His saying, may He be Exalted: “And We did not create the heavens and the earth and what is between them in vain…” What is the grammatical parsing of “in vain”?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The student: All right, Shaykh, His saying, may He be Exalted: [Al-Hijr 15:85].
The Shaykh : Yes.
The student: Do you parse “fadilah” (superfluous)?
The Shaykh : It is a haal (circumstantial phrase), a haal from “ma” (what).
The student: Do you not parse it as fadilah?
The Shaykh : It is fadilah in terms of grammar, but it is not permissible to omit it because the meaning would be disrupted.
The student: Then it is ‘amdah (essential).
The Shaykh : No, no, it is not ‘amdah in terms of structure; it is not ‘amdah. For example, His saying: The phrase is in the position of accusative as a haal, and the haal is fadilah, but here it is not permissible to omit it because the meaning would be disrupted. [Al-Ma'un 107:4-5] This is a sifah (attribute), and the sifah is fadilah, but it is not permissible to omit it because the meaning would differ. And as I told you, what is the basis of the discussion?
The student: The meaning.
The Shaykh : The meaning, yes.
The student: … fadilah in that it cannot be dispensed with?
The Shaykh : Yes, that is right, in terms of the structure of the sentence. For this reason we say: This is a laazimah (necessary) haal, a laazimah haal, yes, that is right.
The student: The time is up.
And We have not created the heavens and earth and that between them
وما خلقنا السماوات والأرض وما بينهما باطلًاThe Shaykh : Yes.
The student: Do you parse “fadilah” (superfluous)?
The Shaykh : It is a haal (circumstantial phrase), a haal from “ma” (what).
The student: Do you not parse it as fadilah?
The Shaykh : It is fadilah in terms of grammar, but it is not permissible to omit it because the meaning would be disrupted.
The student: Then it is ‘amdah (essential).
The Shaykh : No, no, it is not ‘amdah in terms of structure; it is not ‘amdah. For example, His saying:
And do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated
ولا تقربوا الصّلاة وأنتم سكارىand you are intoxicated
وأنتم سكارى(4) So woe to those who pray (5) [But] who are heedless of their prayer -
فويل للمصلين* الذين هم عن صلاتهم ساهونwho are
الذين همThe student: The meaning.
The Shaykh : The meaning, yes.
The student: … fadilah in that it cannot be dispensed with?
The Shaykh : Yes, that is right, in terms of the structure of the sentence. For this reason we say:
playing
لاعبينand you are intoxicated
وأنتم سكارىThe student: The time is up.