Reading rules

Evidence

The formula occurs three times:

• 17:111 and 25:2, word for word: « لَمْ يَتَّخِذْ وَلَدًۭا وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُۥ شَرِيكٌۭ فِى ٱلْمُلْكِ »: no child, no associate in sovereignty;
• 112:3-4: « لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُۥ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌۢ »: no begetting, in either direction, and no equal.

In sura 112 the second term is not شَرِيك but كُفُوًا ("counterpart"): the formula always denies, first, filiation, then any partner on an equal footing, whether associate or counterpart.

For translation, since 17:111 and 25:2 are identical in Arabic, they are rendered identically, and the expression اتخذ ولدا is rendered "to take a child" throughout the corpus.

Evidence

The founding case is ٱلصَّمَدُ, which occurs only once in the Qur'an (112:2). No other occurrence allows comparison. But the verses that follow are three negations: « لَمْ يَلِدْ » (He begets not), « وَلَمْ يُولَدْ » (He is not begotten), « وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُۥ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌۢ » (none is His counterpart). The first rules out that anything comes out of Him, the second that He came out of anything, the third that anything stands facing Him. What remains is a being into which nothing enters and out of which nothing comes: "the Impenetrable".

The formula of oneness, « لَآ إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ », rests on the same mechanism: لَا denies everything, إِلَّا isolates the exception, هُوَ receives what remains. This mechanism is detailed in "No deity but Him: three pieces, one mechanism".

The rule is a tool: before declaring a rare word undetermined, one checks whether it is framed by negations that delimit its meaning.

Evidence

First step, the particle لا: a total negation, emptying the category "deity" of all it could contain.

Second step, the particle إلا: an exception, subtracting a single element from that negation.

Third step, the pronoun هو: it receives what remains, and refers back to God named just before. "God, there is no deity but Him, the Living, the Self-Subsisting" (2:255).

The formula does not affirm first; it denies everything, then lets only one remain. This is exactly the mechanism described in "Proof by subtraction". The corpus uses the construction لا إله إلا in 37 phrases.

Evidence

The corpus uses the formula 71 times, and in three situations only.

It denounces an obedience or an invocation: "And they obey, besides God, what neither harms nor benefits them" (10:18).

It sets a shared refusal: "that none of us take others as masters besides God" (3:64).

It denies that any recourse exists at all: "and will find, besides God, neither protector nor help" (4:123).

The formula never introduces an approved recourse. That is why the translation renders it everywhere in the same way, in all six languages: "besides God".

It is sometimes paired with لَآ إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ, as its negative face; that pairing illuminates the reading but is not itself a rule.

Evidence

The root عوذ occurs 17 times in the corpus. Every time the verb takes a complement, the one in whom refuge is sought is introduced by بـ: « بربّ الفلق », « بالله », « بك », « بربّي وربّكم ».

The threat is expressed in two ways, never a third:

• the form من + noun when the evil has a source that can be named: « من شرّ ما خلق », « من همزات الشياطين », « من كلّ متكبّر »;
• the form أن + verb when what is feared is an event: « أن أكون من الجاهلين », « أن يحضرون », « أن ترجمون ».

The one in whom refuge is sought is God in every case but one: in 72:6, men take refuge in other men among the Occulted, and the text immediately says it only increased their burden. The single exception is presented as a mistake.

One variant of form confirms the rule rather than breaking it: the verbal noun مَعَاذَ ٱللَّهِ (12:23, 12:79) attaches God by annexation instead of بـ; it is the fixed exclamation "Refuge in God!".

Evidence

The two uses:

• God: « إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا ٱلذِّكْرَ », "It is We who have sent down the Reminder" (15:9): the act (sending down revelation) belongs to God alone;
• humans: « إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ مُصْلِحُونَ », "We are only making things sound" (2:11): it is the hypocrites speaking.

No morphological mark separates these two نَحْنُ. The reader relies on context: who is speaking, and what is he doing? Creating, sending down, raising are divine acts; justifying oneself, plotting, claiming are human acts.

The translation makes the distinction visible with the capital letter: "We" when God speaks, "we" when humans do.

Evidence

The five openings are so alike that one could think them identical; they are not. « سَبَّحَ لِلَّهِ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ » (57:1) states a glorification accomplished, established; « يُسَبِّحُ لِلَّهِ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ » (62:1) states a glorification ongoing, continuous.

