And [recall] when you slew a man and disputed over it, but Allāh was to bring out that which you were concealing.
Sahih International
Grammar, phrase by phrase
وَإِذْ قَتَلْتُمْ نَفْسًۭا
(And [recall] when you slew a man)
Root قتل — to kill, slay, fight · 170 times in the Quran
Root نفس — soul, self, person; one's own self · 298 times in the Quran
وَإِذْword 1
Conjunction · حرف عطفThe prefix وَ at the front of وَإِذْ is a conjunction — a small joining word meaning 'and' — linking what follows to what came before; the word it joins in must stand in the same grammatical case as its partner before the joint — the same role in the sentence, even when the two words write that case with different endings. L4 · R4
Time Adverb · ظرف زمانA time adverb is a naming word that anchors a sentence to the time its action happens. إِذْ points back to a past event — 'when, back then' — its final ذ written with the sukūn ـْ, the small circle meaning the sound stops on that letter: 'when you slew a man'. L16 · R9
قَتَلْتُمْword 2
Verb · فعلA verb is a word for an action or happening that is always tied to a time — past, present/future, or a command. قَتَلْ speaks of an action already carried out: 'you killed', from the root قتل: to kill, slay, fight. L1 · R7
Past Tense Verb · فعل ماضٍA past-tense verb describes an action already completed — and it shows who by a small ending fastened to the verb's tail. On قَتَلْتُمْ that ending is تُمْ, telling exactly who is meant: 'you killed', from the root قتل: to kill, slay, fight. L8 · R2
Attached Pronoun · ضمير متصلAn attached pronoun is a mini-word for 'I / you / he' that cannot stand alone — it is glued onto the end of another word, and each form carries within it exactly who is meant. تُمْ · 'you all/your' is fastened to the tail of the verb here — قَتَلْتُمْ — naming the one who did the action. L3 · R6
Doer (Fa'il) · فاعلThe doer is the one performing the action, standing in the nominative — the doer's form, usually a ḍammah ـُ, a small curl above the last letter. The ending تُمْ is that doer, 'you all'; a pronoun keeps one fixed shape, so no ḍammah appears — the nominative is the role it fills. L9 · R4
نَفْسًۭاword 3
Noun · اسمA noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. نَفْسًا names such a thing: 'a man', from the root نفس: soul, self, person; one's own self. L1 · R6
Feminine Noun · اسم مؤنثA feminine noun is a naming word Arabic treats as grammatically 'she'. Most feminine nouns wear a visible marker — a ة at the end, a final ى, or اء — but نَفْسًا shows none of these: it is one of the words Arabic simply knows as feminine, learned with the word itself: 'a man'. L2 · R2
Singular Noun · مفردA singular noun refers to exactly one, showing its case with a single short vowel mark — doubled to tanwīn when the word is indefinite. نَفْسًا is one single soul, one man slain, carrying that doubled ending ـً. L2 · R4
Indefinite Noun · نكرةAn indefinite noun means 'a' or 'any' one of something — no particular one — and it never wears the definite article ال ('the'); instead it shows this with tanwīn, a doubled end-vowel mark. نَفْسًا carries the tanwīn ـً — the fathah ـَ doubled — marking it as unspecified: 'a man'. L2 · R8
Accusative · منصوبThe accusative is the ending a naming word takes when the action lands on it, shown by a fathah ـَ — a small slanted stroke above the last letter — doubled here to the tanwīn ـً. نَفْسًا ends in exactly that doubled fathah ـً. L2 · R11
Direct Object · مفعول بهThe direct object is the one the action lands on, standing in the accusative — the landed-on form, here the doubled fathah ـً at the end of نَفْسًا. The slain soul is what the killing landed on. L9 · R3
فَٱدَّٰرَْٰٔتُمْ فِيهَا ۖ
(…and disputed over it,)
Root درا — to know · 5 times in the Quran
فَٱدَّٰرَْٰٔتُمْword 4
Result Particle · فاء الجوابThe result particle is a فَ that introduces what follows from a condition or preceding event — 'then'. The prefix فَ here introduces what followed the killing: THEN you fell to disputing over it. L14 · R2
Verb · فعلA verb is a word for an action or happening that is always tied to a time — past, present/future, or a command. ٱدَّٰرَْٰٔ speaks of an action already carried out: 'then you disputed', from the root درا: to know. L1 · R7
Past Tense Verb · فعل ماضٍA past-tense verb describes an action already completed — and it shows who by a small ending fastened to the verb's tail. On فَٱدَّٰرَْٰٔتُمْ that ending is تُمْ, telling exactly who is meant: 'then you disputed', from the root درا: to know. L8 · R2
Hamzated Verb · فعل مهموزA hamzated verb has a hamza (ء) among its letters, and the hamza's written seat keeps changing with the surrounding sounds, which can disguise the root. In ٱدَّٰرَْٰٔتُمْ the hamza is written small and raised, floating above the line just before the تُمْ ending. L24 · R11
