Quranic Syntax: The Noun-Adjective Combinations 1

Before going to the complex syntactic structures of the Holy Quran, the learners of Quranic Arabic can try the phrasal combinations easily comprehensible to them. Similar to the English modification system within the noun phrase, a large number of nouns are followed by one or more adjectives, creating a continuous mnemonic rhythm throughout the Quran. The morphological data analysis of the Quran shows 3 types of Noun-Adjective patterns in general:

1.      The Definite Noun-Adjective Combinations e.g. الصِّرَاط الْمُسْتَقِيم Det+N+Det+Adj; (1:6)

2.      The Indefinite Noun-Adjective Combinations e.g صِرَاط مُسْتَقِيم (Indef) N+(Indef) Adj;(10:25)

3.      The Possessive Noun-Adjective Combinations e.g  صِرَاطَكَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ (Poss.) N-Pron + Det + Adj; (7:16)

There are as many as 420 Definite Noun-Adjective Combinations in the complete Quran. Some of the important combinations are given below with their FREQUENCY as ‘exact phrase’.

Quranic Grammar: An adjective always agrees with the noun it depends on in terms of gender, number and definiteness. So the modifier adjectives take the same i’rab or vowel sign as the noun at the end of the word. This type of combinations belongs to the Ara bic grammatical category called ‘Tawabi’

(My special thanks go to Ashish Mathur, Excel MVP, for his kind help in sentence pattern analysis.)

