Grammar term · Nahw · syntax
نَا الْفَاعِلِين
na al-fa'ilin
'na' (we/us)
Nahw · syntaxAttached-pronoun lettercore term1,263+ in the Qur'an
In one line
The 'we/us/our' na: the only attached pronoun at home in all three states — سَمِعْنَا (we), رَبَّنَا (our), لَنَا (us).
Definition (modern)
مَا هُوَ مُشْتَرَكٌ بَيْنَ مَحَلِّ الرَّفْعِ وَالنَّصْبِ وَالْجَرِّ وَهُوَ ضَمِيرٌ وَاحِدٌ هُوَ (نَا).
“Shared between the places of rafa', nasb and jarr is a single pronoun: na.”
(النحو التطبيقي)
Key words in the Arabic
مُشْتَرَك بَيْنَshared across
ضَمِيرٌ وَاحِدٌone single pronoun
Understand it
The pin's point is its uniqueness: نَا alone covers the whole i'rab map. With a sukun-ended verb it is the doer (سَمِعْنَا — mahall rafa'); straight after a verb's vowel it is the object (أَنْجَانَا — nasb); after إِنَّ its ism; after a noun the possessor (رَبَّنَا — jarr); after a preposition its majrur (عَلَيْنَا). The verb's ending tells the difference: قُمْنَا (we stood) versus rescued-us shapes like نَصَرَنَا.
How to spot it
Recognition test
نَا attached to anything: read the host. Verb ending in sukun before it = we (rafa'); verb vowel before it = us (nasb); noun or preposition = our/us (jarr).
In the Qur'an
سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا ۖ غُفْرَانَكَ رَبَّنَا
Al-Baqarah 2:285 — “We hear and we obey. Grant us Your forgiveness, our Lord”
Two mahalls in one breath: نَا as doer in سَمِعْنَا (rafa'), as possessor in رَبَّنَا (jarr).
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