Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala mentions in Soorah al-Nisaa:
لَّـكِنِ الرَّاسِخُونَ فِي الْعِلْمِ مِنْهُمْ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيكَ وَمَا أُنزِلَ مِن قَبْلِكَ وَالْمُقِيمِينَ الصَّلاَةَ وَالْمُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ أُوْلَـئِكَ سَنُؤْتِيهِمْ أَجْراً عَظِيماً
“But those among them who are well-grounded in knowledge, and the believers, believe in what has been sent down to you and what was sent down before you, and those who perform prayers, and give Zakat and believe in Allah and in the Last Day, it is they to whom We shall give a great reward.” [al-Nisaa: 162]
Point of benefit (grammar):
All the descriptions given to each type of people (e.g. rasikhoon fil ‘ilm, mu’minoon billah, mu’toon al-zakat) are in a state of raf’ i.e marfoo’ (nominative) but the description ‘muqeemeen al-salaah’ is actually in a state of nasb (accusative).
Why?!
Sibaweyh and other grammarians have said that this word technically in the sentence should be marfoo’ but here it is mansoob for a specific reason. The reason is what’s referred to as ‘Ikhtisaas’ – specification. Allah `azza wa jall is saying:
الراسخون في العلم … والمؤمنون … وأخص المقيمين الصلاة
The rasikhoon (grounded) in knowledge, the believers, but I specifically mean those who establish prayers…. it is they whom We shall give a great reward.
This rule is from bab al-Ikhtisaas in grammar, where you specify and highlight something in a sentence to show its importance. For example, I could say:
نحن – جنودَ – أقوياء
We (and I specifically mean) the army, are strong.
By putting the khabr (predicate) in a state of nasb, you introduce it now as:
مفعول به على الإختصاص لفعل محذوف تقديره: أخُصّ
So in the previous verse from soorah al-Nisaa, from the list of people mentioned by Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, He specificies those who establish prayer and through the usage of grammatical ikhtisas, it is shown that they have a rank of importance, honour and virtue over the rasikhoon fil-‘ilm (those grounded in knowledge), the mu’toona-zakat (those who give charity), and even the mu’minoon billah because none of these really benefit a person if he or she is not muqeem al-salah (someone who establishes prayer). Amazing right? 🙂
A question: The verse starts off with ‘Lakin’ (لكن) but isn’t that a particle from the sisters of ‘Inna’ (nawasib)? And if so, how comes the words following it e.g. rasikhoon are not in a state of nasb?
Provide your answers in the comment box below.
subhanAllah! Jazakum Allahu khayran!
….very interesting question…hmmm
Assalamu alaikum
SubhannAllah! amazing!
My arabic is not advanced enough to answer that question, but i will be very interested to know the answer.
JazaakiAllahu khairan,wasslam
dailyreminders
Wa iyyakuma, juzeetum khayra
Anyone else want to have a shot? It’s more to do with the word Lakin and grammatical functions 🙂
SubhanAllah, how beautiful and poignant. You’ve got impeccable timing. Good question about lakin…inshaallah will check it out.
As for the word Wal-Muqeemeen
Actually from what I know which is quite little is that the taqdeer is “أعني” as mentioned in feth al qader.
Or If I remember it can also be mansoob because it is عطف for منهم
مؤمنون is mubtada and its khabar is جملة فعلية
يؤمنون
والله أعلم
The لكن isn’t actually from أخوات إن here because it doesn’t carry a shadd as in لكنَّ . There are two variations of this word, لكِنْ used for a following فعل or verb generally (though it can be used with an ism) while the other لكِنَّ in nominal cases or the جملة إسمية . Since the former has been used here (which actually creates a subtle nuance in the meaning) the following ism isn’t effected into its nasb state. For more examples of this لكنْ , which does not carry the same grammatical effect as لكنَّ on the ism to follow, look at
لكنِ اللهُ in 4:166
لكنِ الرَّسُوْلُ in 9:88
لكنِ الظالِمُوْنَ in 19:38
to name a few.
The place of المقيمين has been discussed by other grammarians under the category of نصب للمدح which implies that it is the most salient, most exalted, or most emphasized item in the list of things mentioned. It is also used in 2:177 for the word الصابرينَ while the word الموفون before it is مرفوع.
The following commentary is from الفراء cited in Lisan Al-Arab by Ibn Mandhoor or Laakin vs. Laakinna: (sorry if this is beating the point over)
للعرب في لَكِنَّ لغتان: بتشديد النون مفتوحة، وإسكانها خفيفة، فمن شدَّدها نصب بها الأَسماء ولم يَلِها فَعَل ولا يَفْعَلُ، ومن خفف نونها وأَسكنها لم يعملها في شيء اسم ولا فعل، وكان الذي يعمل في الاسم الذي بعدها ما معه مما ينصبه أَو يرفعه أَو يخفضه
Well done, jazakumullahu khayran!
The أعني in this bab would have the same meaning/connotation as أخص wallahu a’lam.
Nouman, barakallahu feek for your excellent input. Yes, the Lakin here in its mukhaffaf state (without the shadda) renders its job of being a nasib, jaa’iz.
Regarding the نصب للمدح – did not the grammarians see ikhtisas as being wholly مدح – i.e. intend praise through specification? For example saying نحن أبناءَ الملك, would be praise through the usage of ikhtisas.