I'rab of Surah An-Naba Ayah 36: word by word Arabic grammar

Surah An-Naba (النبأ) · Meccan · Ayah 36

جَزَآءًۭ مِّن رَّبِّكَ عَطَآءً حِسَابًۭا

TransliterationJaza'an min rabbika 'ata'an hisaban

MeaningA recompense from your Lord, a sufficient gift,

Grammar in brief

The verse describes the reward as a recompense from the Lord, a sufficient gift. Jaza'an is a verbal noun object of an implied verb, min rabbika is a genitive phrase, ata'an is a substitution for jaza', and hisaban is its adjective.

Word by word i'rab

جَزَآءًۭ

absolute object of an implied verb (maf'ul mutlaq)

It is accusative as the verbal-noun object of an understood verb and was parsed the same way earlier in the surah.

accusative
مِّن

preposition (harf jarr)

It governs the following noun rabbika in the genitive case.

indeclinable
رَّبِّكَ

noun in genitive after the preposition

It is genitive because of min, and the attached -ka is a possessive pronoun in the genitive.

genitive
عَطَآءً

substitute (badal) for jaza'

It stands in for jaza' and therefore shares its accusative case with tanwin.

accusative
حِسَابًۭا

adjective (na't) of 'ata'

It describes the gift as ample and sufficient and agrees with 'ata' in the accusative case.

accusative

Detailed i'rab

Jaza'an is an absolute object (maf'ul mutlaq), the verbal-noun complement of an implied verb, and so it takes the accusative; the same parsing applied earlier in the surah at jaza'an wifaqan. The preposition min governs rabbika in the genitive, and the attached -ka is a possessive pronoun also in the genitive position. Ata'an then serves as a badal (substitution) for jaza', clarifying that the recompense is a freely given gift, and it shares the accusative case of the word it replaces. Finally, hisaban is an adjective (na't) qualifying 'ata', describing it as an ample, fully sufficient bestowal, and it agrees with 'ata' in the accusative with tanwin. The verse thus stacks an object, a substitution and an adjective in the accusative.

Frequently asked

Why is jaza'an accusative?

It is a maf'ul mutlaq, the verbal-noun object of an implied verb, and such objects take the accusative case.

What is the relationship between 'ata' and jaza'?

'Ata' is a badal (substitution) for jaza', so it carries the same accusative case, and hisaban then describes 'ata' as a sufficient gift.

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