Breakdown of من يسع في الخير يفلح.
الal
the
فيfî
in / about, regarding
خيرkhayr
goodness
منman
whoever
سعىsa'â
to strive
أفلحaflaha
to succeed
Questions & Answers about من يسع في الخير يفلح.
Why is the verb يسع written without its final alif maqsura?
Because it is in the jussive case. The conditional particle من (whoever) requires the two verbs in the conditional sequence to be in the jussive. For a defective or 'weak' verb ending in a vowel like يسعى (he strives), the jussive is formed by dropping that final vowel completely, leaving just يسع.
Does the second verb, يفلح, also take a special ending because of من?
Yes, it acts as the result clause (the 'then' part of the condition) and must also be in the jussive case. Since يفلح (he prospers) is a regular 'sound' verb ending in a consonant, its jussive form takes a sukun (a vowelless marker) on the final letter ح, rather than the standard damma (u vowel) it would normally have in the present tense.
Could I use the relative pronoun الذي instead of من to say 'The one who strives for good prospers'?
You could, but it changes the grammar completely. If you say الذي يسعى في الخير يفلح, you are making a standard descriptive statement rather than a conditional one. The verb يسعى would keep its final vowel, and يفلح would take a regular damma because الذي does not force verbs into the jussive case like the conditional من does.
Why is the preposition في used here instead of لـ (for) to translate 'strives for good'?
The verb سعى originally means 'to walk quickly' or 'to pursue'. When talking about pursuing an abstract concept or a life path, Arabic often pairs it with في (in), implying active involvement in the realm of goodness, as if walking in the path of good.
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