Selections from the Glorious Quran — Study Session 10
Overview
The main topics covered in this session are:
- Ring composition in Āyat al-Kursī and Sūrat al-Baqarah
- لَا إِلَهَ إلَّا هُوَ — iʿrāb analysis; why Hua is badal not mustasna
- الحَيُّ — Al-Ḥayy; from حَيِيَ; ما المصدرية الظرفية
- القَيُّوم — Al-Qayyūm; from قَامَ; form fayʿūl; only for Allāh; qayyim for humans
- مِثَال الوَاوِي — First-radical wāw verbs (وَصَنَ / وَجِلَ); two maṣdar patterns
- Noun vs Verb in Balāghah — using a noun (wājilūn) expresses greater intensity than a verb
- المبني للمجهول — Passive voice in Arabic: naib al-fāʿil; cannot name the doer
- ما المصدرية الظرفية — Ma that converts a verb into a maṣdar while also expressing time/duration
- وَجِلَ — to fear; Ibrahim AS story
- وَشَى — to decorate with colors; shiyah = a colored marking
1. Ring Composition in Āyat al-Kursī
Ring composition (also called chiasm in English) is a classical literary technique where sentences/ideas are arranged in mirrored pairs around a central climax. This structure is found throughout the Quran.
Āyat al-Kursī — Nine Sentences in Ring Form
| Sentence # | Content | Mirror |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (outermost) | Who is Allāh by name — لَا إِلَهَ إلَّا هُوَ الحَيُّ القَيُّوم | 9: Who is Allāh by name — وَهُوَ العَلِيُّ العَظِيم |
| 2 | Allāh is inexhaustible — لَا تَأخُذُهُ سِنَةٌ وَلَا نَوم | 8: وَلَا يَؤُودُهُ حِفظُهُمَا (protecting them does not burden Him) |
| 3 | Allāh's dominion — لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الأَرض | 7: وَسِعَ كُرسِيُّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرض |
| 4 | Permission required — مَن ذَا الَّذِي يَشفَعُ...إلَّا بِإِذنِه | 6: وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِشَيءٍ مِن عِلمِه إلَّا بِمَا شَاء |
| 5 (center) | يَعلَمُ مَا بَينَ أَيدِيهِم وَمَا خَلفَهُم — He knows what is before and after them | — |
The center sentence is the climax: Allāh knows our choices and deeds. The words "before" and "after" signal the Day of Judgment. Human free will and Allāh's complete knowledge of it is the beating heart of this āyah.
Ring Composition in Arabic Poetry
Classical Arabic poetry typically places the climax in the middle of a poem (not at the end as in Western literature). The Ṣaḥābah, being native speakers steeped in this tradition, likely understood this structural pattern intuitively — which may explain why they left few explicit narrations about it. The first written analysis of the Quran's structural coherence (naẓm al-Quran) appeared about 300 years after the Prophet ﷺ.
Ring Composition in Sūrat al-Baqarah (Macro-Level)
| Section | Topic | Mirror Section |
|---|---|---|
| 1–20 | Faith vs Unbelief | 285–286: Faith vs Unbelief |
| 21–39 | Creation of Adam; Allāh's encompassing knowledge | 254–284: Allāh's encompassing knowledge (charity & finance) |
| 40–203 | Law given to Banu Isrāʾīl | 178–253: Law given to Muslims |
| 104–241 | Testing of Ibrahim; building of the Kaʿbah | 153–177: Muslims will be tested |
| 142–152 (center) | Kaʿbah as new Qibla — coronation of the Muslim ummah | (no mirror — this is the climax) |
2. لَا إِلَهَ إلَّا هُوَ — Iʿrāb Analysis
إِلَهٌ = a deity; something worshiped. The word Allāh is debated: either an independent divine name or derived from Al + ilāh (the God) with the Hamza of ilāh dropping through frequency.
لَا here is لَا النافية للجنس — absolute negation of genus. إِلَهَ = manṣūb (ism of lā).
Khabar of lā: omitted — understood as مَوجُودٌ / حَقٌّ (worthy of worship).
إلَّا هُوَ — Why هُوَ is badal, not mustasna:
In a normal istisnā, the mustasna would be manṣūb. But هُوَ is a marfūʿ pronoun (cannot become manṣūb). So it cannot be the standard mustasna.
Dr. Abdurraḥīm's position: هُوَ is the badal (substitute) for the hidden damir mustatir in the implied reconstructed positive sentence يَستَحِقُّ العِبَادَة — "He deserves worship."
This is a topic of significant scholarly debate with multiple opinions.
3. الحَيُّ — Al-Ḥayy (The Living One)
حَيِيَ يَحيَا = to live; to be alive
| Derivative | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Ism fāʿil | حَيٌّ | alive (one who lives) |
| Ism tafḍīl | أَحيَا | more alive |
| Plural | أَحيَاء | living things/people |
| Name | يَحيَى | The name Yaḥyā (given by Allāh himself — see Sūrat Maryam) |
الحَيُّ as one of Allāh's names: the ultimate living — from whom all life originates; life that is not preceded by non-life and not followed by death.
ما المصدرية الظرفية
Used in the phrase: لَا أَنسَى فَضلَكَ مَا حَيِيتُ — "I will never forget your favour as long as I live."
ما المصدرية الظرفية = a ما that: 1. Converts the following verb into a maṣdar (مَا + verb = noun) 2. Gives information about time or duration (like a ẓarf/adverb)
Result: مَا حَيِيتُ = "the period of my living" = "as long as I live"
Compare: مَا alone (mawṣūlah) vs مَا + verb (maṣdariyyah). The test: replace مَا with أَنَّ — if the sentence still works, it is maṣdariyyah.
