Arabic Question

[B_M]

Hello everybody, as you can tell, I'm new to the forum.:statisfie


I was wondering, which will probably make me look very stupid, but I have questions on understanding Arabic so to speak, if anybody could help me it would be extremely appreciated. It all revolves around one word.

ma‘sumah

Sayyidatina Maryam (‘alayhassalam) is one of the four greatest women in Islam along with Sayyidatina Asiya (‘alayhassalam), Sayyidatina Khadija (rady Allahu ‘anha), and Sayyidatina Fatima (rady Allahu ‘anha). When our Beloved Prophet Sayyidina Muhammad (Sallallahu ‘alayhi wa Sallam) mentioned that these are the four greatest women, he mentioned Sayyidatina Maryam (‘alayhassalam) first. Her full name is Sayyidatina Maryam bint ‘Imran (‘alayhassalam) and she was the daughter of Hadrat ‘Imran (‘alayhissalam) and Bibi Hanna (‘alayhassalam). She was a descendant of Nabi Dawud (‘alayhissalam), and her guardian was Nabi Zakariyya (‘alayhissalam). Among her many qualities is that she is ‘adhra’ (virgin), waliyyah (saint), qanitah (devout), sa’imah (one who observes fast), sabirah (patient), shakirah (thankful to Allah), tahirah (pure), siddiqah (sincere, truthful), ma‘sumah (sinless), and kamilah (perfect mother, perfect saint).

Source:

Sayyidatina Maryam (‘alayhassalam)

By: Hafiz Usman Munawwar

Ma’suma: “She who never sinned”. According to the Quran, Allah protected Mary from Satan.(Quran 3:35-36)

Source: Islamic views on Mary
From Wikipedia

How do you write Ma'sumah in Arabic? The English meaning says 'sinless', but 'sinless' doesn't translate in Arabic, correct? And it seems you cannot translate 'She who never sinned' into Arabic either? I'm getting myself confused. I think I understand it, but than I don't. I guess what I'm asking is, what is the equivalent to being sinless in Arabic? Where does 'ma'sumah' come from?

Ya know, basically, just, does anybody here have any knowledge of this word 'Ma'sumah'? :p

[marwen]

Ma’suma is written in arabic this way : معصومة
It's an adjective [ masculine:Ma'sum(معصوم) , femenine:Ma'suma(معصومة) ]
It means the one who never sin, or who is protected (by God) from sinning, sheltered from sinning.
=> The one who is made sinless (by God's will).


Further explanation: the origin of the word

This adjective (Ma'sum; Ma'suma) is derived from the verb A'sama (عصم) = to protect; to shelter (someone from something); to make him safe from something.

Example : in surat Hud : 43 :
قَالَ سَآوِي إِلَى جَبَلٍ يَعْصِمُنِي مِنَ الْمَاءِ قَالَ لا عَاصِمَ الْيَوْمَ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ إِلَّا مَنْ رَحِمَ وَحَالَ بَيْنَهُمَا الْمَوْجُ فَكَانَ مِنَ الْمُغْرَقِينَ

Transliteration
Qala saawee ila jabalin yaAAsimunee mina alma-i qala la AAasima alyawma min amri Allahi illa man rahima wahalabaynahuma almawju fakana mina almughraqeen


English : Sahih International
[But] he said, "I will take refuge on a mountain to protect me from the water." [Noah] said, "There is no protector today from the decree of Allah , except for whom He gives mercy." And the waves came between them, and he was among the drowned.

notice that I put the related arabic words in blue and red, and their equivalent in english and in transliteration :
verb => يَعْصِمُنِي : yaAAsimunee = to protect me
noun => عَاصِمَ : AAasim = protector

[B_M]

Aamzing! Wow. Thank you marwen so much!! That was perfect! Wonderful post, I appreciate it!!!!

[marwen]

^ you're welcome :smile: ; and I'm happy you joined the forum, I hope you find something beneficial here

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[B_M]

Thanks :smile:

[Ceeray]

Salam everyone,

I'm new here, and also a new student of Arabic. I'm going through the children's book, Qasas ul Anbiyyah and was hoping I could get a little help here.

1.2 Line 9:

وَكَانَ يَرَى أَنَّ الذُّبَابَ يَجْلِسُ عَلَى الأصْنَامِ فَلا تَدْفَعُ

Is al-thubaab the object of the seeing i.e. the object of the verb yara?

