I'rab of Surah Al-Asr Ayah 3: word by word Arabic grammar
Surah Al-Asr (العصر) · Meccan · Ayah 3
إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا۟ بِٱلْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا۟ بِٱلصَّبْرِ Transliterationillā alladhīna āmanū wa-ʿamilū aṣ-ṣāliḥāti wa-tawāṣaw bi-l-ḥaqqi wa-tawāṣaw bi-ṣ-ṣabri
MeaningExcept those who believe, do righteous deeds, urge one another to truth, and urge one another to patience.
This ayah is an exception (istithnaa) carved out of the previous verse, introduced by "illa." The excepted noun is the relative pronoun "alladhina" in the accusative position. It heads a relative clause built from four coordinated past-tense verbs whose subject is the connected "waw," with the last two verbs each completed by a prepositional phrase.
Word by word i'rab
exception particle (adat istithnaa)
This particle introduces an exception, excluding what follows from the general loss stated in the previous verse.
indeclinableexcepted noun (mustathna) in the accusative position
A masculine plural relative pronoun, indeclinable but occupying an accusative slot as the thing excepted by illa.
accusativeverb of the relative clause (sila) with its subject
A past-tense verb built on the damma because of the attached waw, which is the plural subject pronoun forming the relative clause.
indeclinablecoordinated verb (maʿtuf) with its subject
The waw joins this past-tense verb to the first; the attached waw is again its plural subject.
indeclinabledirect object (mafʿul bihi)
A sound feminine plural object of ʿamilu, marked accusative by kasra in place of fatha as such plurals require.
accusativecoordinated verb (maʿtuf) with its subject
A third past-tense verb joined by waw, built on the damma, with the attached waw as its plural subject.
indeclinableprepositional phrase attached to (mutaʿalliq bi) tawasaw
The preposition bi governs al-haqq in the genitive, and the phrase connects to the preceding verb tawasaw.
genitivecoordinated verb (maʿtuf) with its subject
The fourth past-tense verb, joined by waw and parsed exactly like the previous tawasaw.
indeclinableprepositional phrase attached to (mutaʿalliq bi) the second tawasaw
The preposition bi puts al-sabr in the genitive, the phrase linking to the second occurrence of tawasaw.
genitiveDetailed i'rab
The verse opens with "illa," a particle of exception that carves a group out of the sweeping claim of loss made in verse 2. What is excepted is "alladhina," a masculine plural relative pronoun; though indeclinable in form, it sits in the accusative position as the excepted noun (mustathna). This pronoun then heads a relative clause whose connecting content is a series of four coordinated past-tense verbs: "amanu," "wa-amilu," "wa-tawasaw," and "wa-tawasaw." Each verb is built on the damma because of the attached subject "waw," which serves as its plural doer. "Al-salihati" is the accusative object of "amilu," taking kasra in place of fatha as a sound feminine plural. The two final verbs are each completed by a prepositional phrase, "bi-l-haqqi" and "bi-l-sabri," both in the genitive and attached to their respective verbs.
Frequently asked
Why is الَّذِينَ described as accusative when relative pronouns do not change endings?
الَّذِينَ is indeclinable, so its ending never changes, but grammar still assigns it a syntactic position. Here it functions as the excepted noun after إلا, so it is said to be in the accusative position (fi mahall nasb) even though its form stays fixed.
What connects this ayah grammatically to the verse before it?
The particle إلا makes this verse an exception (istithnaa) to verse 2, which declared that mankind is in loss. The exception removes the believers described here from that general statement, so the two verses form one continuous sentence.
Why does ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ end in kasra if it is an object and objects are accusative?
It is a sound feminine plural (jamʿ muʾannath salim). This class of nouns shows the accusative case with a kasra instead of the usual fatha, so the kasra here is the accusative marker, not a genitive one.