states something: «الَّذِي كَتَبَ الدَّرْسَ» — the one who wrote the lesson.

A bare imperative like «الَّذِي اُكْتُبْ» is not a valid ṣilah on this ordinary analysis.

4. Why the return pronoun matters

وَلَا بُدَّ مِنْ عَائِدٍ فِيهَا يَعُودُ إِلَى الْمَوْصُولِ.
Translation: The ṣilah must contain a returning element referring back to the relative noun.

The ʿāʾid links the relative noun to its clause. It may be overt, understood as a subject pronoun, or omitted under specific rules.

In «الَّذِي أَبُوهُ قَائِمٌ», the «هُ» of «أَبُوهُ» is the returning pronoun.

5. First source example

جَاءَ الَّذِي أَبُوهُ قَائِمٌ.
Translation: The person whose father is standing came.

جَاءَ: past-tense verb.
الَّذِي: indeclinable relative noun in the nominative position as subject.
أَبُوهُ: «أَبُو» is a nominative mubtadaʾ marked by wāw (one of the six nouns), and muḍāf; «هُ» is its possessive pronoun and the ʿāʾid.
قَائِمٌ: nominative predicate.

The nominal sentence «أَبُوهُ قَائِمٌ» is the ṣilah, with no independent case position.

6. Second source example

أَوْ قَامَ أَبُوهُ.
Translation: Or his father stood up.

This is the second alternative in the book; the expanded sentence is «جَاءَ الَّذِي قَامَ أَبُوهُ».
جَاءَ: main verb; الَّذِي: relative subject.
قَامَ: verb inside the ṣilah.
أَبُوهُ: «أَبُو» is the nominative subject of «قَامَ», marked by wāw; «هُ» is the possessive ʿāʾid.

In the previous sentence «أَبُوهُ» was mubtadaʾ; here it is the agent of «قَامَ». The same «هُ» is the ʿāʾid.

7. Two relative-clause structures

الَّذِي أَبُوهُ قَائِمٌ: the ṣilah is nominal, with mubtadaʾ «أَبُوهُ» and predicate «قَائِمٌ».
الَّذِي قَامَ أَبُوهُ: the ṣilah is verbal, with verb «قَامَ» and subject «أَبُوهُ».

The referent of «هُ» is «الَّذِي» in both; the internal syntax is different.

8. Masculine forms

وَ«الَّذِي» لِلْمُذَكَّرِ، وَ«اللَّذَانِ وَاللَّذَيْنِ» لِلْمُثَنَّى.
Translation: «الَّذِي» is for masculine singular, while «اللَّذَانِ» and «اللَّذَيْنِ» are masculine dual forms.

«الَّذِي» is masculine singular; «اللَّذَانِ» is nominative dual; «اللَّذَيْنِ» is accusative/genitive dual.

These dual forms show case variation; most other relative pronouns remain indeclinable.

9. Masculine dual: nominative versus accusative

«جَاءَ اللَّذَانِ نَجَحَا» — The two who succeeded came.
«رَأَيْتُ اللَّذَيْنِ نَجَحَا» — I saw the two who succeeded.

The relative is respectively a nominative subject marked by alif and an accusative object marked by yāʾ.
The dual subject suffix of «نَجَحَا» supplies the ʿāʾid.

10. Masculine dual: genitive

«مَرَرْتُ بِاللَّذَيْنِ نَجَحَا» — I passed by the two who succeeded.

«بِـ» is a preposition; «اللَّذَيْنِ» is genitive, marked by yāʾ; «نَجَحَا» is the ṣilah, whose dual suffix is subject and ʿāʾid.

The form «اللَّذَيْنِ» serves both accusative and genitive roles: the governing element decides.

11. Feminine forms

وَ«الَّتِي» لِلْمُؤَنَّثِ، وَ«اللَّتَانِ وَاللَّتَيْنِ» لِلْمُثَنَّى.
Translation: «الَّتِي» is feminine singular; «اللَّتَانِ» and «اللَّتَيْنِ» are feminine dual forms.

