Grammar term · Nahw · syntax
هَمْزَة التَّسْوِيَة
hamzat al-taswiya
Hamza of equalisation
Nahw · syntaxSpecific particleadvanced term1+ in the Qur'an
In one line
A hamza that asks nothing: after سَوَاء it pairs with أَمْ to declare two alternatives exactly level.
Definition (modern)
هِيَ هَمْزَةٌ لَا تُفِيدُ الاسْتِفْهَامَ، بَلْ تَدْخُلُ عَلَى جُمْلَتَيْنِ خَبَرِيَّتَيْنِ مَعْطُوفَتَيْنِ بِـ(أَمْ)، وَلَابُدَّ أَنْ يَصِحَّ سَبْكُ مَصْدَرٍ مِنْ كُلٍّ مِنْهُمَا.
“It is a hamza that conveys no question; rather it enters upon two statement clauses joined by am, and it must be possible to recast each of them as a masdar.”
(النحو التطبيقي)
Key words in the Arabic
جُمْلَتَيْنِ خَبَرِيَّتَيْنِtwo statement clauses
سَبْكُ مَصْدَرٍrecasting as a masdar
Understand it
It looks like a question and asks nothing — the pin's opening point. After a word like سَوَاء, the hamza and أَمْ hold up two clauses and declare them level: warn or don't warn, the outcome is one. The pin's masdar test shows it: ءَأَنذَرْتَهُمْ أَمْ لَمْ تُنذِرْهُمْ recasts as سَوَاءٌ عَلَيْهِمُ الْإِنْذَارُ وَعَدَمُهُ. A true question-hamza with أَمْ expects an answer naming one side; the taswiya pair expects none.
How to spot it
Recognition test
سَوَاء (or the like) + ءَ … أَمْ … where both halves are statements and the masdar paraphrase works. If a one-sided answer such as 'Zayd' would make sense, it is the real istifham hamza instead.
In the Qur'an
سَوَآءٌ عَلَيْهِمْ ءَأَنذَرْتَهُمْ أَمْ لَمْ تُنذِرْهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ
Al-Baqarah 2:6 — “It is all the same to them whether you warn them or do not warn them — they will not believe”
The hamza after سَوَآءٌ pairs with أَمْ: warning and not-warning weigh the same; no question is asked.
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