Chapter 9

مَرْفُوع · مَنْصُوب · مَجْرُور (Three states)

  • When you read the Mushaf, the last vowel sound on many words is a clue to how that word is “sitting” in the sentence.
  • There are three main states: مَرْفُوع (u), مَنْصُوب (a), and مَجْرُور (i).
  • Pause (وقف) can change how an ending is written or pronounced; these are patterns you can hear and see.
States Summary
State Arabic Sound Mark Feeling
Marfu‘ مَرْفُوع u / ُ ضَمَّة Subject / Default
Mansūb مَنْصُوب a / َ فَتْحَة Object / Details
Majrūr مَجْرُور i / ِ كَسْرَة Prepositional / "Gravity"
Pause Clues (وَقْف)
Tanwīn ḍamma (u)

Often spelling shows a long و on ا at the end of an ayah.

...وُا

Tanwīn fatḥa (a)

Spelling often shows ىٰ (alif maqsūra style) at the end of an ayah.

...ٰى
Memory Tip

Think of Majrūr (i) as being pulled down by gravity—this state is very common after prepositions taught in Chapter 7.

Quranic Examples

Marfu‘ (u)

اللَّهُ نُورُ السَّمَاوَاتِ (24:35)

Allah is the Light of the heavens

അല്ലാഹു ആകാശങ്ങളുടെ പ്രകാശമാകുന്നു.


نُورُ ends with ُ: typical Marfu subject sound.

Majrūr (i)

مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ

From the mercy of Allah

അല്ലാഹുവിൻറെ കാരുണ്യത്തിൽ നിന്ന്.


After مِنْ, رَحْمَة takes ِ (i) ending.

Mansūb (a)

إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ (108:1)

Indeed, We gave you Al-Kawthar

തീർച്ചയായും നിനക്ക് നാം കൗസർ നൽകിയിരിക്കുന്നു.


الْكَوْثَرَ is the object: ends with َ (a).

Marfu‘ Verb (u)

يَعْلَمُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ (3:29)

He knows what is in the heavens

ആകാശങ്ങളിലുള്ളത് അവൻ അറിയുന്നു.


يَعْلَمُ ends with ُ: clear Marfu verb pattern.

Mansūb Object (a)

وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَاكَ سَبْعًا (15:87)

We have given you seven (verses)

ഏഴു വചനങ്ങളും നിനക്ക് നാം നൽകിയിട്ടുണ്ട്.


سَبْعًا takes tanwīn fatḥa (a) as the object.

Pattern Recognition

Your goal here is to notice common shapes and sounds (u/a/i) at the end of words—this is your first lens for reading the Quran with grammar in mind.

What comes next

Now that you can "hear" the endings, you can see how they apply to all the forms you've learned in the previous chapters.