Form IV adds a hamza to the front of a root — أَنْزَلَ, أَرْسَلَ, آمَنَ — giving a second, very common way to make a verb causative, alongside Form II's doubling. نَزَلَ (Form I, ‘it came down’) becomes أَنْزَلَ (Form IV, ‘He sent it down’). This is the form behind two of the most important words in the Qur'ān: آمَنَ (believed) and أَنْزَلَ (sent down, i.e. revealed).
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BY THE END OF THIS CHAPTER YOU WILL BE ABLE TO
Recognise Form IV's أَفْعَلَ pattern and its causative meaning
Produce all nine word-forms of a Form IV verb from one root
Recognise آمَنَ and its participle مُؤْمِنٌ, already familiar from earlier in the course
Read a verse using أَنْزَلَ to describe revelation itself
TEACHER NOTES
Pacing: 40 min
Prerequisite check: Forms II–III (Ch.38–39).
Watch out for: Form IV overlaps in meaning with Form II for some roots — flag that ambiguity rather than smoothing over it.
01 — THE FULL PICTURE, FIRST
رُكْنُ الْقَوَاعِدِGrammar Corner
Nine word-forms, one root.
Perfect (active)
Imperfect (active)
Active participle
Perfect (passive)
Imperfect (passive)
Passive participle
Maṣdar (verbal noun)
Imperative (positive)
Imperative (negative)
أَنْزَلَ
anzala
he sent down
يُنْزِلُ
yunzilu
he sends down
مُنْزِلٌ
munzil
one who sends down
أُنْزِلَ
unzila
it was sent down
يُنْزَلُ
yunzalu
it is being sent down
مُنْزَلٌ
munzal
that which is sent down
إِنْزَالٌ
inzāl
the act of sending down
أَنْزِلْ
anzil
send down!
لَا تُنْزِلْ
lā tunzil
don't send down!
Root ن-ز-ل, Form IV — أَنْزَلَ ‘to send down’
Form II vs. Form IV — both cause, differently. Both forms can make a verb causative, but they aren't interchangeable for a given root; each root has its own established derived forms, which is exactly why you check Hans Wehr rather than guess.
نَزَلَ (I) → أَنْزَلَ (IV)
nazala → anzala it came down → He sent it down (caused it to come down)
Form IV's maṣdar is إِفْعَالٌ, and its active participle drops the hamza in a distinctive way: مُفْعِلٌ (compare مُؤْمِنٌ, from آمَنَ) — both predictable, unlike Form I.
Quick check: what's the active participle pattern for Form IV? (مُفْعِلٌ — as in مُؤْمِنٌ, مُحْسِنٌ, مُنْزِلٌ.)
02 — LISTEN & REPEAT
حِوَارٌDialogue
Yūsuf and Maryam talk about revelation and belief. Listen twice, then read aloud.
Allah has blessed us with it, a tremendous blessing.
03 — CORE WORDS
الْمُفْرَدَاتُVocabulary
Every one of these adds a hamza to the front of a root you may already recognise from its Form I.
Arabic
Says
Meaning
Note
NEWأَنْزَلَ/يُنْزِلُ
anzala / yunzilu
he sent down / he sends down
Root ن-ز-ل — compare نَزَلَ, ‘it came down.’
NEWآمَنَ/يُؤْمِنُ
āmana / yu’minu
he believed / he believes
Root أ-م-ن — gives مُؤْمِنٌ, which you've known since Chapter Fourteen.
NEWأَرْسَلَ/يُرْسِلُ
arsala / yursilu
he sent / he sends
Root ر-س-ل — compare رَسُولٌ, ‘messenger.’
NEWأَحْسَنَ/يُحْسِنُ
aḥsana / yuḥsinu
he did good / he does good
Root ح-س-ن — gives مُحْسِنٌ, ‘one who does good.’
NEWأَنْعَمَ/يُنْعِمُ
an‘ama / yun‘imu
he blessed / he blesses
Root ن-ع-م — gives نِعْمَةٌ, ‘a blessing.’
NEWأَخْرَجَ/يُخْرِجُ
akhraja / yukhriju
he brought out / he brings out
Root خ-ر-ج — compare خَرَجَ, ‘he went out.’
NEWمُؤْمِنٌ
mu’min
a believer
Active participle, Form IV pattern مُفْعِلٌ.
NEWمَدَى
madā
the span, extent (of)
عَلَى مَدَى — ‘over the course of.’
Also in this chapter's dialogue and reading.
Arabic
Says
Meaning
Note
EARLYرَحْمَةٌ
raḥmah
mercy
—
04 — READING THE SOURCE
وَقْفَةٌ قُرْآنِيَّةٌQur'ān Connection
A verse describing the Qur'ān's own revelation, using the exact verb from this chapter's sarf table.
SŪRAT AL-QADR — 97:1
إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَاهُ فِي لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ
Indeed, We sent it down during the Night of Decree.
إِنَّا
innā
indeed We
أَنزَلْنَاهُ
anzalnāhu
We sent it down
فِي لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ
fī laylati-l-qadr
during the Night of Decree
أَنزَلْنَاهُ is أَنْزَلَ (Form IV, ‘We’ form) plus the object suffix ـهُ (‘it,’ referring to the Qur'ān) — combining this chapter's verb with Chapter Nineteen's object-pronoun pattern in one word.
05 — SAY IT LIKE A NATIVE
عِبَارَاتٌ يَوْمِيَّةٌEveryday Phrases
Everyday phrases built from Form IV verbs.
آمَنْتُ بِاللَّهِ
āmantu bi-llāh — I believe in Allah
أَحْسَنْتَ!
aḥsanta! — well done! (you did well)
أَرْسَلَ لِي رِسَالَةً
arsala lī risālah — he sent me a message
أَنْعَمَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْنَا
an‘ama-llāhu ‘alaynā — Allah blessed us
أَخْرِجْ كُتُبَكَ
akhrij kutubak — take out your books
أَقْبَلَ عَلَى الْخَيْرِ
aqbala ‘ala-l-khayr — he turned toward good
أَكْمَلَ الْعَمَلَ
akmala-l-‘amal — he completed the work
أَعْطَانِي هَدِيَّةً
a‘ṭānī hadiyyah — he gave me a gift
SKILLS PRACTICE
الِاسْتِمَاعُListening
Audio track 40.1
Aḥmad and Salmā talk about faith and blessing. Listen first, script second.
A short passage using only words you've met so far. Just read for meaning — hover any word if you get stuck. Flip the switch to check whole sentences instead of single words.