I'rab of Surah Al-Mutaffifin Ayah 34: word by word Arabic grammar
Surah Al-Mutaffifin (المطففين) · Meccan · Ayah 34
فَٱلْيَوْمَ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مِنَ ٱلْكُفَّارِ يَضْحَكُونَ TransliterationFal-yawma alladhīna āmanū mina al-kuffāri yaḍḥakūn
MeaningSo today it is the believers who laugh at the disbelievers,
The tables turn: on the Day of Judgment the believers laugh at the disbelievers. The faa' answers an implied condition, 'al-yawma' is an adverb of time, the relative 'alladhiina' is the subject, 'aamanoo' is its relative-clause verb, 'min al-kuffaar' attaches to the later verb, and 'yadhakoon' is the predicate verb.
Word by word i'rab
connective faa' plus adverb of time
The faa' ties this to an implied condition, and 'al-yawma' is an accusative adverb of time governed by the coming verb 'yadhakoon'.
accusativesubject (mubtada')
A relative pronoun in the nominative position serving as the topic of the sentence, referring to the believers.
nominativeverb of the relative clause
A past-tense verb with the attached waaw as subject, forming the relative clause that defines 'those who'.
indeclinablepreposition
This preposition governs the following noun in the genitive and links to the verb 'yadhakoon'.
indeclinableobject of the preposition
Made genitive by 'min'; the phrase 'at the disbelievers' attaches to the verb 'yadhakoon' that follows.
genitivepredicate verb (khabar)
A present-tense verb with the waaw as subject, serving as the predicate of 'alladhiina' and meaning 'they laugh'.
indeclinableDetailed i'rab
The faa' here is the faa' that links to an implied conditional (i.e., now that this is so, then...). Al-yawma is an accusative adverb of time (zarf zamaan) attached to the later verb yadhakoon, meaning 'today/on that Day'. The relative pronoun alladhiina is the mubtada' (topic) in the nominative position, and its relative clause is aamanoo (they believed), a past-tense verb with the waaw as subject. The prepositional phrase min al-kuffaar:min governing al-kuffaar in the genitive:does not relate to aamanoo but to the predicate verb that comes after it, conveying 'laugh at the disbelievers'. The predicate of the topic is yadhakoon (they laugh), a present-tense verb with the waaw as subject. The nominal sentence thus states emphatically that it is precisely the believers who now laugh at the disbelievers, reversing the earlier mockery.
Frequently asked
Why is 'al-yawma' in the accusative case?
It is a zarf zamaan, an adverb of time, which by nature takes the accusative; it is linked to the verb 'yadhakoon' and means 'on this Day'.
Does 'min al-kuffaar' connect to 'āmanū'?
No. Although it stands near 'aamanoo', it grammatically relates to the predicate verb 'yadhakoon', giving the meaning 'laugh at the disbelievers'.