Selections from the Glorious Quran — Study Session 11

Overview

The main topics covered in this session are:

لهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ — khabar before mubtadaʾ for exclusive emphasis
شِبه الجُملة can never be a khabar by itself — always implies an omitted verb
ṣilat al-mawṣūl as shibh-jūmlah — the implied yakūnu and how to find the ʿāʾid
اسم الإشارة — deeper breakdown: hādhā = hā + dhā; dhālika = dhā + lām + kāf
مَن ذَا الَّذِي يَشفَعُ عِندَهُ — analysis of sentence 4 of Āyat al-Kursī
أَحَاطَ — to surround (physical) or comprehend (abstract)
مَشِيئَة vs شَيء — both from شَاءَ; direct vs permissive will
وَسِعَ — to accommodate/encompass; counting rules
يَؤُودُ — to burden/tire
عَلِيّ وعَظِيم — patterns and permanence of Allāh's attributes

1. لهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ — Khabar Before Mubtadaʾ

لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الأَرض "To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the Earth"

لهُ = khabar; مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ = mubtadaʾ

The khabar has come before the mubtadaʾ — this emphasises exclusive ownership: to Allāh alone belongs everything. Compare: - مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ لَهُ = whatever is in heaven belongs to Him (emphasis on the things) - لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ = to Him belongs whatever is in heaven (emphasis on to Him — exclusive)

2. شِبه الجُملة — Can Never Be a Khabar by Itself

A shibh-jūmlah (quasi-sentence: a preposition phrase or ẓarf) can never itself be the khabar. There is always an omitted verb (yakūnu / mawjūdun or similar) that the shibh-jūmlah attaches to as a mutaʿalliq.

When we say أَحمَدُ فِي البَيت, the real underlying structure is:

أَحمَدُ يَسكُنُ / مَوجُودٌ فِي البَيت — Ahmad is [present/residing] in the house

The "is" (yakūnu/istawā) is omitted. The shibh-jūmlah gives the circumstances of that omitted verb.

In iʿrāb: we say "the shibh-jūmlah is connected to an omitted verb (yakūnu/istaqarra)" not that it is the khabar directly.

3. ṣilat al-Mawṣūl as Shibh-Jūmlah — The ʿĀʾid Problem

When the ṣilat al-mawṣūl is a shibh-jūmlah (a prepositional phrase), there is no visible pronoun to serve as the ʿāʾid. This is resolved by the same omitted-verb principle:

اللَّهُ لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ — the مَا = ism mawṣūl; the ṣilah = فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ (shibh-jūmlah)

The ṣilah is reconstructed as: يَستَقِرُّ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ (things that exist in the heavens). The fāʿil of that omitted verb (the hidden هِيَ = they) serves as the ʿāʾid connecting back to مَا.

Scenario	ʿĀʾid Role	Omitted?
Ṣilah = full verbal sentence	Fāʿil (pronoun within verb)	Cannot be omitted
Ṣilah = mafʿūl pronoun	Mafʿūl bih	Can be omitted (usually is)
Ṣilah = shibh-jūmlah	Fāʿil of implied yakūnu	Implied but understood

4. اسم الإشارة — Deeper Breakdown

هَذَا = هَا + ذَا

هَا = ḥarf tanbīh — a particle to grab the listener's attention (related to the vocative hā)
ذَا = the actual ismu ishārah for something near
Together: "Look here — this"

In Quranic orthography: هَذَا is written with a fatḥah (هَذَا) but read as hādhā (long ā). The dagger alif (ألف خنجرية) in the muṣḥaf marks this.

ذَلِكَ = ذَا + لَامُ البُعد + كَافُ الخِطَاب

ذَا = the actual ishu ishārah (for far things, this becomes "ذ")
لَام = signals distance (the thing is far)
كَاف = indicates who is being addressed (kāf al-khiṭāb)

The kāf changes based on addressee (taṣrīf — conjugation):

Addressee	Form
One male	ذَلِكَ
One female	ذَلِكِ
Group	ذَلِكُم
Group (f.)	ذَلِكُنَّ

This change in kāf is optional — Allāh uses ذَلِكَ in the Quran even when addressing all of humanity.

أُولَئِكَ = أُولَاء + كَافُ الخِطَاب

أُولَاء = the plural ismu ishārah (for pointing at multiple things/people far away)
كَاف = same kāf al-khiṭāb

The hā at the start of هَؤُلَاء (near plural) = hā tanbīh (attention particle), same as in هَذَا.

