Surah An-Noor — Study Session 8
Overview
The main topics covered in this session are:
- Grammar: Five types of man — conditional, interrogative, relative, and two advanced types
- Grammar: Omission of ḥarf al-jarr (isqāt al-ḥarf) — majrūr becomes manṣūb; Basrī vs. Kūfī schools
- Grammar: Bā' and its 14 meanings — a survey of the most common meanings
- Grammar: Ẓanna and its sisters (verbs of the heart) — ḥasiba, wajada; taking 2 mafʿūl bihi
- Grammar: Wajada — two distinct uses (find physically vs. find/consider)
- Grammar: Form II nāqiṣ maṣdar pattern — extra taʾ marbūṭa when third radical is weak/hamza
- Grammar: Maṣdar used as ism mafʿūl — the maṣdar can take on the meaning of the thing produced
- Vocabulary: Quranic words for deeds that yield no benefit — seven distinct metaphors
- Context: The second parable (Ayah 39 — mirage/sarāb) and its deeper spiritual meaning
1. Five Types of Man
| Type | Arabic Name | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | مَن الشَّرطِيَّة | Conditional instrument (jazim) | مَن يَعمَل سُوءًا يُجزَ بِهِ |
| 2 | مَن الاستِفهَامِيَّة | Interrogative (only for intelligent beings) | مَن جَاءَ؟ — Who came? |
| 3 | مَن المَوصُولَة | Relative pronoun (who) — needs ʿāʾid | الَّذِي جَاءَ or مَن جَاءَ |
| 4–5 | مَن النَّكِرَة (two sub-types) | Advanced; less common | Covered in higher-level grammar |
Man vs. Mā
مَن = for intelligent beings (humans, jinn, angels). مَا = for non-intelligent things. BUT in taghlib or for rhetorical effect (e.g. referring to Allah with مَا), the rules can be inverted — a sign of balāgha.
2. Omission of Ḥarf al-Jarr — Isqāṭ al-Ḥarf
إسقاط الحرف (isqāṭ al-ḥarf) — when a preposition is omitted from a sentence, the noun that was majrūr becomes manṣūb (to "remember" that a preposition was once there):
Original: اختارَ مُوسَى مِن قَومِهِ سَبعِينَ رَجُلًا — Musa chose from his people 70 men. Without مِن: مِن قَومِهِ → قَومَهُ (manṣūb, because the preposition was dropped)
Basrī vs. Kūfī Schools
This grammatical concept is described differently by the two major Arabic grammar schools: - Basrī school (البصريون): calls the dropped preposition نَزعُ الخَافِض ("removing the lowerer") - Kūfī school (الكوفيون): calls it إسقاط الحرف ("dropping the particle") Both describe the same phenomenon — terminology only differs. Most classical grammar books follow the Basrī school.
3. Bā' — Selected Meanings (from 14 Total)
| # | Name | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | استِعَانَة | Instrument/means | كَتَبتُ بِالقَلَمِ — I wrote with a pen |
| 2 | تَعدِيَة | Makes intransitive verb transitive | ذَهَبَ بِأُمِّي — He took my mother (away with him) |
| 3 | تَبعِيض | Some of | امسَحُوا بِرُؤُوسِكُم — Wipe part of your heads |
| 4 | مُصَاحَبَة | With, companionship | خَرَجتُ بِهِ — I went out with him |
| 5 | ظَرفِيَّة | Time or place (like fī) | وَاللَّهُ نَصَرَكُم بِبَدر — at Badr |
| 6 | سَبَبِيَّة | Cause, reason for | بِمَا كَسَبَت أَيدِيكُم — because of what your hands earned |
| 7 | بِمَعنى فِي | In (like fī) | كَسَرَابٍ بِقِيعَة — like a mirage in a plain |
Bā' in Ayah 39
بِقِيعَة — the bā' here has the meaning of فِي (in): "like a mirage in a plain/field."
4. Ẓanna and Its Sisters — Verbs of the Heart
أَفعَال القُلُوب (verbs of the heart/mind) denote mental acts and take two mafʿūl bihi (originally mubtadāʾ and khabar):
| Verb | Root | Meaning | Two Mafʿūl |
|---|---|---|---|
| ظَنَّ | ظ-ن-ن | To think, suppose | ✓ |
| حَسِبَ | ح-س-ب | To consider, assume | ✓ |
| وَجَدَ (sense 2) | و-ج-د | To find [X to be Y] | ✓ |
| عَلِمَ | ع-ل-م | To know (mental) | ✓ |
Wajada — Two Distinct Uses
- To find physically (lost and found) → takes 1 mafʿūl bihi
وَجَدتُ كِتَابِي — I found my book (it was lost) - To find/consider (= ẓanna) → takes 2 mafʿūl bihi
وَجَدَ الكِتَابَ مُفِيدًا — He found the book useful
In Ayah 39: وَوَجَدَ اللَّهَ عِندَهُ — has been analysed both ways by grammarians; meaning is effectively the same.
