Earth, sky, day, a people, nafs and people
Six of the commonest nouns of the Qur’ān, nouns that are feminine with no sign of it, and the two ways Arabic makes a plural.
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
- 41.3%
- Parts of the Qur’ān’s words taught so far
- 63.7%
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.
This lesson teaches six nouns: the earth, the sky, the day, a people, nafs, and people. One of them, nafs, carries the religion: the course gives no meaning of its own for it, and you read it in the verses, with the edition's meaning beside them. With these nouns the lesson teaches two things the corpus marks on a noun: whether it is masculine or feminine, and whether it is plural.
The new words
- أَرْضAs the Qur’ān writes it: أَرْضِ · أَرْضَ · أَرْضُ
earth, land, ground
Root: ا ر ضTimes in the Qur’ān: 461
- سَمَآءAs the Qur’ān writes it: سَّمَٰوَٰتِ · سَّمَآءِ · سَّمَآءَ
sky (in the plural, the skies or the heavens)
Root: س م وTimes in the Qur’ān: 310
- يَوْمAs the Qur’ān writes it: يَوْمَ · يَوْمِ · يَوْمٍ
day
Root: ي و مTimes in the Qur’ān: 405
- قَوْمAs the Qur’ān writes it: قَوْمِ · قَوْمٍ · قَوْمَ
a people, a nation
Root: ق و مTimes in the Qur’ān: 383
- نَفْسAs the Qur’ān writes it: أَنفُسِ · أَنفُسَ · نَفْسِ
No meaning is given here: this word carries the religion, and its meaning is read in the verses, with the meaning beside them.
Root: ن ف سTimes in the Qur’ān: 295
- نَّاسAs the Qur’ān writes it: نَّاسِ · نَّاسَ · نَّاسُ
people
Root: ن و سTimes in the Qur’ān: 241
Feminine without a sign
Many feminine nouns end in -ah, the tā’ marbūṭah. Some do not, and are feminine all the same.
- ٱلْthe
- أَرْضَearth, land, ground
Al-arḍa is al- and arḍ, "earth". The corpus marks arḍ feminine, and its ending here accusative. Samāʾ, "sky", is feminine in the same way, with no sign of it.
Two ways to make a plural
One kind of plural adds an ending. The feminine plural adds -āt:
- ٱلthe
- سَّمَٰوَٰتِsky (in the plural, the skies or the heavens)
As-samāwāti is al- and samāwāt, the plural of samāʾ. The w before -āt is the last letter of the root s-m-w, which the singular writes as a hamzah. The corpus marks it feminine plural.
The other kind changes the vowels inside the word, and is called a broken plural:
- ٱلthe
- نُّفُوسُ
An-nufūsu is al- and nufūs, a plural of nafs: the letters n, f and s stay, and the vowels around them change. The corpus marks nufūs feminine plural too, as it marks samāwāt: its tag names the number, not the way the plural is made.
A people, and people
Qawm is "a people", a group or a nation. Nās is "people", and the corpus marks it masculine plural.
On that Day people will be like scattered moths[1],
English Translation - Rowwad Translation Center · QuranEnc.com · version 1.0.20In this verse, an-nāsu has the nominative ending u. Of its five words you now know three whole: yawma, "day"; yakūnu, the present of kāna from lesson 6; and an-nāsu. The fourth begins with ka-, which the next lesson teaches.
In a sentence
The earth is large.
This sentence was written for practice. Al-arḍu kabīratun: "large" takes the feminine ending -ah, because arḍ is feminine.
Reading
The words you know whole after this lesson are marked.
To Allah belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth. Indeed, Allah encompasses all things.
English Translation - Rowwad Translation Center · QuranEnc.com · version 1.0.20Indeed, there is nothing hidden from Allah on earth or in heaven.
English Translation - Rowwad Translation Center · QuranEnc.com · version 1.0.20To Allah belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth, and to Allah will return all matters.
English Translation - Rowwad Translation Center · QuranEnc.com · version 1.0.20Recall
- Is arḍ masculine or feminine?
- What does the feminine plural add to a noun?
- What is a broken plural?
Answers: feminine; -āt; a plural made by changing the vowels inside the word, as nufūs from nafs.
Next
The next lesson teaches how to call someone, how to say "like", the -nna that makes a verb certain, and the pronoun for women.
Word analysis: Quranic Arabic Corpus 0.4 (Kais Dukes)