I'rab of Surah An-Naba Ayah 6: word by word Arabic grammar
Surah An-Naba (النبأ) · Meccan · Ayah 6
أَلَمْ نَجْعَلِ ٱلْأَرْضَ مِهَٰدًۭا Transliterationa-lam najʿali l-arḍa mihādā(n)
MeaningHave We not made the earth a resting place,
A rhetorical question affirming God's power: "Have We not made the earth a resting place?" The hamza is an interrogative seeking acknowledgment, lam negates with the jussive, naj'al is the verb, al-arda its first object, and mihadan its second object in the accusative. The verse begins a list of divine favors as proofs of resurrection.
Word by word i'rab
interrogative hamza + negation/jussive particle
The hamza is a rhetorical question seeking affirmation, and lam negates the verb and puts it in the jussive.
indeclinableverb (governed by lam)
An imperfect verb in the jussive because of lam, with an implied subject "We"; its ending takes a kasra to ease pronunciation before the next word.
jussivefirst object (maf'ul bihi awwal)
The first object of naj'al, in the accusative; "the earth" is what was made into something.
accusativesecond object (maf'ul bihi thani)
The second object of naj'al, accusative with tanwin; it states what the earth was made into, namely a resting place.
accusativeDetailed i'rab
The verse opens with a compound interrogative: the hamza is an interrogative particle used here for affirmation, prompting the listener to acknowledge the truth, while lam is a particle that both negates and places the following imperfect verb in the jussive mood. The verb naj'al ("We make") is therefore jussive; its original sukun ending shifts to a kasra to avoid two unvowelled consonants meeting before the next word, and its subject is the implied pronoun "We." Because ja'ala here carries the sense of "to make X into Y," it takes two objects: al-arda ("the earth") is the first object in the accusative, and mihadan ("a resting place") is the second object, also accusative with tanwin. The verse opens a sequence of rhetorical proofs of God's creative power.
Frequently asked
Why does naj'al take two objects?
Because ja'ala here means "to make something into something," it governs two accusative objects: al-arda and mihadan.
Why does naj'al end with a kasra instead of a sukun?
It is jussive (so its base ending is sukun), but the sukun shifts to a kasra to avoid two consecutive unvowelled consonants before the following word.