I'rab of Surah At-Takwir Ayah 2: word by word Arabic grammar
Surah At-Takwir (التكوير) · Meccan · Ayah 2
وَإِذَا ٱلنُّجُومُ ٱنكَدَرَتْ TransliterationWa idha an-nujumu ankadarat
Meaningand when the stars fall and lose their light,
Joined by the conjunction wa to the previous condition, this verse follows the identical pattern. Idha is a future time adverb of condition, an-nujum (the stars) is the nominative subject of an implied verb interpreted by inkadarat (fell, lost their light). All these clauses await their single answer in verse 14.
Word by word i'rab
conjunction (harf 'atf)
The conjunction wa links this conditional clause to the one before it.
indeclinablefuture time adverb (zarf) of condition
A conditional time adverb in the accusative place, attached to the same delayed answer as the previous verse.
indeclinablesubject (fa'il) of an implied verb
It is the doer of an omitted verb that the following verb explains.
nominativepast-tense verb with the tied feminine ta
A past verb of the inkadara pattern meaning the stars fell scattered and dimmed; the ta agrees with the feminine subject.
indeclinableDetailed i'rab
The verse begins with the conjunction wa, which joins this conditional clause to the chain started in verse 1. Idha again functions as a future time adverb carrying conditional meaning, fixed in an accusative position connected to the shared answer in verse 14. The noun an-nujum is nominative and, following the rule that idha is followed by verbs, is parsed as the subject of an unstated verb interpreted by what comes after. Inkadarat is an active intransitive past-tense verb on the form VII (infa'ala) pattern, describing the stars falling, scattering, and being effaced. The tied feminine ta agrees with the feminine plural noun treated as a single feminine entity. The interpreting sentence has no grammatical position of its own.
Frequently asked
What does the wa at the start signal?
It is a conjunction joining this idha clause to the previous one, so all the conditions accumulate before reaching their one answer in verse 14.
Is inkadarat passive like kuwwirat?
No; inkadarat is built on an active intransitive pattern (the stars themselves fell and dimmed), unlike the passive kuwwirat in verse 1.