5. Form II Nāqiṣ/Hamza — Maṣdar Pattern Change
For Form II verbs, the normal maṣdar pattern is تَفعِيل (e.g. تَعلِيم from عَلَّمَ). BUT when the third radical is weak (wāw/yāʾ) or hamza, the maṣdar takes an extra تَاء مَربُوطَة:
| Verb | Third Radical | Maṣdar |
|---|---|---|
| عَلَّمَ | م (strong) | تَعلِيم |
| رَبَّى | و/ي (weak) | تَربِيَة |
| وَفَّى | ي (weak) | تَوفِيَة |
| هَنَّأَ | ء (hamza) | تَهنِئَة |
Extra Tāʾ Marbūṭa Rule
Form II verbs whose third root letter is weak or hamza → maṣdar ends in ـِيَة (not ـِيل). Memorise these as they are extremely common (tawbiyah, tawfiyah, tahniah, tarbiyah, etc.).
6. Maṣdar Used as Ism Mafʿūl
In some words, the maṣdar can take on the meaning of the ism mafʿūl (the thing produced by the action):
| Maṣdar | Primary Meaning | Used as Ism Mafʿūl |
|---|---|---|
| دَرس | The act of studying | A lesson (= مَدرُوس) |
| حِسَاب | The act of counting | The reckoning (= مَحسُوب) |
| أَكل | The act of eating | Food (= مَأكُول) |
| خَلق | The act of creating | The creation (= مَخلُوق) |
| لَفظ | The act of utterance | A word/utterance (= مَلفُوظ) |
7. Ḥattā — With a Following Sentence
حَتَّى (ḥattā) has multiple uses. In Ayah 39 it appears as ḥattā ibtidāʾiyya — a ḥattā that introduces a following sentence (not a noun):
- Normal ḥattā: حَتَّى الصَّبَاح (until morning — noun after it)
- Ḥattā + sentence: حَتَّى إِذَا جَاءَهُ لَم يَجِدهُ شَيئًا — "until when he came to it, he found nothing"
The sentence after ḥattā ibtidāʾiyya is called jumlah mubtadaʾa — it is a fresh start without grammatical connection to what came before it.
8. Quranic Words for Deeds That Yield No Benefit
| Arabic | Meaning | Quran Reference |
|---|---|---|
| سَرَاب | Mirage — something that looks real but disappears | Surah An-Noor 39 |
| بَوَار | Utter destruction, useless thing nobody wants | Surah Fāṭir |
| زَبَد | Foam/scum on floodwater — floats then disappears | Surah Al-Raʿd 17 |
| غُثَاء | Debris carried by floodwater | Surah Al-Muʾminūn |
| هَبَاء | Fine dust particles visible only in a beam of light | Surah Al-Furqān |
| هَشِيم | Trampled hay/broken crop remnants | Surah Al-Qamar |
| صَدَد | Broken, discarded old things | — |
| جِذع | Palm trunk after cutting — useless wood | Surah Ṭā Hā |
A Gallery of Worthlessness
Allah uses different imagery throughout the Quran for deeds that are ultimately futile. The sarāb (mirage) is unique: it actively deceives — it appears to promise reward but delivers nothing. This is why it is used for the kāfir's deeds.
9. Key Lessons
Summary of Lessons
- Man has at least 5 types; man al-shartiyya is jazim (makes both verbs majzūm).
- When a ḥarf al-jarr is dropped, the majrūr noun becomes manṣūb; Basrī vs. Kūfī schools name this differently.
- Bā' has 14+ meanings; most common: instrument, taʿdiyya, tabʿīḍ, accompaniment, fī (place/time).
- Wajada in the "consider/find" sense = ẓanna-sister, takes 2 mafʿūl bihi; in "find physically" sense = 1 mafʿūl bihi.
- Form II nāqiṣ/hamza verbs → maṣdar ends in ـِيَة (e.g. tawfiyah, tarbiyah).
- Some maṣdars double as ism mafʿūl in meaning (hisāb, dars, akl, khalq, lafẓ).
Next session will continue with Ayah 39 (full iʿrāb) and begin Ayah 40.