If that's correct, why is thubaab ending with a fat'ha? Is this because it is the maf'uul bihi of yara or because it is the ism of 'anna'?

Also, am I right that asnaam is in nasb because of the preposition 'ala?

Jz khair for any help.

[Insaanah]

:sl: and welcome to the forum.

Is al-thubaab the object of the seeing i.e. the object of the verb yara?

No. The sentence أَنَّ الذُّبَابَ يَجْلِسُ is in the place of the object.

why is thubaab ending with a fat'ha? Is this because it is the maf'uul bihi of yara or because it is the ism of 'anna'?

Because it is the ism of 'anna'.

Also, am I right that asnaam is in nasb

I think you meant to say jarr rather than nasb here, as the meem has a kasra beneath it.

because of the preposition 'ala?

It is in jarr because of this, correct.

Hope that helped a bit.

:sl:

[Ceeray]

Wsalam,

:sl: and welcome to the forum.

Hope that helped a bit.

:sl:

Thank you for the welcome and thank you for your help, it cleared up what I was stuck on. Yes, I meant to say jarr, not nasb.

I'll no doubt have more questions as I work through the text, so inshAllah I'll be back!

Bye for now.

:sl:

[Ceeray]

Salaam,

Me again!

1.3 Line 6:

وَلأَيِّ شَيْءٍ تَضَع لَهَا الطَّعَامَ وَالشرَابَ ؟

Wa li ayyi shayin tada'u lahaa at-ta'aama wa al-sharaaba?

And for what reason do you place for them food and drink?

Why is it 'lahaa at-ta'ama' and not 'lihaa'? I thought 'li' means for? Also, is 'lahaa' a preposition? If so, why did it not cause at-ta'aama to be majroor?

Thanks

[Insaanah]

:sl:

Why is it 'lahaa at-ta'ama' and not 'lihaa'? I thought 'li' means for?

That would be the meaning of the preposition 'li' in this sentence. It normally has a kasrah on the laam, but takes a fat'ha when prefixed to a pronoun, so becomes lahaa, lakum, lahu, laka etc. It cannot become lihaa, likum etc. That is why it is lahaa at-ta3aama.

Also, is 'lahaa' a preposition?

No.

And at-ta3aama and ash-sharaaba are mansoob because they are the maf3ool bihi of tada3u.

If you rearrange the sentence, you can see the functions of the words a bit clearer:

وَلأَيِّ شَيْءٍ تَضَع الطَّعَامَ وَالشرَابَ لَهَا؟

And for what reason do you place food and drink for them?

Does that help?

:sl:

[Ceeray]

Salaam,

Thank you sister, that is now perfectly clear.

[Ceeray]

Salaam,

1.3 Line 10

قَال إبْرَاهِيمُ أنَا أَكْسِر الأَصْنَامَ إذَا ذَهَبَ الناس، وَحِينَئِذٍ يَفْهَم النَّاسُ


I have a couple of questions regarding this sentence.


1) Is qaalu a verb? Has it caused Ibraheem to be rafa'?


2) 'ithaa thahaba an-naasu' - when the people go. Why is thahaba in maadi form? In English we would say 'I will break (future tense verb) the idols when the people leave (future tense). But the Arabic seems to render it 'I will break (future tense verb) the idols when the people left (past tense verb)'. I'm wondering why the final verb in the sentence became a perfect verb.


Thanks

[Ceeray]

Salaam,

Also, why does وَحِينَئِذٍ


end in a kasra?

[Insaanah]

:sl:

1) Is qaalu a verb?

The word is qaala, rather than qaalu, and yes, it is a verb.

Has it caused Ibraheem to be rafa'?

Ibraheem is marfoo3 because it is the faa3il, i.e. the doer of the verb. "Ibraheem said...". Ibraheem is the one who is doing the action of the verb, i.e. saying. The doer of a verb, i.e. the faa3il, is marfoo3.

2) 'ithaa thahaba an-naasu' - when the people go. Why is thahaba in maadi form? In English we would say 'I will break (future tense verb) the idols when the people leave (future tense). But the Arabic seems to render it 'I will break (future tense verb) the idols when the people left (past tense verb)'. I'm wondering why the final verb in the sentence became a perfect verb.