«الَّتِي» is feminine singular; «اللَّتَانِ» is nominative feminine dual; «اللَّتَيْنِ» is accusative/genitive feminine dual.

«جَاءَتِ اللَّتَانِ نَجَحَتَا»: the relative is a nominative dual subject marked by alif.

12. Feminine dual in sentences

«رَأَيْتُ اللَّتَيْنِ فَازَتَا» — I saw the two women who succeeded.
«مَرَرْتُ بِاللَّتَيْنِ فَازَتَا» — I passed by the two women who succeeded.

The first relative is accusative and the second genitive, both marked by yāʾ. «فَازَتَا» is the ṣilah; its dual suffix is subject and ʿāʾid.

13. Plural relatives

وَ«الَّذِينَ وَالْأُلَى» لِجَمْعِ الْمُذَكَّرِ، وَ«اللَّاتِي وَاللَّاءِ وَاللَّوَاتِي وَاللَّائِي» لِجَمْعِ الْمُؤَنَّثِ.
Translation: For masculine plural the text gives «الَّذِينَ» and «الْأُلَى»; for feminine plural it records «اللَّاتِي، اللَّاءِ، اللَّوَاتِي، اللَّائِي».

الَّذِينَ is the usual masculine-plural relative; the text also lists «الْأُلَى».
The classical alternatives for feminine plural belong to the source inventory; they are not equally common in contemporary everyday usage.

14. Complete gender-and-number map

Masculine singular: «الَّذِي»
Masculine dual: «اللَّذَانِ / اللَّذَيْنِ»
Masculine plural: «الَّذِينَ / الْأُلَى»
Feminine singular: «الَّتِي»
Feminine dual: «اللَّتَانِ / اللَّتَيْنِ»
Feminine plural: «اللَّاتِي / اللَّاءِ / اللَّوَاتِي / اللَّائِي»

These are the gender-and-number groups supplied by the text.

15. Case position of an indeclinable relative

«جَاءَ الَّذِي نَجَحَ»: indeclinable relative, nominative position (subject).
«رَأَيْتُ الَّذِي نَجَحَ»: accusative position (object).
«مَرَرْتُ بِالَّذِي نَجَحَ»: genitive position (after preposition).

Its form stays fixed; its syntactic position changes.

16. Three visible kinds of ʿāʾid

Nominative ʿāʾid: «جَاءَ الَّذِي نَجَحَ»: an implicit «هُوَ» is the subject of «نَجَحَ».
Accusative ʿāʾid: «جَاءَ الَّذِي أَكْرَمْتُهُ»: «هُ» is the object.
Genitive ʿāʾid: «جَاءَ الَّذِي سَلَّمْتُ عَلَيْهِ»: «هُ» follows a preposition.

The key is reference back to the relative noun, not merely the appearance of a pronoun.

17. Other relative forms recorded by the book

وَ«مَا وَمَنْ وَأَيٍّ وَأَيَّةٍ وَذُو» بِمَعْنَى «الَّذِي» فِي لُغَةِ بَنِي طَيِّئٍ.
Translation: The text includes «ما، من، أيّ، أيّة», and «ذو» used as a relative in the dialect of Banū Ṭayyiʾ.

مَنْ commonly refers to persons: «جَاءَ مَنْ نَجَحَ».
مَا often refers to things or broader content: «أَخَذْتُ مَا نَفَعَنِي».
ذُو here is a special relative form in a tribal dialect, not the ordinary six-noun sense “possessor”.

18. Relative man versus conditional man

«أَكْرَمْتُ مَنْ زَارَنِي» — I honored the person who visited me: relative «مَنْ» as object.
«مَنْ يَجْتَهِدْ يَنْجَحْ» — Whoever works diligently succeeds: conditional «مَنْ», governing jussive verbs.

This additional teaching comparison illustrates why the context determines the function of identical written forms.

