I'rab of Surah At-Takwir Ayah 22: word by word Arabic grammar
Surah At-Takwir (التكوير) · Meccan · Ayah 22
وَمَا صَاحِبُكُم بِمَجْنُونٍۢ TransliterationWa ma sahibukum bi-majnun
MeaningAnd your companion is not mad.
This verse defends the Prophet against the charge of madness. Ma functions like laysa to negate, sahibukum is its noun in the nominative, and the predicate majnun is preceded by a redundant ba; it is genitive in form but holds the accusative place as the predicate of ma.
Word by word i'rab
connective waw plus negating ma (acting like laysa)
The waw connects this statement, and ma is a negating particle that works like the verb laysa, raising a subject and giving a predicate.
indeclinable particlenoun of ma / subject
Sahib is the nominative noun of ma (its subject), and the attached pronoun -kum ('your') is the possessor in the genitive.
nominativepredicate (khabar) of ma
The ba is a redundant particle added for emphasis; majnun is genitive in wording because of the ba but occupies the accusative position as the predicate of ma.
genitive in form, accusative in placeDetailed i'rab
The connecting waw joins this statement to the preceding affirmations about the revelation. Ma here is the negating particle that operates like the defective verb laysa, so it raises a noun and assigns a predicate. Its noun is sahib, in the nominative, and the attached pronoun -kum is a genitive possessor meaning 'your companion'. The predicate is majnun, but it is preceded by ba, a redundant (zaidah) preposition added for emphasis. Because of this ba, majnun is genitive in its outward form, yet its true grammatical position is accusative, since the predicate of this kind of ma takes the accusative. The verse thus negates that the Prophet is afflicted with madness.
Frequently asked
Why does ma behave like laysa here?
This ma is the Hijazi negating ma, which grammatically resembles laysa: it raises a noun as its subject and puts the predicate in the accusative.
Why is majnun written with a kasra after ba if it is the predicate?
The ba is a redundant emphatic preposition that forces a genitive ending in form, but the word still functions in the accusative place as the predicate of ma.
What is the role of -kum in sahibukum?
It is an attached genitive pronoun meaning 'your', making sahib a possessive phrase, 'your companion'.