Feet (arkaan) and their variations
Level 2: Ilm-ul-Aruz: Prosody and Scansion · about 12 minutes
A metre is a sequence of feet. Each foot has a conventional name built from the root f-'-l.
| Foot | Pattern | Changed forms (zihaafaat) |
|---|---|---|
| fa'ūlun | – = = | fa'al (– =) |
| fā'ilun | = – = | fa'ilun (– – =), fa'lun (= =) |
| mafā'īlun | – = = = | mafā'īlu (– = = –), maf'ūlu (= = –) |
| fā'ilātun | = – = = | fa'ilātun (– – = =), fā'ilātu (= – = –) |
| mustaf'ilun | = = – = | mufta'ilun (= – – =), mafā'ilun (– = – =) |
The name of a bahr tells you its family (Hazaj, Ramal ...), the number of feet (musaddas = 6 per sher, musamman = 8), and the changes applied (mahzuf, makhbun, akhrab ...).
Practice
Syllable weights: 6 questions, built fresh each time from the couplets.