# Subhan Allah سبحان الله



## agie

Hi,

I'm watching "Fanaa" movie and I'm wondering what "Subhan Allah" means. This is the title of the song and the expresson is very often used in that chant. Would you be so kind and explain me the meaning? I would be greatful

Thanks in advance

Cheers


----------



## linguist786

I think I've seen that movie (a long while ago!)  Hindi one, right?

The phrase سبحان الله (subHaan allaah) means "Glory be to God".

To be honest, I wasn't too happy about this phrase being used in a song. It's a religious expression and since music isn't allowed in Islam, it's a bit.. well, wrong. But anyway, this isn't relevant.

Do non-Muslim Arabs use this phrase too?


----------



## agie

yeah ,Hindi one I love bollywood movies and "Fanaa" was  partially making in Poland ( parts with snow- easy to guess )

I don't know much about Islam, so if I commited any blunder in writing- forgive me

Thanks again for your reply


----------



## elroy

linguist786 said:


> Do non-Muslim Arabs use this phrase too?


 Palestinian Christians do.


----------



## Ander

I am a bit puzzled by the word subHân, from "subHân allâh". 

I can't find it in the online Arabic dictionary.

Is it a verb, a name, an adjective ?

What does the root s-b-H mean ?

What is the function of the ending -ân ?


----------



## WadiH

Ander said:


> I am a bit puzzled by the word subHân, from "subHân allâh".
> 
> I can't find it in the online Arabic dictionary.
> 
> Is it a verb, a name, an adjective ?
> 
> What does the root s-b-H mean ?
> 
> What is the function of the ending -ân ?


 
"Sub7an" is an _ism_ of the type _Fu3lan_.  I don't think it's an adjective.  The purpose of the _-an _is to turn it into صيغة مبالغة in the same manner as سلطان and عُـمران.  I think "Sub7an Allah" means roughly "how greatly exalted [or transcendent] is God".  For example, a theologian describing a heretical opinion of God would conclude disapprovingly by saying "Sub7anahu wa ta3ala 3amma yaqulun" ("greatly exalted and transcendent is he above what they are saying").

As to what the original root s-b-7 means, and how it relates to transcendence or exultation, I do not know.  Have you checked the _Lisan_ or the _Qamus_?


----------



## knight_2004

The word "SuBHÁNa" (سبحان) is can be derived from the quadrilateral verb (الفعل الرباعي) SaBBaHa (سبّح) which means (to glorify, to exhault يسبّح). This is a different type of verb (the regular root-verb, F3L فعل); and, it is an example of a quadrilateral verb (فعل رباعي) (F33L) (فعّل) i.e., (Fa33aLa) the middle " 'Ayn العين" is stressed or double-letter. (there are other types of quadrilateral verbs.)

The present tense is (YoSaBBeHo يسبّح)

The infinitive (المصدر) for quadrilateral verbs of the type (Fa33aLa فعّل) is (TaF3ÍL تفعيل)
Examples:

Quadrilateral Verb (الفعل الرباعي)    ----> Infinitive (المصدر)
------------------------------
3aLLaMa (علّم) ---> Ta3LÍM (تعليم)
KaLLaMa (كلّم) ---> TaKLÍM (تكليم)
HaThThaBa (هذّب) ---> TaHThÍB (تهذيب)
SaLLaMa (سلّم) ---> TaSLÍm (تسليم)

As the rule above indicates, the infinitive (المصدر) of SaBBaHa (سبّح) is TaSBÍH (تسبيح), not SuBHÁN (سبحان). 

 اسم المصدر: هو ما دلَّ على معنى المصدر، ونقص عن حروف فِعْلِهِ لفظاً وتقديراً من غير تعويض
A noun derived from an infinitive is a noun that refers to the meaning of the infinitive, as in [3atTÁ2] (عطاء) where it was derived from the infinitive [I3tTÁ2] (إعطاء); and [SaLÁM] (سلام) from the infinitive [TaSLÍm] (تسليم).

So, the noun derivative of the infinitive  [TaSBÍH] (تسبيح) is (إسم المصدر) [SuBHÁN] (سبحان).

[SuBHaNa] (سبحانَ) has always an "a" at the end (فتحه), so it is always [MaNSÓB] (منصوب), because it is treated as a cognate accusative noun (Absolute Object) (مفعول مطلق) for a missing verb  (فعل محذوف) like [SaBBaHa] (سبّح) or [uSaBBiHu] (أسبح), etc., as if we say:
"uSaBBiHu SuBHÁNa Allah" (أسبّح سبحان الله) or
"YuSaBBiHo SuBHÁNa Allah (يسبّح سبحان الله).

