What a good … !
ن ِۡع َم
ا َ ُٓا َ َ َۡ ُ َ ٗ ِۡ َُۡۡ ا
٤٤ إِنا وجدنَٰه صابِر ِۚا نِع َم ٱلعبد إِنهۥ أواب
َ ُ ُ ۡ َ ۡ َ َ ُ َ َٰ َ َ ۡ َ َ َ
We found him patient. What an excellent servant! He was obedient.
٧٥ جيبون
ِ ولقد نادىنا نوح فلنِعم ٱلم
And Noah called out to Us, and We are the Best of responders.
ۡ
What a foul/ bad ..! بِئ َس
ُ َ ۡ َ ۡ َ ا َ َ َٰ َ ٓ ُ ُّ َ ۡ َ ُ ا
١٢٦ اب ٱنلارٍِۖ وبِئس ٱلم ِصي
ِ ثم أضطرهۥ إِِل عذ
ُ َ ۡ َ ۡ ََ َُ َ ۡ ُُ َ َا
then I will consign him to the punishment of the Fire; how miserable the destiny!”
٢٠٦ فحسبهۥ جهنم وۡل ِئس ٱل ِمهاد
Sufficient for him is Hellfire, and how wretched is the resting place.
َ ۡ
Like )Example( )مِثل ) َمثل
ُ ۡ َ ۡ َ َۡ ا َ َُ ا ُۡ ا
وف
ٰۚ ِ ولهن مِثل ٱَّلِي علي ِهن بِٱلمعر
And due to the wives is similar to what is expected of them, according to what is
ۡ َٓ َ َٓۡ َََۡ َ ٗ ََا
ُت َما َح ۡو ََلۥ ََُُ ۡ َ ََ ا
reasonable.
مثلهم كمث ِل ٱَّلِي ٱستوقد نارا فلما أضاء
Their likeness is like that of a person who kindled a fire; when it illuminated all around
him,
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َ
Or أو
ۡ َ َ ۡ َ َ َٰ َ ُ ُ َٓ َۡ َ َ ِ ِ َ ا
ب مِن ٱلسماءِ فِيهِ ظلمت ورعد وبرق ٖ ِ أو كصي
ٗ َ ۡ َ ُّ َ َ ۡ َ َ َ ۡ َ َ َ َ َٰ َ ۡ َ ۢ ِ ُ ُ ُ ُ ۡ َ َ ُ ا
Or like a rainstorm from the sky, in which is darkness, and thunder, and lightning.
ِۚ ثم قست قلوبكم ِمن بع ِد ذل ِك ف ِِه كٱۡل ِجارة ِ أو أشد قسوة
Then after that your hearts hardened. They were as rocks, or even harder.
َ
Or ? أم
َ َُ َۡ َ َ َۡ َُ ُ َ ََ ا
٨٠ أم تقولون لَع ٱّللِ ما َّل تعلمون
َ ُ َ َ ۡ ُ َ َُ ْ َُ َۡ َ َ ُ ُ َۡ
or are you saying about Allah what you do not know?”
َُۡ َٰ َ ُ
أم ت ِريدون أن تسـلوا رسولكم كما سئِل موِس مِن قبل
Or do you want to question your Messenger as Moses was questioned before?
Some/ part (of) َب ۡعض
َ ۡ ُ َ ُ ۡ َ ۡ ُ ُ َ ۡ َ َ َ َٰ َ ُ ۡ ا
َٰٱّلل ٱل َم ۡوِت َح
ِ ضها ِۚ كذل ِك ي ِ ٱَضبوه بِبع ِ فقلنا
ۡت يَ ۡو ًما أَ ۡو َب ۡع َض يَومُ قَ َال َۡل ۡث
We said, “Strike him with part of it. Thus does Allah bring the dead to life,
ٍٖۖ ِ
He said, “I have tarried for a day, or part of a day.”
