Arabic Analysis of Surah Qaari’ah

September 4, 2009 – 11:32 am

A faraash, a moth.

A faraash–a moth.

This is post #31 in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma (click the link to see all posts in this series).

As per the poll on our twitter account, there was consensus on their being a post on grammatical analysis of Surah Qaari’ah. So here you go insha’Allah.

Standard Disclaimer: I am not an Arab (as in, fluent in Arabic) nor have I double-checked this in books of ‘ulama discussing grammar; there is sometimes difference of opinion in grammar, as well; so take it as such insha’Allah.

Let’s go word-by-word insha’Allah.

  • Al-Qaari’ah (الْقَارِعَةُ): (verse 1) Notice that it ends with ta-marbuwta, the little funny face-like letter. This means that if you stop on that letter, it’s pronounced as a haa; and if you keep going, it’s pronounced as a taa. So you can say “Al-Qaari’ah” or “Al-Qaariatu … [continuing on].” I know in Indo-Pak lands, they always pronounce it as a ta; but that’s not correct.
  • Wa Maa Adaraaka Maa Al-Qaari’ah (وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا الْقَارِعَةُ): (verse 3) This phrase occurs often enough in the Qur’an; let’s dissect it more insha’Allah.
  • Wa (وَ): And. Shortest word in the Arabic language!
  • Maa (مَا): Maa can have lots of meanings. Here, it’s ismu-istifhaam, aka the interrogative particle, aka the question-mark. In English, we put a question-mark at the end of a sentence; in Arabic, we use maa, or a (أ), or hal (هَل).
  • Adraaka (أَدْرَاكَ): Adraa is a verb; the maf’ool (recipient of the verb) is “ka,” which means “you” (singular, second-person, masculine). Even though it’s masculine, in Arabic, if you don’t know the person you’re speaking to, you can refer to them in the masculine gender, singular or plural. (Plural is more respectful.)
  • Maa (مَا): The second maa in this phrase is also ismu-istifhaam (the question-mark); if we just chopped the phrase before this word, we would get: maa Al-Qaariah? What is Al-Qaari’ah?
  • Yawma (يَوْمَ): Yawmun means “a day.” Al-Yawm, means the day. Yawma is definite (with single tanween–yawma, not yawman) but it eludes me why it’s definite and mansoob (with fatha). It looks like it might be mudaaf, but where’s the mudaaf ilayh?
  • Yakuwnu (يَكُونُ): (verse 4) Yakuwnu is the third-person, singular, masculine, present-tense form of kaana. Kaana means “he was,” and yakuwnu is “he is.” What does it refer to? See the next word.
  • An-Naas (النَّاسُ): An-Naas is an interesting word. It’s a singular word, but refers to a plural (humankind); some scholars say it comes from the root nasiya/yansaa, to forget–because human nature is to forget. Here, it’s marfoo’ (with dumma: an-naasu) so we know it’s the faa’il (doer) of yakuwnu. By the way, this is the norm in Arabic–to put the verb before the doer, unlike in English.
  • Ka (كَ): Not “you,” but ka here is the particle of comparison–you can translate it as “is like” or “as like (the example of)” or something similar. The thing that it’s comparing to (eg. the “you” in “like you”) is always majroor (with kasra).
  • Al-Faraash (الْفَرَاشِ): Faraash means moths–those butterfly-like beings; see the picture at the top of the post. We know it’s the thing that An-Naas is compared to, because it’s majroor (with kasra).
  • Al-Mabthooth (الْمَبْثُوثِ): Scattered. Notice it has the same a) number, b) gender, c) case (kasra) and d) definitivity (alif-lam) as Al-Faraashi; this marks it as an adjective. Again, unlike English, in Arabic, the adjective comes after the word it describes.
