A passive participle presents an affected participant or a resulting state: الْبَابُ مُغْلَقٌ “the door is closed,” الطَّلَبُ مَقْبُولٌ “the application is accepted,” and الْمَشْرُوعُ مُعْتَمَدٌ “the project is approved.” It agrees and declines like an adjective or noun, but its verbal source can remain visible in a retained preposition or an expression naming the agent. The Form-I passive participle page gives the full morphological foundation.
English by is a poor guide to those expressions. Formal Arabic may use مِنْ قِبَلِ for a deliberately named agent, عَلَى يَدِ for human agency in an achievement or historical development, and بِـ for an instrument, means, cause, or a preposition inherited from the verb. لِـ often marks a recipient, beneficiary, purpose, or relation—not an agent. The right choice depends on the semantic relation, not on an English preposition.
Formation and agreement
Strong Form-I transitive verbs normally form the passive participle on مَفْعُول. Derived Forms replace the passive imperfect prefix with مُـ and normally have fatḥa before the final radical. Weak, hamzated, and geminate roots preserve established stem changes.
| Source verb | Passive participle | Class | Typical complement |
|---|---|---|---|
| كَتَبَ “write” | مَكْتُوب | strong Form I مَفْعُول | بِالْحِبْرِ “in ink”; مِنْ قِبَلِ + agent when needed |
| بَاعَ “sell” | مَبِيع | hollow Form I | لِـ + buyer/recipient in context |
| دَعَا “invite” | مَدْعُوّ | final-weak Form I | إِلَى + event |
| رَدَّ “reject/return” | مَرْدُود | geminate Form I | عَلَى + recipient in “returned to” uses |
| أَعَدَّ “prepare” | مُعَدّ | geminate Form IV | لِـ + purpose/recipient; مِنْ قِبَلِ + agent |
| أَعْطَى “give” | مُعْطًى | final-weak Form IV | لِـ + recipient |
| اِعْتَمَدَ “approve/adopt” | مُعْتَمَد | Form VIII | مِنْ قِبَلِ + approving agent; لَدَى + accrediting domain |
النسخة النهائية معدة للنشر بعد المراجعة القانونية.
an-nuskhatu n-nihāʾiyyatu muʿaddatun lin-nashri baʿda l-murājaʿati l-qānūniyya.
The final version is prepared for publication after legal review.
الباحثتان مدعوتان إلى الجلسة الختامية.
al-bāḥithatāni madʿuwwatāni ʾilā l-jalsati l-khitāmiyya.
The two women researchers are invited to the closing session.
The feminine predicate مُعَدَّةٌ agrees with النُّسْخَةُ; dual مَدْعُوَّتَانِ agrees with الْبَاحِثَتَانِ. Neither participle is a past tense. One describes readiness; the other describes invitation status.
Eventive passive or resulting adjective?
A finite passive verb reports an event in tense and aspect. A passive participle characterizes the affected entity or its state. Some participles are strongly event-related; others have conventional adjectival meanings that no longer require an imagined event.
أغلقت الإدارة الباب عند السادسة.
ʾaghlaqati l-ʾidāratu l-bāba ʿinda s-sādisa.
The administration closed the door at six. (Active event.)
أغلق الباب عند السادسة بقرار من الإدارة.
ʾughliqa l-bābu ʿinda s-sādisati biqarārin mina l-ʾidāra.
The door was closed at six by decision of the administration. (Finite passive event.)
الباب مغلق الآن، لكن الحارس سيفتحه بعد دقائق.
al-bābu mughlaqun l-ʾāna, lākinna l-ḥārisa sa-yaftaḥuhu baʿda daqāʾiq.
The door is closed now, but the guard will open it in a few minutes. (Resulting state.)
The participle does not assert who closed the door or when. In خُطَّةٌ مَدْرُوسَةٌ “a well-considered plan,” مَدْرُوس has a conventional evaluative use; the focus is the plan's quality, not a passive event under discussion.
قدمت اللجنة خطة مدروسة وقابلة للتنفيذ.
qaddamati l-lajnatu khuṭṭatan madrūsatan wa-qābilatan lit-tanfīdh.
The committee presented a well-considered, feasible plan.
