Question 1

Why do we repeat a form of the word أبهر (dazzled) later in the sentence as إبهارا?

Accepted Answer

This is the Cognate Accusative. In Arabic, to describe how an action happened, we often use the verb's own verbal noun (the idea of the action) followed by an adjective. Instead of using a simple adverb like 'astonishingly', this Arabic structure literally translates to 'The show dazzled the people an astonishing dazzling.'

Question 2

Why do both إبهارا and مذهلا have an extra alif at the end?

Accepted Answer

These words are in the accusative case (mansub) and are indefinite. In written Arabic, indefinite accusative nouns and adjectives get an extra alif to hold the 'an' sound (fatha tanween). إبهارا is accusative because it serves as the Cognate Accusative object, and the adjective مذهلا must perfectly match the case, gender, and definiteness of the noun it describes.

Question 3

How do we know that إبهارا is the verbal noun (masdar) of أبهر?

Accepted Answer

The verb أبهر is a 'Form IV' verb, which you can often recognize by the starting alif with a hamza. Form IV verbs have a very regular, predictable pattern for their verbal noun: it always sounds like 'if-aal'. Therefore, أبهر (ab-hara) predictably turns into إبهار (ib-haar).

Question 4

Why does الناس (the people) come before the describing words إبهارا مذهلا?

Accepted Answer

Arabic usually follows a Verb-Subject-Object word order. Here, we have the verb أبهر, the subject doing the dazzling العرض, and the direct object receiving the action الناس. The Cognate Accusative phrase (إبهارا مذهلا) acts like an adverbial phrase describing the entire event, so it safely goes at the very end of the sentence.

أبهر العرض الناس إبهارا مذهلا.

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