that everyone who turns away from it has made a fool of himself. There are two views concerning the grammar and meaning of this expression. The first is that of al-Farrāʾ and other Kufan grammarians, preferred by Ibn Qutaybah and others; it also expresses the meaning of the explanations given by most of the early generations. According to this view, it is the self that has become foolish. The verb safiha (“to be foolish”) is intransitive and takes no direct object. The meaning, however, is “except someone who is foolish.” The verb is therefore attributed to the person, while “self” is placed in the accusative as a specifying complement, not as an indefinite noun. This resembles His words:

“and my head has become aflame with grey hair.”

The Kufan grammarians recognized both constructions. Al-Farrāʾ said: “The word ‘self’ is placed in the accusative by analogy with an explanatory complement, as in diqtu bi-l-amri dharʿan (‘I was overwhelmed by the matter’), meaning dāqa dharʿī bihi (‘My capacity was insufficient for it’). His words, ‘and my head has become aflame with grey hair,’ are similar: they mean that grey hair has spread like fire through the head.”

He said: “Other examples include alima fulānun raʾsahu (‘So-and-so suffered pain in his head’), wajiʿa batnahu (‘He suffered pain in his stomach’), and rashada amrahu (‘He was rightly guided in his affairs’).”

The underlying constructions were safihat nafsu Zaydin (“Zayd’s self became foolish”) and rashada amruhu (“His affairs took a right course”). When the verb was reassigned to Zayd, the following noun became an accusative of specification. These are examples that al-Farrāʾ knew from Arab speech.

Similar expressions are “So-and-so was deficient in judgment” and “He grew insolent in his livelihood.” His words, “which grew insolent in its livelihood,” are of the same kind: that is, the livelihood itself grew insolent.

This is the meaning of Yamān ibn Rabāb’s statement, “His judgment and his self became foolish.” It is also the meaning of Ibn al-Sāʾib’s statement, “He went astray through his own self,” and of the statement of