Questions & Answers about من يزرع شرا يحصد شرا.
How does the word مَن (whoever) affect the verbs in this sentence?
مَن is a conditional particle that governs two verbs, putting both into the Jussive mood (مجزوم). The first verb, يزرع (sows), acts as the condition, and the second verb, يحصد (reaps), acts as the result. Since both are regular present tense verbs, their Jussive marker is a sukoon on the final letter (يَزْرَعْ and يَحْصُدْ).
Why isn't there a فَـ (fa-) attached to the result verb يحصد?
In Arabic conditional sentences, the result clause only takes a فَـ (meaning then) under specific conditions, such as when the result is a nominal sentence, a command, or if it starts with future markers like سَـ or سَوْفَ. Since يحصد is just a standard present tense verb acting as the direct result, it does not take a فَـ.
Why is the word for evil written as شرا with an alif at the end?
The word شَرّ (evil) is the direct object of the verbs. Indefinite nouns in the accusative case (منصوب) take the ending -an (tanween fatha). For most words, this requires adding an alif to support the double fatha, which is why it is written as شراً (or simply شرا in unvoweled text).
Could we use الذي (the one who) instead of مَن here?
You could say الذي يزرع شرا يحصد شرا, but it changes the grammatical structure. الذي is a relative pronoun, not a conditional particle, so it would not put the verbs into the Jussive mood (they would remain in the indicative, ending in a damma). Using مَن creates a general, hypothetical condition, which is the standard choice for proverbs like this.
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