I'rab of Surah Al-Inshiqaq Ayah 1: word by word Arabic grammar
Surah Al-Inshiqaq (الانشقاق) · Meccan · Ayah 1
إِذَا ٱلسَّمَآءُ ٱنشَقَّتْ TransliterationIdha as-sama-u inshaqqat
MeaningWhen the sky splits open,
This opening verse begins a long conditional sentence with idha (when). It pictures the sky splitting apart on the Day of Resurrection. As-sama (the sky) is the subject of the verb inshaqqat (it split open), a past-tense verb whose feminine ending agrees with sama. The main clause (the answer to when) is left unstated until later, building dramatic suspense.
Word by word i'rab
adverb of time (zarf) governing a condition
An adverbial particle meaning 'when' that introduces a future condition; its answer-clause is implied and supplied later in the surah.
indeclinablesubject of the verb (fa'il)
The doer of the splitting; grammarians treat it as the agent of the verb that follows, which explains its nominative ending.
nominativepast-tense verb (fi'l madi)
A past-tense verb 'it split open' carrying a silent feminine marker (ta) that agrees with the feminine noun sama.
indeclinableDetailed i'rab
The verse opens with idha, an adverb of time that sets up a condition: 'when such-and-such happens.' Idha demands an answer-clause (jawab), but here the answer is deliberately withheld and only understood from the wider passage, which heightens the suspense of the scene. The word as-sama is parsed as the subject (fa'il), and inshaqqat is its past-tense verb. Although idha is normally followed directly by a verb, classical analysis places as-sama as agent of the verb that comes after it. The feminine ending -at on inshaqqat agrees grammatically with the feminine noun sama, confirming the subject-verb relationship.
Frequently asked
Why is the answer to 'when' missing here?
The answer-clause (jawab) of idha is intentionally left unstated for rhetorical effect; the listener understands it from the rest of the surah, such as humankind meeting its Lord and being judged.
Why does the verb end in -at?
The suffix -at is the feminine past-tense marker, agreeing with as-sama (the sky), which is grammatically feminine in Arabic.