I'rab of Surah Al-Mutaffifin Ayah 32: word by word Arabic grammar
Surah Al-Mutaffifin (المطففين) · Meccan · Ayah 32
وَإِذَا رَأَوْهُمْ قَالُوٓا۟ إِنَّ هَٰٓؤُلَآءِ لَضَآلُّونَ TransliterationWa idhā ra'awhum qālū inna hā'ulā'i laḍāllūn
MeaningAnd when they saw them, they said, 'Indeed these people are surely astray.'
When the sinners saw the believers, they declared them to be astray. The verse uses an 'idhaa conditional whose verb is 'ra'aw', a main clause verb 'qaaloo' introducing their speech, and that speech is an emphatic 'inna' sentence: 'Indeed these people are surely astray', with the emphatic laam on the predicate 'daalloon'.
Word by word i'rab
connective particle plus adverb of condition
The waaw connects to the prior verse, and 'idhaa is the conditional time-adverb governing the verb that follows.
indeclinableverb of the conditional clause with subject and object
A past-tense verb whose attached waaw is the subject and whose pronoun 'hum' (them) is the direct object, the believers.
indeclinableverb answering the condition
A past-tense verb, the answer to 'idhaa, with the waaw as subject; it introduces the reported speech that follows.
indeclinableemphatic particle governing the noun clause
An accusative-inducing particle of emphasis that puts its noun in the accusative and its predicate in the nominative.
indeclinablenoun of 'inna (ism inna)
A demonstrative pronoun, indeclinable in form but in the accusative position as the subject governed by 'inna.
accusativepredicate of 'inna with emphatic laam
The laam is the displaced laam of emphasis, and 'daalloon' is the nominative plural predicate meaning 'surely astray'.
nominativeDetailed i'rab
This verse parallels the structure of the previous one. The waaw is connective and 'idhaa is a conditional adverb of time governing the verb ra'aw (they saw), a past-tense verb with the attached waaw as subject and the pronoun hum as direct object. The answer to the condition is qaaloo (they said), again with the waaw as subject, which introduces the reported speech. That speech is an emphatic nominal sentence opened by 'inna, which places its noun haa'ulaa'i (a demonstrative, indeclinable but in the accusative slot) as the noun of 'inna. The predicate is la-daalloon, where the laam is the muzahliqah (displaced) laam of emphasis and daalloon is the sound masculine plural in the nominative, the predicate of 'inna. The construction conveys their confident, emphatic accusation that the believers are misguided.
Frequently asked
What is the function of the laam in 'laḍāllūn'?
It is the laam al-muzahliqah, the emphatic laam normally attached to the noun of 'inna but displaced onto the predicate; it reinforces the certainty of the statement.
Why is 'hā'ulā'i' described as accusative when it does not change form?
Demonstratives are indeclinable, but as the noun of 'inna it occupies the accusative position grammatically, even though its written form stays the same.