It should be noted that [SuBHÁNa] (سبحان) is the 1st particle of a genitive construction form (مضاف إلى إسم). The 2nd particle of the construction (المضاف إليه) is a noun, where it should be [Allah] (لفظ الجلالة الله), or one of Allah's attributes (أسماء الله), or a noun (إسم) or a pronoun (ضمير) that refers to Allah.

e.g.:
SuBHÁNa Allah (سبحان الله)
SuBHÁNa Rabbí (سبحان ربي)

SuBHÁNa-Ka Allahumma (سبحانك اللهم)
SuBHÁNa-Hu Wa Ta3alaa (سبحانه وتعالى)
SuBHÁNa Rabbina (سبحان ربّنا)

The word [SuBHÁNa] (سبحان) is a special word in Arabic; it is always the 1st particle of a genitive construction form, where the 2nd particle is Allah, or a noun or a pronoun that refers to Allah only.

Notes:
The root verb (SaBaHa) means literally (to swim يسبح), but it also means to move fast (in water, air, or in space.) Allah described the movement of the Sun, Moon and other objects in space as (Each swims along in (its own) orbit). So, SaBaHa is not limited to movement in water.
The word, [SaB7] (سَبْح) means movement in expanding manner  (away from each other) like in a divergence, separation.

The quadrilateral verb (الفعل الرباعي) SaBBaHa (سبّح) means (to glorify, to exhault يسبّح) in a way to separate Allah's attributes from any of His creation.

So, SuBHÁN Allah, means Allah is glorified and exalted in that sense of separation of attributes from His creation. And, as "Wadi Hanifa" said above, the word has the from of (صيغة مبالغة) exaggeration. It is also used in exclamatory form. When you see something so great, you say, "SuBHÁNa Allah!"


----------



## Ander

knight_2004 said:


> The word "SuBHÁNa" (سبحان) is can be derived from the quadrilateral verb (الفعل الرباعي) SaBBaHa (سبّح) which means (to glorify, to exhault )يسبّح).5


 
That is strange to me. I always heard that quadriliteral verbs are derivations of triliteral roots or verbs , not the contrary.
So the verb sabbaHa (called the second stem in Western grammars = doubling of the second radical letter) should be the derivation of a verb sabaHa (first stem).

So if subHaan would be derived, it would be from another triliteral word, not from a quadriliteral one.



> as if we say:
> "uSaBBiHu SuBHÁNa Allah" (أسبّح سبحان الله) or
> "YuSaBBiHo SuBHÁNa Allah (يسبّح سبحان الله).


 
Is that form similar to the Semitic phrase "he died of death" which is found in Hebrew and in Arabic ?

In that case it should be "usabbiHu subHan" "I glorify with glory" أسبّح سبحً
And where should the name Allah stand ?



> It should be noted that [SuBHÁNa] (سبحان) is the 1st particle of a genitive construction form (مضاف إلى إسم). The 2nd particle of the construction (المضاف إليه) is a noun, where it should be [Allah] (لفظ الجلالة الله), or one of Allah's attributes (أسماء الله), or a noun (إسم) or a pronoun (ضمير) that refers to Allah.
> 
> e.g.:
> SuBHÁNa Allah (سبحان الله)
> SuBHÁNa Rabbí (سبحان ربي)


 
So what is subHaan, a noun, a verb or an adjective? 

I unterstand the sentence as "glory (be) to God". But glory should be subH.


The suffix -aan indicates "to be in a state". For example tiredness is ta3ab and ta3baan is "to be the state of tiredness" i.e. tired.

So if subH means glory subHaan would be "to be in the state of glory" i.e. glorified. 

So subHaan Allaah would mean "glorified (be) God".


----------



## clevermizo

Ander said:


> Is that form similar to the Semitic phrase "he died of death" which is found in Hebrew and in Arabic ?




Yes it is. I'm not sure if "he died of death" shows it, but perhaps "he died a horrible death". Or for example, instead of saying "I had a bad dream" - the sentence using the "cognate accusative" would be "I dreamed a bad dream."


----------



## Qittat Ulthar

Ander said:


> That is strange to me. I always heard that quadriliteral verbs are derivations of triliteral roots or verbs , not the contrary.
> So the verb sabbaHa (called the second stem in Western grammars = doubling of the second radical letter) should be the derivation of a verb sabaHa (first stem).


I would say you are correct. sabbaHa is the second stem/second form (الأسرة الثانية) of the verb sabaHa, it is not quadriliteral, like tarjama.