The translation therefore renders the perfect with the present perfect: "a glorifié", "has glorified", "ha glorificado", "ha glorificato", "telah bertasbih", "восславило". Rendered in the present, it would erase the difference intended by the text.

This rule is one of the demonstrated cases where verbal aspect carries meaning (see also APP-04); on this precise point it replaces the over-general statement of RD-14 (rejected).

Evidence

The particle إذا does not cast doubt on the event; it fixes its moment: "When the help of God comes, and the opening" (110:1). The help is not a hypothesis; it is announced.

The particle إن opens a possibility without settling it: "And if you are in doubt about what We have sent down" (2:23). The doubt is considered, not asserted.

The particle لو sets a situation that reality has already refuted: "And were they sent back, they would certainly repeat what they had been forbidden" (6:28). They will not be sent back; the verse describes what they would do in a world that does not exist.

Two neighbouring uses do not contradict this division:

• the concessive form وَلَوْ ("even if", "even though") stays in the counterfactual or the extreme: "even against yourselves" (4:135);
• the form فَإِذَا of sudden appearance ("and behold") states a sudden fact, therefore a real one: Moussa's staff becomes a serpent (7:107).

For the translator the consequence is simple: إذا is not rendered by "if", and لو is not rendered by a future.

Evidence

Sura 113 gives two examples in the same list: « غَاسِقٍ إِذَا وَقَبَ » (a darkness when it penetrates) and « حَاسِدٍ إِذَا حَسَدَ » (an envier when he envies). Night falls every day, the envier envies: the text is not positing a hypothesis, it describes what happens.

Conversely, « وَإِن كُنتُمْ فِى رَيْبٍۢ » (2:23) and « وَإِن لَّمْ تُؤْمِنُوا۟ لِى » (44:21) consider a situation that may or may not arise: "if you are in doubt", "if you do not give me credit".

The translation follows the particle: "when" for إذا, "if" for إن. This rule is a particular case of the complete rule "When, if, if only: the three conditions", which absorbs it.

Evidence

Sura 81 lines up twelve clauses in إِذَا, from the sun wrapped up to the Garden brought near, and the answer takes three words: « عَلِمَتْ نَفْسٌۭ مَّآ أَحْضَرَتْ », "a Self will know what it has brought forward". Sura 82 does the same in four clauses: « عَلِمَتْ نَفْسٌۭ مَّا قَدَّمَتْ وَأَخَّرَتْ », "a Self will know what it has put forward and kept back". Sura 84 describes the sky splitting and the earth spread out, then addresses man directly: « يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلْإِنسَٰنُ », "O human being!".

The cosmic upheaval is thus never described for its own sake: everything converges on what an individual will discover of his own deeds. The clauses in إِذَا are rendered in the future ("When the sun is wrapped up"), following the rule "When, if, if only: the three conditions". The answer عَلِمَتْ نَفْسٌۭ is rendered identically in both suras: "a Self will know".

Evidence

Arabic writes أَلَمْ only once, at the head; the following verbs are linked by وَ. But they remain under the question. In 93:6-8: « أَلَمْ يَجِدْكَ يَتِيمًۭا فَـَٔاوَىٰ وَوَجَدَكَ ضَآلًّۭا فَهَدَىٰ وَوَجَدَكَ عَآئِلًۭا فَأَغْنَىٰ ». The second and third وَجَدَكَ are not separate statements: the text asks three times "did He not find you …?".

English and the other languages lack this mechanism: if the question is not repeated, the following verbs become statements, or the question fades. The translation therefore repeats the question before each verb: "Did He not find you an orphan …? Did He not find you astray …? Did He not find you in need …?".

The rule holds for the three series where it occurs in the short suras (93:6-8, 94:1-3, 105:2-5).

Evidence

The question in لَمْ bears on the past: it does not ask "Do you not see?", but "Have you not seen?": the reader is referred to what he has already had before his eyes.

It is construed in two ways:

• with أَنَّ, about a fact: « أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَعْلَمُ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ », "Have you not seen that God knows what is in the heavens" (58:7);
• with إِلَىٰ, about a group: « أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى ٱلَّذِينَ نُهُوا۟ عَنِ ٱلنَّجْوَىٰ », "Have you not seen those who were forbidden secret talk" (58:8).

