Grammar term · Nahw · syntax
مَا
ma
Ma (negation/relative/masdari…)
Nahw · syntaxSpecific particle (ma)core term184+ in the Qur'an
In one line
One tiny word, six jobs: مَا can negate, mean 'that which', wrap a masdar, ask a question, set a condition, or add pure emphasis.
Classical definition
«مَا» تَأْتِي نَافِيَةً وَمَوْصُولَةً وَمَصْدَرِيَّةً وَاسْتِفْهَامِيَّةً وَشَرْطِيَّةً وَزَائِدَةً.
“Ma comes as negating, relative, masdar-forming, interrogative, conditional, and redundant.”
(بتصرف من ابن هشام)
Key words in the Arabic
نَافِيَةnegating
مَوْصُولَةrelative — 'that which'
زَائِدَةredundant, for emphasis
Understand it
Context picks between the pin's six types. Before a madi, مَا negates (مَا وَدَّعَكَ); meaning 'that which', it is mawsula (مَا عِنْدَكُمْ يَنْفَدُ); wrapping a clause into a masdar, it is masdariyya (بِمَا نَسُوا = بِنِسْيَانِهِمْ); asking, it is istifhamiyya (وَمَا تِلْكَ بِيَمِينِكَ); jazming two verbs, it is shartiyya; and after رُبَّ or إِذَا it may be za'ida, adding force and nothing else. Naming which مَا you are looking at is half the i'rab.
How to spot it
Recognition test
Read what follows: a madi usually means negation; a 'that which' paraphrase means mawsula; the clause recasts as a masdar for masdariyya; a question mark fits for istifham; two jazmed verbs for shart; and if dropping it changes nothing, it is za'ida.
In the Qur'an
مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ وَمَا قَلَىٰ
Ad-Duha 93:3 — “Your Lord has not abandoned you, nor has He detested you”
Both مَاs sit before past verbs — ma nafiya, negating the madi.
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