LessonsSupplementary Practice 21: Comparative Rhetorical Study of Sūrat Quraysh and al-MāʿūnQuiz

الَّذِينَ هُمْ عَن صَلَاتِهِمْ سَاهُونَ
those who are heedless of their prayers. (107:5)

Hum is the subject of the nominal construction and sāhūn its predicate; ʿan ṣalātihim is a prepositional expression associated with the predicate and placed before it. The preposition ʿan directs the description to heedlessness concerning prayer, not automatically to a passing distraction occurring within prayer.

The fronted complement makes the neglected duty salient. Syntax, preposition, and context must be considered together.

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ʿAn ṣalātihim: why the preposition matters

Supplementary Practice 21: Comparative Rhetorical Study of Sūrat Quraysh and al-Māʿūn

الَّذِينَ هُمْ عَن صَلَاتِهِمْ سَاهُونَ
those who are heedless of their prayers. (107:5)

Hum is the subject of the nominal construction and sāhūn its predicate; ʿan ṣalātihim is a prepositional expression associated with the predicate and placed before it. The preposition ʿan directs the description to heedlessness concerning prayer, not automatically to a passing distraction occurring within prayer.

The fronted complement makes the neglected duty salient. Syntax, preposition, and context must be considered together.