هن

Core meaning

Independent pronoun of the third person feminine plural: it takes up a group of women, or a plural of things in feminine agreement.

Uses

1. هُنَّ → "they" : women, subject of a nominal sentence or of a negation.

   • «هُنَّ لِبَاسٌۭ لَّكُمْ» — "they are a garment for you" (2:187)
   • «مَّا هُنَّ أُمَّهَٰتِهِمْ» — "they are not their mothers" (58:2)

2. هُنَّ → "which", "they" : a plural of things: signs, invoked deities.

   • «هُنَّ أُمُّ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ» — "which are the matrix of the Scripture" (3:7)
   • «هَلْ هُنَّ كَٰشِفَٰتُ ضُرِّهِۦٓ» — "could they remove His harm" (39:38)

Evidence from the text

The pronoun follows the grammatical gender of the noun it takes up. It designates women in 2:187 (the wives, "a garment for you"), 11:78 (Lut's daughters), 58:2 and 60:10. In 58:2, after the negation مَا, it carries the denial: the wives "are not their mothers".

In 3:7, it takes up ءَايَٰت, the univocal signs, and the translation renders it with a relative clause: "which are the matrix of the Scripture". In 39:38, it takes up what is invoked besides God, twice in a question followed by a feminine plural participle (كَٰشِفَٰت, مُمْسِكَٰت): the translation renders "they".

See also

هى (the feminine singular pronoun)