The Intensive Noun (Ism al-Mubaalaghah) – Beginners Grammar 13.6

Arabic Grammar for Beginners · Lesson 13.6

قَوَاعِدُ اللُّغَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّةِ لِلْمُبْتَدِئِينَ

 

Section 13.6 – Derivative 6 Noun of Exaggeration اِسْمُ الْمُبَالَغَةِ Ismul mubaa-lagha-ti

 

Meaning	Example	Scale
Superb Forgiver an attribute of Allah SWT	غَفَّارٌ   Ghaf-faa-run	فَعَّالٌ   Fa-’aa-lun
Most Covering/Hiding an attribute of Allah SWT	سَتَّارٌ   Sat-taa-run
Most accepting of Tauba an attribute of Allah SWT	تَوَّابٌ   Taw-waa-bun
One who lifts weights, porter	حَمَّالٌ   Ham-maal-un
One who bakes bread, baker	خَبَّازٌ   Khab-baa-zun
Maker of clothes	خَيَّاطٌ   Khaiy-yaa-tun
Cuts excessively	قُطَّاعٌ   Khat-taa-‘un
Glutton/excessive eater	اَكَّالٌ   Ak-kaa-lun
Most Forgiving, oft forgiving an attribute of Allah SWT	غَفُّوْرٌ   Ghaf-foo-run	فَعُوْلٌ   Fa-’oo-lun
Very patient	صَبُوْرٌ   Saboo-run
Very grateful	شَكُوْرٌ   Sha-koo-run
Hits a lot	ضُرُوْبٌ   Du-roo-bun
a deceitful person	غَرُوْرٌ   Gha-roo-run
This scale is also used for adjective Noun. See derivative 4 above. For colors and defects, masculine gender continues to have the scale of af-alu أَفعَلُ but for the feminine gender changes from fu-laa-‘u فُعْلَاءُ to fu’-laa فُعْلٰى		فَعِيلٌ   Fa-‘ee-lun
Knows everything	عَلِيْمٌ   ‘Alee-mun
Mighty, Powerful attribute of Allah SWT	عَظِيْمٌ   ‘Azee-mun
Best listener attribute of Allah SWT	سَمِيْعٌ   Samee-un
Excessive offender	شَرِيْرٌ   Shar-run
Very annoyed; displeased;	غَضْبَانُ   Ghuz-baa-nu	فَعلَانُ   Fa’-laa-nu
wanting something very much, thirsty	عَطْشَانُ   ‘At-shaa-nu
Famished, feel very hungry	جَوْعَانُ   Jaw-‘aa-nu
Lazy, very sluggish	كَسلَانُ   Kas-laa-nu

 

 

 

 

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A closer look at the Intensive Noun

The intensive noun, صِيغَةُ الْمُبَالَغَةِ (seeghat al-mubaalaghah), takes the meaning of the active participle and strengthens it: the doer does the act often or to a high degree. غَافِرٌ (ghaafir) is one who forgives; غَفَّارٌ and غَفُورٌ are one who forgives again and again, and forgives much.

The grammarians list five regular patterns, all formed from three-letter verbs:

Pattern	Examples	Meaning
فَعَّالٌ fa''aal	غَفَّارٌ، رَزَّاقٌ، وَهَّابٌ، تَوَّابٌ، كَذَّابٌ	ever-forgiving, provider, bestower, ever-accepting of repentance, great liar
مِفْعَالٌ mif'aal	مِقْدَامٌ، مِعْطَاءٌ	very bold, very generous
فَعُولٌ fa'ool	غَفُورٌ، شَكُورٌ، صَبُورٌ، وَدُودٌ، ظَلُومٌ	most forgiving, most grateful, most patient, most loving, very unjust
فَعِيلٌ fa'eel	عَلِيمٌ، سَمِيعٌ، رَحِيمٌ، قَدِيرٌ	all-knowing, all-hearing, most merciful, all-powerful
فَعِلٌ fa'il	حَذِرٌ، أَشِرٌ	very wary, insolent

A sixth pattern, فِعِّيلٌ, is not regular but is well known: صِدِّيقٌ (one who is utterly truthful) and شِرِّيرٌ (very wicked). Two spellings in the table above should read قَطَّاعٌ (qattaa', with fatha) and شِرِّيرٌ (shirreer).

In the Qur'an

Many of the Names of Allah are intensive nouns, which is why they carry the sense of ever and most:

وَإِنِّي لَغَفَّارٌ لِّمَن تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا ثُمَّ اهْتَدَىٰ (Taa-Haa 20:82)
And indeed, I am the Perpetual Forgiver of whoever repents, believes, does righteousness and then continues in guidance.

إِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الرَّزَّاقُ ذُو الْقُوَّةِ الْمَتِينُ (Adh-Dhaariyaat 51:58)
Indeed, it is Allah who is the Provider, the possessor of power, the Firm.

وَقَلِيلٌ مِّنْ عِبَادِيَ الشَّكُورُ (Saba' 34:13)
And few of My servants are grateful.

إِنَّهُ كَانَ ظَلُومًا جَهُولًا (Al-Ahzaab 33:72)
Indeed, he was unjust and ignorant.

وَاذْكُرْ فِي الْكِتَابِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ ۚ إِنَّهُ كَانَ صِدِّيقًا نَّبِيًّا (Maryam 19:41)
And mention in the Book Ibraaheem. Indeed, he was a man of truth and a prophet.

Compare غَافِرِ الذَّنبِ, "Forgiver of sin" (Ghaafir 40:3), an active participle, with غَفَّارٌ in Taa-Haa 20:82: the root and the basic meaning are the same, and the pattern alone adds the intensity.

How it works in a sentence

An intensive noun behaves like an adjective or a predicate. In إِنَّهُ كَانَ ظَلُومًا جَهُولًا, both words are the predicate of كَانَ, so both are accusative. In وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ, غَفُورٌ is the predicate of اللَّهُ and رَحِيمٌ is a second predicate, both nominative.

Check yourself

Which word in each pair is the intensive form? صَابِرٌ / صَبُورٌ, كَاذِبٌ / كَذَّابٌ, عَالِمٌ / عَلِيمٌ.

Answers: صَبُورٌ, كَذَّابٌ, عَلِيمٌ; the first word of each pair is the plain active participle.