Prepositions in Arabic - الْحُرُوفُ الجَرِّ
Prepositions are words that, when paired with nouns or pronouns, form meaningful phrases. These distinct linguistic elements not only possess their own inherent meanings but also influence the associated nouns and pronouns. Specifically, they can alter the vowel of the noun’s final letter, changing it from dammah or fatha to kasrah.
1. Prepositions that influence nouns
عَلَى
on/upon
إِلَى
to/towards
بِ
in/with
فِي
in
مِنْ
from/than
عَنْ
from/about
كَ
like/as
حَتَى
until
لِ
for/to
Illustrations of Prepositions
عَلَى قُلُوْبٍ
on + hearts
= عَلَى + قُلُوْبٌ
= on hearts
خَتَمَ اللَّـهُ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ وَعَلَىٰ سَمْعِهِمْ ۖ وَعَلَىٰ أَبْصَارِهِمْ غِشَاوَةٌ
Allah has set a seal upon their hearts and upon their hearing, and over their vision is a veil (2:7)
إِلَى + السَّماءُ
Towards + the heaven
= إِلَى السَّمَاءِ
= towards heaven
ثُمَّ اسْتَوَىٰ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ فَسَوَّاهُنَّ سَبْعَ سَمَاوَاتٍ
Then He directed Himself to heaven (2:29)
الرَّبُّ+ بِ
With + the people
= بِالرَّبِّ
with the people
قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ
say, “I seek refuge in the Lord of humankind (114:1)
فِيْ + دِيْنٌ
In + religion
فِيْ دِيْنٍ
= in religion
وَرَأَيْتَ النَّاسَ يَدْخُلُونَ فِي دِينِ اللَّـهِ أَفْوَاجًا
and you see the people entering into the religion of Allah in multitudes, (110:2)
وَ + تِيْنٌ
Swear by + the fig
وَ التِّيْنِ
swear by the fig
وَالتِّينِ وَالزَّيْتُونِ
by the fig and the olive (95:1)
تَ + اَللَّهُ
Swear by + Allah
تَاللَّهِ
swear by Allah
قَالُوا تَاللَّـهِ لَقَدْ عَلِمْتُم
They said, “By Allah, you have certainly known (12:73)
مِنْ + اَلْجوْعُ
In + hunger
مِنَ الْجوْعِ
= in hunger
الَّذِي أَطْعَمَهُم مِّن جُوعٍ وَآمَنَهُم مِّنْ خَوْفٍ
who has fed them, [saving them] from hunger and made them safe, [saving them] from fear? (106:4)
عَنْ + اَلْيَمِيْنُ
From + the right
عَنِ الْيَمِيْنِ
= From the right
عَنِ الْيَمِينِ وَعَنِ الشِّمَالِ عِزِينَ
[To sit] on [your] right and [your] left in separate groups? (70:37)
كَ + عَصْفٌ
Like + Straw
كَعَصْفٍ
like straw
فَجَعَلَهُمْ كَعَصْفٍ مَّأْكُولٍ
And He made them like eaten straw. (105:5)
لِ + اَللَّهُ
For + Allah
= لِلَّهِ
= For Allah
لِّلَّـهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ
to Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth. (2:284)
حَتَى + مَطْلَعٌ
Until + break
= حَتَى مَطْلَعٍ
= until break
سَلَامٌ هِيَ حَتَّىٰ مَطْلَعِ الْفَجْرِ
Peace it is until the emergence of dawn. (97:5)
2. Pronouns that impact prepositions
The prepositions previously mentioned primarily influence the ending of nouns. Yet, only a select group comprising:
عَلَى, إِلَى, بِ, فِيْ
have a specific effect on the following pronouns:
هُ, هُمَا, هُمْ, هُنَّ
They introduce a kasrah to the opening letter of the given pronoun. Interestingly, these prepositions don’t exert the same influence on other pronouns.