I know exactly what you are saying here, and it is because we are thinking in English. This can equally be translated, "I will break the idols when the people have gone." Here, the action of the verb has already been done. If you translate it in the present tense in Arabic, it would mean, "I will kill the idols when the people are going", or "when the people will go". But, something tells us that one would wait til people had actually gone, rather than as they are going, which is far more risky. That is why the past tense is being used in the Arabic. So, although in English we would say, "when the people go", in Arabic it can translate as when the people have gone.

Also, why does وَحِينَئِذٍ end in a kasra?

It is mabni (it's ending never changes), so it can never end in a fat'ha or damma. You can't have heena'ithan or heena'ithun, only heena'ithin.

Hope that helped a bit.

:sl:

[Ceeray]

:sl:



The word is qaala, rather than qaalu, and yes, it is a verb.



Ibraheem is marfoo3 because is it the faa3il, i.e. the doer of the verb. "Ibraheem said...". Ibraheem is the one who is doing the action of the verb, i.e. saying. The doer of a verb, i.e. the faa3il, is marfoo3.



I know exactly what you are saying here, and it is because we are thinking in English. This can equally be translated, "I will break the idols when the people have gone." Here, the acton of the verb has already been done. If you translate it in the present tense in Arabic, it would mean, "I will kill the idols when the people are going." But, something tells us that one would wait til people had actually gone, rather than as they are going, which is far more risky. That is why the past tense is being used in the Arabic. So, although in English we would say, "when the people go", in Arabic it can translate as when the people have gone.



It is mabni (it's ending never changes), meaning it can never end in a fat'ha or damma. You can't have heena'ithan or heena'ithun, only heena'ithin.

Hope that helped a bit.

:sl:

Salaam,

It helped more than a bit! Thanks.

:sl:

[Ceeray]

:sl:
If you rearrange the sentence, you can see the functions of the words a bit clearer:

وَلأَيِّ شَيْءٍ تَضَع الطَّعَامَ وَالشرَابَ لَهَا؟

And for what reason do you place food and drink for them?

:sl:

Salaam Insaanah,

I forgot to ask something about this sentence.

Is شَيْءٍ in a grammatical state? Meaning is it in jarr, or does the word end in a kasra anyway?

If it is in jarr, what caused it?

If it's not in jarr, why does it end in tanween? Is it because it is empty of 'al'?

Thanks

[gohar98]

I can tell you some words:
Near=qareeb
far=baeed
opposite=muqabil
beside=bajaanib
nearer=aqrab
farther=Ab`ad
In front=amaam
behind=khalf

[Insaanah]

Salaam Insaanah

:wa:

Is شَيْءٍ in a grammatical state? Meaning is it in jarr?

Yes it is in a grammatical state. It is in jarr, thus the two kasrahs (tanween kasrah) beneath the hamza.

or does the word end in a kasra anyway?

The actual word is marfoo3 (i.e. in raf'). Most nouns are marfoo3 in their basic state when unaffected by any word/preposition. So the actual word in it's raw state is shay'un شَيْءٌ

If it is in jarr, what caused it?

أَيِّ caused it to be jarr.

And أَيِّ itself is in jarr because of لِ, otherwise it would be ayyu أَيُّ.

why does it end in tanween? Is it because it is empty of 'al'?

Yes. When the الْ is removed, a noun takes tanween in most cases. This can be tanween kasrah, tanween fat'hah, or tanween dammah, depending on what came before the word (if anything), and it's function in the sentence.

:sl:

[Ceeray]

Salaam,

أَيِّ caused it to be jarr.
:sl:

Is that because 'ayy' is a preposition or because 'ayy' and 'shayyun' are forming a mudaaf/mudaaf-ilayh structure?

In English, 'what' is generally used as either a noun, adjective and sometimes an adverb. So I'm guessing that makes 'ayy' an ism?

[Insaanah]

:sl:

Is that because 'ayy' is a preposition or because 'ayy' and 'shayyun' are forming a mudaaf/mudaaf-ilayh structure?

It is because ayy and shay'un form a mudaaf/mudaaf-ilayhi structure. Ayy is always mudaaf, and the noun following it is majroor because it is mudaaf ilayhi.

I'm guessing that makes 'ayy' an ism?

Yes. Ayy is an ism.

[Ceeray]

Salaam,

As always Insaanah, thanks!