Form VI Verb · تَفَاعَلَA Form VI verb pairs a تَـ prefix with an alif after the first root letter and expresses the parties doing the action to each other. Here the long ā shows as the small raised stroke ٰ after the doubled د — whose shaddah ـّ, the small w-shaped doubling mark, is where the form's تَ has been absorbed — and the meaning is mutual: they disputed with ONE ANOTHER over the killing. L13 · R2
Attached Pronoun · ضمير متصلAn attached pronoun is a mini-word for 'I / you / he' that cannot stand alone — it is glued onto the end of another word, and each form carries within it exactly who is meant. تُمْ · 'you all/your' is fastened to the tail of the verb here — فَٱدَّٰرَْٰٔتُمْ — naming the one who did the action. L3 · R6
Doer (Fa'il) · فاعلThe doer is the one performing the action, standing in the nominative — the doer's form, usually a ḍammah ـُ, a small curl above the last letter. The ending تُمْ is that doer, 'you all'; a pronoun keeps one fixed shape, so no ḍammah appears — the nominative is the role it fills. L9 · R4
فِيهَا ۖword 5
Particle · حرفA particle is a small helper word of one to three letters that works like glue — it connects or adjusts other words rather than naming something or describing an action, and it can never be the one a sentence is about. فِي · 'in' is such a helper. L1 · R9
Preposition · حرف جرA preposition is a little helper word that relates one thing to another; Arabic keeps a short list of them — small words like فِي 'in', مِنْ 'from', and عَلَىٰ 'on'. فِي · 'in' is one of these relation-words. L4 · R2
Attached Pronoun · ضمير متصلAn attached pronoun is a mini-word for 'me / us / them' that cannot stand alone — it is glued onto the end of another word, and each form carries within it exactly who is meant. هَا · 'her/her' hangs on the little relation-word in فِيهَا, governed by the word it is fastened to. L3 · R6
"And disagreed among yourselves as to the crime" means "disputed" — as Ibn Jurayj said, some of them said, "You killed him," while the others said, "No, you killed him."
Ibn Kathir (abridged), on 2:72–73
So far: “And [recall] when you slew a man and disputed over it,”
وَٱللَّهُ مُخْرِجٌۭ
(…but Allāh was to bring out)
Root اله — god · 2,851 times in the Quran
Root خرج — to go out, bring forth · 182 times in the Quran
وَٱللَّهُword 6
Resumptive Particle · حرف استئنافA resumptive particle is a وَ or فَ that begins a fresh statement after a pause or a shift of topic — it starts the speech anew rather than adding one more item to a list. The prefix وَ · 'and' at the front of وَٱللَّهُ opens such a fresh start. L14 · R1
Noun · اسمA noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea — and in Arabic this includes proper names. ٱللَّهُ is a proper name: 'but Allah'. L1 · R6
Nominative · مرفوعThe nominative is the ending a naming word takes as the subject or main topic of its sentence, shown by a ḍammah ـُ — a small curl above the last letter. ٱللَّهُ ends in exactly that ḍammah ـُ. L2 · R10
Subject (Mubtada') · مبتدأThe subject is the naming word a sentence opens by talking about — its topic — standing in the nominative, shown here by the ḍammah ـُ, the small curl above the last letter of ٱللَّهُ. A proper name is definite, as a topic must typically be: the sentence is about Allah. L6 · R2
مُخْرِجٌۭword 7
Noun · اسمA noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. مُخْرِجٌ names such a thing: '(is) the One Who brought forth', from the root خرج: to go out, bring forth. L1 · R6
Masculine Noun · اسم مذكرArabic treats every noun — every naming word — as grammatically 'he' or 'she'. مُخْرِجٌۭ carries no feminine marker — no ة at its end, no final ى, no اء — so it takes the default and is treated as 'he': a masculine noun. L2 · R3
Indefinite Noun · نكرةAn indefinite noun is a naming word left general — not pinned to one known thing by the definite article ال ('the') — and it shows this with tanwīn, a doubled end-vowel mark. مُخْرِجٌ carries the tanwīn ـٌ — the ḍammah ـُ doubled: '(is) the One Who brought forth'. L2 · R8
Nominative · مرفوعThe nominative is the ending a naming word takes as the subject or predicate of a sentence, shown by a ḍammah ـُ — a small curl above the last letter — or its doubled form ـٌ. مُخْرِجٌ ends in that doubled ḍammah ـٌ. L2 · R10
Predicate (Khabar) · خبرThe predicate is the part that completes the meaning about the topic — Arabic implies the 'is/was' without writing it — and it stands in the nominative, typically indefinite when it is a single word. مُخْرِجٌ, with its doubled ḍammah ـٌ, is what is said about Allah: He [was] the One to bring forth. L6 · R3
Active Participle · اسم فاعلAn active participle is a naming word built from a verb's root to name the doer of the action; for the derived verb families it begins with مُـ and carries a kasrah ـِ — a small stroke below — before its last root letter. مُخْرِجٌ shows both marks: the مُ at its front and the kasrah ـِ under the ر before its final root letter ج — 'the One who brings forth'. L11 · R3
مَّا كُنتُمْ تَكْتُمُونَ
(…that which you were concealing.)