  • Takuwnu (تَكُونُ): (verse 5) In Arabic, the mudaari’ (present-tense verb) has the same form for “you” (masculine singular 2nd-person) and “she” (feminine singular 3rd-person). That form is–you guessed it–takuwnu. How do you know what it refers to? By the context, of course–this is why Arabs (as in, those fluent in Arabic) must constantly apply their brains when reading, writing, speaking, and listening in (Classical/Fushaa) Arabic. It’s not like English!
  • Al-Jibaalu (الْجِبَالُ): That was easy. Al-Jibaal is the plural of jabal (mountain). It’s marfoo’, and it’s obviously the faa’il (because it’s marfoo’ with damma). But wait a minute–we said takuwnu is for she and you. But Al-Jibaal is neither–it’s a masculine plural! What’s going on? The answer is, Arabic treats the non-human plural as feminine singular. Read all about it at Arabic Tree (if you’re interested). It’s complicated, I know. That’s why Al-Jibaal works with takuwnu.
  • Ka Al-’ahni Al-Manfooshi: Same structure as ka al-faraashi al-mabthooth.
  • Fa (فَ): Fa has a couple of meanings that I know of; one is to indicate something that happens immediately after something else; the other meaning is the one used here–to section out a group into sections. Eg. if you have two people, Muhammad and Musa, you can say “fa Muhammad, he is a doctor; and fa Musa, he is a teacher.” Translated usually as “as for.” The rest of this verse gives you the section–the one who is heavy in deeds.
  • Man (مَن): Who. It’s ismu-istifhaam (question-mark–eg. “who are you?”) but not here. Man, since it means “who,” can also mean “anyone” or “the person who.”
  • Thaqulat (ثَقُلَتْ): Heavy. The commonly-used form is thaqeel.
  • Mawaaziynu (مَوَازِينُ): Mawaaziyn is the plural of mizaan. Mizaan is like a weighing scale with two ends that you can use to compare two things; mawaaziyn is plural. Al-Mizaan refers to the scale that will weigh our good and bad deeds on the Yawm-ul-Qaari’ah. Notice also it’s definite with single tanween (mawaazeenu), which is a hint it might be mudaaf (possessed object in a possessive case construct).
  • Hu (هُ): The mudaaf ilayh. Hu is the majroor/mansoob version of huwa; so together with mawaazeen, we get the translation “his scales.” And the “he” refers to “man” earlier in the verse.
  • Fa (فَ): (verse 7) This is the other meaning of fa–something that happens immediately after something else. Subhanallah it’s like the one who is heavy in his mawaazeen, fa huwa fiy ‘ishaat ar-raadi’a.
  • Fiy (فِي): In. Standard harf-ul-jarr, where’s the majroor?
  • ‘Iyshatin (عِيشَةٍ): It’s majroor because of fiy. It means life. It’s indefinite, so it means “a life.”
  • Raadiyah (رَّاضِيَةٍ): Pleasant. You can see the root verb–radiya, to be pleased with (as in: radiallahu ‘anhu, Allah is pleased with them). Notice it’s the same a) number (singular) b) gender (feminine) c) case (majroor) d) definitivity (indefinite) as ‘ishaat–making it an adjective.
  • Fa amma man khaffat mawaaziynuhu (وَأَمَّا مَنْ خَفَّتْ مَوَازِينُهُ): (verse 8) Exactly the same construct as verse 6; except Allah uses khaffat, light; the commonly-used word is khafeef.
  • Fa ummuhu (فَأُمُّهُ): (verse 9) Fa is the same particle of immediately-following as in verse 7. Ummun means a mother; Ummu is definite (single tanween), and it is, as you might guess, mudaaf; the mudaaf ilayhi is “hu.” Ummuhu, therefore, means “his mother.”
  • Haawiyah (هَاوِيَةٌ): An abyss. If you’re non-Arab like me, you might say, “what IS this haawiyah thing?”
  • Wa maa adraaka maa hiya (وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا هِيَ): Precisely the question posed in our minds. What is haawiyah?
  • Naarun haamiyah (نَارٌ حَامِيَةٌ): Naarun means “a fire.” Haamiyatun means, intensely hot; note that these two match in the number, gender, case, and (in)definitiveness; they are na’at and man’oot, the adjective case. This is, of course, a glimpse of what is haawiyah; as we mentioned in the tafseer, we can never know fully what it is.

