LessonsArabic Syntax Practicum — Parsing Passages from Ten MaqāmātQuiz

«إِنِّي مَا قَتَلْتُ ابْنَكَ سَهْوًا وَلَا عَمْدًا»
I did not kill your son, either by mistake or deliberately.

Innī supplies an emphatic frame, followed by negative mā qataltu. Sahwan wa-lā ʿamdan contrasts accidental and intentional action; the added lā extends the negation to both possibilities.

This is stronger than a denial of intentional killing alone: both accidental and deliberate killing are denied. That scope matters because the alleged event and the actor’s intention are separate issues in the dispute.

PartMeaning
InnīEmphatic assertion
Mā qataltuNegated past action
Sahwan wa-lā ʿamdanTwo denied modes

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Negation within an emphatic assertion

Arabic Syntax Practicum — Parsing Passages from Ten Maqāmāt

«إِنِّي مَا قَتَلْتُ ابْنَكَ سَهْوًا وَلَا عَمْدًا»
I did not kill your son, either by mistake or deliberately.

Innī supplies an emphatic frame, followed by negative mā qataltu. Sahwan wa-lā ʿamdan contrasts accidental and intentional action; the added lā extends the negation to both possibilities.

This is stronger than a denial of intentional killing alone: both accidental and deliberate killing are denied. That scope matters because the alleged event and the actor’s intention are separate issues in the dispute.

PartMeaning
InnīEmphatic assertion
Mā qataltuNegated past action
Sahwan wa-lā ʿamdanTwo denied modes