I'rab of Surah An-Nazi'at Ayah 13: word by word Arabic grammar
Surah An-Nazi'at (النازعات) · Meccan · Ayah 13
فَإِنَّمَا هِىَ زَجْرَةٌۭ وَٰحِدَةٌۭ TransliterationFa-innama hiya zajratun wahidah
MeaningThen it will be only a single shout.
This short verse states that the Resurrection will be only a single mighty cry. The opening fa is a resumptive particle, innama is the restrictive 'only,' hiya is the subject pronoun, zajratun is its predicate, and wahidatun is an adjective describing it. The structure is a simple nominal sentence emphasizing one decisive blast.
Word by word i'rab
resumptive particle (harf isti'naf)
This prefixed fa opens a new sentence and does not have grammatical inflection.
indeclinablerestrictive particle (kaffah wa makfufah)
The ma neutralizes the governing force of inna, so innama simply means 'only' and the following words stay as a plain nominal sentence.
indeclinablesubject (mubtada')
This detached pronoun 'it' is the subject of the nominal sentence and is built on the fathah in the nominative position.
nominativepredicate (khabar)
This noun 'a shout' is the predicate of hiya and carries the nominative tanwin.
nominativeadjective (na't)
This word 'single' describes zajratun and matches it in being nominative and indefinite.
nominativeDetailed i'rab
The verse is a concise nominal sentence introduced by the resumptive fa. The particle innama functions as a restrictive device: the attached ma cancels inna's normal power to govern a noun in the accusative, so the words that follow remain a simple subject-and-predicate structure carrying the sense 'only.' The pronoun hiya ('it') serves as the subject (mubtada') and refers back to the awesome Day mentioned in context. The indefinite noun zajratun ('a shout' or 'a single cry') is the predicate (khabar) in the nominative case, marked by tanwin. The adjective wahidatun ('single, one') qualifies zajratun and agrees with it in case, number, gender, and definiteness, intensifying that the Resurrection requires nothing more than one decisive blast.
Frequently asked
Why does innama not put the next word in the accusative like inna?
Because the attached ma is 'kaffah,' it restrains inna from governing, so innama works purely as the restrictive adverb 'only' and the sentence keeps its normal nominative subject and predicate.
What is the predicate of this sentence?
The predicate (khabar) is zajratun ('a shout'), which is nominative, and wahidatun is an adjective further describing it.