Wallahu ta’ala a’lam.

References:

By Ilm Seeker | Posted in Arabic, Islam, Qur'an, Tafseer | Tagged , | Comments (3)

Tafseer of Surah Tawheed

July 20, 2009 – 2:19 pm

a hand with the shahada finger pointing

This is post #23 in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma (click the link to see all posts in this series).

Allah says, in Surah Tawheed, also known as Surah Ikhlas:

قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ
اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ
لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ
وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ

Translation: Say, “He is Allah , [who is] One, Allah , the Eternal Refuge [As-Samad], He neither begets (gives birth to) nor is born, Nor is there to Him any equivalent.” [Surah Ikhlas]

The tafseer of this great surah, Surah Ikhlas is very, very extensive; volumes of books have been written on it. One of our writers, Abdul-Ahad, may Allah bless him and increase him in his nearness to Allah, has written very extensively about this surah. Therefore, I will suggest to you some great readings about this great surah, and instead, break down the Arabic grammar word by word.

Tafseer of Surah Ikhlas

Grammatical Analysis

  • Qul (قُلْ): Say. It is a command (fi’l amr), both to the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam), in response to the question of the mushrikeen “tell us the lineage of your Lord,” and to us. There are four surahs that begin with qul–surah Ikhlas, Surah Naas, Surah Falaq, Surah Kafiroon. (We completed tafseer of all these surahs already, walhamdulillah.)
  • Huwa (هُوَ): He, or it. One of the most common words you’ll come across. It’s technically third-person, singular, and masculine. In this case, it refers to Allah.
  • Allah (اللَّهُ): This word is called laf dhuw jalaala (the honorable name) when we refer to it. Because it’s not proper to say “Allah is mansoob (having fatha on the last letter)” or “Allah is marfoo’ (having damma on the last letter)” when we speak about grammar.
  • Ahad (أَحَدٌ): Ahad means “one.” Then again, wahid also means one; the difference is that, if I said I have wahid books, it means I have one book. Or two books. Or more books–”I have one book.” On the other hand, if I said I have ahad books … that means I have one and only one book. Not two. Not three. Just one. So here, he is Allah, Al-Ahad–the one, the unique (perhaps unique is a better translation of ahad).
  • As-Samad (الصَّمَدُ): This is one of the names of Allah. It means the one who everybody depends on, but the one who doesn’t depend on anyone. Like if there was a fund-raiser and there’s only one person in the community who has the money, and he pays it–he can be described as samad. Allah is AS-Samad, THE samad, who we all depend on.
  • Lam (لَمْ): Lam is a particle of negation similar to laa or maa or other negations. Lam makes mudaari’ (present/future-tense) verbs majzoom (having sukoon on the last letter).
  • Yalid (يَلِدْ): Yalidu is mudaari’ (present/future-tense), singular, and masculine. It’s from the verb walada, which means to give birth to. It’s majzoom (yalid and not yalidu) because of lam.
  • Wa (وَ): Wa by itself, means “and.”
  • Yuwlad (يُولَدْ): This is the passive form of yalid (evidenced by the damma and fatha on the first and second letters). So “yalidu” means “he gives birth to,” and yuwladu means “he was given birth to.” It’s also majzoom, with sukoon, because of lam (it’s connected by the wa, which carries over the grammatical case, too).
  • Yakun (يَكُن): Yakunu is the mudaari’ of kaana (he was). It means “he is.” Again, it’s majzoom because of lam.
  • Lahu (لَّهُ): Lahu is the preposition “li” (for), and hu is the majroor version of huwa. So li + huwa = lahu, roughly translated as “for him.”
  • Kufuwan (كُفُوًا): If you look in the fiqh books about the chapter of orphan girls, they must be married to someone of the same “kufwan,” someone of the same level and status and rank as she is. So here, it’s saying that there’s nobody at the same level as Allah–because he is Al-Ahad.

