Selections from the Glorious Quran — Study Session 15
Overview
The main topics covered in this session are:
- مَا المَصدَرِيَّة vs أَن المَصدَرِيَّة — comparison; both create maṣdar muʾawwal
- لَام التَّقوِيَة (Lām al-Taqwiyah) — the lam of strengthening; when derivatives need help taking a mafʿūl
- رَجَعَ / رَدَّ — intransitive (return yourself) vs transitive (return something); different maṣdars; passive only for transitive
- كَيّ — particle meaning "in order to/so that"; sister of Inna; makes following verb manṣūb
- كَانَ without past tense meaning — two extra uses: absolute certainty; timeless truth
- The Arabic concept of Māḍī — not "past tense" but "certainty/completed action"
- كُنتُم خَيرَ أُمَّة — you ARE the best ummah (condition: amr bilmaʿrūf)
1. مَا المَصدَرِيَّة vs أَن المَصدَرِيَّة
Both مَا and أَن can convert a verb into a maṣdar (maṣdar muʾawwal):
| Particle | Effect on following verb | Example |
|---|---|---|
| أَن | Makes muḍāriʿ manṣūb | أَن تَصُومُوا → أَن تَصُومُوا (manṣūb) |
| مَا المَصدَرِيَّة | No change (verb stays marfūʿ or in its original form) | مَا تَصُومُونَ |
وَأَن تَصُومُوا خَيرٌ لَكُم — "And that you fast is better for you" → أَن + تَصُومُوا (manṣūb by أَن)
مَا صَامُوا (if used as maṣdar mā) → your fasting (maṣdar meaning, no change to verb form)
Both result in a maṣdar muʾawwal — a phrase that acts as a noun/maṣdar in the sentence. But they are not interchangeable: they carry subtle differences in meaning that become apparent in rhetoric and balāghah.
2. لَام التَّقوِيَة — The Lam of Strengthening
لَام التَّقوِيَة (also called لَام الزَّائِدة — extra/redundant lam in some books) is a lam that strengthens the "verbal force" of a derivative word taking a mafʿūl bih.
When Is It Used?
A verb naturally has strong force to take a mafʿūl bih directly. But derivatives (ism fāʿil, maṣdar, mubālaghah, etc.) have weaker force. Two scenarios require lām al-taqwiyah:
Scenario 1: Derivative word taking a mafʿūl bih
زَارَنِي زِيَارَتِي إِيَّاكَ = My visiting you happens (using iyyā because Ka needs support)
Alternatively: زِيَارَتِي لَكَ — the lam strengthens the bond between the maṣdar and its mafʿūl
قُل هَل أُنَبِّئُكُم بِشَرٍّ مِن ذَلِكَ مَثُوبَةً عِندَ اللهِ مَن لَّعَنَهُ اللهُ... — illustrative
Or the classic example: إنَّهُ لِقَولُ رَسُولٍ كَرِيم — the ism fāʿil قَول with the lam
Scenario 2: Mafʿūl bih brought before certain words Some verbs/derivatives cannot sustain their mafʿūl bih being placed before them without the lam helping maintain the grammatical connection.
When is it optional vs required? - With verbs: lam of taqwiyah is generally optional when the mafʿūl comes before - With derivatives (maṣdar, ism fāʿil, mubālaghah): lam may become required or is at least more natural
Quranic Examples
اللَّهُ أَعلَمُ بِمَن ضَلَّ — بِـ here is lam taqwiyah-like; the ism tafḍīl أَعلَم taking its mafʿūl via بِـ
إِنَّ اللهَ لَسَمِيعٌ عَلِيم — the lam at the start of the khabar is lam muzālaqa (emphasis), not taqwiyah; similar function, different name
3. رَجَعَ — Two Uses
| Use | Type | Maṣdar | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intransitive | Action limited to doer | رُجُوع | رَجَعَ مُوسَى إِلَى قَومِهِ — Mūsā returned to his people |
| Transitive | Returns something else | رَجع / إِرجَاع | لَم تَرُدَّ كِتَابِي بَعدَ شَهرٍ — You haven't returned my book after a month |
Passive voice is only possible with the transitive usage (because passive requires a mafʿūl bih — a "victim" to tell the story about). Intransitive رَجَعَ has no victim, so no passive is possible.
