حَال
hal
Circumstantial accusative (hal)
Nahw · syntaxSyntactic rolecore term1,791+ in the Qur'an
In one line
The circumstantial accusative — a noun in nasb describing the state of someone during the action.
Classical definition
الحَالُ هُوَ الاسْمُ المَنْصُوبُ المُفَسِّرُ لِمَا انْبَهَمَ مِنَ الهَيْئَاتِ.
(الآجرّومية)
How to spot it
Recognition test
It answers “in what state?” or “how?” at the moment of the verb, and is in nasb — e.g. “he came running.”
In the Qur'an
وَلَا تَمْشِ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ مَرَحًا
Al-Isra 17:37 — “And do not walk upon the earth exultantly”
مَرَحًا is a haal in nasb — describing the manner of walking.
Don't confuse it with
The haal is indefinite and describes a state; the نعت is usually definite-matching and describes a permanent quality.
Related terms