In sura 58 the question opens several blocks in succession (58:7, 58:8, 58:14): it structures the sura. The 33 sentences concerned are rendered the same way.

Evidence

The formula occurs 13 times, in 12 sentences. Ten times out of thirteen, the definition follows immediately:

• « وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا ٱلْحُطَمَةُ », the Crusher? « نَارُ ٱللَّهِ ٱلْمُوقَدَةُ », the fire of God, ablaze (104:5-6);
• « وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا لَيْلَةُ ٱلْقَدْرِ », the Night of Measure? « لَيْلَةُ ٱلْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌۭ مِّنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍۢ », better than a thousand months (97:2-3);
• likewise for سَقَر (74:27-30) and for القارعة (101:3, then 101:4-5).

In the other three cases the definition is not immediate; in 69:3 the question about "that which proves the real" is followed by the account of the peoples who denied it (69:4).

The verb أَدْرَىٰ (form IV of درى) means "to give an idea": درى is not knowledge (علم) but the idea one forms of a thing. The question does not ask "what do you know?" but "what will give you an idea of it?". The rendering is fixed in all six languages: "qui te donnera idée", "what will give you an idea", "quién te dará idea", "chi ti darà idea", "apa yang memberimu gambaran", "что даст тебе представление".

Evidence

The particle أم of rupture does not join the two terms of a choice: it opens a new hypothesis, once the previous one has fallen. The series of 52:29-43 contains about a dozen, which review every escape route: a poet's speech, reason, invention, creation, treasuries, a ladder to the sky, daughters attributed to God, a wage, what escapes the senses, a scheme, another deity. Examples: "Or were they created out of nothing, or are they themselves the creators?" (52:35); "Or do they have another deity besides God?" (52:43).

When one question contains two أم, the second offers the other branch of the alternative and is rendered simply "or" (52:35, 52:37).

The same form recurs in 68:37-47 ("Or do they have partners?", 68:41) and in 67:16-21.

Evidence

The four pairs, in 56:58-72:

• the seed: « ءَأَنتُمْ تَخْلُقُونَهُۥٓ أَمْ نَحْنُ ٱلْخَٰلِقُونَ », "Is it you who create it, or are We the Creator?";
• the field: « ءَأَنتُمْ تَزْرَعُونَهُۥٓ أَمْ نَحْنُ ٱلزَّٰرِعُونَ », "Is it you who sow it, or are We the Sower?";
• the water: « أَنزَلْتُمُوهُ … أَمْ نَحْنُ ٱلْمُنزِلُونَ », "Is it you who sent it down from the clouds, or are We the Sender?";
• the fire: « أَنشَأْتُمْ شَجَرَتَهَآ أَمْ نَحْنُ ٱلْمُنشِـُٔونَ », "Is it you who brought its tree into being, or are We the One who brings it into being?".

The question's force comes from the same verb returning in the answer: man sows, but who is the Sower? If the translation used two different words ("make sprout" / "the Sower"), the opposition would blur. That is why زرع and نشأ each keep their own word, in every language.

Evidence

The interrogative hamza placed on the word "now" (ٱلْـَٰٔنَ) turns the question into a reproach: it is too late. The two occurrences:

• 10:51, to those who asked for the punishment to be hastened: « ءَآلْـَٰٔنَ وَقَدْ كُنتُم بِهِۦ تَسْتَعْجِلُونَ », "Now?! When you used to seek to hasten it!";
• 10:91, to Fir'awn, drowning and declaring his belief: « ءَآلْـَٰٔنَ وَقَدْ عَصَيْتَ قَبْلُ », "Now?! When you disobeyed before".

The same sura gives the exception: « إِلَّا قَوْمَ يُونُسَ لَمَّآ ءَامَنُوا۟ », the people of Younes, whose faith, coming before the execution, benefited them (10:98).

The principle recurs outside sura 10, without the formula: « فَلَمْ يَكُ يَنفَعُهُمْ إِيمَٰنُهُمْ لَمَّا رَأَوْا۟ بَأْسَنَا », "their faith did not benefit them once they saw Our rigor" (40:85). See also the rule "'Now?!': the question that reproaches the delay", which describes the grammatical device.