Noun-Adjective	Meaning	Reference	Frequency
الصِّرَاط الْمُسْتَقِيم	the straight way	(1:6:2:1)	2
الْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ	the Last Day	(2:8:7:3)	23
الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا	the life of the world	(2:85:37:1)	64
الدَّارُ الْآخِرَةُ	the last Home	(2:94:5:1)	6
الْفَضْلِ الْعَظِيمِ	the Great Bounty	(2:105:24:1)	6
الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ	the sacred Mosque	(2:149:7:1)	15
السَّحَابِ الْمُسَخَّرِ	the clouds controlled	(2:164:36:2)	1
الْخَيْطُ الْأَبْيَضُ	White thread	(2:187:36:1)	1
الْخَيْطِ الْأَسْوَدِ	Black thread	(2:187:39:1)	1
الشَّهْرُ الْحَرَامُ	the sacred month	(2:194:1:1)	5
الْمَشْعَرِ الْحَرَامِ	the sacred reminder of God	(2:198:16:1)	1
َالصَّلَاةِ الْوُسْطَىٰ	the middle prayer	(2:238:4:2)	1
الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ	the disbelieving people	(2:250:14:1)	9
الْعُرْوَةِ الْوُثْقَىٰ	strong handle	(2:256:17:2)	1
الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ	the unjust people	(2:258:42:1)	19
الْقَنَاطِيرِ الْمُقَنطَرَةِ	Heaped-up hoards	(3:14:8:2)	1
الْخَيْلِ الْمُسَوَّمَةِ	horses branded	(3:14:13:2)	1
الذِّكْرِ الْحَكِيمِ	the Message of Wisdom	(3:58:6:2)	1
الْقَصَصُ الْحَقُّ	the true narration	(3:62:4:1)	1
الْكِتَابِ الْمُنِيرِ	the enlightening Scripture	(3:184:11:2)	2
الْمُحْصَنَاتِ الْمُؤْمِنَاتِ	free, believing women	(4:25:8:1)	1
الْجَارِ الْجُنُبِ	the neighbor farther away	(4:36:16:2)	1
الْقَرْيَةِ الظَّالِمِ	city of oppressive people	(4:75:19:1)	1
الدَّرْكِ الْأَسْفَلِ	the lowest depths	(4:145:4:1)	1
الْمَلَائِكَةُ الْمُقَرَّبُونَ	the nearest Angels	(4:172:9:1)	1
الْبَيْتَ الْحَرَامَ	the Sacred House	(5:2:17:1)	2
الْأَرْضَ الْمُقَدَّسَةَ	the Holy Land	(5:21:3:1)	1
الْقَوْمِ الْفَاسِقِينَ	the disobedient people	(5:25:12:1)	3
الْقَوْمِ الصَّالِحِينَ	the righteous people	(5:84:15:1)	1
الْبَلَاغُ الْمُبِينُ	the clear notification	(5:92:12:1)	7
الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيمُ	the great attainment	(5:119:23:1)	13
الْفَوْزُ الْمُبِينُ	the clear attainment	(6:16:8:1)	2
الْفَوْزُ الْكَبِيرُ	the Great Success	(85:11:13)	1
الدَّارُ الْآخِرَةُ	the home of the Hereafter	(6:32:7:3)	7
الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا	the worldly life	(6:70:8:1)	64
الْقَوْمِ الضَّالِّينَ	the people gone astray	(6:77:17:1)	1
الْقَوْمِ الْمُجْرِمِينَ	the criminal people	(6:147:12:1)	4
الْحُجَّةُ الْبَالِغَةُ	the far-reaching argument	(6:149:3:1)	1
وَالْبَلَدُ الطَّيِّبُ	the good land	(7:58:1:2)	1
النَّبِيَّ الْأُمِّيَّ	the unlettered prophet	(7:157:4:1)	2
الْأَسْمَاءُ الْحُسْنَىٰ	the best names	(7:180:2:1)	4
الْعُدْوَةِ الدُّنْيَا	the near side	(8:42:3:2)	1
الْعُدْوَةِ الْقُصْوَىٰ	the farther side	(8:42:6:2)	1
الْحَجِّ الْأَكْبَرِ	the greater pilgrimage	(9:3:8:1)	1
الْأَشْهُرُ الْحُرُمُ	the sacred months	(9:5:3:1)	1
الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ	the established system	(9:36:20:1)	4
الْخِزْيُ الْعَظِيمُ	the great disgrace	(9:63:15:1)	1
السَّابِقُونَ الْأَوَّلُونَ	the first forerunners	(9:100:1:2)	1
الْعَرْشِ الْعَظِيمِ	the Great Throne	(9:129:14:1)	3
الْكِتَابِ الْحَكِيمِ	the wise Book	(10:1:4:1)	2
الْعَذَابَ الشَّدِيدَ	the severe punishment	(10:70:9:1)	2
الْعَذَابَ الْأَلِيمَ	the painful punishment	(10:88:28:1)	7
