I'rab of Surah Abasa Ayah 36: word by word Arabic grammar
Surah Abasa (عبس) · Meccan · Ayah 36
وَصَٰحِبَتِهِۦ وَبَنِيهِ Transliterationwa-ṣāḥibatihi wa-banīh
Meaningand his spouse and his sons.
"And his spouse and his sons" closes the list of kin a person flees on the Day of the Blast. Both nouns are conjoined by wāw to akhīhi and remain in the genitive under the preposition min; banīhi is a sound masculine plural marked with yā, and each carries the possessive -hi.
Word by word i'rab
conjunction + conjoined noun (ma'tuf) in the genitive
The wāw joins ṣāḥibatihi to the earlier chain, keeping it genitive under min, with -hi ("his") attached; ṣāḥibah here means wife/spouse.
genitiveconjunction + conjoined noun (ma'tuf) in the genitive
Banīhi is conjoined by wāw and genitive; as a sound masculine plural it takes yā for the genitive, with -hi meaning "his."
genitiveDetailed i'rab
Verse 36 completes the list of close relations a person flees when the Blast strikes. Both nouns are conjoined (ma'ṭūf) by the conjunction wāw to أَخِيهِ in verse 34, so they too are genitive under the preposition مِنْ. وَصَٰحِبَتِهِ is genitive marked by kasrah, with the possessive pronoun -hi ("his"); ṣāḥibah here denotes one's wife or spouse. وَبَنِيهِ is also conjoined and genitive, but because banūn ("sons") is a sound masculine plural, its genitive is shown by the yā (banī-) rather than a kasrah, again followed by -hi ("his"). Listing spouse and offspring last completes the inventory of the very dearest human ties: brother, mother, father, wife, children: all abandoned in the universal panic, underscoring that on that Day each soul is consumed by its own fate.
Frequently asked
Why are صَٰحِبَة and بَنُون in the genitive?
Both are conjoined by wāw to akhīhi in verse 34 and so remain genitive under the preposition min, "from," that governs the whole list of relatives one flees.
Why does بَنِيهِ end in -īhi rather than -ūhi?
Banūn is a sound masculine plural; in the genitive (and accusative) it takes the yā ending, giving banī-, and the attached pronoun -hi ("his") follows.