Al-Infitar 82:19 - Linguistic Miracle

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A day no soul will possess for another soul a thing; and the command, that Day, is with Allah.

The word Youm (a day) is in accusative while the general principle in Arabic is that it should be in nominative. Much has been said about it, widely narrowed down to three possibilities. Firstly, it could be that there is an omitted verb at the beginning.

Those who said this presented two possibilities as to what that omitted verb is, يدانون (they are taken to account) and ( اذكروا Mention/ Remember). They are taken to account on the day no soul will possess for another soul a thing….. Or, Mention/remember the day no soul will possess for another soul a thing….

Secondly, some treated it as a construct phrase ( )الإضافة and said that when the

second term of the construct phrase is a verbal clause like here, the first term can be accusative. This is the opinion of Al Zujjāj but as al Wāḥidī points out, grammarians

like Farahidi and Sibawayh said that this is only allowed if the verb is in past tense, not an imperfect verb like here. Ibn Ashur goes the other way and mentions that when a temporal noun specifically is in a construct phrase with an imperfect verb, it is permissible to make it accusative as in here.

The third possibility is that the word youm (a day) is an apposition of the words ‘day of dīn’ in verse 15. Since the word Youm is accusative there, its apposition has to match it and be in the accusative as well, but this seems a bit stretched. I prefer the position that there is an omitted verb which is يدانون since it is the passive imperfect verb of the word dīn . This would render the whole sentence as - They are taken to account on a day no soul will possess for another soul a thing; and the command, that Day, is with Allah. We have already seen the word ‘dīn’ be repeated multiple times in the surah and this flows with the overall theme.

People in this life help each other, protect each other, work in communion, put in collective efforts to sustain their lives and the community as a whole. While some try to overpower others to gain power and authority. On judgment day, this system collapses so no one can help or protect another person. No one can gain power or authority either since that will rest will Allah alone who cannot be overpowered. Allah has given human beings ownership, power, authority, and the power to carry out their desires and plans on this earth. On judgment day, all of this is taken away to remain only with the source and root of it all - Allah. Hence, only righteousness and good deeds will save and bring you honor before Allah, not the possessions, authority or power that you possess in the world.