I'rab of Surah Al-Infitar Ayah 17: word by word Arabic grammar
Surah Al-Infitar (الانفطار) · Meccan · Ayah 17
وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا يَوْمُ ٱلدِّينِ TransliterationWa-ma adraka ma yawmu ad-din
MeaningAnd what can make you realize what the Day of Judgment is?
An exclamatory question. The waw is resumptive; ma is an interrogative noun acting as subject, and the verb "made you know" with its object pronoun is the predicate. A second ma introduces an inner question whose subject and predicate ("the Day of Judgment") together complete the object of the verb.
Word by word i'rab
resumptive waw + interrogative noun as subject (mubtada')
The waw is resumptive; ma is an interrogative noun standing as the subject, with the following verbal clause as its predicate.
nominativepast verb with object pronoun forming the predicate
A past-tense verb ("made you know") with the attached object pronoun ka; the clause is the predicate of the interrogative ma.
indeclinableinterrogative noun as subject of the inner question
A second interrogative noun functioning as subject (mubtada') of the embedded question.
nominativepredicate (khabar) of the inner question
Nominative as the predicate of the second ma, heading the construct yawm ad-din.
nominativesecond term of genitive construct (mudaf ilayh)
Governed in the genitive as the possessed element of the construct "the Day of Judgment."
genitiveDetailed i'rab
The opening waw is resumptive, beginning a new statement. The first ma is an interrogative noun standing in the nominative as subject (mubtada'); its predicate is the verbal clause adraka ("made you know"), a past-tense verb carrying the attached object pronoun ka ("you"). This verb takes a further object in the form of an embedded question: the second ma is again an interrogative noun in the nominative as subject (mubtada'), and yawm is its predicate (khabar), nominative, heading the genitive construct yawm ad-din, where ad-din is the genitive second term. The whole inner clause ma yawmu ad-din stands in the place of the object of adraka. The rhetorical effect is to magnify the Day of Judgment as something beyond ordinary comprehension.
Frequently asked
How many interrogative ma's are in this verse and what do they do?
There are two: the first is the subject of the main exclamatory question, and the second is the subject of the embedded question "what the Day of Judgment is."
What completes the object of the verb adraka?
The embedded clause ma yawmu ad-din ("what the Day of Judgment is") fills the object position of the verb.