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ُ
Every/ each/ all ك
َ ۡ َ ِ ُ َٰ َ َ َ َ َ َ ۡ َ ُ َ ا ا
٢٥٩ ك َشءٖ ق ِديرِ قال أعلم أن ٱّلل لَع
ِ ُ َٰ َ َ ۡ َ ۡ ُ ا
he said, “I know that Allah has power over all things.”
ٗك َج َبل ِم ِۡن ُه ان ُج ۡزءا
ٖ ِ ثم ٱجعل لَع
then place a part on each hill,
ََِ
Perhaps/ may لعل
ُ ُ َ ََ ََ ُۡ َ ََا ا
ًون قَريبا
ِ وما يدرِيك لعل ٱلساعة تك
َ َُ ُۡ ۡ ُ ََ ُ ْ اَ َ ا ُ َ ََ ا
And what may make you perceive? Perhaps the Hour is near.
وأ ِطيعوا ٱّلل وٱلرسول لعلكم ترۡحون
And obey Allah and the Messenger, that you may obtain mercy.
Possibly/ may َع َس
ۡكمُ َ َ َ َ َ ۡ َ ُ ْ َ ۡٗ َ َُ َ ۡ ا
وعس أن تكرهوا شيـا وهو خي ل
ُ َ َ َ َ ُ ُّ ْ َ ۡ ٗ َ ُ َ َ ِ ا
But it may be that you dislike something while it is good for you,
ۡكم
ِۚ وعس أن تِبوا شيـا وهو ِش ل
and it may be that you like something while it is bad for you.
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َ
O! )ي َٰـ (يَا
َ ۡ ۡ ُ ُ َِ ُ َ ُ َ ۡ ُ ۡ َ َ ۡ ُ َ َٰ َ ۡ ِ ا
ِ ِ يقوم إِنكم ظلمتم أنفسكم ب
ٱَّتاذِكم ٱلعِجل
َ َٰ ۡ ُ ۡ ُ ۡ َ َٰ ُ َ َٰ َ ُّ ۡ َ َ َ َ ا
“O my people, you have done wrong to yourselves by worshiping the calf.
َٗ ۡ َ َا َ
ِإَوذ قلتم يموِس لن نؤمِن لك حت نرى ٱّلل جهرة
And [recall] when you said, “O Moses, we will never believe you unless we see Allah
َ
َ َيأ ُّي َها اٱَّل
َِين َء َام ُنوا ْ ََّل َت ُقولُوا ْ َرَٰعِنا
outright."
O you who have believed, say not [to Allah's Messenger], "Ra'ina"
ُ َ َ
At/ with/ from دلن، دلى، عِند
َ ا َ ُه ۡم َد َر
ٌ َٰ ج
ِِند ٱّلل
تع
ۡ َ ُ ُ ُۡ
They have different ranks with Allah,
َ
َك َٰ ِظمني َ َ َ
ِۚ ِ ج ِر
ِ إِذِ ٱلقلوب دلى ٱۡلنا
ٗٓأَّلت ۡي َنَٰ ُهم ِمِن ا ُدلناا ٓ أَ ۡج ًرا َع ِظيما
َ ٗ
when the hearts are at the throats, choking them.
ِإَوذا
And then We would have given them from Us a great reward.
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Addendum
Dealing with ماin the Noble Quran
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Types of ما
As we have previously indicated, the Arabic word َماis quite a flexible
word because of the different meanings it can be translated to. In order
to make it easier to work with this word, we will try to work with it in
two different ways. We should first make a distinction between two
major types of ما: Separated and attached.
1) Separated ما
When ماis used separately, it will have one of these three
meanings: negation, ‘what’, or as a relative pronoun. These
meanings are put in an order according to their likelihood to
appear in an aya of the Quran. As you progress more in this
course, and specifically in step 6 (Quranic Grammar), you will
gain more insight on these three meanings of ماand how you
can differentiate between them. Naturally, the context of an aya is
the most major element that shows which meaning of ماis being
used. Therefore, the more you learn, the easier it becomes to
detect which meaning it is.