Evidence

The device appears twice in 10:51, for those who hastened the punishment: "Is it then only once it has happened that you will believe in it? Now?! When you used to seek to hasten it!" The question أَثُمَّ bears on "then", the question ءَآلْـَٰٔنَ on "now".

It returns in 10:91, addressed to Fir'awn as he drowns and finally declares his faith: "Now?! When you disobeyed before".

In both cases it is not faith that is questioned, but its hour: declared in the face of punishment, it no longer avails. The translation keeps the interrogative form and the mark of indignation ("?!").

The application of this device to surah 10, with the exception of the people of Yunus (10:98), is the subject of RD-55.

Evidence

The examples:

• « يُبَيِّن لَّنَا مَا هِىَ », "that He make clear to us what it is" (2:68, 2:70): هِيَ refers to the cow (بَقَرَة);
• « هِىَ عَصَاىَ », "It is my staff" (20:18): عَصًا is feminine;
• « هُنَّ أُمُّ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ », "which are the matrix of the Scripture" (3:7): هُنَّ refers to the verses (آيَات);
• « هَلْ هُنَّ كَٰشِفَٰتُ ضُرِّهِۦٓ », "could they remove His harm?" (39:38): هُنَّ refers to the idols invoked.

The same pronoun is used for women: « هُنَّ لِبَاسٌۭ لَّكُمْ », "they are a garment for you" (2:187). No mark distinguishes the two uses; only context does.

For translation the consequence is simple: rendering هي as "she" when the noun referred to is a thing makes the reader think of a person. In English, "it" renders the thing, as in 2:68 and 2:70, "what it is".

Evidence

Two examples side by side:

• 46:17: « وَهُمَا يَسْتَغِيثَانِ ٱللَّهَ », "while they both cry out to God for help": هُمَا is the father and the mother, a mixed pair;
• 9:40: « إِذْ هُمَا فِى ٱلْغَارِ », "when they were both in the cave": هُمَا is two men.

The form does not change. In the plural the distinction exists: « هُنَّ لِبَاسٌۭ لَّكُمْ », "they are a garment for you" (2:187).

The rule concerns pronouns only. The dual verb keeps gender: قَالَا ("the two of them [m.] said") against قَالَتَا ("the two of them [f.] said"). For translation, the gender of a pair is therefore read from the verb or the context, not from the pronoun.

Evidence

The suffix كَ of ذَٰلِكَ is not an object pronoun: it is a mark of address, telling to whom the thing is being shown. The corpus varies it with the number of addressees:

• la forme ذَٰلِكُمْ, 47 times, when several are addressed: « ذَٰلِكُمْ أَزْكَىٰ لَكُمْ وَأَطْهَرُ », "That is purer for you, and cleaner" (2:232);
• the form تِلْكُمْ, once, a feminine thing shown to several: « أَن تِلْكُمُ ٱلْجَنَّةُ », "This is the Garden" (7:43);
• the form تِلْكُمَا, once, a feminine thing shown to two: Adam and his wife, « أَلَمْ أَنْهَكُمَا عَن تِلْكُمَا ٱلشَّجَرَةِ », "Did I not forbid you that tree?" (7:22).

The device is systematic: the base varies with the thing (ذا / تي), the suffix with the addressees (كَ / كُمْ / كُمَا). Translation has no equivalent; it renders the demonstrative and lets the context say who is addressed ("you two" in 7:22).

Evidence

The corpus has eight occurrences, and all look toward a moment to come:

• 2:144: "We will indeed see your face turning in every direction in the sky"; what follows is in the future: "We will then give you as your course a rallying point that satisfies you".
• 6:33, 15:97, 16:103: "We will indeed know" what they will say and what will grieve the one the text addresses; the announcement prepares him.
• 24:63 and 33:18: "God will surely distinguish those among you" who slip away or obstruct; with persons as object, the verb is rendered "distinguish", as in 29:3 and 29:11.
• 24:64: "He will surely know the state you are in", followed by "the day they are returned to Him".
• 61:5: "why do you trouble me, when you will surely know that I am the messenger of God sent to you?"; Moussa's people are not yet certain of it, they will know.