Root كون — to be, exist, happen · 1,390 times in the Quran
Root كتم — to conceal, hide · 21 times in the Quran
مَّاword 8
Relative Pronoun · اسم موصولA relative pronoun is a word that hooks a whole describing sentence onto its meaning. مَّا · 'what' is the relative word Arabic uses for non-human things — 'what' or 'that which' — one fixed shape for any gender and any number: its ending never changes to show its job in the sentence. L5 · R13
Direct Object · مفعول بهThe direct object is the thing the action lands on, standing in the accusative — the landed-on form, usually a fathah ـَ, a small slanted stroke above the last letter. 'That which you were concealing' is what the bringing-forth lands on, and مَّا anchors it; this word keeps one fixed written shape, so the accusative is the role it fills, not a mark on show. L9 · R3
كُنتُمْword 9
Verb · فعلA verb is a word for an action or happening that is always tied to a time — past, present/future, or a command. كُن speaks of an action already carried out: 'you were', from the root كون: to be, exist, happen. L1 · R7
Past Tense Verb · فعل ماضٍA past-tense verb describes an action already completed — and it shows who by a small ending fastened to the verb's tail. On كُنتُمْ that ending is تُمْ, telling exactly who is meant: 'you were', from the root كون: to be, exist, happen. L8 · R2
Weak Verb · فعل معتلA weak verb is a verb that carries و or ي — the 'weak' letters, which love to soften into long vowels or vanish — among its root letters. The root of كُن is كون: to be, exist, happen — and its middle letter is the weak و, so the weakness sits in the middle of the root. L24 · R4
Kāna Verb · كان وأخواتهاكَانَ and its sisters are incomplete verbs: they need both a topic and a completing part to finish their meaning — 'you were' — WHAT? كُنتُمْ carries its topic in the ending تُمْ 'you all', and the completing part follows: 'concealing'. L18 · R1
Attached Pronoun · ضمير متصلAn attached pronoun is a mini-word glued onto the end of a verb. The ending تُمْ on كُنتُمْ is such a suffix, standing for 'you all' — the topic of the 'were' whose topic stays in the nominative, the topic's form, usually a ḍammah ـُ, a small curl above the last letter; a pronoun keeps one fixed shape, so the nominative is the role it fills. L3 · R6
تَكْتُمُونَword 10
Verb · فعلA verb is a word for an action or happening that is always tied to a time — past, present/future, or a command. تَكْتُمُ is an action unfolding now: 'concealing', from the root كتم: to conceal, hide. L1 · R7
Present Tense Verb · فعل مضارعA present-tense verb describes an action happening now or still to come, and it is recognized by its opening letter — one of the four present-tense prefixes أ ن ي ت. تَكْتُمُ opens with exactly such a letter: 'concealing', from the root كتم: to conceal, hide. L8 · R3
The Five Verbs · الأفعال الخمسةThe Five Verbs are the five present-tense shapes whose ending closes with the letter ن — يَفْعَلَانِ, تَفْعَلَانِ, يَفْعَلُونَ, تَفْعَلُونَ, تَفْعَلِينَ. تَكْتُمُونَ is one of them: its ending ونَ keeps that closing ن, and for these five shapes the kept ن is itself the grammar-sign that the verb stands in its plain, ordinary mood. L10 · R10
Attached Pronoun · ضمير متصلAn attached pronoun is a mini-word for 'I / you / he' that cannot stand alone — it is glued onto the end of another word, and each form carries within it exactly who is meant. ونَ · 'you all/your' is fastened to the tail of the verb here — تَكْتُمُونَ — naming the one who did the action. L3 · R6
Doer (Fa'il) · فاعلThe doer is the one performing the action, standing in the nominative — the doer's form, usually a ḍammah ـُ, a small curl above the last letter. The ending ونَ is that doer, 'you all'; a pronoun keeps one fixed shape, so no ḍammah appears — the nominative is the role it fills. L9 · R4
"But Allah brought forth that which you were Taktumun" means, as Mujahid said, "what you were hiding."
Ibn Kathir (abridged), on 2:72–73
So far: “And [recall] when you slew a man and disputed over it, but Allāh was to bring out that which you were concealing.”