Grammar term · Nahw · syntax
حَرْف زَائِد
harf za'id
Redundant/extra particle
Nahw · syntaxParticle typeadvanced term3,621+ in the Qur'an
In one line
A “redundant” particle — grammatically extra, rhetorically loaded: the مِنْ in “not ANY god”.
Classical definition
الحَرْفُ الزَّائِدُ مَا دَخَلَ لِتَقْوِيَةِ الكَلَامِ وَتَوْكِيدِهِ مِنْ غَيْرِ إِحْدَاثِ مَعْنًى جَدِيدٍ، كَالبَاءِ وَمِنْ وَمَا الزَّائِدَةِ.
“The redundant particle enters to strengthen and confirm the speech without creating a new meaning — like the extra ba', min and ma.”
(بتصرف من ابن هشام)
Key words in the Arabic
لِتَقْوِيَةِ الْكَلَامِto strengthen the speech
مِنْ غَيْرِ إِحْدَاثِ مَعْنًىwithout creating a (new) meaning
Understand it
“Redundant” is a technical verdict, not a criticism: the particle adds no new relation, but it presses hard on the meaning. مَا مِنْ إِلَٰهٍ إِلَّا اللَّهُ — the مِنْ makes the negation total (“no god whatsoever”); كَفَىٰ بِاللَّهِ شَهِيدًا — the بِ leans emphasis onto “Allah suffices”. Remove them and the sentence survives, weaker.
How to spot it
Recognition test
A مِنْ / بِ / مَا you could delete without breaking the sentence — its work was emphasis, and the noun after keeps behaving as if it weren't there.
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