Retained prepositions belong to the source expression
Some Arabic passive-like participial expressions retain the preposition found in the verbal construction. رَغِبَ فِي underlies مَرْغُوب فِيهِ “desired,” اِتَّفَقَ عَلَى underlies conventional مُتَّفَق عَلَيْهِ “agreed upon,” شَكَّ فِي underlies مَشْكُوك فِيهِ “doubtful/suspect,” and سَمَحَ لِـ underlies مَسْمُوح لَهُ “permitted/allowed.” These are established constructions; they are not produced for every intransitive verb by a free mechanical rule.
هذا حل متفق عليه بين جميع الأطراف.
hādhā ḥallun muttafaqun ʿalayhi bayna jamīʿi l-ʾaṭrāf.
This is a solution agreed upon by all parties.
قدمت الشركة منتجا مرغوبا فيه في الأسواق الآسيوية.
qaddamati sh-sharikatu muntajan marghūban fīhi fī l-ʾaswāqi l-ʾāsiyawiyya.
The company introduced a product that is in demand in Asian markets.
بقيت بعض الأرقام الواردة في التقرير مشكوكا فيها.
baqiyat baʿḍu l-ʾarqāmi l-wāridati fī t-taqrīri mashkūkan fīhā.
Some of the figures in the report remained doubtful. (Formal.)
هذا الموظف مسموح له بالدخول إلى الأرشيف.
hādhā l-muwaẓẓafu masmūḥun lahu bid-dukhūli ʾilā l-ʾarshīf.
This employee is permitted to enter the archive.
The clitic pronoun resumes the affected referent: فِيهِ refers to masculine حَلّ / مُنْتَج, فِيهَا to nonhuman plural أَرْقَام under feminine-singular agreement, and لَهُ to الْمُوَظَّف. Preserve the preposition licensed by the Arabic expression.
Naming an agent: مِنْ قِبَلِ
مِنْ قِبَلِ can introduce an explicit animate or institutional agent in formal administrative, legal, and academic prose. It is useful when the agent matters and a finite active rewrite would shift the focus. It can also sound heavy; Arabic often omits a recoverable agent or recasts the sentence actively.
التقرير معد من قبل فريق مستقل من الخبراء.
at-taqrīru muʿaddun min qibali farīqin mustaqillin mina l-khubarāʾ.
The report was prepared by an independent team of experts. (Formal.)
المعيار معتمد من قبل الهيئة الوطنية منذ بداية المرحلة التجريبية.
al-miʿyāru muʿtamadun min qibali l-hayʾati l-waṭaniyyati mundhu bidāyati l-marḥalati t-tajrībiyya.
The standard has been approved by the national authority since the pilot phase began. (Formal administrative style.)
In less bureaucratic prose, أَعَدَّ فَرِيقٌ مُسْتَقِلٌّ التَّقْرِيرَ is usually lighter. مِنْ قِبَلِ is not a word-for-word requirement whenever English has by.
عَلَى يَدِ, بِـ, لِـ, and لَدَى are not interchangeable
عَلَى يَدِ foregrounds a person's or group's agency in an accomplishment, foundation, discovery, or historical development. It is natural with achievements, but often inflated for routine administrative actions.
المركز مؤسس على يد مجموعة من الأطباء المتطوعين.
al-markazu muʾassasun ʿalā yadi majmūʿatin mina l-ʾaṭibbāʾi l-mutaṭawwiʿīn.
The center was founded through the efforts of a group of volunteer doctors.
بِـ commonly marks an instrument, material, means, cause, or a relation inherited from the verb. مَكْتُوب بِالْحِبْرِ means “written in ink,” and مَدْعُوم بِالْبَيَانَاتِ means “supported by data.” Neither noun is the human agent.
الاستنتاج مدعوم ببيانات من ثلاث دراسات مستقلة.
al-istintāju madʿūmun bibayānātin min thalāthi dirāsātin mustaqilla.
The conclusion is supported by data from three independent studies. (Academic.)
كانت الملاحظة مكتوبة بقلم رصاص على هامش الصفحة.
kānati l-mulāḥaẓatu maktūbatan biqalami raṣāṣin ʿalā hāmishi ṣ-ṣafḥa.
The note was written in pencil in the page margin.
لِـ often marks purpose, intended recipient, or beneficiary: مُخَصَّص لِلطُّلَّابِ “intended for students.” لَدَى can mark recognized or accredited status with an institution: مُعْتَمَد لَدَى الْوِزَارَةِ “accredited/recognized with the ministry.” These relations should not be relabeled as agents.