5. Sentence 4 — مَن ذَا الَّذِي يَشفَعُ عِندَهُ

مَن ذَا الَّذِي يَشفَعُ عِندَهُ إلَّا بِإِذنِه "Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission?"

مَن ذَا = "who is this?" — مَن (interrogative ism) + ذَا (ismu ishārah). A rhetorical question — there is no one.

الَّذِي يَشفَعُ = ism mawṣūl + ṣilah (verbal sentence); ʿāʾid = the hidden هُوَ in يَشفَعُ

إِلَّا بِإِذنِه = "except with His permission" — the only way intercession is possible is if Allāh Himself permits it.

شَفَعَ — Root

شَفَعَ يَشفَعُ = to intercede; always takes a preposition (فِي). شَفَاعَة = intercession. شَافِع → plural شَافِعُون (derived adjective for male humans → can take SMP).

The word شَفع also means "even number" (vs وِتر = odd). Why? Intercession takes a case that has two sides (you are the third one who joins two parties together to make peace) — but this connection is uncertain.

6. Sentence 5 — يَعلَمُ مَا بَينَ أَيدِيهِم

يَعلَمُ مَا بَينَ أَيدِيهِم وَمَا خَلفَهُم "He knows what is before them and what is behind them"

بَينَ أَيدِيهِم = "between their hands" = Arabic idiom for in front of them. When something is held between your hands, it is in front of you.

مَا = ism mawṣūl; بَينَ أَيدِيهِم = ṣilah (shibh-jūmlah); ʿāʾid = hidden fāʿil in implied يَستَقِرُّ

7. أَحَاطَ — Surround / Comprehend

أَحَاطَ يُحِيطُ (Form IV from ح-و-ط) = - Physical meaning: to surround something (e.g. a wall around a house — حَائِط) - Abstract meaning: to comprehend fully, to encompass with knowledge

Usage: "They cannot encompass anything of His knowledge" — the abstract meaning (to know thoroughly).

8. مَشِيئَة vs شَيء — Two Derivatives of شَاءَ

Word	Type	Meaning
شَيء	Maṣdar	Thing / something (the result of being willed)
مَشِيئَة	Maṣdar mīmī	Will / direct wish; something happening as an explicit command

When something happens as a direct command of Allāh → مَشِيئَة. When something happens within Allāh's permissive system → the system allows it (permissive will).

9. وَسِعَ — To Accommodate / Encompass

وَسِعَ يَسَعُ (miṣāl wāwī — wāw dropped in muḍāriʿ) = to be large enough to hold; to accommodate; to encompass

وَسِعَ كُرسِيُّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرض — "His Throne encompasses the heavens and the Earth"

The Kursī of Allāh is vast enough to "accommodate" (hold within) both the heavens and Earth — like a car that seats 6 passengers.

10. يَؤُودُ — To Burden

آدَ يَؤُودُ = to burden, to tire, to weigh down

وَلَا يَؤُودُهُ حِفظُهُمَا — "And their preservation does not burden Him"

حِفظ = preservation/protection. حَافِظ = the one who preserves; in Islamic context, one who has memorised the Quran. The Quran says it is Allāh who preserves/protects the Quran (حفاظ الذكر).

11. الْعَلِيُّ الْعَظِيم — The Most High, The Most Great

عَلِيّ from عَلَا يَعلُو (to be high, to rise above). Pattern فَعِيل → permanent quality.

عَظِيم from عَظُمَ يَعظُمُ — Pattern فَعُلَ (like كَرُمَ) — used for permanent inherent qualities that are not time-bound: - كَرَمَ → كَرِيم (nobility — either you have it or you don't) - عَظُمَ → عَظِيم (greatness — not a momentary quality)

12. Key Lessons from This Session

Summary of Lessons

Khabar before mubtadaʾ = exclusive emphasis on the khabar (to Him alone).
A shibh-jūmlah is never the khabar itself — there is always an omitted verb (yakūnu/istaqarra).
When the ṣilat al-mawṣūl is a shibh-jūmlah, reconstruct the implied yakūnu — its fāʿil is the ʿāʾid.
هَذَا = hā (attention) + dhā (actual pointer); ذَلِكَ = dhā + lām (distance) + kāf (addressee).
أَحَاطَ = surround (physical) / comprehend (abstract).
مَشِيئَة = direct will; شَيء = a thing that exists within Allāh's permissive will.
عَظُمَ on pattern فَعُلَ = permanent inherent quality (like كَرُمَ).

Next session: the two āyāt following Āyat al-Kursī; introduction of new vocabulary from Sūrat al-Baqarah.