I'rab of Surah Al-Masad Ayah 2: word by word Arabic grammar
Surah Al-Masad (المسد) · Meccan · Ayah 2
مَآ أَغْنَىٰ عَنْهُ مَالُهُۥ وَمَا كَسَبَ Transliterationmā aghnā ʿanhu māluhū wa-mā kasab(a)
MeaningHis wealth did not avail him, nor did what he earned.
A negative verbal sentence: the particle mā negates the past verb aghnā ("availed nothing"). The prepositional phrase ʿanhu attaches to that verb, and māluhū is its delayed subject. The second mā is a maṣdariyya particle forming a verbal noun ("what he earned"), coordinated by the wāw onto māluhū as a second subject of aghnā.
Word by word i'rab
negation particle (ḥarf nafy)
This mā is purely negating; it has no grammatical position and denies that the action of the following verb took place.
indeclinablepast-tense verb (fiʿl māḍin)
A past verb meaning 'availed/benefited', fixed on an estimated fatḥa over the final weak letter; its subject comes later in the sentence.
indeclinableprepositional phrase (jārr wa-majrūr)
The preposition ʿan plus the attached pronoun hū (genitive) form an adverbial phrase linked to the verb aghnā.
genitivedelayed subject (fāʿil mu'akhkhar)
Māl is the nominative doer of aghnā with a ḍamma ending, and the attached pronoun hū ('his') is a possessive in the genitive position as muḍāf ilayh.
nominativecoordinating conjunction (ḥarf ʿaṭf)
The wāw joins what follows onto māluhū, adding a second item to the subject of aghnā.
indeclinableinfinitival particle (mā maṣdariyya)
This mā converts the following verb into an implied verbal noun ('his earning / what he earned'), which functions as the coordinated element.
indeclinablepast-tense verb within the maṣdar construction
A past verb fixed on fatḥa meaning 'he earned'; with the preceding mā it yields an interpreted verbal noun standing in the nominative, coordinated onto māluhū.
indeclinableDetailed i'rab
The verse opens with mā, a particle of negation with no syntactic position, denying the action of the verb that follows. Aghnā is a past-tense verb ('it availed'), built on an estimated vowel over its weak final letter. The phrase ʿanhu: the preposition ʿan with its genitive pronoun: attaches to this verb. The verb's subject is delayed: māluhū ('his wealth') is nominative, marked by ḍamma, with the pronoun hū as its possessive annexation. The conjunction wāw then links a second subject: the particle mā here is maṣdariyya, turning kasaba ('he earned') into an interpreted verbal noun. This noun, 'what he earned', sits in the nominative position and is coordinated onto māluhū, so the negation covers both his wealth and his gains: neither availed him at all.
Frequently asked
Why does the subject 'māluhū' come after the verb and the prepositional phrase?
Arabic regularly allows the doer (fāʿil) to follow its verb, and other elements such as the prepositional phrase ʿanhu can intervene. So aghnā ('availed') comes first, then ʿanhu ('him'), and the delayed nominative subject māluhū ('his wealth') closes the clause.
Are the two occurrences of 'mā' in this verse the same word?
No. The first mā is a negation particle denying that the verb happened. The second mā is maṣdariyya: it combines with kasaba to produce an interpreted verbal noun ('his earning / what he earned'), which then functions as a noun in the sentence.
What is the grammatical position of 'mā kasaba'?
The particle mā plus the verb kasaba yields an interpreted verbal noun in the nominative, coordinated by the wāw onto māluhū. It therefore serves as a second subject of aghnā, so the verse negates that either his wealth or what he earned was of any benefit.