From, in, on, to and about
The five commonest prepositions that the Qur’ān writes as words of their own, what happens to the word after them, and how they take a pronoun.
Written and checked by AI
These lessons were written and checked by AI, and no teacher of Arabic has read them yet. The verses, their meanings and the analysis of every word are taken from their sources, which are named where they are shown.
- Words of the Qur’ān known whole
- 12.9%
- Parts of the Qur’ān’s words taught so far
- 45.5%
Counted from the Quranic Arabic Corpus: a word is known whole when every part of it has been taught. The counts say which words you have met, not how much you understand.
A preposition (ḥarf al-jarr) says where something is, where it goes, or what it is about. Two of the first lesson's words, bi and li, can be prepositions written as part of the next word. Arabic also has a few that stand on their own as words, and this lesson teaches the five of those the Qur’ān uses most: min, fī, ʿalā, ilā and ʿan.
The new words
- مِنAs the Qur’ān writes it: مِن · مِنْ · مِنَ
from, of, some of
Times in the Qur’ān: 3226
- فِىAs the Qur’ān writes it: فِى · فِي · فِىٓ
in, about
Times in the Qur’ān: 1701
- عَلَىٰAs the Qur’ān writes it: عَلَيْ · عَلَىٰ · عَلَى
on, upon, over, against
Times in the Qur’ān: 1445
- إِلَىٰAs the Qur’ān writes it: إِلَيْ · إِلَىٰ · إِلَى
to, towards, until
Times in the Qur’ān: 742
- عَنAs the Qur’ān writes it: عَنْ · عَن · عَنِ
from, away from, about
Times in the Qur’ān: 465
The word after a preposition
A preposition is followed by a noun, and that noun takes the ending of the genitive case. In the Qur’ān's spelling this is most often a short i at the end of the word: after min, al-baytu, "the house", becomes al-bayti.
The boy went out of the house.
This sentence was written for practice. Before al-, min takes a short vowel to join it, and is said mina: mina l-bayti, "from the house".
The book is on the desk.
ʿAlā l-maktabi, "on the desk": al-maktabu ends in i after ʿalā.
With a pronoun
A preposition can take one of the last lesson's pronouns, written as one word with it.
- فِيin, about
- هِhim, his; it, its
- عَلَيْon, upon, over, against
- هِمْthey (as the doer of a verb); them, their
ʿAlā and ilā change their last sound before a pronoun: ʿalā with hum, "them", is ʿalayhim, and ilā with ka, "you", is ilayka. The table shows both ways the Qur’ān writes them.
In a verse
This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for the righteous[1],
English Translation - Rowwad Translation Center · QuranEnc.com · version 1.0.20You know one word of this verse whole: fīhi, "in it". In its last word you know the first two parts, li and al-, written lil-; the word they join comes later in the course.
Reading
The words you know whole after this lesson are marked.
and on them and on boats you are carried.
English Translation - Rowwad Translation Center · QuranEnc.com · version 1.0.20and We left for him [a favorable mention] among later generations:
English Translation - Rowwad Translation Center · QuranEnc.com · version 1.0.20and drinking scalding water on top of it,
English Translation - Rowwad Translation Center · QuranEnc.com · version 1.0.20Recall
- What ending does a noun take after a preposition?
- How is min said before al-?
- What is ʿalā with the pronoun "them"?
Answers: the genitive, most often a short i; mina; ʿalayhim.
Next
The next lesson teaches the words for "no" and "not", "indeed", "except" and "that".
Word analysis: Quranic Arabic Corpus 0.4 (Kais Dukes)