Then Adam received from his Lord [some] words, and He accepted his repentance. Indeed, it is He who is the Accepting of Repentance, the Merciful.
Sahih International
Grammar, phrase by phrase
فَتَلَقَّىٰٓ ءَادَمُ
(Then Adam received)
Root لقي — to meet, encounter, to cast or throw · 146 times in the Quran
فَتَلَقَّىٰٓword 1
Resumptive Particle · حرف استئنافA resumptive particle is a وَ or فَ that begins a fresh statement after a pause or shift. The prefix فَ here turns the account from the fall to what Adam then did. L14 · R1
Verb · فعلA verb is a word for an action tied to a time. تَلَقَّىٰٓ names an action — receiving — from the root لقي, to meet, encounter. L1 · R7
Past Tense Verb · فعل ماضٍA past tense verb in its base shape is the bare 'he' form with no added person ending, naming a completed action. تَلَقَّىٰٓ is that bare form — 'he received' — and the تَ at its front belongs to the verb's Form V pattern, not to any present-tense prefix. L8 · R1
Weak Verb · فعل معتلA weak verb is one whose root contains the weak letter و or ي — letters that love to soften into long vowels or vanish. The root of تَلَقَّىٰٓ is لقي: its final weak ي surfaces here as the bent final ىٰٓ. L24 · R2
Form V Verb · تَفَعَّلَA Form V verb is identified by a تَـ added to the front together with a doubled middle root letter, turning the action back on the doer himself. تَلَقَّىٰٓ shows both marks: the تَ at its front and the shaddah ـّ — the small w-shaped doubling mark — on its قَّ. Adam took the words to himself: he received them. L13 · R1
ءَادَمُword 2
Noun · اسمA noun is a naming word — it covers proper names as well as things and ideas. ءَادَمُ is the proper name Adam. L1 · R6
Nominative · مرفوعThe nominative is the ending a naming word takes as the subject of its sentence, shown by a ḍammah ـُ — a small curl above the last letter. ءَادَمُ ends in that ḍammah ـُ. L2 · R10
Doer (Fa'il) · فاعلThe doer is the one performing the action of a verb, and it always takes the nominative — shown here by the ḍammah ـُ, the small curl on ءَادَمُ. Adam is the doer of the receiving: he is the one who received the words. L9 · R2
مِن رَّبِّهِۦ كَلِمَـٰتٍۢ
(…from his Lord [some] words,)
Root ربب — Lord, Sustainer, Nourisher, Regulator, Perfector · 980 times in the Quran
Root كلم — words, speech, to speak · 75 times in the Quran
مِنword 3
Particle · حرفA particle is a small helper word with no meaning standing alone; it takes no ending and does not name or act. مِن is such a helper word here. L1 · R8
Preposition · حرف جرA preposition is a little word that relates one thing to another and pulls the naming word after it into the genitive — the after-preposition ending, usually a kasrah ـِ, a small stroke below the last letter. مِن 'from' is one of the common prepositions: 'from his Lord'. L4 · R2
رَّبِّهِۦword 4
Noun · اسمA noun is a naming word for a person, thing, or idea. رَّبِّ names the Lord, from the root ربب — Lord, Sustainer, Nourisher. L1 · R6
Masculine Noun · اسم مذكرArabic treats every naming word as grammatically 'he' or 'she'. This word carries no feminine marker such as a ة at its end, so it falls to the default and is treated as 'he': a masculine noun. L2 · R3
Genitive · مجرورThe genitive is the ending a naming word takes after a preposition, shown by a kasrah ـِ — a small slanted stroke below the last letter. رَّبِّ carries that kasrah ـِ because مِن stands before it. L2 · R12
Attached Pronoun · ضمير متصلAn attached pronoun is a mini-word for 'his' glued onto the end of another word. The ending هِۦ on رَّبِّهِۦ stands for 'him' — Adam: 'HIS Lord'. L3 · R7
Possessive (Idafa) · مضاف إليهA possessive (iḍāfah) chains an owner onto the thing owned, and the owner carries the genitive — the owner's ending, usually shown by a kasrah ـِ, a small slanted stroke below the last letter. The ending هِۦ 'him' is that owner glued onto رَّبِّ: 'the Lord of him'. A pronoun keeps its fixed written shape, so no kasrah appears on it — the genitive is the role its owner slot carries. L5 · R5