19. Relative mā versus interrogative mā

«أَخَذْتُ مَا أَعْطَيْتَنِي» — I took what you gave me: relative «مَا» as object, with an omitted returning object of «أَعْطَيْتَ».
«مَا هَذَا؟» — What is this? Here «مَا» is interrogative, not relative.

Distinguish a question from a relative construction with a ṣilah.

20. Relative dhū in the Ṭayyiʾ dialect

فَإِنَّ الْمَاءَ مَاءُ أَبِي وَجَدِّي
وَبِئْرِي ذُو حَفَرْتُ وَذُو طَوَيْتُ
Translation: This water belongs to my father and grandfather, and my well is the one I dug and lined.

This poetic evidence uses ذُو as a relative pronoun, not “owner of.”
Both «حَفَرْتُ» and «طَوَيْتُ» imply a deleted object referring to the well: effectively «حَفَرْتُهَا» and «طَوَيْتُهَا».

21. Relative al- in the text

وَالْأَلِفُ وَاللَّامُ بِمَعْنَى «الَّذِي»، وَصِلَتُهُ اسْمُ الْفَاعِلِ وَاسْمُ الْمَفْعُولِ.
Translation: The text treats al- as relative in some constructions, where an active or passive participle functions as its ṣilah.

This is the special classical analysis of relative al-. Not every al- is relative; e.g., the al- of «الْكِتَابُ» can simply mark definiteness.
The next two source examples show active and passive participles.

22. Active participle after relative al-

جَاءَنِي الضَّارِبُ زَيْدًا.
Translation: The person who strikes Zayd came to me.

جَاءَ is the main past verb; «نِي» includes a first-person object pronoun.
الضَّارِبُ is nominative as the subject of «جَاءَ»; in the classical analysis, al- is relative and «ضَارِب» is its active-participle ṣilah with an implicit returning subject.
زَيْدًا is the object governed by the active participle «ضَارِب», not an object of «جَاءَ».

23. Passive participle after relative al-

جَاءَنِي الْمَضْرُوبُ غُلَامُهُ.
Translation: The person whose servant was beaten came to me.

جَاءَنِي: main verb and attached object pronoun.
الْمَضْرُوبُ: the overall relative construction is nominative subject; «مَضْرُوب» is a passive participle.
غُلَامُهُ: «غُلَامُ» is the nominative deputy subject governed by the passive participle; «هُ» is a possessive ʿāʾid.

Unlike accusative «زَيْدًا» after the active participle, «غُلَامُهُ» is nominative here because the passive form takes a deputy subject.

24. When the ʿāʾid may be omitted

وَيَجُوزُ حَذْفُ الْعَائِدِ مِنَ اللَّفْظِ إِنْ كَانَ مَفْعُولًا.
Translation: An object ʿāʾid may be omitted from the surface wording.

Omission means the pronoun is unspoken but understood.
Do not extend this particular rule to deleting a returning subject: the text explicitly specifies an object ʿāʾid.

25. Book example of the omitted ʿāʾid

قَامَ الَّذِي ضَرَبْتُ.
Translation: The person I struck stood up.

قَامَ is the main verb; «الَّذِي» is its subject.
ضَرَبْتُ is the relative clause: «تُ» is its subject, and the object ʿāʾid is omitted, underlying «ضَرَبْتُهُ».

Deleting the object does not delete the verb or subject of the ṣilah.

26. Overt versus omitted returning object

«قَامَ الَّذِي ضَرَبْتُهُ»: the object ʿāʾid «هُ» is explicit.
«قَامَ الَّذِي ضَرَبْتُ»: the accusative returning object is omitted.

The core meaning is the same. The «تُ» of «ضَرَبْتُ» is the first-person subject, not the ʿāʾid.

27. The case behavior of ayy and ayyah

وَاعْلَمْ أَنَّ «أَيًّا» وَ«أَيَّةً» مُعْرَبَةٌ إِلَّا إِذَا حُذِفَ صَدْرُ صِلَتِهَا.
Translation: The relative forms «أَيّ» and «أَيّة» are normally declinable, except in the specified construction where the initial element of their ṣilah is omitted.