Wallahu ta’ala ‘alam.

Action Items:

  • Memorize This Surah. If you haven’t already, memorize it; it’s very short and easy (and it rhymes!). And if you feel lazy, remember–there are literally thousands of children under the age of 7 who have done this. It’s that easy.
  • Share Some Tafseer. If you have links to other (authentic) tafseer of this great surah, post a comment insha’Allah and share it with the world.

References:

By Ilm Seeker | Posted in Arabic, Qur'an, Tafseer | Tagged , , | Comments (11)

Arabic Explanation of Surah Takweer

June 2, 2009 – 1:47 pm

Note: This is post #17 in our series on Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma.

When the sun is kuwwirat …

We’re going to digress a bit and jump back to Surah Takweer. This post is based on Shaykh Nouman Khan’s tafseer, which heavily emphasizes the Arabic language. I hope you will find, as I found it, as a glimpse of a previously-unseen world, a depth of knowledge that just drips from the Arabic language.

Allah says, in surah Takweer:

إِذَا الشَّمْسُ كُوِّرَتْ

Translation: When the sun is kuwwirat … [verse 1]

There are a lot of gems that we learn even from this first ayah:

  • Idhaa + Past-Tense: Idhaa is an indicator of future-tense “when (something will happen).” Yet, kuwwirat is past-tense; why? This combination means something is so certain, it’s like past-tense. So Allah is saying “when this happens,” yet it’s certain that it WILL happen; as certain as the past is past.
  • Nominal Sentence: The default in Arabic is to put the verb first–”kuwwirat ash-shamsu.” To reverse this into “ash-shamsu kuwwirat,” shows emphasis, and makes it a tougher, stronger sentence. This hints at the audience–Mushrikeen in Mecca, the worst and most obstinate of them, who are listening to this revelation.
  • Passive Voice: Allah could have said, “When I wrap up the sun,” but He didn’t. Why? If you’re biased against someone (say a political party), no matter what they say, even before they open their mouth, you say, “psshh.” But here, passive-voice highlights the maf’ool, the recipient of the action–the sun, the stars–instead of the doer.

As for the meaning of kuwwirat, kawwara means to wrap something around something; it’s used in the context of a turban, something long, that’s wrapped around your head.

Allah is applying the same meaning here–that the light of the sun, something that’s long, will be kuwwirat, wrapped up. Wrapped up meaning, something will cover it, and it will no longer be visible; and it will be wrapped slowly, part by part disappearing–the same way that Allah described the day as wrapping around the night and the night wrapping around the day.

This is something scary–that you see the sun wrapped up, and losing its light. But there’s more …

Read More »

By Ilm Seeker | Posted in Arabic, Islam, Qur'an, Tafseer | Tagged , , | Comments (13)

Tafseer of Surah Lahab

April 21, 2009 – 11:11 am

Note: This is post #7 in our series of Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma.

A blazing inferno. Who wants to end up like that?

Most of us know Surah Lahab. It’s one of the first one Muslim children learn these days. We’re going to breeze through the tafseer, then dive into one of the miracles, and finish up with some Arabic analysis.

Allah says:

تَبَّتْ يَدَا أَبِي لَهَبٍ وَتَبَّ
مَا أَغْنَى عَنْهُ مَالُهُ وَمَا كَسَبَ
سَيَصْلَى نَاراً ذَاتَ لَهَبٍ
وَامْرَأَتُهُ حَمَّالَةَ الْحَطَبِ
فِي جِيدِهَا حَبْلٌ مِّن مَّسَدٍ

Translation:
May the hands of Abu Lahab be ruined, and ruined is he.
His wealth will not avail him or that which he gained.
He will [enter to] burn in a Fire of [blazing] flame
And his wife [as well] – the carrier of firewood.
Around her neck is a rope of [twisted] fiber. [Surah Lahab, verses 1-5]

Reason of Revelation

This verse was one of the first revealed in Mecca. You can find the full details in Tafsir ibn Kathir. The Prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) was told to proclaim the message; so he went up on a mountain.