----------



## WadiH

Ander said:


> I unterstand the sentence as "glory (be) to God". But glory should be subH.
> 
> 
> The suffix -aan indicates "to be in a state". For example tiredness is ta3ab and ta3baan is "to be the state of tiredness" i.e. tired.
> 
> So if subH means glory subHaan would be "to be in the state of glory" i.e. glorified.
> 
> So subHaan Allaah would mean "glorified (be) God".


 
I think you're confusing 3 different patterns:

*Fu3lan*: عُمران, سُلطان, and (in my opinion) سبحان.  This would be an exaggerated form of the مصدر.  So you could have سلطة (authority), or you could have سلطان (great authority).  You could have تعمير (construction), or you could have عمران (a lot of construction).  I could say عّمر المكان تعميراً, or I could say عمّر المكان عمراناً.  I think سبحان follows that pattern.

*Fa3lan:* تـَعبان, عشطان, حيران, غلبان.  These are just adjectives.  "I am 3a6shan", meaning "I am thirsty," etc.

*Fa3alan*: ,غَـلــَيان, ثـَوَران, فوَران This is "the state of ...", again the ان is for "exaggeration'.  So, when you have a lot of "boiling", you have غليان, a lot of "overflowing" is فوران, etc.


----------



## Ander

Wadi Hanifa said:


> I think you're confusing 3 different patterns:
> 
> *Fu3lan*: عُمران, سُلطان, and (in my opinion) سبحان. This would be an exaggerated form of the مصدر. So you could have سلطة (authority), or you could have سلطان (great authority). You could have تعمير (construction), or you could have عمران (a lot of construction). I could say عّمر المكان تعميراً, or I could say عمّر المكان عمراناً. I think سبحان follows that pattern.
> 
> *Fa3lan:* تـَعبان, عشطان, حيران, غلبان. These are just adjectives. "I am 3a6shan", meaning "I am thirsty," etc.
> 
> *Fa3alan*: ,غَـلــَيان, ثـَوَران, فوَران This is "the state of ...", again the ان is for "exaggeration'. So, when you have a lot of "boiling", you have غليان, a lot of "overflowing" is فوران, etc.


 
I am only asking what that subHaan is. Owing to your example with sulTa and sulTaan things are clearing up a bit.

So that -aan suffix is a kind of "exaggerating" or augmentative suffix.

Can we say now, on the pattern of sulTaan, that subHaan is a name denoting a stronger value than subH?

How does it relate to Allah ?


----------



## Ander

By putting all your answers together, and by trying to understand your grammatical terminology in Arabic, I have come to the following conclusion (correct me if I'm wrong):

subHaan is a noun. 

It is the "exaggerated" form of the maSdar (infinitive or verbal noun) subH glory, which derives from the verb sabaHa to glorify, one of its meanings.

It does not relate to Allah through annexion or iDaafa. "Glory of God" would sound awkward in a well-wishing phrase.

As subHaan is not a verb the way to understand subHaan Allah is to add an implied verb.

According to Knight that verb is usabbiHu "I glorify".

So it becomes "usabbiHu llaaha subHaan(a)" or "usabbiHu subHaana llaah(a)". SubHaan and Allaah being in manSuub.

Literal translation in English: "I glorify God with glory".


----------



## WadiH

Ander said:


> By putting all your answers together, and by trying to understand your grammatical terminology in Arabic, I have come to the following conclusion (correct me if I'm wrong):
> 
> subHaan is a noun.
> 
> It is the "exaggerated" form of the maSdar (infinitive or verbal noun) subH glory, which derives from the verb sabaHa to glorify, one of its meanings.
> 
> It does not relate to Allah through annexion or iDaafa. "Glory of God" would sound awkward in a well-wishing phrase.
> 
> As subHaan is not a verb the way to understand subHaan Allah is to add an implied verb.
> 
> According to Knight that verb is usabbiHu "I glorify".
> 
> So it becomes "usabbiHu llaaha subHaan(a)" or "usabbiHu subHaana llaah(a)". SubHaan and Allaah being in manSuub.
> 
> Literal translation in English: "I glorify God with glory".


 
Actually, I think it is related to "Allah" by idhafa, because otherwise it would have to take a tanwin: أسبّح سبحاناً اللهَ, but who knows.


