can involve other kinds of words, such as proper names and demonstratives. This verse is analogous to His words:

“Indeed, these two are sorcerers.”

As for His words:

“Show us the two who led us astray,”

a distinction may be drawn between the demonstrative and the relative pronoun: the demonstrative consists of two letters, unlike the relative pronoun. Its base is “alladhā,” consisting of several letters. The plural marker is then added, with the dhāl taking an i-vowel and the nūn an a-vowel; or the dual marker, with the dhāl taking an a-vowel and the nūn an i-vowel. As for the alif, I said … (1) in the accusative and genitive; for when a sound noun forms a sound plural, its final consonant takes an i-vowel in the accusative and genitive, and its nūn takes an a-vowel. When it forms a dual, its final consonant takes an a-vowel and its nūn an i-vowel in all three cases.

This shows that alif is the original dual marker. Accordingly, there are two dialectal patterns for its inflection, both found in the Quran: sometimes it follows the form alladhāni, and sometimes alladhayni. However, in His words:

“One of these two daughters of mine,”

the form used is better than “hātāni,” because the two dual forms agree in having yā’. Had hātāni been used, it would have resembled … (2), as though one were to say: “inna ibnatayya hātāni” (“Indeed, my two daughters are these two”). Using yā’ thus marks it as a clarifying dependent—an explanatory apposition completing the meaning of the noun—not a predicate completing the sentence.

As for His words:

“Indeed, these two are sorcerers,”

the noun occurs as an initial subject: the subject of (inna)