I'rab of Surah Al-Ikhlas Ayah 4: word by word Arabic grammar
Surah Al-Ikhlas (الإخلاص) · Meccan · Ayah 4
وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُۥ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌۢ Transliterationwa-lam yakun lahū kufuwan aḥad
MeaningAnd there has never been anyone equal to Him.
This verse is a negated past-tense sentence built on كان. The negative particle لم turns the present-tense verb يكن into a jussive expressing the past. كان has a postponed subject أحد and a fronted predicate كفوًا (accusative), while the prepositional phrase له attaches to that predicate. Both له and كفوًا precede the subject for emphasis. The whole clause is coordinated to the preceding verse by و.
Word by word i'rab
coordinating conjunction (harf 'atf)
This connective و links the verse to the previous statement, adding it as a further description of God.
indeclinablenegative jussive particle (harf nafy wa-jazm wa-qalb)
This particle negates, governs the jussive mood, and shifts the meaning of the following present-tense verb into the past.
indeclinabledefective verb of 'to be' (kana wa-akhawatuha) made jussive by lam
This present-tense form of كان is in the jussive because of لم, with its sukun appearing as the absence of the final vowel.
jussiveprepositional phrase attached to the predicate of kana (muta'alliq bi-khabar yakun)
The preposition لـ joins to the genitive pronoun هـ (referring to God) and attaches to the fronted predicate كُفُوًا, not standing as the predicate itself.
genitivefronted predicate of kana (khabar kana muqaddam)
This noun is accusative as the predicate of كان, brought forward before the subject, meaning 'an equal' or 'a peer'.
accusativedelayed subject of kana (ism kana mu'akhkhar)
This noun is the nominative subject of كان, postponed after the predicate, with tanwin marking its raf' (nominative case).
nominativeDetailed i'rab
The sentence opens with the conjunction و, joining it to the previous verse. The particle لم both negates and places the verb in the jussive mood while turning its tense to the past. يَكُن is the present-tense form of the defective verb كان, made jussive by لم, its mood shown by the dropped final vowel. كان needs a subject and a predicate. Its predicate is كُفُوًا ("an equal"), accusative and brought forward before the subject. The prepositional phrase لَّهُ ("to Him"), a preposition with an attached genitive pronoun referring to God, attaches to that fronted predicate. The subject of كان, أَحَدٌ ("anyone"), is nominative and comes at the very end, postponed for emphasis. Fronting كفوًا and له before the subject stresses the total denial of any peer.
Frequently asked
Why is يَكُن in the jussive mood here?
Because the particle لم precedes it. لم is a negative particle that both negates the verb and forces it into the jussive mood, shifting its meaning into the past. The jussive shows itself through the absence of the final vowel (sukun) on the verb.
Why is أَحَدٌ nominative when it comes at the very end?
أَحَدٌ is the subject (ism) of the verb كان, and the subject of كان is always nominative. Although it normally comes earlier, here it is postponed after the predicate for rhetorical emphasis, but its case remains nominative, marked by the tanwin damma.
What is the predicate (khabar) of كان in this verse?
The accusative noun كُفُوًا is the predicate (khabar) of كان, brought forward before the subject. The prepositional phrase لَّهُ ("to Him") attaches to this predicate rather than serving as the predicate itself. Placing both before the subject أَحَدٌ highlights the meaning: there exists no equal whatsoever belonging to God.