Evidence

The founding case is that of the neck. The common word is عُنُق (plural أَعْنَاق), and the corpus always uses it for the neck as a place of constraint or submission: the yokes on the necks (13:5, 34:33, 36:8), the hand chained to the neck (17:29), the necks bowed before a sign (26:4). In 111:5, for the wife of Abu Lahab, the text uses another word, unique in the corpus: « فِى جِيدِهَا حَبْلٌۭ مِّن مَّسَدٍۭ ». The جِيد is the neck as a place of adornment, where the necklace is worn; the text places a rope of fibre there. The choice of the rare word makes the punishment an adornment turned inside out.

The rule is a tool: faced with a rare word, one looks for the common word that could have been used, and reads the difference.

The translation keeps the distinction: عُنُق is rendered "neck", جِيد "throat" (in French « cou » / « col »).

Evidence

The Qur'an does not treat its words as interchangeable: when it uses مَكَرَ and not كَادَ, or ٱلرَّحْمَٰن and ٱلرَّحِيم side by side, the difference matters. If the translation gives the same word to two roots, the reader can no longer see which one is used; if it gives two words to one root, he believes in a difference that does not exist.

The rule has two sides:

• one term, one rendering: ٱلرَّحْمَٰن is always "the All-Benevolent", ٱلرَّحِيم always "the Benevolent", and never the other way round;
• two roots, two words: for "testing", ابتلى ("test"), فتنة ("trial"), بلاء ("a testing") and امتحن ("examine") share no word, in any of the six languages. In 21:35 two of these roots follow each other: « وَنَبْلُوكُم بِٱلشَّرِّ وَٱلْخَيْرِ فِتْنَةًۭ », "We test you with bad and with good, as a trial".

The principle holds throughout the Qur'an: each Arabic word keeps its own word, and two neighbouring roots never share one (كفر / كذّب, مكر / كيد, ذنب / خطيئة, قسط / عدل…). See also RD-52, which details one application, and RD-40.

Evidence

The four roots do not say the same thing:

• with ابتلى, God tests in order to reveal: « وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُم بِشَىْءٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلْخَوْفِ », "And We will surely test you with some fear" (2:155);
• with فتنة, the trial that sorts and can make one fall: « وَهُمْ لَا يُفْتَنُونَ », "without being put to the trial" (29:2);
• with امتحن, the examination carried out by humans: « فَٱمْتَحِنُوهُنَّ », "examine them" (60:10).

The fixed renderings: éprouver / test / probar / provare / menguji / испытывать for ابتلى; mettre à l'épreuve, épreuve / put to trial, try, trial / poner a prueba, prueba / mettere alla prova, prova / mencoba, cobaan / подвергать искусу, искус for فتنة; ce qui éprouve / a testing / lo que prueba / ciò che prova / ujian / испытание for بلاء; examiner / examine / examinar / esaminare / memeriksa / проверять for امتحن.

A consequence of the rule: a word reserved for one root is not used for another. In Spanish, ذاق ("taste") is rendered "gustar", because "probar" belongs to ابتلى. The same principle separates other pairs (خزي / ذلّ, دمّر / أهلك, جزاء / أجر, جحد / كفر, قسط / عدل, لعب / لهو, مآب / مأوى).

Evidence

Six names, six actions:

• the form الحاقة, "That which proves the real" (69:1-3);
• the form القارعة, "the Crash", what strikes suddenly (69:4, 101:1-3);
• the form الواقعة, "the Event", what occurs (56:1, 69:15);
• the form الطامة, "the great Cataclysm", what overwhelms (79:34);
• the form الصاخة, "the Deafening Blast", what deafens (80:33);
• the form الغاشية, "the All-Covering", what covers over (88:1).

A rule of non-synonymy follows: two different names do not share one word. That is why الصاخة is "the Deafening Blast" and القارعة "the Crash": the two never share a word (in French « l'Assourdissante » and « le Fracas »).

The same pattern, used indefinitely or for something other than the Hour, falls outside the rule: in 13:31, قَارِعَةٌ is "a sudden crash" striking people before the promise; in 69:5, ٱلطَّاغِيَة names the punishment of Thamud.

Evidence

The six occurrences:

• the verb يَعْقِلُونَ (reason): 5:58, those who mock the call to the Contact; 59:14, the hypocrites whose unity is only apparent;
• the verb يَفْقَهُونَ (understand): 8:65, 9:127, 59:13;
• the verb يَعْلَمُونَ (know): 9:6, the associator who asks for protection in order to hear the word of God.

