و
Core meaning
A conjunction that joins a term or a clause to what precedes, without marking order or consequence. In its isolated forms it carries the preposition لـ and a pronoun: it then adds an attribution, "and to them", "and to Him".
Uses
وَلَهُمْ, وَلَهُم → "and they will have" / "and they have" : adds what falls to a group: its punishment, or what it possesses.
وَلَهُۥ, وَلَهُ → "To Him belongs" / "to Him" : what belongs to God as His own.
وَلَكُمْ, وَلِىَ, وَلَكُمُ → "to you" / "to me" : the second share of a division, set facing the first.
Evidence from the text
After a description, وَلَهُمْ adds what falls to the group: "and they will have an immense punishment" (2:7, 3:176, 16:106); after the eyes that do not see clearly, "and they have ears with which they do not hear" (7:179). The conjunction introduces neither cause nor sequence: it adds.
Referred to God, the same construction states full possession: "To Him belongs what is in the heavens and on the earth" (16:52), "And to Him belongs whoever is in the heavens and the earth" (21:19). In a division, و sets the second share on equal footing with the first: "to us our works, to you yours" (42:15), "To you your Law, and to me my Law" (109:6).
Distinctions
- ف — ف marks sequence or consequence; و joins without ordering.
See also
ل (the preposition of attribution carried by the isolated forms of و)