I'rab of Surah Al-Inshiqaq Ayah 3: word by word Arabic grammar
Surah Al-Inshiqaq (الانشقاق) · Meccan · Ayah 3
وَإِذَا ٱلْأَرْضُ مُدَّتْ TransliterationWa idha al-ardu muddat
Meaningand when the earth is stretched out,
A second 'when' clause is added by the conjunction wa. The earth is flattened and stretched out on the Day of Judgment. Idha again sets a condition, al-ard (the earth) is the subject, and muddat (it was stretched out) is a passive past-tense verb. Its feminine ending agrees with the earth, and the unstated answer-clause continues to build toward the verse about humankind.
Word by word i'rab
conjunction plus adverb of time (zarf)
The wa joins this to the earlier condition, and idha again means 'when,' introducing a further future event.
indeclinablesubject of the verb (fa'il)
The earth is the agent of the verb that follows; its nominative ending marks it as subject.
nominativepassive past-tense verb (fi'l madi)
A passive verb 'it was stretched/spread out,' with a feminine marker agreeing with al-ard.
indeclinableDetailed i'rab
Verse 3 adds a parallel condition to that of verse 1, linked by the conjunction wa. Once again idha functions as an adverb of time meaning 'when,' setting up a further scene whose answer-clause remains implied. The noun al-ard ('the earth') is the subject (fa'il), and muddat is its verb. Classical analysis treats al-ard as the agent of the verb that comes after it, which explains the nominative ending. Muddat is a passive past-tense verb meaning the earth is leveled and stretched flat; an implied active sense ('it spread out') is sometimes supplied. The feminine ending -at agrees with the feminine noun al-ard, confirming subject-verb concord just as in verse 1.
Frequently asked
How does verse 3 connect to verse 1?
The conjunction wa links this second 'when' clause to the first, so both the sky's splitting and the earth's stretching are part of one long conditional scene.
Is 'muddat' active or passive?
It is passive in form (the earth is stretched out), though some commentators supply an implied active meaning such as 'it spread itself out.'