I'rab of Surah An-Nazi'at Ayah 34: word by word Arabic grammar
Surah An-Nazi'at (النازعات) · Meccan · Ayah 34
فَإِذَا جَآءَتِ ٱلطَّآمَّةُ ٱلْكُبْرَىٰ TransliterationFa-idha ja'atil-tammatul-kubra
MeaningSo when the Great Overwhelming Calamity comes.
But when the Great Overwhelming Event arrives. The fa is resumptive, idha is an adverb of future time containing a conditional sense, ja'at is its past-tense verb, and al-tammah is the subject of that verb, described by the adjective al-kubra ('the greatest').
Word by word i'rab
conditional time adverb (zarf)
The fa is resumptive, and idha is an adverb pointing to future time and carrying a conditional meaning awaiting its answer clause.
indeclinablepast-tense verb (fi'l madi)
A past-tense verb 'came/arrived' in the feminine, whose subject follows; the kasra at the end is to ease the meeting of two unvowelled letters.
indeclinablesubject (fa'il)
The doer of the verb ja'at, nominative, naming the overwhelming calamity of the Last Day.
nominativeadjective (na't)
An adjective describing al-tammah as 'the greatest,' agreeing with it in the nominative case.
nominativeDetailed i'rab
The verse begins with a resumptive fa attached to idha, an adverb of future time that also carries a conditional flavor and therefore anticipates an answering clause (supplied in the verses that follow). The verb ja'at ('came') is past-tense and feminine to agree with its subject; its final vowel is a connecting kasra to avoid two consecutive unvowelled letters. Al-tammah ('the overwhelming event') is the nominative subject (fa'il) of ja'at and is a title for the Day of Judgment. The adjective al-kubra ('the greatest') follows as a descriptive na't, agreeing with al-tammah in being nominative and definite, intensifying the dread of that day.
Frequently asked
What grammatical role does idha play here?
It is an adverb of future time with a conditional sense; it sets up a condition whose answering clause comes in the following verses.
Why does al-kubra match al-tammah in case?
Because it is an adjective (na't) describing al-tammah, and adjectives agree with the noun they describe in case, here the nominative.