كَلِمَـٰتٍۢword 5
Noun · اسمA word that accepts tanwīn — the doubled end-vowel marks ـٌ ـً ـٍ — is a noun, a naming word. كَلِمَٰتٍ ends in the doubled kasrah ـٍ and names words, from the root كلم — words, speech, to speak. L1 · R2
Feminine Noun · اسم مؤنثA feminine noun is a naming word Arabic treats as 'she', typically marked by a ة at its end. This word is the plural of such a ة-marked word (كَلِمَة, a word); in the plural that feminine marking lives on in the ending ـَات. L2 · R1
Plural Noun · جمعA plural noun refers to three or more. The sound feminine plural — the plural of a feminine naming word — adds the ending ـَات, and كَلِمَٰتٍ carries that ending: not one word but several. L2 · R6
Indefinite Noun · نكرةAn indefinite noun means 'some' — not ones already pointed out — and shows this with tanwīn, the doubled end-vowel mark. كَلِمَٰتٍ ends in the doubled kasrah ـٍ: '[some] words'. L2 · R8
Accusative · منصوبThe accusative is usually shown by a fathah ـَ, a small slanted stroke above the last letter — but the sound feminine plural shows it instead with the ending ـَاتٍ. كَلِمَٰتٍ is what the receiving landed on, and it wears that plural's accusative dress: the doubled kasrah ـٍ. L2 · R7
Direct Object · مفعول بهThe direct object is the thing the action lands on, standing in the accusative — the landed-on form, which on this feminine plural is worn as the doubled kasrah ـٍ of its ending ـَاتٍ. The words are what Adam received. L9 · R3
It was reported that this receiving of words is explained by Allah's statement: 'They said: Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If You forgive us not, and bestow not upon us Your mercy, we shall certainly be of the losers' (7:23), as Mujahid, Sa'id bin Jubayr, Al-Hasan, Qatadah and others stated.
Ibn Kathir (abridged), on 2:37
So far: “Then Adam received from his Lord [some] words,”
فَتَابَ عَلَيْهِ ۚ
(…and He accepted his repentance.)
Root توب — to repent, accept repentance · 87 times in the Quran
فَتَابَword 6
Conjunction · حرف عطفA conjunction is a small joining word; فَ means 'and then', joining what follows in close sequence. The prefix فَ joins the acceptance straight onto the receiving of the words. L4 · R4
Verb · فعلA verb is a word for an action tied to a time. تَابَ names an action — turning in acceptance — from the root توب, to repent, accept repentance. L1 · R7
Past Tense Verb · فعل ماضٍA past tense verb in its base shape is the bare 'he' form with no added person ending, naming a completed action. تَابَ is that bare form: 'He turned' — He accepted the repentance. L8 · R1
Weak Verb · فعل معتلA weak verb is one whose root contains the weak letter و or ي — letters that love to soften into long vowels or vanish. The root of تَابَ is توب: its middle و hides here behind the long ا. L24 · R2
عَلَيْهِ ۚword 7
Particle · حرفA particle is a small helper word with no meaning standing alone; it takes no ending and does not name or act. عَلَيْ is such a helper word here. L1 · R8
Preposition · حرف جرA preposition is a little word that relates one thing to another and pulls the naming word after it into the genitive — the after-preposition ending, usually a kasrah ـِ, a small stroke below the last letter. عَلَى 'on/upon', written عَلَيْ before its ending, is one of the common prepositions: the turning was 'toward him'. L4 · R2
Attached Pronoun · ضمير متصلAn attached pronoun is a mini-word glued onto the end of another word; glued to a particle, it is governed by that particle. The ending هِ on عَلَيْهِ stands for 'him' — Adam, whose repentance was accepted. L3 · R6
So far: “Then Adam received from his Lord [some] words, and He accepted his repentance.”
إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلتَّوَّابُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ
(Indeed, it is He who is the Accepting of Repentance, the Merciful.)
