Surah An-Noor — Study Session 7
Overview
The main topics covered in this session are:
- Correction from previous session: ahana/yuhinu (Form IV, to disgrace) — analysis of weak letter in majzūm
- Tafseer of Ayahs 36–37: people who glorify Allah in mosques; rijāl undistracted by trade
- Grammar: Rijalun — two meanings; separated fāʿil far from its verb (distance in sentence)
- Grammar: Lahā vs. Alhā — Form I vs. Form IV (transitive/intransitive)
- Grammar: Nūn al-wiqāya — protective nūn before yāʾ al-mutakallim
- Grammar: Repeating Lā for emphasis — lā X wa Lā Y vs. lā X wa Y
- Grammar: Iqāma maṣdar — Form IV ajwaf; taʾ marbūṭa drops when it is muḍāf
- Grammar: Dagger alif (alif khanjāriyya) — Quranic orthography sign for long fatḥa
- Grammar: Yahafūna yawman — two grammatical opinions: naʿt or ḥāl
1. Correction — Ahana Yuhinu (Form IV, Ahwaf)
أَهَانَ / يُهِينُ — Form IV from root ه-و-ن (to be easy/light → to humiliate/disgrace).
In the couplet about the mountain goat striking a rock: يُهِنهَا = makes it majzūm: - يُهِينُ majzūm → the alif (weak letter) drops → يُهِنْ + suffix هَا → يُهِنهَا
"The mountain goat strikes the rock thinking it will weaken/disgrace it — but it only weakens its own horns."
2. Rijalun — Far From Its Verb
In Ayah 37, رِجَالٌ (the fāʿil) is separated from its verb يُسَبِّحُ by the entire Ayah 36 content. This is a complex sentence structure where:
- The verb يُسَبِّحُ appears in Ayah 36
- The fāʿil رِجَالٌ appears at the beginning of Ayah 37
This separation causes legitimate grammatical disagreement among scholars on the iʿrāb — a reminder that even expert grammarians may differ on complex Quranic sentences.
Rijalun — Two Meanings
- رِجَال = plural of رَجُل (man/person) — the usual meaning
- رِجَال = plural of رَاجِل (one on foot, not mounted) — related to رِجل (leg). This second meaning appears in the Quran during discussion of prayer during fear/travel.
3. Lahā vs. Alhā — Form I vs. Form IV
| Verb | Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| لَهَا / يَلهُو | Form I | To distract oneself, to amuse oneself |
| أَلهَى / يُلهِي | Form IV | To distract someone else (transitive) |
أَلهَتنِي مُبَارَاةُ كُرَةِ القَدَمِ — The soccer match distracted me. (ألهى = Form IV, transitive)
Modern Vocabulary
- مَلهَى (pl. مَلَاهٍ) = place of entertainment, nightclub
- مَلهَاة = comedy (drama); opposite of مَأسَاة (tragedy)
4. Nūn al-Wiqāya — The Protective Nūn
نُون الوِقَايَة (the nūn of protection) is inserted before يَاء المُتَكَلِّم (the first-person suffix ي) after certain verbs and particles.
Purpose: to protect the verb from being pulled down in vowel quality by the yāʾ, which tends to cause kasra on the preceding consonant:
Without wiqāya: أَلهَانِي would be confused
With wiqāya: أَلهَانِيَ / in verb form: inserts نِ before ي → يُلهِيَنِي
The nūn appears between the verb and the yāʾ suffix so the verb's own ending (fataḥ/ḍamma) is not corrupted.
5. Repeating Lā for Emphasis
In Ayah 37, لَا is used twice:
لَا تُلهِيهِم تِجَارَةٌ وَلَا بَيعٌ — "Neither trade nor sale distracts them."
Repeated Lā = Stronger Emphasis
- لَا تُلهِيهِم تِجَارَةٌ وَبَيعٌ (lā once) — trade and sale do not distract them
- لَا تُلهِيهِم تِجَارَةٌ وَلَا بَيعٌ (lā repeated) — neither trade nor sale [each independently] distracts them
The repeated لَا isolates each element and strengthens the denial — a figure of speech studied in balāgha.
6. Iqāma — Form IV Ajwaf Maṣdar; Taʾ Drops When Muḍāf
أَقَامَ / يُقِيمُ = Form IV, ajwaf (root: ق-و-م). The maṣdar follows the rule for Form IV ajwaf:
Original maṣdar: إِقَامَة (with taʾ marbūṭa — compensatory for the weak letter)
Taʾ Marbūṭa Drops in Muḍāf
When the maṣdar إِقَامَة becomes the muḍāf (first part of an iḍāfa construction), the taʾ marbūṭa is dropped:
- إِقَامَة الصَّلَاة → إِقَامَ الصَّلَاةِ
This also occurs with إِتَاء / إِيتَاء (giving zakāh) in the same Ayah.
7. Dagger Alif (Alif Khanjāriyya) — Quranic Orthography
الأَلِف الخَنجَرِيَّة (the dagger alif) is a small alif written above (or to the side of) a letter in Quranic script:
| Position | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Directly above a letter | The alif is not written but pronounced as long fatḥa; the wāw or letter below is only a "seat" | الصَّلَاة — the wāw is a chair for the alif, not pronounced |
| To the left/side of a letter | Both the letter and the alif are pronounced | تِجَارَة — the alif is pronounced separately |
Indo-Pak vs. Saudi Muṣḥaf
In the Indo-Pak muṣḥaf edition, the alif in words like تِجَارَة is written as a full alif. In the Saudi edition, a dagger alif is used. Both represent the same pronunciation.
8. Yahafūna Yawman — Naʿt or Ḥāl?
يَخَافُونَ يَومًا — "they fear a day on which hearts and eyes will be overturned" — has two grammatical analyses:
| Opinion | Grammatical Role | Case |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Naʿt #2 for رِجَالٌ | Marfūʿ (fī maḥall al-rafʿ) |
| 2 | Ḥāl for the ḍamīr هِم (referring to rijāl) | Manṣūb (fī maḥall al-naṣb) |
Meaning is the same either way: those undistracted people are ones who live in fear of the Day of Judgment.
9. Form V: Takallab
تَقَلَّبَ / يَتَقَلَّبُ — Form V from root ق-ل-ب, meaning to be turned over, to be overturned, to fluctuate. Maṣdar: تَقَلُّب.
Applied in تَتَقَلَّبُ فِيهِ القُلُوبُ وَالأَبصَارُ — "hearts and eyes will be turned over/overturned" — describing the terror of the Day of Judgment where hearts and eyes will spin from fear and from looking frantically toward Jannah and Jahannam.
10. Key Lessons
Summary of Lessons
- Form IV weak verbs — when majzūm, the weak letter drops: يُهِينُ → يُهِنْ.
- Alhā (Form IV) is transitive — it distracts someone else; lahā (Form I) = intransitive.
- Nūn al-wiqāya protects the verb from the vowel-lowering effect of يَاء المُتَكَلِّم.
- Repeating لَا before each element of an ʿaṭf construction adds independent emphasis to each.
- Form IV ajwaf maṣdar (إِقَامَة) loses its taʾ marbūṭa when it becomes muḍāf.
- Dagger alif (alif khanjāriyya) above a wāw = that wāw is only a chair; only the long fatḥa is pronounced.
Session continues with the grammatical analysis of the fear of the Day of Judgment and moves toward completing Ayah 37.