LAST UPDATED: 1 month ago
In this blog post, we will examine a pretty tricky expression: لَبَّيْكَ
Let us check it step by step.
The root
It is ل – ب – ى. This root is only used as a II-verb and means to follow, to obey (a call, an invitation), to say “labbaika”.
The مَصْدَر
The مَصْدَر of لَبَّي – a form-II-verb (فَعَّلَ) – would be تَلْبِية . But we don't use this word for our expression. Instead, we use لَبٌّ which is the so called اِسْم الْمَصْدَر of the verb لَبَّى. If you are not sure what a ism al-Masdar is, click here.
Form the dual
The word لَبٌّ is put into the dual form for the sake of corroboration (emphasis). It has somehow the meaning of: “answer after answer“, “saying after saying“, etc. –> أُلَبِّي لَبَّيْكَ=تَلْبِيَة بَعْدَ تَلْبِيَة
Check the table below for other examples. The dual is لَبَّانِ in مَرْفُوع (nominative case) or لَبَّيْنِ in مَجْرُور or مَنْصُوب (genitive, accusative case).
Put the word into the accusative case/مَنْصُوب
Why is that? Let us explain this by the famous Arabic expression سُبْحانَ اللَّهِ (Praise Allah! Or: God be praised!)
This expression (similar to “labbaika”) is used as an exclamation of surprise – a special form of the أُسْلُوب التَّعَجُّب.
Grammatically speaking, سُبْحانَ is a so called اِسْم مَصْدَر and is used as an absolute object – مَفْعُول مُطْلَق – which always has to be مَنْصُوب/accusative.
Many common expressions in Arabic have a مَفْعُولٌ مُطْلَقٌ serving as the first part of a إضافة-construction (see Arabic for Nerds 2, question #320)
Actually, there is no other application. This word is only used as a مَفْعُول مُطْلَق. So we need لَبَّيْنِ for our example.
Add the personal pronoun:
As we connect the personal pronoun you (you here refers to Allah) and since we use the word as a مَفْعُول مُطْلَق the ن is elided – because it is connected to a personal pronoun.
Result
Finally, we get: لَبَّيْكَ
There are a bunch of expressions that are constructed similarly using a مَفْعُول مُطْلَق (sometimes in connection with the dual form, for example: سَعْدَيْكَ)
Some common expressions
| meaning | original meaning | expression |
|---|---|---|
| Praise God! | أُسَبِّحُ اللَّه تَسْبِيحًا | سُبْحانَ اللَّهِ |
| God forbid! God save (protect) me (us) from that! | أَعْوُذُ بِاللَّهِ مَعاذًا | مَعاذَ اللَّهِ |
| Here I am! At your service! | أُلِبُّ لَكَ إِلْبابًا or أَلُبُّ لَكَ لَبًّا | لَبَّيْكَ |
| And all good is in your hands. | أسْعَدْتُكَ إسعادًا بَعْدَ إسعادٍ | سَعْدَيْكَ |
Other articles dealing with Islam and the Qur'an:
- Is it possible to cut off the ن in كانَ?
- What is the Islamic name of the Final Day?
- What does the crash of an Egypt Air plane in 1999 have to do with Islam?
- What is the connection between Immanuel Kant and the Basmala?
- Quiz: How well do you know the 99 names of Allah? Full quiz
Picture credit: Image by ziedkammoun from Pixabay
Hi There !
Thank you again for the explanations. I love your blog and find it absolutely necessary.
I have noticed that the “Books for Arabic Nerds” section is empty, but would really appreciate if you could find some time to recommand some references you deem worth mentioning (aside from yours which I obviously just ordered ! – eager to read it).
Many thanks
Hi – I have done that. In the menu you will see “Books for Nerds” – just click on it. If you have other recommendations, please use the comment section. It will be beneficial for other readers, I am sure. Appreciate it.