[Ceeray]

Salaam,

I'm back :p

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } 1.4 Line 2:




وَخَرَجَ النّاَسُ لِلْعِيْدِ وَخَرَجَ الأطْفَالُ


p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Wa kharaja an-naasu lil 'eidi wa kharaja al atfaalu


I suppose this is a pretty minor question, but why is it 'lil eidi' and not 'li eidi'? What's that second lam doing there? Is it for pronunciation purposes?

[Insaanah]

:sl:

The word is الْعِيْد , al-Eid. The people went out for "the festival", hence the الْ in front of عِيْد .

The لِ (li) means "for".

So, we now have li + al, لِ + الْ meaning, "for the".

When li +al, لِ + الْ , come together, the ا of "الْ" is lost, leaving just "lil."

And al-Eid is in jarr because of li.

[Ceeray]

Salaam,

Ah, of course, I missed the fact it was al-eid and not just eid.

Thanks

[Ceeray]

Salaam,

1.4 Line 9:


وَتَرَكَ إبْرَاهِيمُ الصَنَمَ الأَكبَرَ وَعَلَّقَ الفَأْسَ فِي عُنُقِهِ


Wa taraka Ibraheemu as-sanama al akbara wa a'laqa al-fa'asa fii u'nuqihi




My question is regarding the end of the sentence, fii u3nuqihi. U3nuq is in jarr because of fii, right? Hence u3nuqi. What does the 'hii' at the end mean? Is it 'her'? I was thinking it was because as-sanama is treated singular feminine, but I'm not sure...

[Insaanah]

:sl:

U3nuq is in jarr because of fii, right? Hence u3nuqi.

Yes.

What does the 'hii' at the end mean? Is it 'her'?

No. ها is "her".

I was thinking it was because as-sanama is treated singular feminine, but I'm not sure...

الصَنَمَ here is masculine. I think you're thinking of plurals of irrational/unintelligent objects being treated as feminine singular.

This is not a plural, but one idol. "And Ibraheem left the biggest idol..."

Let's look at those words in the marfoo3 state. عُنُقُهُ , meaning his/it's (the idol's) neck.

I think you may be familiar with the هُ at the end as a pronoun for "his".

Now, when the word before the pronoun هُ ends in kasrah, for whatever reason, the هُ becomes هِ , hence فِي عُنُقِهِ, as the last letter of 3unuq, the qaaf, has a kasrah. And it still means exactly the same.

You can imagine, فِي عُنُقِهِ sounds much easier on the tongue than فِي عُنُقِهُ.

Similarly, هُمْ would become هُمَا, هِمْ would become هِمَا , and هُنَّ would become هِنَّ , when preceded by a word ending in kasrah on the last letter.

[Ceeray]

Salaam,

:sl:


Yes.


No. ها is "her".



الصَنَمَ here is masculine. I think you're thinking of plurals of irrational/unintelligent objects being treated as feminine singular.

This is not a plural, but one idol. "And Ibraheem left the biggest idol..."

Let's look at those words in the marfoo3 state. عُنُقُهُ , meaning his/it's (the idol's) neck.

I think you may be familiar with the هُ at the end as a pronoun for "his".

Now, when the word before the pronoun هُ ends in kasrah, for whatever reason, the هُ becomes هِ , hence فِي عُنُقِهِ, as the last letter of 3unuq, the qaaf, has a kasrah. And it still means exactly the same.

You can imagine, فِي عُنُقِهِ sounds much easier on the tongue than فِي عُنُقِهُ.

Similarly, هُمْ would become هُمَا, هِمْ would become هِمَا , and هُنَّ would become هِنَّ , when preceded by a word ending in kasrah on the last letter.

Thank you, that was very clear.

So would it be the same concept if the word before the pronoun ended in a fat'ha? Would the pronouns then adopt a fat'ha?

[Insaanah]

:sl:

So would it be the same concept if the word before the pronoun ended in a fat'ha? Would the pronouns then adopt a fat'ha?

No, they don't change if preceded by a fat'hah, only kasrah.

See this example, in red below, from Sural al-Inshiqaaq, surah 84 ayah 7:

فَأَمَّا مَنْ أُوتِىَ كِتَـبَهُ بِيَمِينِهِ

"Then as for he who is given his record in his right hand,"

The pronoun is still "hu" when preceded by fat'hah (red example), and changes to "hi" when preceded by a kasrah (blue example)

The blue illustrates what we discussed earlier.

Also, just to add that ها never changes, regardless of if there is a fat'hah, dammah or kasrah preceding it.