It is incorrect to treat أَيّ as always indeclinable.
Omitting the initial element of the ṣilah leads to a special classical analysis of building; do not generalize it to every interrogative «أَيّ».

28. Qurʾānic example of ayyuhum

ثُمَّ لَنَنْزِعَنَّ مِنْ كُلِّ شِيعَةٍ أَيُّهُمْ أَشَدُّ عَلَى الرَّحْمَٰنِ عِتِيًّا
Translation: Then We shall certainly draw out from each group whoever is most defiant toward the Most Merciful.

This is Qurʾān 19:69. On the classical analysis presented in the book, «أَيُّهُمْ» is built on ḍammah in an accusative syntactic position after omission of an initial «هُوَ»: «أَيُّهُمْ هُوَ أَشَدُّ».
أَشَدُّ is the predicate of the omitted mubtadaʾ; عِتِيًّا is accusative tamyīz. Other classical analyses of this verse also exist.

29. Relative noun, ʿāʾid and case together

«الَّذِي حَضَرَ مُجْتَهِدٌ»: «الَّذِي» is a nominative mubtadaʾ; «حَضَرَ» is the ṣilah with implicit subject as ʿāʾid; «مُجْتَهِدٌ» is the predicate.
«أَكْرَمْتُ الَّذِي حَضَرَ»: «الَّذِي» is an accusative object, while the same ṣilah and ʿāʾid remain.

External syntax determines the relative noun’s case position; internal syntax determines the structure of its ṣilah.

30. Relative pronoun as a modifier

«جَاءَ الطَّالِبُ الَّذِي نَجَحَ»: «الطَّالِبُ» is the nominative subject; «الَّذِي» modifies it and occupies a nominative position; «نَجَحَ» is the ṣilah with an implicit subject-ʿāʾid.

By contrast, in «جَاءَ الَّذِي نَجَحَ», «الَّذِي» itself is the subject. This is an added comparison, not a quotation.

31. Non-human plurals with relatives

«قَرَأْتُ الْكُتُبَ الَّتِي اشْتَرَيْتُهَا» — I read the books that I bought.
«الْكُتُبَ» is the accusative object; «الَّتِي» modifies it in an accusative syntactic position; the «ها» in its ṣilah is the ʿāʾid.

Arabic commonly uses feminine singular agreement for non-human plurals. This is an added teaching explanation beyond the core list.

32. Relative versus demonstrative

«هَذَا الطَّالِبُ»: this student; «هَذَا» is a demonstrative.
«الطَّالِبُ الَّذِي نَجَحَ»: the student who succeeded; «الَّذِي» is relative and needs «نَجَحَ» as its ṣilah.

A demonstrative points out a referent; a relative noun completes identification through a clause.

33. Three independent parsing decisions

1. Identify the relative noun: «الَّذِي / الَّتِي / مَنْ / مَا ...».
2. Delimit the ṣilah: identify the full declarative clause.
3. Find the ʿāʾid: overt, implicit, or legitimately omitted.

Only then assign the relative noun its external nominative, accusative or genitive position.

34. Worked synthesis example

«سَلَّمْتُ عَلَى الطَّالِبِ الَّذِي قَرَأْتُ كِتَابَهُ» — I greeted the student whose book I had read.
«سَلَّمْتُ»: verb + subject; «عَلَى الطَّالِبِ»: prepositional phrase; «الَّذِي»: modifier of «الطَّالِبِ» in a genitive position.
«قَرَأْتُ»: verb + subject of the ṣilah; «كِتَابَهُ»: accusative object, with possessive «هُ» returning to the relative noun.

The verbal ṣilah itself has no independent iʿrāb position.

35. Lesson summary

The relative noun needs a declarative ṣilah.
The ʿāʾid links it to that clause, and an object ʿāʾid may sometimes be omitted.
The book covers forms by gender and number, «مَنْ، مَا، أَيّ», dialectal «ذُو», relative al-, and the special behavior of «أيّ».

Parsing sequence: relative noun → ṣilah → ʿāʾid → external case position.