Rule 1: 2. Births, deaths and traditions: the passives of biography
Arabic biography prefers the passive for the great events nobody chooses: وُلِدَ he was born (passive of وَلَدَتْ she bore), تُوُفِّيَ he died, literally he was taken in full (passive of Form V of the root of وَفَى to fulfil; feminine تُوُفِّيَتْ), دُفِنَ he was buried, سُمِّيَ he was named. A report whose chain of narrators is not given is introduced by يُرْوَى أَنَّ it is related that or يُقَالُ إِنَّ it is said that. Alongside them the active derived forms carry the action: أَرْضَعَتْهُ she nursed him (IV), بَشَّرَتْهُ she gave him the good news (II), سَمَّاهُ he named him (II), بَارَكَ اللّٰهُ لَهَا فِيهِ God blessed her in him (III).
وُلِدَ رَسُولُ اللّٰهِ ﷺ فِي مَكَّةَ عَامَ الْفِيلِ.
wulida rasūlu llāhi ṣallā llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama fī makkata ʿāma l-fīli
The Messenger of God ﷺ was born in Mecca in the Year of the Elephant.
عَامَ: accusative of time.
تُوُفِّيَ أَبُوهُ قَبْلَ مَوْلِدِهِ وَدُفِنَ فِي يَثْرِبَ.
tuwuffiya abūhu qabla mawlidihi wa-dufina fī yathriba
His father died before his birth and was buried in Yathrib.
Two passives; يَثْرِبُ is a diptote.
يُرْوَى أَنَّ أُمَّهُ رَأَتْ نُورًا حِينَ وَلَدَتْهُ.
yurwā anna ummahu raʾat nūran ḥīna waladathu
It is related that his mother saw a light when she bore him.
Impersonal passive يُرْوَى 'it is related', followed by أَنَّ.
أَرْضَعَتْهُ ثُوَيْبَةُ أَيَّامًا ثُمَّ أَرْضَعَتْهُ حَلِيمَةُ.
arḍaʿathu thuwaybatu ayyāman thumma arḍaʿathu ḥalīmatu
Thuwayba nursed him for some days, then Ḥalīma nursed him.
Form IV أَرْضَعَ 'to make suckle'; the Form I رَضِعَ is what the infant does.
حَمَلَهُ جَدُّهُ إِلَى الْكَعْبَةِ وَشَكَرَ اللّٰهَ وَسَمَّاهُ مُحَمَّدًا.
ḥamalahu jadduhu ilā l-kaʿbati wa-shakara llāha wa-sammāhu muḥammadan
His grandfather carried him to the Kaʿba, thanked God and named him Muḥammad.
سَمَّى takes two accusatives: the person and the name.