I'rab of Surah At-Takwir Ayah 14: word by word Arabic grammar
Surah At-Takwir (التكوير) · Meccan · Ayah 14
عَلِمَتْ نَفْسٌۭ مَّآ أَحْضَرَتْ Transliteration'Alimat nafsun maa ahdarat
MeaningEvery soul will know what it has brought forward.
This verse is the long-awaited answer to all the preceding "when" clauses. "A soul will know what it has put forward." The verb 'alimat governs nafsun as its nominative subject, and the relative maa serves as its object, meaning the deeds each soul sent ahead. This is the grammatical climax of the opening section.
Word by word i'rab
main verb and answer of the conditional (jawab)
'Alimat is a past-tense verb that serves as the answer to every preceding idha clause; the feminine taa agrees with its subject nafs.
indeclinablesubject (fa'il)
Nafsun is the doer of 'alimat and takes the nominative; its indefinite form (tanwin) carries the sense of "every soul."
nominativerelative pronoun as direct object (maf'ul bihi)
Maa is a relative pronoun in the accusative position as the object of 'alimat, with its returning pronoun omitted.
accusativeverb of the relative clause (silah)
Ahdarat is a past verb whose hidden subject is the soul; the clause completes the meaning of maa, "what it has brought forward."
indeclinableDetailed i'rab
Verse 14 supplies the answer (jawab) that all the earlier idha clauses required. The verb 'alimat, "will know," is a past-tense form whose feminine taa agrees with its subject. That subject is nafsun, "a soul," in the nominative as the doer (fa'il); its indefinite tanwin gives a distributive sense, "every soul." The object of knowing is the relative pronoun maa, which occupies the accusative position as the direct object (maf'ul bihi). The clause that follows, ahdarat, is the relative clause (silah) completing maa; its verb is past tense with a concealed pronoun subject again referring to the soul. The returning pronoun (the 'a'id) that would link the relative clause back to maa is omitted but understood, so the meaning is "what it has put forward" of deeds. Together the verse delivers the grammatical and rhetorical resolution of the entire opening passage.
Frequently asked
What is the grammatical role of this whole verse?
It is the answer clause (jawab) to the long chain of idha conditions in verses 1 to 13. All those "when" clauses point forward to this statement that every soul will then know its record.
Why is maa parsed as accusative when it has no visible case ending?
Maa is an indeclinable relative pronoun, so it shows no ending, but it occupies the accusative slot as the direct object of 'alimat. Its omitted returning pronoun is understood within ahdarat.