I'rab of Surah At-Takwir Ayah 9: word by word Arabic grammar
Surah At-Takwir (التكوير) · Meccan · Ayah 9
بِأَىِّ ذَنۢبٍۢ قُتِلَتْ Transliterationbi-ayyi dhanbin qutilat
Meaningfor what sin she was killed.
This is the quoted question put to the buried girl in verse 8. The prepositional phrase bi-ayyi dhanb ("for what sin") attaches to the passive verb qutilat ("she was killed"). The ba' here conveys cause ("because of"). The whole verse forms the content of what is asked, so it has no independent case position.
Word by word i'rab
preposition + interrogative noun governed in the genitive
The ba' is a causal preposition and ayy is an interrogative noun in the genitive after it; the phrase links to the verb qutilat.
genitivesecond term of the construct (mudaf ilayh)
A noun in the genitive completing the construct with ayy, giving the sense 'what (kind of) sin.'
genitivepassive past-tense verb
A built past-tense passive verb meaning 'she was killed,' with the final ta' agreeing with the feminine subject of the previous verse.
indeclinableDetailed i'rab
This verse states the very question posed to the buried infant girl in verse 8. The ba' is a preposition here carrying a causal sense (sababiyyah), 'because of / for the sake of.' Ayy is an interrogative noun (ism istifham), placed in the genitive as the object of the preposition, and the whole prepositional phrase bi-ayyi dhanb is attached to the verb qutilat at the end. Dhanb is in the genitive as the second term of the construct (mudaf ilayh) governed by ayy. The verb qutilat is a past-tense passive ('she was killed'), built on its ending, with the kasra before the final radical marking the passive and the quiescent ta' indicating feminine agreement with the subject understood from al-maw'udah. The clause reports the content of the questioning and so carries no independent case position.
Frequently asked
What does the ba' in بِأَىِّ mean here?
It is causal (sababiyyah), conveying 'for what reason / because of what sin'; it governs the interrogative ayy in the genitive and connects the question to the verb qutilat.
Why does قُتِلَتْ end in ta'?
The quiescent feminine ta' (ta' at-ta'nith as-sakinah) shows agreement with the feminine subject carried over from verse 8, the buried infant girl.