4. كَيّ — In Order To / So That
كَيّ = "so that; in order to" — a particle with three properties: 1. It is a sister of Inna (some grammarians' view) — it takes ism + khabar 2. More commonly: it makes the following muḍāriʿ manṣūb (like أَن) 3. It indicates purpose (like لِأَن, لِ + أَن)
رَدَدنَاكَ إِلَى أُمِّكَ كَي تَقَرَّ عَينُهَا — "We returned you to your mother so that her eyes might be cooled" (Ṭāhā 20:40)
قَرَّت عَينُهَا = her eyes became cool = she was delighted/at peace. A common Arabic expression for joy.
5. كَانَ Without Past Tense Meaning
Critical insight: In Arabic, the verb forms مَاضٍ and مُضَارِع do NOT directly map to "past tense" and "present/future tense" in the English sense.
Māḍī = an action that is certain / completed; something with no doubt about it Muḍāriʿ = an action that is ongoing / potential (present, future, habitual)
This is why the duʿāʾ uses māḍī: جَزَاكَ اللهُ خَيراً — literally "Allah rewarded you" but meaning "may Allāh reward you" — the reward is framed as SO certain it is expressed as already done.
Kāna of Absolute Certainty (Kāna al-Daʾimiyyah)
When كَانَ appears without implying "was" — instead emphasizing absolute, undeniable truth:
وَكَانَ اللهُ غَفُوراً رَحِيما — "And Allāh is (ever) Forgiving, Most Merciful"
Not "Allāh WAS forgiving" — rather: "Allāh IS Forgiving — this is a timeless, absolute truth stated with maximum certainty."
كُنتُم خَيرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخرِجَت لِلنَّاسِ — "You ARE the best community raised for mankind"
Not "you WERE the best" — the كَانَ here does not imply this is in the past. It is an absolute statement. The condition: doing amr bilmaʿrūf and nahy ʿan almunkar.
Māḍī for Events of Qiyāmah
Allāh often describes Qiyāmah events in māḍī even though they haven't happened yet — because they are so certain they are expressed as accomplished facts:
إِذَا زُلزِلَتِ الأَرضُ زِلزَالَهَا — "When the earth is shaken with its (final) earthquake" — māḍī passive of زَلزَلَ
6. كُنتُم خَيرَ أُمَّة — The Condition of Being the Best Ummah
كُنتُم خَيرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخرِجَت لِلنَّاسِ تَأمُرُونَ بِالمَعرُوفِ وَتَنهَونَ عَنِ المُنكَرِ وَتُؤمِنُونَ بِاللهِ "You are the best community raised up for mankind. You enjoin what is right, forbid what is wrong, and believe in Allāh."
Not a Gift — a Condition
Being خَيرَ أُمَّة (the best community) is not a permanent title granted by birth or name. It is conditional on: 1. أَمرٌ بِالمَعرُوف — enjoining what is good (on whatever scale one is capable of) 2. نَهيٌ عَنِ المُنكَر — forbidding what is wrong 3. إِيمَانٌ بِاللهِ — belief in Allāh (mentioned last because it is the foundation without which neither 1 nor 2 is accepted)
The duty of daʿwah is mentioned BEFORE iman — not because iman is secondary, but because iman is the condition that makes the first two meaningful.
7. Vocabulary Summary
| Word | Root | Meaning | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| حَبلُ الله | — | Rope of Allāh | Quran and Sunnah (per hadith) |
| زُلفَى | ز-ل-ف | nearness; closeness | Related to زَلَفَ (to be near) |
| شَفَا | — | brink/edge | Dual: شَفَوَان |
| رَجَعَ يَرجِعُ | ر-ج-ع | to return (intransitive) | No passive possible |
| رَدَّ يَرُدُّ | ر-د-د | to return something (transitive) | Passive: رُدَّ |
| قَرَّت عَينُهَا | — | her eyes were cooled = she was delighted | Arabic idiom |
| أُخرِجَت | خ-ر-ج | was raised/brought out | Passive of Form IV أَخرَجَ |
8. Key Lessons from This Session
Summary of Lessons
- مَا المَصدَرِيَّة creates a maṣdar muʾawwal without making the following verb manṣūb (unlike أَن).
- لَام التَّقوِيَة: when a derivative (maṣdar, ism fāʿil) takes a mafʿūl bih with weaker verbal force, lam strengthens the connection.
- رَجَعَ (intransitive) vs رَدَّ (transitive) — passive only for the transitive form.
- مَاضٍ ≠ past tense: māḍī = certainty/completion; used for Qiyāmah events and in duʿāʾ for absolute certainty.
- كَانَ can express timeless truths without any past tense implication.
- Being خَيرَ أُمَّة is conditional — not a birthright but earned through amr bilmaʿrūf.
Next session: Lesson 5 — Story of Nūḥ (AS) and the Flood.