بُرْهان
root: ب-ر-ه-ن / noun / plural: بَراهين / definition: proof
It seems that I’ve unintentionally created a new series of posts this Ramadan, and now I can’t help but add to it.
We’ve been looking at variations of ذلك/تلك in the Qur’an—specifically, how these demonstratives are modified with pronoun suffixes:
But things don’t end there. Twenty-eight chapters (سُوَر) in, we find another related particle-plus-pronoun-suffix: ذانِكَ.
Let’s take a look at the verse it occurs in, within a passage about the story of Moses (موسى, peace be upon him):
ٱسْلُكْ يَدَكَ فِى جَيْبِكَ تَخْرُجْ بَيْضَآءَ مِنْ غَيْرِ سُوٓءٍ وَٱضْمُمْ إِلَيْكَ جَنَاحَكَ مِنَ ٱلرَّهْبِ ۖ فَذَٰنِكَ بُرْهَـٰنَانِ مِن رَّبِّكَ إِلَىٰ فِرْعَوْنَ وَمَلَإِي۟هِۦٓ ۚ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا۟ قَوْمًا فَـٰسِقِينَ
Now put your hand through ˹the opening of˺ your collar, it will come out ˹shining˺ white, unblemished. And cross your arms tightly to calm your fears. These are two proofs from your Lord to Pharaoh and his chiefs. They have truly been a rebellious people.” (Qur’an 28:32)
The word فَذَٰنِكَ can be broken down into four components:
فَـ = a connective, carrying meanings like “and” or “so”
ذا = a demonstrative (a word used to point something out); this is also the first component of the particle ذلك—read more about ذا here
ـانِ = this suffix indicates the dual
ـكَ = the pronoun suffix for أَنتَ
Together, ذا + ـانِ give us ذانِ, the dual form of the demonstrative—i.e. used when ذا is referring to two things. In the Qur’anic verse above, it refers to بُرْهَـٰنَانِ (two proofs).
And the pronoun suffix ـكَ is present, because Moses (peace be upon him) is the one being addressed.
All together, فَذَٰنِكَ بُرْهَـٰنَانِ carries the meaning of “so (O Moses) these are two proofs”.
I think this wraps up our Ramadan mini-series about demonstratives with pronoun suffixes in the Qur’an. But who knows? Because I thought that last week too, and here we are with another post.
Have you come across any other particles in the Qur’an (or in other sources) that could be added to this series? I’d love to hear about them!
!في أمان الله
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