هذا المسار مخصص للطلاب الراغبين في التدريب العملي.
hādhā l-masāru mukhaṣṣaṣun liṭ-ṭullābi r-rāghibīna fī t-tadrībi l-ʿamaliyy.
This track is intended for students interested in practical training.
Iḍāfa with an affected part or domain
A passive participle can head an iḍāfa whose genitive specifies the affected part or dimension: مَكْسُورُ الْجَنَاحِ “with a broken wing” and مَحْدُودُ الصَّلَاحِيَّةِ “of limited validity.” The genitive is not an agent. This structure often behaves like a compact compound adjective.
أعاد الطبيب البيطري طائرا مكسور الجناح إلى المحمية بعد علاجه.
ʾaʿāda ṭ-ṭabību l-bayṭariyyu ṭāʾiran maksūra l-janāḥi ʾilā l-maḥmiyyati baʿda ʿilājih.
The veterinarian returned a bird with a broken wing to the reserve after treating it.
لا تستخدم وثيقة محدودة الصلاحية بعد انتهاء مدتها.
lā tastakhdim wathīqatan maḥdūdata ṣ-ṣalāḥiyyati baʿda ntihāʾi muddatihā.
Do not use a document with limited validity after its term expires.
Here الْجَنَاحِ and الصَّلَاحِيَّةِ are genitive because of iḍāfa. They specify what is broken or limited; they do not name who performed an action.
Common Mistakes
Translating every English by-phrase with مِنْ قِبَلِ
❌ الرسالة مكتوبة من قبل الحبر الأسود.
Incorrect—ink is an instrument/material, not an agent; use بـ.
✅ الرسالة مكتوبة بالحبر الأسود.
ar-risālatu maktūbatun bil-ḥibri l-ʾaswad.
The message is written in black ink.
Using بِـ for every human agent
❌ التقرير معد بفريق مستقل عندما المقصود هو الفاعل.
Incorrect—بفريق is likely read as means or accompaniment; formal explicit agency uses من قبل فريق.
✅ التقرير معد من قبل فريق مستقل.
at-taqrīru muʿaddun min qibali farīqin mustaqill.
The report was prepared by an independent team. (Formal.)
Dropping a retained preposition
❌ هذا اقتراح متفقه جميع الأطراف.
Incorrect—the established expression is متفق عليه; على cannot be omitted.
✅ هذا اقتراح متفق عليه بين جميع الأطراف.
hādhā qtirāḥun muttafaqun ʿalayhi bayna jamīʿi l-ʾaṭrāf.
This is a proposal agreed upon by all parties.
Losing agreement
❌ الوثيقتان معتمد من قبل اللجنة.
Incorrect—the directly predicated participle must agree with the feminine dual subject: معتمدتان.
✅ الوثيقتان معتمدتان من قبل اللجنة.
al-wathīqatāni muʿtamadatāni min qibali l-lajna.
The two documents are approved by the committee. (Formal.)
Treating the genitive in iḍāfa as an agent
❌ مكسور الجناح يعني أن الجناح كسر الطائر.
Incorrect—the genitive names the affected part: a bird whose wing is broken.
✅ عالج الطبيب طائرا مكسور الجناح.
ʿālaja ṭ-ṭabību ṭāʾiran maksūra l-janāḥ.
The doctor treated a bird with a broken wing.
Key Takeaways
- A passive participle agrees and takes case like an adjective or noun while profiling an affected participant or result.
- Established constructions retain their prepositions: مَرْغُوب فِيهِ، مُتَّفَق عَلَيْهِ، مَشْكُوك فِيهِ, and مَسْمُوح لَهُ.
- مِنْ قِبَلِ marks an explicit formal agent; عَلَى يَدِ foregrounds human agency in an achievement; بِـ، لِـ, and لَدَى express other relations.
- A participial state does not itself locate an event in time; use a finite passive when the event is central.
- In iḍāfa such as مَكْسُورُ الْجَنَاحِ, the genitive specifies an affected part or domain, not an agent.
Related Topics
- Active Participles with Objects and Prepositional ComplementsB1 — Let an active participle retain its verb's direct object or selected preposition while controlling case, definiteness, agreement, and time interpretation.
- Maṣdar plus Iḍāfa ArgumentsB1 — Express the doer and object of an Arabic verbal noun while keeping case, definiteness, and meaning clear.
- The Maṣdar: Verbal Noun OverviewA1 — Understand how Arabic maṣdars name events, behave as nouns, and preserve the participants of an underlying action.