Lesson 63
Warning and Exhortation Ighrāʾ and Taḥdhīr
الإغراء والتحذير
Ighrāʾ (إِغْرَاء) urges someone toward something beneficial; taḥdhīr (تَحْذِير) warns them away from harm. Both use the accusative case for the noun named and appear frequently in Islamic texts.
Ighrāʾ and Taḥdhīr Structures
TypeFormulaNotesExample
Ighrāʾ (عَلَيْكَ)عَلَيْكَ بِـ + genitiveHold to / you must…عَلَيْكَ بِطَلَبِ الْعِلْمِ
Ighrāʾ (doubled noun)Noun! Noun! accusativeEmphatic urgingالصَّلَاةَ الصَّلَاةَ!
Taḥdhīr (وَ)إِيَّاكَ وَـ + accusativeWāw of accompanimentإِيَّاكَ وَالْكَذِبَ
Taḥdhīr (مِنْ)إِيَّاكَ مِنْـ + genitiveMore formal variantإِيَّاكَ مِنَ الْغَضَبِ
Taḥdhīr (plural)إِيَّاكُمْ وَـ + accusativeAddressing a groupإِيَّاكُمْ وَالظَّنَّ
إِيَّا Pronoun Forms
PersonFormUse
2nd sg. masc.إِيَّاكَWarning one man
2nd sg. fem.إِيَّاكِWarning one woman
2nd dualإِيَّاكُمَاWarning two people
2nd pl. masc.إِيَّاكُمْWarning a group of men
عَلَيْكَ بِطَلَبِ الْعِلْمِ إِيَّاكَ وَالْكَذِبَ
ʿAlayka biṭalabi l-ʿilmi Iyyāka wa-l-kadhiba
You must seek knowledge! Beware of lying!
إِيَّاكُمْ وَالظَّنَّ فَإِنَّ الظَّنَّ أَكْذَبُ الْحَدِيثِ
Iyyākum wa-ẓ-ẓanna faʾinna ẓ-ẓanna akdhabu l-ḥadīth
"Beware of suspicion for suspicion is the most lying of speech." (Ḥadīth, al-Bukhārī)
- إِيَّاكَ is the independent object pronoun it is accusative and implies an omitted verb of warning (احْذَرْ beware).
- The thing warned against follows with وَ + accusative (wāw of accompaniment) or مِنْ + genitive.
- Ighrāʾ can also use simple noun repetition in the accusative الصَّلَاةَ الصَّلَاةَ! with the verb (الزَمْ / احْفَظْ) implied.
- Both ighrāʾ and taḥdhīr are elliptical (incomplete) sentences the verb is omitted; the accusative noun is the mafʿūl bihi of that implied verb.
- These appear frequently in ḥadīth, giving them a punchy, authoritative tone economy of words with maximum impact.