سلامٌ عليكُم
I was listening to YT47 - "How much confidence in The Qurān" and find this different use of the two pointers.
ذٰلِكَ مِن أَنباءِ الغَيبِ نوحيهِ إِلَيكَ ۚ 3:44
تِلكَ مِن أَنباءِ الغَيبِ نوحيها إِلَيكَ ۖ 11:49
ذٰلِكَ مِن أَنباءِ الغَيبِ نوحيهِ إِلَيكَ ۖ 12:102
As you notice that the both masculine and feminine pointers being used in sort of same situation - i.e., pointing to the story (ies) just told in prior ayaat. Also in 11:49 the pronoun in f as well (ها)!
If anyone has already worked out please share. Is it just style or requiring some close attention to some fact here. I am a little bit lost in this.
Jazak Allah Khairun
Why ذٰلِكَ (masculine) in 3:44 and 12:102?
These verses refer to a single story:
3:44 → The Story of Maryam.
12:102 → the story of Yusuf.
In Arabic, قَصَص (stories) is plural, but when referring to a specific story, it’s treated as masculine singular.
So ذٰلِكَ is used to point to one specific narrative, regardless of the gender of the person in the story.
Why تِلكَ (feminine) in 11:49?
This verse follows a series of stories — including Nūḥ, Hūd, and others.
So multiple in Arabic are usually addressed with feminine
So تِلكَ is grammatically correct to refer to multiple stories/events.
Salaamun 3alaikum,
تلك most likely refers to إمرأت نوح thus feminine.
For ذلك it possibly refers to نبإالغيب hence masculine. I think singular of قصص is قصة, also feminine.