Not (negation) َما
ُ َ ٓ ََ َۡ َ ُ َ ا
ۡنف َس ُهم وما َيدعون إَِّل أ
َ ُ ۡ َ ۡ ُ َ ُ َ ْٓ ُ َ ََ َ َُ َ ََ
but they deceive not except themselves
كن َكنوا أنفسهم يظلِمون َٰ
ِ وما ظلمونا ول
They did not wrong Us, but they were [only] wronging themselves.
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What (question word) َما
َ ُ ۡ ََ ۡ َ ُ َۡ َ َ َ َ َ َ َ َا
قال ما منعك أَّل تسجد إِذ أمرتك
He said, “What prevented you from prostrating when I have commanded you?”
ْ ٓ ُّ َ ۡ ُ َ ۡ َ َ ۡ َ َ َ َ َ ُ ُ َ َ َ َ
قال يَٰهَٰرون ما منعك إِذ رأيتهم ضلوا
He said, “O Aaron, what prevented you, when you saw them going astray.
Which/ that
(Relative pronoun)8
َما
ۡ َٓ َ َٓۡ َََۡ َ ٗ ََا
ُت َما َح ۡو ََلۥ ََُُ ۡ َ ََ ا
مثلهم كمث ِل ٱَّلِي ٱستوقد نارا فلما أضاء
Their example is like that of one who kindled a fire; and when it lit up all that was
around it,
ِ ۡ َ
َون َزع َنا َما ِِف ُص ُدورِهِم ِم ِۡن غ ِٖل
And We will have removed whatever is within their breasts of resentment,
8Relative pronoun: is a word used to refer to nouns mentioned previously, whether they are people, places, things,
animals e.g. This is the book which I read. In this example which refers to the book.
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2) Attached ما
When ماis used in combination with other words/ prepositions, we
will then call it ‘attached’ ماto indicate that it is not a stand-alone word
anymore. When that happens, you will see that there are two outcomes
for these combinations: one ending with اand the other ending with
just a fat’ha sign (short vowel).
As for the one ending with ا, ماwill almost always be used as a relative
pronoun with the meaning of ‘which/ that’. When it comes to the one
ending with fat’ha, it will always be used as a question word.
ATTENTION: it is absolutely imperative that you differentiate
between the pronunciation of these two outcomes of each
combination, since as you can see in the list below, mispronunciation
can lead to a change to the meaning. Here are all the possible
combinations with ماthat you can find in the Noble Quran.
⤥ َما+ ( بِــwith) ⤦
With which ب ِ َما With what? ب ِ َم
⤥ َما+ ( َعنabout) ⤦
َ َ
About which? ع اما About what? ع ام
⤥ َما+ ( ِِفin) ⤦
In which َ ف
ِيما In what? َ ف
ِيم
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⤥ َما+ ( مِنfrom) ⤦
From which م َِما From what? م َِم
⤥ َما+ ( ل ِــfor) ⤦
ل َِما ل َِم
For what?
To/ For which
Why?
⤥
َ ما+ ( َكــlike)
Like what/ ََكما
that
َّ
⤥ َما+ ( إِنverily)
ا
Verily is إن َما
⤥
َ ما+ ََ( أَ ِنthat)
َا
That أنما
⤥
َ ما+ ( َكأَ انas if)
َ
As if ََكأ انما
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َ ما+ ُك َّ ل
⤥ (every)
Every time ََُكاما
Whenever
⤥
َ ما+ ( َأي َنwhere) ⤦
Wherever ََأ ۡي َنما Wherever ََأ ۡي َن ما
⤥ َما+ ِعم
َ ( نwhat good)
What good that ن ِ ِع اما
⤥ َما+ ئس
َ ( بwhat bad)
ِ
ئس َماَ ب
What bad that ِ
َ
⤥ َما+ ( فـthen)
then … not ََفما So what ? ََفما
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