LessonsSupplementary Practice 22: Comparative Rhetorical Study of Sūrat al-Kāfirūn and al-NaṣrQuiz

وَلَا أَنْتُمْ عَابِدُونَ مَا أَعْبُدُ
Nor are you worshippers of what I worship. (109:3)

Antum is the subject and ʿābidūn, a sound masculine plural active participle, functions as its predicate. The preceding verse used the finite verb aʿbudu; this one presents worship as a predicated quality or relation.

A nominal predicate can emphasize a characterization, but an active participle should not be mechanically interpreted as conveying absolute eternity on morphological grounds alone. The governing context matters.

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Nominal predication: antum ʿābidūn

Supplementary Practice 22: Comparative Rhetorical Study of Sūrat al-Kāfirūn and al-Naṣr

وَلَا أَنْتُمْ عَابِدُونَ مَا أَعْبُدُ
Nor are you worshippers of what I worship. (109:3)

Antum is the subject and ʿābidūn, a sound masculine plural active participle, functions as its predicate. The preceding verse used the finite verb aʿbudu; this one presents worship as a predicated quality or relation.

A nominal predicate can emphasize a characterization, but an active participle should not be mechanically interpreted as conveying absolute eternity on morphological grounds alone. The governing context matters.