LessonsSupplementary Practice 29 — Comparative Rhetoric of Sūrat al-Infiṭār and Sūrat al-InshiqāqQuiz

فِي أَيِّ صُورَةٍ مَا شَاءَ رَكَّبَكَ
He composed you in whatever form He willed. (82:8)

In a recognized analysis, mā is additional (zāʾidah), the clause “shāʾa” qualifies “ṣūrah,” and “fī ayyi ṣūratin” relates to “rakkabaka.” The sense is that the human form was arranged as God willed. Some exegetes also discuss a conditional interpretation; neither alternative should be presented as the only grammatical possibility.

Reading “rakkabaka” as an explanation of “fa-ʿadalaka” also helps account for the absence of another coordinate fa- at that point. The function of “mā” cannot be settled by its shape alone; syntax and context are decisive.

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Al-Infiṭār: grammatical alternatives in mā shāʾa

Supplementary Practice 29 — Comparative Rhetoric of Sūrat al-Infiṭār and Sūrat al-Inshiqāq

فِي أَيِّ صُورَةٍ مَا شَاءَ رَكَّبَكَ
He composed you in whatever form He willed. (82:8)

In a recognized analysis, mā is additional (zāʾidah), the clause “shāʾa” qualifies “ṣūrah,” and “fī ayyi ṣūratin” relates to “rakkabaka.” The sense is that the human form was arranged as God willed. Some exegetes also discuss a conditional interpretation; neither alternative should be presented as the only grammatical possibility.

Reading “rakkabaka” as an explanation of “fa-ʿadalaka” also helps account for the absence of another coordinate fa- at that point. The function of “mā” cannot be settled by its shape alone; syntax and context are decisive.