In those days, when the Arabs attacked, they attacked right at Fajr time, when the most people were sleeping. If anyone saw this, they would get up on a mountain and say “waaaaaaaaaaaah subaaaaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaaaaaah,” like “woe to you from an evil that’s coming in the morning.”

So the Prophet got up on the mountain, and he called each of the tribes, one by one, by name. And when they had all gathered–check this out–he said “If I told you all that the enemy was going to attack you in the morning, or in the evening, would you all believe me?” and they said “we’ve never experienced a lie from you.”

So he (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) said: “Verily, I am a warner (sent) to you all before the coming of a severe torment.”

And this was it! The chance for everyone to become Muslim, Mecca becomes conquered, Islam gets an established base and spreads out of Arabia …

… and Abu Lahab, the uncle of the Prophet, said: “Have you gathered us for this? Tabba lak (may you perish).”

And Allah revealed Surah Lahab.

Points to Consider

  • Syed. Abu Lahab was “syed,” (in the broad sense), that is, from the family and clan of the Prophet (not that he was a direct descendant of the Prophet). And he is doomed to Hellfire! So what does that mean for all the syeds out there? Are you still so sure you’ll be saved just for being a relative of the Messenger of Allah? Wake up! You need to pray and fast and pay zakah and make Hajj, just like anyone else.
  • Tabbat is a curse. It appears twice in the first ayah–at the beginning, as if it’s a curse, and at the end, as if it’s a statement of reality–that he is cursed.
  • Carrier of Firewood. There are two opinions on what this means: One is that the wife of Abu Lahab used to enflame people. “Oh did you hear what so-and-so said about you?” “Oh do you know what that other person did?” To make them hate each other; like she carries the wood to fan the fire. The other opinion is that she used to carry thorns and put them in what pathways the Messenger of Allah used to walk, so he’d be harmed.
  • A Necklace of Fire. Hellfire is enough of a punishment–but on top, she’ll be given a necklace of fire. Why? Because she had a beautiful necklace, and she pawned it at a fundraiser so she could use the wealth to harm the Messenger of Allah. So glad tidings O you people who donated for the sake of Allah! Insha’Allah for sure you will get something good, if Allah rewarded giving something bad with something in Hellfire.

The Miracle in Surah Lahab

If you notice, Allah dooms Abu Lahab to Hellfire in this surah. Now, the mufassireen point out an interesting point–at any time, Abu Lahab could have accepted Islam–even as a fake-out. And he could have said “Hey guys, I’m Muslim now, how come the Qur’an is claiming I’m in Hellfire?” And that would’ve caused great fitnah.

But he never did.

And Allah knew that he wouldn’t.

And so, we see even in this small, oft-repeated surah, one of the miracles of the Qur’an.

Some Arabic Analysis

  • Tabba/Tabbat (تَبَّتْ) is a curse. It means “may you lose everything and perish.”
  • Abi Lahab? Just like we discussed in the second post about rabbuka and rabbika, whether you say “Abu Lahab” or “Abi Lahab” or “Aba Lahab,” it’s the same name. Just different grammatical tense.
  • Triple Possessive Case: Yahd is mudaaf; abi is mudaf ilayh (hence it’s majroor), and also mudaaf to lahab (which is mudaf ilayh and majroor). If you didn’t understand that, don’t worry.
  • Kasaba (كَسَبَ) means “what he accumulated.” Ibn Abbas (radiallahu ‘anhu) says that he accumulated is wealth, and children, and honour, and status; but none of those will help him in the Hereafter.
  • Sayaslaa (سَيَصْلَى) is future-tense; it means he (Abu Lahab) will be thrown into.
  • Naaran thaata lahab: This construct is difficult to explain, so forgive me if it’s not the easiest thing to understand. If I said “I saw a man dhuw lihyatin,” it means I saw a man who has a beard; or literally, “the owner of a beard.” If I said “I saw a man dhaa lihyatin,” i.e. an adjective construct, it means “I saw a bearded man.” Here, Allah says: naaran thaala lahab, meaning “the fire possessing flame,” or “the flaming fire.” It’s a description of the qualities of that fire. Tafseer ibn Katheer mentions a fire of blazing flames, painful and severe.

