What is the khabar of kana (khabar kana wa akhawatiha)?
In one line
Definition and ruling
Key words in the Arabic
Understand it
زَيْدٌ قَائِمٌ (zaydun qa'imun) — both words marfu'.
Put كَانَ in front: كَانَ زَيْدٌ قَائِمًا (kana zaydun qa'iman), Zayd was standing. زَيْدٌ has not moved; قَائِمًا has dropped into nasab, and is now the خَبَر كَانَ.
What kana does
كَانَ takes hold of a nominal sentence: the noun stays in rafa, the khabar drops into nasab.
It has twelve sisters, and every one of them does exactly what it does.
The twelve sisters of كَانَ
| # | Meaning | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | أَصْبَحَ | asbaha | the description applies in the morning |
| 2 | أَضْحَى | adha | the description applies during the forenoon |
| 3 | أَمْسَى | amsa | the description applies in the evening |
| 4 | ظَلَّ | zalla | the description applies throughout the daytime |
| 5 | بَاتَ | bata | the description applies during the night |
| 6 | صَارَ | sara | the ism changes into the state the khabar names |
| 7 | لَيْسَ | laysa | it negates the khabar from the ism |
| 8 | مَا زَالَ | ma zala | continuation |
| 9 | مَا بَرِحَ | ma bariha | continuation |
| 10 | مَا فَتِئَ | ma fati'a | continuation |
| 11 | مَا انْفَكَّ | ma infakka | continuation |
| 12 | مَا دَامَ | ma dama | it limits the statement to the duration of a condition |
With كَانَ itself that is thirteen verbs in all — twelve sisters, and the one they are sisters to. Each works the same way: it raises the noun and puts the khabar into nasab. Only the time, or the state, differs.1 The four continuation verbs carry one meaning between them, by the agreement of the grammarians.
They do not all operate freely, though.
When each one actually operates
| Group | Condition | |
|---|---|---|
| operate freely | كَانَ، أَصْبَحَ، أَضْحَى، أَمْسَى، ظَلَّ، بَاتَ، صَارَ، لَيْسَ | no condition at all |
| operate only after a negation | زَالَ، بَرِحَ، فَتِئَ، اِنْفَكَّ | must follow a negation, a prohibition or a supplication |
| operates only with مَا | دَامَ | must follow the مَا of duration — مَا دَامَ |
This is why the last five are almost always met with مَا in front of them. Their derived forms — يَكُونُ، كُنْ، يُصْبِحُ — work exactly as the past forms do, under the same conditions.
They are called الْأَفْعَال النَّاقِصَة (al-af'al al-naqisa), the incomplete verbs: unlike an ordinary verb they do not report an action done by a doer. They only add a time or a state to a sentence that already stands.
One freedom this khabar has that an ordinary khabar does not: it may be brought forward in front of its noun even when it is definite.
How to spot it
In the Qur'an
Don't confuse it with khabar inna
Do not confuse كَانَ with إِنَّ. They are mirror images.
كَانَ puts its noun in rafa and its khabar in nasab — كَانَ زَيْدٌ قَائِمًا.
إِنَّ puts its noun in nasab and its khabar in rafa — إِنَّ زَيْدًا قَائِمٌ.
Learn the pair together and neither is ever in doubt.
Related terms
Common questions
Why does kana push the khabar while inna pushes the noun?
Because they are opposite in what they govern. Kana is verb-like: it takes its noun in rafa and pushes what is said into nasab. Inna is particle-like: it takes its noun into nasab and leaves what is said in rafa.
Next in the guideاَلْمُسْتَثْنَىWhat is the excepted noun (mustathna)? →Notes
- The thirteen verbs, their meanings and the conditions on their operation follow اَلنَّحْو التَّطْبِيقِي (an-Nahw at-Tatbiqi), which opens the chapter وَهِيَ ثَلَاثَةَ عَشَرَ فِعْلًا — “they are thirteen verbs”. ↩
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