I'rab of Surah An-Nas Ayah 6: word by word Arabic grammar
Surah An-Nas (الناس) · Meccan · Ayah 6
مِنَ ٱلْجِنَّةِ وَٱلنَّاسِ Transliterationmina l-jinnati wa-n-nāsi
MeaningFrom among the jinn and humankind.
This short ayah is built from two prepositional phrases. The preposition min governs the genitive noun al-jinnah, and this phrase attaches back to an earlier element (a circumstantial state of the one who whispers, or an explanation of "the people"). The conjunction wa then links al-nas to al-jinnah, so it shares the same genitive case.
Word by word i'rab
preposition (harf jarr)
A preposition that puts the following noun in the genitive and here introduces the source or category being specified.
indeclinablegenitive noun governed by the preposition (majrur bi-harf al-jarr)
It is genitive because of the preposition min, and the whole phrase relates back to the earlier verb/description, clarifying that the whisperer comes from among the jinn.
genitivecoordinating conjunction (harf 'atf)
The connective waw joins what follows to the preceding genitive noun al-jinnah.
indeclinablenoun coordinated to al-jinnah (ma'tuf)
Being linked by the conjunction to al-jinnah, it follows it in the genitive case, marked by the kasrah.
genitiveDetailed i'rab
The ayah opens with the preposition min, which is indeclinable and casts the noun after it into the genitive. The noun al-jinnah is therefore genitive, its case shown by the kasrah ending; the prepositional phrase "min al-jinnah" does not stand alone but connects to an element in the previous verse: either as a circumstantial qualifier of the one who whispers, or as a clarification of who "the people" referred to are. The waw is a coordinating conjunction that links the next noun to al-jinnah. As a result, al-nas is grammatically coordinated to al-jinnah and shares its genitive case, again marked by the kasrah. Together the two nouns enumerate the two categories from which the whispering can originate, jinn and human beings.
Frequently asked
Why are both al-jinnah and al-nas in the genitive case?
Al-jinnah is genitive because it directly follows the preposition min, which always governs the genitive. Al-nas is genitive because the conjunction waw coordinates it to al-jinnah, and a coordinated noun takes the same case as the noun it is linked to.
What does the phrase 'min al-jinnah wa-l-nas' attach to grammatically?
It does not form an independent sentence. It relates back to the preceding ayah, functioning either as a circumstantial state describing the source of the one who whispers, or as an explanatory specification of who is meant, indicating that the whisperer may be from the jinn or from human beings.
What is the role of the waw here?
The waw is a coordinating conjunction (harf 'atf). Its job is to connect al-nas to al-jinnah so that the two nouns are treated as a linked pair and carry matching grammatical case.