الإعراب
I'rab — Grammatical Case Endings
I'rab is the system of vowel endings that mark a word's grammatical function in Arabic. It is arguably the most important concept in Arabic grammar — without it, you cannot tell the subject from the object in a sentence.
What is I'rab?
In English, word order tells us who did what: "The man hit the ball" has a different meaning from "The ball hit the man." Arabic works differently. The ending of each word changes to show its role — subject, object, or linked by a preposition.
This means Arabic word order is flexible. The verb can come first, the object can come first, or the subject can come first — and the meaning stays clear because the endings tell you which word plays which role.
Example from Surah Al-Fatiha (1:2)
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
الْحَمْدُ (al-hamdu) — ends with damma (ُ) because it is the mubtada' (subject), in the raf' case.
لِلَّهِ (lillahi) — ends with kasra (ِ) because it follows the preposition li, putting it in the jarr case.
رَبِّ (rabbi) — also in jarr because it is a badal (appositive) following a majrur word.
The Four Cases of I'rab
Raf' (الرَّفْع)
Marker: Damma (ُ)
Subject of a sentence, predicate of nominal sentence
جَاءَ الرَّجُلُ
The man came
Nasb (النَّصْب)
Marker: Fatha (َ)
Direct object, after certain particles (إنَّ, أنَّ, etc.)
رَأَيْتُ الرَّجُلَ
I saw the man
Jarr (الجَرّ)
Marker: Kasra (ِ)
After prepositions, second noun of idaafa
مَرَرْتُ بِالرَّجُلِ
I passed by the man
Jazm (الجَزْم)
Marker: Sukun (ْ)
Verbs only — after lam al-amr, laa an-naahiya, in conditions
لَمْ يَذْهَبْ
He did not go
Mu'rab vs. Mabni — Declinable vs. Indeclinable
Not every Arabic word changes its ending. Words are divided into two categories:
Mu'rab (مُعْرَب)
Words whose endings do change based on their grammatical position. Most nouns and present-tense verbs are mu'rab.
Mabni (مَبْنِي)
Words whose endings never change regardless of position. This includes pronouns, demonstratives (هذا, ذلك), past-tense verbs, and most particles.
Practice: I'rab in Surah Al-Ikhlas
قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ · اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ · لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ · وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ
اللَّهُ — Raf' (damma). It is the mubtada' (subject) in a nominal sentence.
أَحَدٌ — Raf' (tanwin damma). It is the khabar (predicate).
الصَّمَدُ — Raf' (damma). Khabar of the second sentence.
يَلِدْ / يُولَدْ — Jazm (sukun). Preceded by لَمْ which puts the mudari' verb into jazm.
كُفُوًا — Nasb (tanwin fatha). It is a haal (state descriptor).
Key Takeaways
- 1. I'rab marks the role a word plays — subject, object, or governed by a preposition.
- 2. The four cases are: raf' (ُ), nasb (َ), jarr (ِ), and jazm (ْ, verbs only).
- 3. Mu'rab words change endings; mabni words do not.
- 4. Learning i'rab is the single biggest unlock for understanding the Quran without translation.