----------



## Josh_

knight_2004 said:


> The word "SuBHÁNa" (سبحان) is can be derived from the quadrilateral verb (الفعل الرباعي) SaBBaHa (سبّح)
> 
> Quadrilateral Verb (الفعل الرباعي)    ----> Infinitive (المصدر)
> ------------------------------
> 3aLLaMa (علّم) ---> Ta3LÍM (تعليم)
> KaLLaMa (كلّم) ---> TaKLÍM (تكليم)
> HaThThaBa (هذّب) ---> TaHThÍB (تهذيب)
> SaLLaMa (سلّم) ---> TaSLÍm (تسليم)


I believe you are confusing roots letters with the total number of letters, Knight.  The verb سبّح , and all the verbs you wrote above, have 4 letters (if we count the mushaddad letter as two), but the root is still only three letters.  Each of these is a derived verb -- derived from a triliteral root.  I believe the Arabic classification would be فعل مزيد ثلاثي وزنه فعل (note the last word is fa33ala -- The computer I am using is not Arabic enabled and the virtual online keyboard I am using does not have a button for shadda).  

A quadriliteral root, on the other hand, is based on the فعلل pattern in which the two laams stand for different letters. ترجم (tarjama) and قهقر (qahqara), for example, are verbs with quadriliteral roots.


----------



## Ander

Wadi Hanifa said:


> Actually, I think it is related to "Allah" by idhafa, because otherwise it would have to take a tanwin: أسبّح سبحاناً اللهَ, but who knows.


 
That is why I wrote as a first draft in message #4:

In that case it should be "usabbiHu subHan" "I glorify with glory" أسبّح سبحً


----------



## schwarze.rose

Greeting everyone here ,  

Am new to this forum ,and really liked it ,especially how active it's members and topics .(and to improve German! )  

I read almost half of the posts in the Arabic corner (arabic is my mother language)......
this post took my attention as titled "Subhan" ,
and I read most of the replies ...though I'd like to share you my answer :  
I googled for the "almaf3ol almotlka" (sorry dunno how to translate it in english :S  may be *cognate accusative* ?).....

simply you can google for "المفعول المطلق" too ,I can't submit any URLs yet

 as I remember from my (elementary and high  )school's arabic lessons the word "subhan allah"; is 
'parsed'-->"to3rap" as one entity to be ,that is "maf3ol motalk"; and it's a very atypical case of it . 


 So : Is it a verb, a name, an adjective ? 
*it's an infinitive (masdar)  

What does the root s-b-H mean ?
 *I'd say "sabbaha" means to praise,glorify,eulogize may be . please not that the verb I mentioned  differs than
 "sabaha"-->to swim  
in spite the two vers has the same 3 letters root ""S-b-h"  

What is the function of the ending -ân ?
 Nothing  ,it's part of the infinitive (dunno how to say it ,"masdar" in english ?)


 Hope I helped ,and please correct me if I typed any errors !


----------



## knight_2004

Josh_ said:


> I believe you are confusing roots letters with the total number of letters, Knight. ....
> ....
> A quadriliteral root, on the other hand, is based on the فعلل pattern in which the two laams stand for different letters. ترجم (tarjama) and قهقر (qahqara), for example, are verbs with
> quadriliteral roots.



Thank you for your notes. If you review my previous posts, you'll see that I never mentioned  the "quadrilateral root;" I talked about the quadrilateral verb. And, what you are saying is right about the 4-letter verbs.

Yes, I agree with you on your last note. Some Arabic grammarians say that the 4-letter verbs are only ONE which is (Fa3LaLa) and the rest are called (فعل مزيد ثلاثي) that they are actually 3-letter roots with an extra letter; but also some called them (in some books) 4-letter verbs (أفعال رباعية) as (Fa33aLa, Fa3LaLa, etc.,) and to make the measurements accordingly.




Ander said:


> subHaan is a noun.



Exactly, the noun derivative of the infinitive (إسم المصدر) (I am not sure about the exact English phrase, but that's where it came from.)



Ander said:


> It does not relate to Allah through annexion or iDaafa. "Glory of God" would sound awkward in a well-wishing phrase.



It is related to Allah by iDaafa (مضاف ومضاف إليه)
[SuBHÁNa] (سبحان) is the 1st particle of a genitive construction form (مضاف إلى إسم). The 2nd particle of the construction (المضاف إليه) is a noun, where it should be [Allah] (لفظ الجلالة الله), or one of Allah's attributes, etc.,



Ander said:


> So it becomes "usabbiHu llaaha subHaan(a)" or "usabbiHu subHaana llaah(a)". SubHaan and Allaah being in manSuub.
> 
> Literal translation in English: "I glorify God with glory".



Literally in English, "I glorify God's Glory." Since it is a genitive construction form.


----------



## Ander

Thanks a lot Knight.


----------

