I'rab of Surah Al-Inshiqaq Ayah 10: word by word Arabic grammar
Surah Al-Inshiqaq (الانشقاق) · Meccan · Ayah 10
وَأَمَّا مَنْ أُوتِىَ كِتَٰبَهُۥ وَرَآءَ ظَهْرِهِۦ TransliterationWa amma man utiya kitabahu wara'a zahrih(i)
MeaningBut as for the one who is given his record from behind his back,
This verse opens the contrasting second branch with wa-amma. As in verse seven, man is the conditional subject and uti is its passive verb with kitabahu as object. The accusative wara'a is an adverb of place attached to the verb, telling where the record is given.
Word by word i'rab
conjunction + particle of detail and condition
The wa- contrasts this branch with the previous one, and amma again introduces a conditional clause of detail.
indeclinableconditional noun, subject (mubtada')
Man is a conditional noun in the nominative position as subject, parallel to its use in verse seven.
nominativepassive verb (conditional verb)
Uti is a past passive verb whose deputy agent is the referent of man, mirroring the construction of the earlier branch.
indeclinableobject (maf'ul bihi)
Kitabahu is the accusative object of the doubly-transitive passive verb, with the pronoun hu genitive as possessor.
accusativeadverb of place (zarf makan) attached to the verb
Wara'a is an accusative adverb of place linked to uti, specifying that the record is given from behind.
accusativesecond term of a construct (mudaf ilayhi)
Zahrihi is genitive as the second part of the construct with wara'a; its pronoun hi is genitive as possessor.
genitiveDetailed i'rab
This verse opens the second, contrasting branch of the detail, introduced by the conjunction wa- followed by amma, which again carries conditional and elaborating force. As in verse seven, man is a conditional noun occupying the nominative slot as the subject (mubtada'), and its conditional verb uti is a past passive whose deputy agent is the referent of man. The accusative kitabahu is the object of this doubly-transitive passive verb, its pronoun hu genitive as possessor. Wara'a is an accusative adverb of place (zarf makan) attached to the verb uti, and it forms a construct with the genitive zahrihi, so that the phrase describes the record being handed from behind his back.
Frequently asked
Why is wara'a accusative rather than genitive?
Wara'a is an adverb of place (zarf makan), and such adverbs take the accusative case. It links to the verb uti to show the location from which the record is received.
How is this verse parallel to verse seven?
Both use amma plus the conditional man as subject and the passive uti with kitabahu as object. The contrast lies in the manner of receiving: the right hand versus from behind the back.