Grammar term · Nahw · syntax
اِسْم إِنَّ
ism inna
Subject of inna & sisters
Nahw · syntaxSyntactic rolecore term24+ in the Qur'an
Also written: Inna wa Akhawatuha · Inna · Huruf Mushabbahah
In one line
The noun of inna and her sisters — put into nasb by the particle.
Classical rule
إِنَّ وَأَخَوَاتُهَا تَنْصِبُ الاسْمَ وَتَرْفَعُ الخَبَرَ.
“Inna and her sisters put the noun into nasb and keep the predicate in raf'.”
(الآجرّومية)
Key words in the Arabic
أَخَوَات'sisters' — particles of the same family
تَنْصِبُput into nasb
تَرْفَعُkeep in raf'
Understand it
إِنَّ (“indeed”) and her sisters enter a nominal sentence and rearrange it: the noun that follows إِنَّ — its ism — is pushed into the nasb state, while the predicate stays in rafa'. So مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولٌ becomes إِنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولٌ — the same statement, now with added emphasis and a changed ending on the first noun.
How to spot it
Recognition test
Right after إنّ / أنّ / لكنّ …, the first noun, in nasb, is the ism inna.
In the Qur'an
إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
Al-Baqarah 2:173 — “Indeed Allah is Forgiving, Merciful”
ٱللَّهَ is the ism of إنّ, in nasb (fatha); غَفُورٌ is its khabar, in raf'.
Related terms
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From the free course The Language of Quran — Easier than English (Book 1) (LoQ1), taught by Ustad Muhammad Arjan Ali.