I'rab of Surah Abasa Ayah 17: word by word Arabic grammar
Surah Abasa (عبس) · Meccan · Ayah 17
قُتِلَ ٱلْإِنسَٰنُ مَآ أَكْفَرَهُۥ TransliterationQutila al-insanu ma akfarah
MeaningDestroyed is man; how ungrateful he is!
This ayah is an expression of strong rebuke: "May man be destroyed; how ungrateful he is!" It contains a passive verb with "man" as its subject, followed by an exclamatory construction where "how" is a subject and the verb "how ungrateful he made him" forms its predicate, conveying astonishment at human ingratitude.
Word by word i'rab
passive verb (fi'l madi mabni lil-majhul)
A past passive verb "is destroyed/killed," used here as an expression of rebuke against man.
indeclinabledeputy subject (na'ib fa'il)
"Man" is the deputy agent of the passive verb, so it is nominative, marked by the final damma.
nominativeexclamatory subject (mubtada' / ma al-ta'ajjubiyya)
An exclamatory "how/what," a complete indefinite noun meaning "something," standing as subject of an exclamation.
nominativeexclamatory verb (fi'l al-ta'ajjub) + object
"How ungrateful he is": a past verb of wonder with attached pronoun هُ as its object; the verb-clause is the predicate of مَآ.
indeclinableDetailed i'rab
The verse has two parts. First, قُتِلَ is a past-tense passive verb meaning literally "he was killed/destroyed," used idiomatically as a curse or strong rebuke. Because it is passive, the doer is unstated, and ٱلْإِنسَٰنُ ("man") steps in as the deputy subject (na'ib al-fa'il), taking the nominative case shown by the final damma. The second part is an exclamation of wonder. مَآ is the exclamatory "ma," treated as a complete indefinite noun meaning roughly "what a thing," and it functions as the subject (mubtada') of the exclamatory sentence, in the nominative by its grammatical position. أَكْفَرَهُ is the verb of wonder ("how ungrateful he is!"), an invariable past-tense form with the attached pronoun هُ as its object; this whole verbal clause serves as the predicate (khabar) of مَآ, completing the sense of astonishment at humanity's ingratitude.
Frequently asked
Why is ٱلْإِنسَٰنُ nominative even though قُتِلَ describes an action done to it?
Because قُتِلَ is a passive verb. In a passive sentence the noun that would have been the object becomes the deputy subject (na'ib al-fa'il), which takes the nominative case.
What kind of construction is مَآ أَكْفَرَهُ?
It is the Arabic exclamation of wonder (ta'ajjub). مَآ acts as the subject meaning "what a thing," and the verb أَكْفَرَهُ ("how ungrateful he is!") with its pronoun forms the predicate.