Breakdown of والله لم أبح بهذا السر لأحد.
الal
the
هذاhâdhâ
this (m)
لli
for, to (attached)
أحدaḥad
someone / anyone
سرsirr
secret
لمlam
did not
اللهallâhu
God
وwa
by (swearing an oath)
باح بbâḥa bi
to reveal (a secret)
Questions & Answers about والله لم أبح بهذا السر لأحد.
Why does the word الله end with a kasra (i-sound) in the oath والله?
The swearing particle و (wāw al-qasam) used for oaths acts exactly like a preposition. It forces the noun it attaches to into the genitive case (majrūr), which is why it is pronounced wallāhi.
Why is the verb spelled أبح instead of أبوح?
The negative particle لم puts the following present-tense verb into the jussive mood (majazūm), which typically means placing a sukūn (no vowel) on the final letter. Because the original verb is the hollow verb أبوح (abūḥu), making the final letter vowelless creates an illegal cluster of two unvoweled consonants (أبوحْ). To fix this, the weak middle letter (the wāw) is dropped, resulting in أبُحْ (abuḥ).
Why do we use the preposition بـ in بهذا السر instead of just making "this secret" a direct object?
The verb باح (to reveal or divulge) does not take a direct object on its own. It requires the preposition بـ to introduce the information being revealed. You can think of it literally as "divulging with this secret."
What grammatical case does the word السر (the secret) take here, and why?
It takes the genitive case (majrūr) and is pronounced as-sirri. Even though the demonstrative pronoun هذا is invariable (its ending never changes), it occupies a genitive position because it follows the preposition بـ. Since السر is a definite noun immediately following a demonstrative pronoun, it acts as a substitute (badal) and copies that genitive state.
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