Grammar term · Nahw · syntax
ضَمِير الشَّأْن
damir al-sha'n
Pronoun of the matter (sha'n)
Nahw · syntaxPronoun typeadvanced term41+ in the Qur'an
In one line
The 'matter' pronoun: a lone هُوَ / هِيَ announcing 'the situation is —', explained by the whole sentence after it: قُلْ هُوَ ٱللَّهُ أَحَدٌ.
Classical definition
ضَمِيرُ الشَّأْنِ ضَمِيرٌ يُذْكَرُ فِي صَدْرِ الجُمْلَةِ يُفَسِّرُهُ مَا بَعْدَهُ، وَيُقْصَدُ بِهِ تَفْخِيمُ الأَمْرِ.
“The pronoun of the matter is a pronoun mentioned at the head of the sentence, which what follows explains; magnification of the matter is intended by it.”
(بتصرف من ابن هشام)
Key words in the Arabic
يُفَسِّرُهُ مَا بَعْدَهُwhat follows explains it
الشَّأْنthe matter, the state of affairs
Understand it
Normal pronouns point back at something already named; this one points FORWARD at a whole sentence. قُلْ هُوَ ٱللَّهُ أَحَدٌ opens with a هُوَ that has no antecedent — it means 'the matter, the truth of it', and ٱللَّهُ أَحَدٌ then unpacks it. The device makes the listener lean in before the news lands, which is why it magnifies. It appears attached too: إِنَّهُ لَا يُفْلِحُ ٱلْكَٰفِرُونَ — the هُ is the sha'n.
How to spot it
Recognition test
A third-person pronoun (often after إِنَّ or at a sentence head) with nothing before it to refer to, followed by a complete sentence that explains it: damir al-sha'n, and the sentence after it is its khabar.
In the Qur'an
قُلْ هُوَ ٱللَّهُ أَحَدٌ
Al-Ikhlas 112:1 — “Say: He is Allah, the One”
هُوَ refers forward — 'the matter is:' — and the sentence ٱللَّهُ أَحَدٌ explains it: the pronoun of sha'n magnifying what follows.
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