Root توب — to repent, accept repentance · 87 times in the Quran
Root رحم — to have mercy on, have compassion upon, pity · 339 times in the Quran
إِنَّهُۥword 8
Accusative Particle (إنّ) · حرف مشبه بالفعلإِنَّ 'indeed' — carrying the doubling shaddah ـّ, a small w-shaped mark — is a particle of the family حرف مشبه بالفعل that opens a topic-plus-comment sentence, adds emphasis, and pushes its topic into the accusative, the fathah ـَ form. Joined with 'He' it reads إِنَّهُۥ: 'Indeed, He…'. L15 · R2
Attached Pronoun · ضمير متصلAn attached pronoun is a mini-word glued onto the end of another word; glued to a particle, it is governed by that particle. The ending هُۥ on إِنَّهُۥ stands for 'He' — the topic إِنَّ speaks about, held in the accusative role, the fathah ـَ form; the pronoun's written shape is fixed, so no fathah appears. L3 · R6
هُوَword 9
Detached Pronoun · ضمير منفصلA detached pronoun is a standalone word for 'I/you/he'. هُوَ is the standalone word for 'He' — one of the twelve detached forms. L3 · R2
Subject (Mubtada') · مبتدأThe subject is the naming word a statement opens by talking about — its topic — standing in the nominative, the topic form usually shown by a ḍammah ـُ, a small curl above the last letter. هُوَ 'He' opens the comment as that topic — a pronoun keeps one fixed shape, so no ḍammah appears, but the role it fills is the nominative one; 'the Accepting of Repentance' is what is said about Him. L6 · R2
ٱلتَّوَّابُword 10
Definite Article · أل التعريفThe definite article is the prefix ٱل ('the') fixed to the front of a naming word. Here the ت is one of the fourteen 'solar' letters — letters made near where the ل itself is made, which swallow the ل of ٱل so it is written but not heard — so the ت doubles, shown by the shaddah ـّ, the small w-shaped doubling mark above it. L2 · R9
Noun · اسمA word that accepts the prefix ٱل ('the') is a noun — a naming word. This word carries that prefix and names the Oft-Returning, from the root توب, to repent, accept repentance. L1 · R1
Masculine Noun · اسم مذكرArabic treats every naming word as grammatically 'he' or 'she'. This word carries no feminine marker such as a ة at its end, so it falls to the default and is treated as 'he': a masculine noun. L2 · R3
Singular Noun · مفردA singular noun refers to exactly one, showing its ending with a single short vowel mark. ٱلتَّوَّابُ names One alone, its single ḍammah ـُ — a small curl above the last letter — carrying the ending. L2 · R4
Nominative · مرفوعThe nominative is the ending a naming word takes as the subject or the comment about a topic, shown by a ḍammah ـُ — a small curl above the last letter. ٱلتَّوَّابُ ends in that ḍammah ـُ. L2 · R10
Predicate (Khabar) · خبرThe predicate is the part that tells you something about the topic, standing in the nominative in its own right — here the ḍammah ـُ, the small curl above its last letter. The topic was هُوَ 'He'; ٱلتَّوَّابُ is what is said about Him, with the 'is' understood: 'He IS the Accepting of Repentance'. L6 · R3
Active Participle · اسم فاعلAn active participle is a naming word built from a verb's root to name the one who does the action. ٱلتَّوَّابُ is built from the root توب — to repent, accept repentance — naming the One who returns to His servants with acceptance: the Oft-Returning to mercy. L11 · R1
ٱلرَّحِيمُword 11
Definite Article · أل التعريفThe definite article is the prefix ٱل ('the') fixed to the front of a naming word. Here the ر is one of the fourteen 'solar' letters — letters made near where the ل itself is made, which swallow the ل of ٱل so it is written but not heard — so the ر doubles, shown by the shaddah ـّ, the small w-shaped doubling mark above it. L2 · R9
Noun · اسمA noun is a naming word — the category covers describing words like 'merciful' as well as names of things. رَّحِيمُ names the Most Merciful, from the root رحم, to have mercy on, have compassion upon. L1 · R6
Nominative · مرفوعThe nominative is the ending shown by a ḍammah ـُ — a small curl above the last letter. ٱلرَّحِيمُ ends in that ḍammah ـُ, matching the word it describes. L2 · R10
Adjective · صفةAn adjective is a describing word that comes after its noun and matches it in gender, number, ending, and 'the'-ness. ٱلرَّحِيمُ follows ٱلتَّوَّابُ and matches it on all four: both are 'he'-words, both name One, both end in the ḍammah ـُ — the small curl of the nominative — and both carry the prefix ٱل 'the'. L7 · R1
'Verily, He is the One Who forgives (accepts repentance), the Most Merciful' means that Allah forgives whoever regrets his error and returns to Him in repentance — demonstrating His kindness and mercy towards His creation and servants.
Ibn Kathir (abridged), on 2:37
So far: “Then Adam received from his Lord [some] words, and He accepted his repentance. Indeed, it is He who is the Accepting of Repentance, the Merciful.”