السَّحَابَ الثِّقَالَ	the heavy clouds	(13:12:8:1)	1
الضَّلَالُ الْبَعِيدُ	extreme error	(14:18:21:1)	3
الصَّفْحَ الْجَمِيلَ	gracious forgiveness	(15:85:13:1)	1
الْخَلَّاقُ الْعَلِيمُ	the Knowing Creator	(15:86:4:1)	2
الْمَسْجِدِ الْأَقْصَى	the farthest Mosque	(17:1:10:1)	1
الطُّورِ الْأَيْمَنِ	the right side of Mount	(19:52:4:1)	2
السَّمَاوَاتِ الْعُلَى	highest heavens	(20:4:5:2)	1
الْوَادِ الْمُقَدَّسِ	the sacred valley	(20:12:7:2)	2
الْقُرُونِ الْأُولَىٰ	the previous generations	(20:51:4:1)	2
الدَّرَجَاتُ الْعُلَىٰ	the highest ranks	(20:75:9:1)	1
الصُّحُفِ الْأُولَىٰ	the former scriptures	(20:133:12:1)	2
الصِّرَاطِ السَّوِيِّ	the straight path	(20:135:8:1)	1
الْكَرْبِ الْعَظِيمِ	the great distress	(21:76:11:1)	3
الْوَعْدُ الْحَقُّ	the true promise	(21:97:2:1)	1
الْفَزَعُ الْأَكْبَرُ	the greatest terror	(21:103:3:1)	1
الضَّلَالُ الْبَعِيدُ	the extreme error	(22:12:13:1)	3
الْبَائِسَ الْفَقِيرَ	the distressed ones in want	(22:28:19:1)	1
الْبَيْتِ الْعَتِيقِ	the ancient House	(22:29:7:2)	2
الْعَرْشِ الْكَرِيمِ	the Noble Throne	(23:116:10:1)	1
الْمُحْصَنَاتِ الْغَافِلَاتِ	chaste, unaware women	(24:23:4:1)	1
الْحَقُّ الْمُبِينُ	the clear truth	(24:25:10:1)	2
الطَّوْدِ الْعَظِيمِ	great towering mountain	(26:63:12:2)	1
الْجِبِلَّةَ الْأَوَّلِينَ	the former creation	(26:184:4:2)	1
الرُّوحُ الْأَمِينُ	The Trustworthy Spirit	(26:193:3:1)	1
الْفَضْلُ الْمُبِينُ	evident bounty	(27:16:17:1)	1
الْقَوِيُّ الْأَمِينُ	the stromg trustworthy	(28:26:9:1)	1
الْوَادِ الْأَيْمَنِ	the right side of the valley	(28:30:6:1)	1
الْبُقْعَةِ الْمُبَارَكَةِ	the blessed spot	(28:30:9:1)	1
الدَّارَ الْآخِرَةَ	the home of the Hereafter	(28:77:5:1)	6
الْعُرْوَةِ الْوُثْقَىٰ	the most trustworthy handhold	(31:22:10:2)	2
الْعَذَابِ الْأَدْنَىٰ	the lower punishment	(32:21:3:1)	1
الْعَذَابِ الْأَكْبَرِ	the greater punishment	(32:21:6:1)	2
الْأَرْضِ الْجُرُزِ	barren land	(32:27:7:1)	1
الْكَلِمُ الطَّيِّبُ	good speech	(35:10:10:1)	1
الْفَضْلُ الْكَبِيرُ	the great bounty	(35:32:20:1)	2
الْأَرْضُ الْمَيْتَةُ	the dead earth	(36:33:3:1)	1
الْعُرْجُونِ الْقَدِيمِ	the old date stalk	(36:39:6:2)	1
الشَّجَرِ الْأَخْضَرِ	the green tree	(36:80:5:1)	1
الْخَلَّاقُ الْعَلِيمُ	the Knowing Creator	(36:81:13:1)	2
السَّمَاءَ الدُّنْيَا	the nearest heaven	(37:6:3:1)	3
الْكِتَابَ الْمُسْتَبِينَ	the explicit Scripture	(37:117:2:1)	1
الصَّافِنَاتُ الْجِيَادُ	the poised racehorses	(38:31:5:1)	1
الْخُسْرَانُ الْمُبِينُ	the manifest loss	(39:15:18:1)	2
الْعَذَابِ الْهُونِ	humiliating punishment	(41:17:10:1)	1
الْوَلِيُّ الْحَمِيدُ	the Praiseworthy Protector	(42:28:12:1)	1
الْكِتَابِ الْمُبِينِ	the clear Book	(43:2:1:2)	5
الْبَطْشَةَ الْكُبْرَىٰ	the greatest assault	(44:16:3:1)	1
الْخَلْقِ الْأَوَّلِ	the first creation	(50:15:2:2)	1
الْعَذَابِ الشَّدِيدِ	the severe punishment	(50:26:9:1)	2
الرِّيحَ الْعَقِيمَ	devastating Wind	(51:41:6:1)	1
الْقُوَّةِ الْمَتِينُ	steadfast strength	(51:58:6:1)	1
الْجَزَاءَ الْأَوْفَىٰ	the fullest recompense	(53:41:3:1)	1
الْكَذَّابُ الْأَشِرُ	the insolent liar	(54:26:4:1)	1
اللُّؤْلُؤِ الْمَكْنُونِ	pearls well-protected	(56:23:2:1)	1
الْحِنثِ الْعَظِيمِ	supreme wickedness	(56:46:4:1)	1
الْمُكَذِّبِينَ الضَّالِّينَ	the derailed deniers	(56:92:5:1)	1

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