Learn Farsi: پادشاه ظالم از مردم غافل است. - The cruel king is neglectful of the people.

Both words are Arabic active participles following the C1-â-C2-e-C3 pattern, which indicates the "doer" of an action. ظالم (zâlem) uses the root Z-L-M (related to oppression) to mean "the one who oppresses" or "cruel." غافل (ghâfel) uses the root Gh-F-L (related to neglect) to mean "the one who neglects."

Can ظالم and غافل be used as nouns instead of adjectives?

Yes! A key feature of the Fâ'el pattern is that the resulting word can easily act as either an adjective or a noun. In this sentence, ظالم is an adjective describing the king, but on its own as a noun, it means "tyrant" or "oppressor." Similarly, غافل acts as a predicate adjective here ("neglectful"), but could mean "an unaware person" in other contexts.

Why do we use the preposition از (from) with غافل?

While English speakers say they are "neglectful of" or "unaware of" something, Farsi logic treats it as being disconnected from something. When using غافل to say someone is oblivious to a situation or group, you must pair it with the preposition از.

How is the connection between پادشاه and ظالم pronounced here?

It is pronounced pâdeshâh-e zâlem. Even though ظالم is an Arabic participle, it integrates perfectly into native Farsi grammar structures, taking the standard Farsi ezafe vowel (-e) to link the Persian noun to its Arabic-derived adjective.