[Kauthar]

Asslam Alikum
It's answered already ^__^ oh, and the answer is better than me
So , you know now :) I'm happy for you .
Alhamduli Allah :)

[Ceeray]

Salaam,

Thanks Insaanah, the examples you gave were very helpful.

So , you know now :) I'm happy for you .
Alhamduli Allah :)

Indeed, I'm very happy as well! Alhamdulillah.

Okay, I was reading al quran earlier today, and saw the following verse: 3:97

فيه ءايت بينت مقام ابرهيم ومن دخله كان ءامنا ولله على الناس حج البيت من استطاع اليه سبيلا ومن كفر فان الله غنى عن العلمين

Feehi ayatun bayyinatunmaqamu ibraheema waman dakhalahu kana aminanwalillahi AAala alnnasi hijjualbayti mani istataAAa ilayhi sabeelan waman kafarafa-inna Allaha ghaniyyun AAani alAAalameena

I'm trying to recognise tense effectively when I read Arabic. Every translation I've seen for the above says: "whoever enters it is safe".

The verb dakhala is maadi, right? So why is it not translated "whoever entered it would be safe"?

Thanks

[Insaanah]

:sl:

Okay, I was reading al quran earlier today, and saw the following verse: 3:97

فيه ءايت بينت مقام ابرهيم ومن دخله كان ءامنا ولله على الناس حج البيت من استطاع اليه سبيلا ومن كفر فان الله غنى عن العلمين

I'm trying to recognise tense effectively when I read Arabic. Every translation I've seen for the above says: "whoever enters it is safe".

The verb dakhala is maadi, right? So why is it not translated "whoever entered it would be safe"?

The Qur'an frequently employs the past tense to denote the future, and particularly so in passages which speak of the coming of the Last Hour and of Resurrection Day, but also in other contexts too; this use of the past tense is meant to stress the certainty of the happening to which the verb relates. Sometimes the past tense is used to denote both past and future. In other words, as certain as it is that the past has happened, this will happen with that same certainty. The past tense can aso be used to denote a wish or du3a, eg rahimahullah (may Allah have mercy on him) but literally it means "Allah had mercy on him." And there may be other reasons for using the past tense too.

When Allah has chosen tenses in the Qur'an they have been for a reason. There may be other reasons too why the past tense has been chosen here.

If you look at Surah Quraysh, Allah reminds people that at the time, nowhere in Arabia was safe, attacks, looting, killing, robbery, kidnapping, all these things were rife..yet look at the House of Allah in your midst, by virtue of it anyone in it was safe, and the Quraysh themselves could pass safely through Arabia on their trade jouneys, once it were known they were from the Quraysh. No one dared molest them. They could see the safety and security this house had brought them. It was a sign for them to consider. Thus they should worship the Lord of this House.

The fact that whoever entered it was safe was a sign for them to consider. It would also continue to be safe for those entering it in the same manner as the past.

A couple of other examples from the Qur'an (although there are many more):

LaqeeyTum - you Face the enemy (past tense / MaaDiy). This past tense emphasises that this future event will Certainly happen as the past itself [i.e. there is no doubt that the past happened, and there is no doubt that you will face the enemy].

aDalla - wasteD - this is a past tense statement.
It is in regard to future events too, but it is said in past tense because it is of a Surety - as Certain as the past itself.

From: http://www.islamicboard.com/quran/13...-ali-khan.html

# Arabs used past tense for several reasons
# One of them is when something is guaranteed
# The past is associated with certainty, the future is not

The second is to refer to a dua

* That is why you’ll sometimes find the ayah translated as May both hands of Abu Lahab be destroyed

Since the past is used to guarantee something, this verse is not only saying that His wealth and assets did not benefit him at all it is also saying that it will not benefit him

From:
http://www.islamicboard.com/quran/13...-ali-khan.html

So, not only whoever entered it was safe, but also whoever will enter it will be safe/secure with the same certainty as those who entered it in the past. As I have stressed before, there may also be other reasons.

See this link too re: use of the past tense to denote the future in the Qur'an:

http://www.islamqa.com/en/ref/142741/past%20tense

I hope if others who are more knowledgable have more input, they will add it inshaa'Allah, and may Allah forgive me if I said anything wrong.

[Ceeray]

:sl:

Wsalaam,

MashAllah, that was well explained.

So I take it all the translators looked at the general meaning of the verse when translating, as opposed to strictly grammatical structure.