Wallahu ta’ala ‘alam, that’s Surah Lahab in a nutshell. If there are any questions, comments, or corrections, please post them in the comments.

Also, I cannot think of any action items related to this surah; so it’s up to you! Whatever you think of, post it in the comments! Insha’Allah you will get a copy of the ajar of anyone else who performs that action.

Action Items Contributed

Try and do at least one of the following:

  • Donate something small for the sake of Allah. Buying gifts for family members is sadaqah too; so why not buy something nice–a watch, a necklace, etc. for your family member. Insha’Allah you’ll get one, too, in Jannah! (Even more motivation to buy what you’d love for yourself!)

References:

By Ilm Seeker | Posted in Arabic, Islam, Qur'an, Tafseer | Tagged , , , | Comments (18)

Arabic Analysis for First Revelation

April 14, 2009 – 8:00 am

This is the second post in our series of Tafseer of Juz ‘Amma.

trees sway in the sunlight

The first five ayaat of Surah Iqraa are:

اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ
خَلَقَ الْإِنسَانَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ
اقْرَأْ وَرَبُّكَ الْأَكْرَمُ
الَّذِي عَلَّمَ بِالْقَلَمِ
عَلَّمَ الْإِنسَانَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ

Word-for-word translations are pretty common these days (like this one, which has Surah Iqraa), so I’m going to touch lightly on that, and do a bit more grammar. Ready? Here goes!

  • Iqraa (اقْرَأْ): Arabic has three types of verbs: past tense (he recited), present tense (he recites), and commands (recite!) Iqraa is a command to recite. (For all you nerds, it’s in baab one.) So Allah is COMMANDING us to read and recite.
  • Rabbuka or rabbika? In verse 1, Allah says “rabbika”; and in verse 3, Allah says “rabbuka.” What’s the difference between these two, in meaning? Nothing! Rabbuka, rabbika, and rabbaka all mean the exact same thing. (They’re just different cases of grammar.)
  • Rabbika (رَبِّكَ): Rabb in Arabic means the one who created you, who sustains you, who provides for you; the definition of this word takes pages! The “ka” hear means you (single person, male); so rabbuka means “your Rabb,” kitaabuka means “your book,” masjiduka means “your masjid,” etc.
  • Khalaqa (خَلَقَ): Khalaqa means “he created;” In fact, khalaqa means created from nothing. Only Allah can create out of nothing–humans just take existing “stuff” and recompose it. That’s not khalaqa; only ALLAH can create from nothing.
  • Wa (وَ): Wa means and. Occasionally, you may see am (أم), which is the same as wa, except am is used in questions.
  • ‘Allama (عَلَّمَ): ‘Allama means “he taught.” It appears in quite a few places in the Qur’an, so it’s a good word to know. The words ‘ilm (knowledge), mu’allim (teacher), ‘aalim (scholar), ‘ulamaa (scholars) all come from the same root–the letters ‘ayn, laam, and meem.

That should shed some light, insha’Allah, on the meaning of this verse.

Action Steps:

  • Memorize these five ayaat! With this word-for-word translation, and some of the material above, you have no excuse left! Just memorize by meaning.
  • Comment when you’ve memorized these five. When you’ve completed memorizing the ayaat, walhamdulillah, post a comment and share it with the community! Together, insha’Allah, we’ll build up our knowledge + understanding + action + memorization of these surahs.
By Ilm Seeker | Posted in Arabic, Islam, Qur'an, Tafseer | Tagged , , | Comments (9)