4. القَيُّوم — Al-Qayyūm (The Self-Subsisting Sustainer)
Root: ق-و-م (qāma — to stand/undertake)
| Derivation | Word | Pattern |
|---|---|---|
| Basic ism fāʿil | قَائِم | fāʿil |
| Mubālaghah | قَيُّوم | fayʿūl (with wāw → yāʾ transformation) |
| Human-usable | قَيِّم | fayyil |
القَيُّوم = He who: 1. Subsists through Himself — does not depend on anything 2. Sustains everything else in existence — the universe depends on Him
Reserved for Allāh Only
القَيُّوم cannot be used for humans because the name carries within it that all existence depends on its bearer. Only Allāh qualifies.
قَيِّم (fayyil pattern) = a manager/caretaker — usable for humans. Example: ابن القَيِّم = "son of the manager/principal" — the famous scholar Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr, whose father managed Madrasah al-Jawziyyah.
5. مِثَال الوَاوِي — First-Wāw Verbs
مِثَال = a verb whose first radical is a weak letter (alif, wāw, or yāʾ). مِثَال الوَاوِي = first radical is وَاو.
وَصَنَ يَصِنُ = to preach/advise (example used): - Maṣdar with wāw: وَصنٌ - Maṣdar without wāw (with tāʾ marbūṭah to compensate): صِيَة / صِنَة
Pattern rule: If the second radical (ʿayn al-fiʿl) has fatḥah in muḍāriʿ or ḍammah in both māḍī and muḍāriʿ, the wāw is dropped in muḍāriʿ. If the ʿayn al-fiʿl has kasrah in māḍī (pattern of i-a), the wāw is retained.
وَجِلَ يَوجَلُ — wāw retained in muḍāriʿ (i-a pattern): - Maṣdars: وَجلٌ and وَجَلٌ - Ism fāʿil: وَاجِل; plural: وَاجِلُون
6. وَجِلَ — To Be Afraid
وَجِلَ يَوجَلُ = to fear, to be afraid; to tremble with fear
Ibrahim (AS) and the Angels
فَلَمَّا دَخَلُوا عَلَيهِ قَالُوا سَلَاماً قَالَ إنَّا مِنكُم وَاجِلُون "When they entered upon him and said: 'Peace', he said: 'Indeed we are afraid of you.'" (Al-Ḥijr 15:52)
Ibrahim used وَاجِلُون (plural noun/ism fāʿil) rather than the verb وَجِلنَا. This is significant:
Noun vs Verb — Balāghah Insight
When a noun (ism fāʿil) is used where a verb could have been: - The noun implies the quality is more inherent, deep, and intensive (mubālaghah element) - Contrast: وَجِلنَا (we felt fear momentarily) vs وَاجِلُون (we are the ones who are fearful — deeply, inherently)
This is studied in balāghah (rhetoric) — when the choice of noun over verb conveys heightened meaning.
7. المبني للمجهول — Passive Voice in Arabic
Forming the passive (māḍī): First vowel → ḍammah; last vowel before the final radical → kasrah: - قَرَأَ → قُرِئَ - كَتَبَ → كُتِبَ - ضَرَبَ → ضُرِبَ
Forming the passive (muḍāriʿ): First letter → ḍammah; penultimate letter → fatḥah: - يَضرِبُ → يُضرَبُ - تَتلُو → تُتلَى (with weak letter changes)
Arabic Passive Cannot Name the Doer
In English: "The book was read by Ahmad" — naming the doer is allowed.
In Arabic passive: this construction is impossible. Once you use passive voice, the doer is completely removed from the sentence. You cannot say "by X" in Arabic passive.
This is why the verb is called مَجهُول (unknown/ignorant) — the doer is unknown/unnamed.
Naib al-fāʿil (نَائِب الفَاعِل): The mafʿūl bih from the active sentence becomes the naib al-fāʿil in the passive: - Active: ضَرَبَ أَحمَدُ الكِتَابَ (Ahmad beat the book — الكِتَابُ = mafʿūl) - Passive: ضُرِبَ الكِتَابُ (the book was beaten — الكِتَابُ now = naib al-fāʿil, marfūʿ)
The naib al-fāʿil looks like a fāʿil (marfūʿ) but is semantically still the thing acted upon.
8. Key Lessons from This Session
Summary of Lessons
- Ring composition in Āyat al-Kursī: 9 sentences in mirrored pairs; center = Allāh's knowledge of human choices (the climax).
- The same structure at macro level in all of Sūrat al-Baqarah; center = Kaʿbah as new Qibla for the Muslim ummah.
- هُوَ in لَا إِلَهَ إلَّا هُوَ is a badal of an implied pronoun, not a standard mustasna — because هُوَ is marfūʿ.
- القَيُّوم = the Self-Subsisting Sustainer; فَيعُول pattern; exclusive to Allāh. قَيِّم is the human-usable equivalent.
- مِثَال الوَاوِي verbs: if ʿayn al-fiʿl has i-a pattern, wāw is retained in muḍāriʿ.
- Arabic passive cannot name the doer — unlike English.
- ما المصدرية الظرفية: converts verb into maṣdar AND gives time/duration information.
- Using a noun (وَاجِلُون) instead of a verb (وَجِلنَا) implies greater intensity — a balāghah principle.
Next session: difference between سِنَة and نَوم; sentence 5 of Āyat al-Kursī.