Does that mean that potentially you could read it as "entered and would be safe"? Meaning, there wouldn't be a grammatical fault with reading it as such?

[Insaanah]

:sl:

Does that mean that potentially you could read it as "entered and would be safe"? Meaning, there wouldn't be a grammatical fault with reading it as such?

When you are reading it, you are reading the Arabic as is, as a maadi (past tense) verb. That is how we are supposed to read it, literally as is, and always has been and will be.

If you mean understanding that past tense verb as meaning "whoever entered it would be safe", I honestly don't know. I've never heard it translated like that, and we must be careful before applying our own translations. I would stick to the translations we already have, and read a few of them, as well as seeking to increase our knowledge of Arabic. We are but students...

I hope other more knowledgable members will add something also if anything else also needs to be said.

And Allah knows best in all matters, and may He forgive me if I said anything wrong.

[breezes]

سلام عليكم ورحمة الله
brothers and sisters
it's a good thread, really i ask allah to bless you in this
finally a have a Question ;
what is the translation of the hud hud in in english ?

thanks

[Insaanah]

سلام عليكم ورحمة الله brothers and sisters
it's a good thread, really i ask allah to bless you in this
finally a have a Question ;
what is the translation of the hud hud in in english ?

thanks

:wasalamex

Hud hud is translated as Hoopoe in English. You can read more about the bird here.

Sahih International
And he took attendance of the birds and said, "Why do I not see the hoopoe - or is he among the absent?

Muhsin Khan
He inspected the birds, and said: "What is the matter that I see not the hoopoe? Or is he among the absentees?

Pickthall
And he sought among the birds and said: How is it that I see not the hoopoe, or is he among the absent?

Yusuf Ali
And he took a muster of the Birds; and he said: "Why is it I see not the Hoopoe? Or is he among the absentees?

Surah al-Naml (Surah 27, ayat 20)

Baaraka Allahu feeki.

:sl:

[breezes]

[وعليكم السلام ورحمة الله وبركاته
jazaki allah kheir sis

Baaraka Allahu feeki.

and u :sunny:

[Ceeray]

Salaam,

I had to take a break from my Arabic studies due to other commitments, but alhamdulillah I've sorted that out now.

Quick question regarding gendered nouns.

dayfihi means 'his guests'. The noun is masculine. If his guests happened to be female, does the noun take on a feminine form, or does dayf remain the same regardless of the gender of the guests?

[iman1981]

Salam,

is it not in reference to the sanam? meaning that that sanam is singular male because it is jamaa taksir when it is plural - plural sanam is asnam - unukihi is his....don;t know if that makes sense but that what i thought it was in reference to. I hope that helps inshaAllah - my arabic is starting to get a little rusty as i've not practiced

Iman


1.4 Line 9:


وَتَرَكَ إبْرَاهِيمُ الصَنَمَ الأَكبَرَ وَعَلَّقَ الفَأْسَ فِي عُنُقِهِ


Wa taraka Ibraheemu as-sanama al akbara wa a'laqa al-fa'asa fii u'nuqihi




My question is regarding the end of the sentence, fii u3nuqihi. U3nuq is in jarr because of fii, right? Hence u3nuqi. What does the 'hii' at the end mean? Is it 'her'? I was thinking it was because as-sanama is treated singular feminine, but I'm not sure...[/QUOTE]

[Insaanah]

:sl:

dayfihi means 'his guests'. The noun is masculine. If his guests happened to be female, does the noun take on a feminine form, or does dayf remain the same regardless of the gender of the guests?

I presume there is a harf jarr before dayfihi, otherwise it would be dayfuhu in it's normal marfoo3 state. Assuming it is majroor:

dayfihi means 'his guests'.

It actually means 'his guest' (singular). If you wanted to say 'his guests' you would say duyoofihi.

If his guests happened to be female, does the noun take on a feminine form, or does dayf remain the same regardless of the gender of the guests?

There is a feminine derivative of dayf, which is dayfah (dayfatun with tanween), so if you used that, 'his guest' (female) would be dayfatihi. I don't know if dayfah has a plural such as dayfaat. Perhaps a more knowledgable member might be able to help us out here.

It may be the case that the male form, both singular (dayf) and plural (duyoof), apart from being used for male guests, and a mixture of male and female guests, can also be used for exclusively female guests as well, but let's await clarification on that.

Sorry this doesn't help much.

:sl: