Exegesis of Surat al-Infitar: Allah the Exalted said, "When the sky is split," and its grammatical parsing.

The Shaykh : Now let us return to what we were able to discuss regarding what we heard tonight from Surat al-Infitar. Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) said: "When the sky is split," meaning it is torn, because splitting is tearing. This is explained by His saying: Here we ask the students of grammar, especially if any of them are present with us: How do we parse "the sky"? How do we parse "the sky"?

The questioner : It is the subject (fa'il).

The Shaykh : The subject? Where is the verb for which it is the subject?
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : Well done, may Allah reward you. Good. We say that "the sky" is the subject of a deleted verb, explained by what follows it, meaning "when the sky is split." This is one opinion. This opinion is opposed by another, which says there is no need for deletion; the default in speech is no deletion, and there is no need. A third opinion says that "the sky" is the subject of the verb that follows it, and there is no objection to placing the subject before its verb. This is also easy. I told my brothers with whom we discuss grammar that when grammarians differ on two opinions, follow the easier one. This is not following dispensations (rukhas), because these are not religious rulings; these are conventional rulings. So when grammarians differ on two opinions, follow the easier one. So what do we follow here? That it is a subject placed before its verb, or that it is a beginning (mubtada') and the sentence following it is its predicate? Good.