Examples:
Prepositions - عَلى
هُ
Him
عَلَيْهِ
On him
هُمَا
Them both
عَلَيْهِما
On them both
هُمْ
Them all (M)
عَلَيْهِمْ
On them all (M)
هُنَّ
Them all (F)
عَلَيْهِنَّ
On them all (F)
Prepositions - إِلى
هُ
Him
إِلَيْهِ
Towards him
هُمَا
Them both
إِلَيْهِمَا
Towards them both
هُمْ
Them all (M)
إِلَيْهِمْ
Towards them all (M)
هُنَّ
Them all (F)
إِلَيْهِنَّ
Towards them all (F)
Prepositions - بِ
هُ
Him
بِهِ
With him
هُمَا
Them both
بِهِمَا
With them both
هُمْ
Them all (M)
بِهِمْ
With them all (M)
هُنَّ
Them all (F)
بِهِنَّ
With them all (F)
Prepositions - فِيْ
هُ
Him
فِيْهِ
In him
هُمَا
Them both
فِيْهِما
In them both
هُمْ
Them all (M)
فِيْهِمْ
In them all (M)
هُنَّ
Them all (F)
فِيْهِنَّ
In them all -(F)
Examples of these prepositions as found in the Noble Quran:
فَمَن فَرَضَ فِيهِنَّ الْحَجَّ
so whoever has made Hajj obligatory upon himself (2:197)
فَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ
there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve. (2:38)
يُضِلُّ بِهِ كَثِيرًا وَيَهْدِي بِهِ كَثِيرًا ۚ وَمَا يُضِلُّ بِهِ إِلَّا الْفَاسِقِينَ
He misleads many thereby and guides many thereby. And He misleads not except the defiantly disobedient, (2:26)
Unaffected Pronouns: Illustrative Examples of Preposition Exemptions
As previously noted, these prepositions don’t affect other pronouns. Below are examples illustrating this point.
عَلى + كَ = عَلَيْكَ
No action of على on كَ
مَنْ + هُ = مِنْهُ
No action of مِنْ on هُ
Examples:
حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمْ أُمَّهَاتُكُمْ
Prohibited to you [for marriage] are your mothers, (4:23)
وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا السُّبُلَ فَتَفَرَّقَ بِكُمْ عَن سَبِيلِهِ ۚ ذَٰلِكُمْ وَصَّاكُم بِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ
and do not follow [other] ways, for you will be separated from His way. This has He instructed you that you may become righteous. (6:153)
وَوَضَعْنَا عَنكَ وِزْرَكَ
And We removed from you your burden (94:2)
Exception:
In Surah 48:10 of the Holy Qur’an, the preposition على does not influence هُ, resulting in the reading:
عَلَيْهُ
Allah says,
وَمَنْ أَوْفَىٰ بِمَا عَاهَدَ عَلَيْهُ اللَّـهَ فَسَيُؤْتِيهِ أَجْرًا عَظِيمًا
And he who fulfills that which he has promised Allah – He will give him a great reward. (48:10)
preposition - لِ
In the lesson “pronouns,” we observe that the proposition :
The preposition لِ typically prefixes pronouns, resulting in the form: لَ.However, an exception is observed with the first person pronoun: ىَ.
Masculine 3rd person
لَهُ
For Him
لَهُمَا
For them both
لَهُمْ
For them all
Masculine 2nd person
لَكَ
For you
لَكُمَا
For you both
لَكُمْ
For you all
Masculine 1st person
لِيْ
For me
لَنَا
For us all
Illustrations of Preposition لِ
لَهُ الْمُلْكُ وَلَهُ الْحَمْدُ
To Him belongs dominion, and to Him belongs [all] praise, (64:1)
أَخْرَجْنَا لَهُمْ دَابَّةً مِّنَ الْأَرْضِ
We will bring forth for them a creature from the earth speaking to them (27:82)
أَلَمْ نَشْرَحْ لَكَ صَدْرَكَ
Did We not expand for you, [O Muhammad], your breast? (94:1)
Feminine 3rd person
لَهَا
For her
لَهُمَا
For them both
لَهُنَّ
For them all
Feminine 2nd person
لَكِ
For you
لَكُمَا
For you both
لَكُنَّ
For you all
Feminine 1st person
لِيْ
For me
لَنَا
For us all
Examples of the prepositions لِ from the Noble Quran:
لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَعَلَيْهَا مَا اكْتَسَبَتْ
It will have [the consequence of] what [good] it has gained, and it will bear [the consequence of] what [evil] it has earned. (2:286)
لَكُمْ دِينُكُمْ وَلِيَ دِينِ
For you is your religion, and for me, is my religion.” (109:6)
Conclusion
This lesson on Arabic nuances concludes here. Insha’Allah, our subsequent session will delve into the adverbs in Arabic..
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