Sura 59 shows that the choice of verb is not indifferent: one verse apart, the hypocrites' fear of the believers is traced to what they do not understand (59:13), and their false unity to their not reasoning (59:14). Two behaviours, two faculties.

So that the difference stays visible, each verb keeps its own rendering, and the formula itself is rendered one way: "That is because they are a people who do not …".

Evidence

The text sets the two verbs against each other about one man: "For he neither declared true, nor made the Contact" (75:31), then "but he denied and turned his back" (75:32). The same pair structures 92:6 and 92:9: the one who "affirms the best", and the one who denies it.

The rendering holds for any word or person: the Day of the Due (70:26), the announcement of the raising (37:52, "those who declare this true"; 56:57), the truth brought (39:33, "and affirmed it"), the messengers (37:37), and Moussa himself, who asks for Harun "as a reinforcement who declares me veracious;" (28:34), facing a people he fears will deny him.

Three uses stay outside the rule, because their construction is different:

• the participle مُصَدِّقًا لِمَا, a Scripture "confirming what precedes it" (6:92);
• in 34:20, صَدَّقَ عَلَيْهِمْ إِبْلِيسُ ظَنَّهُۥ, Iblis "had certainly confirmed his presumption about them";
• in 37:105, صَدَّقْتَ ٱلرُّءْيَآ: "you have indeed confirmed the vision", Ibrahim is told, having made it true by his act.

Evidence

The survey finds 14 uses of آمن followed by لـ before a person. In all of them the object is not a reality one adheres to, but someone whose testimony one accepts:

• Fir'awn reproaches the magicians: « ءَامَنتُمْ لَهُۥ قَبْلَ أَنْ ءَاذَنَ لَكُمْ », "You gave him credit before I gave you permission" (20:71): they took Moussa's word;
• Youssof's brothers tell their father: « وَمَآ أَنتَ بِمُؤْمِنٍۢ لَّنَا », "you will not give us credit" (12:17): he will not believe their story;
• in 9:61 the two constructions follow each other in one sentence: « يُؤْمِنُ بِٱللَّهِ وَيُؤْمِنُ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ », "he believes in God, gives credit to the believers".

That verse is the clearest proof: if both constructions meant the same, the second would be a repetition; the text distinguishes them by placing them side by side.

It refutes the hypothesis that آمن is only ever construed with بـ (see the rule "The verb آمن has more than one preposition"). The rendering is fixed in each language: "faire crédit à" (FR), "give credit to" (EN), "dar crédito a" (ES), "dare credito a" (IT), "percaya" (ID, reserved for this use), "поверить" as against "уверовать" (RU).

Evidence

The survey covers the 14 sentences where هدى and صراط meet. Six have the direct object: 1:6, 4:68, 19:43, 37:118, 48:2 and 48:20. The other eight have إلى.

The difference is that between two acts. Guiding along the path means setting the one guided on it and moving him forward; guiding to the path means showing him its direction. The invocation of the Fatiha asks for the first: « ٱهْدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٰطَ ٱلْمُسْتَقِيمَ », "Guide us on the straight path". In 42:52, the one the text addresses "guides to a straight path": he shows the way, he does not make one walk it.

The one who guides is not always God: in 19:43 it is Ibrahim who tells his father « أَهْدِكَ صِرَٰطًۭا سَوِيًّۭا », "I will guide you along an even path". The rule concerns the construction, not the subject.

Evidence

Three constructions, three renderings, without exception.

The verb used alone states the act: the one who "remembers the name of his Guardian, and makes the Contact" (87:15); Zakariya, called "while he was making the Contact in the oratory" (3:39); and, with لـ, "So make the Contact for your Guardian" (108:2). The participle follows the verb: "those who make the Contact" (70:22, 107:4).

The phrase أقام الصلاة states duration: "And maintain the Contact" (2:43), with the capital of the noun.

With على and a person, the verb states the relation: "and be in contact with them" (9:103). The same construction, negated, forbids the relation: "And never be in contact with any of them who dies" (9:84). God Himself is "in contact" with the believers (33:43) and with the Informant (33:56).

The capital follows the construction (checked on all 15 uses of the verb and participle): every use without على denotes the act and takes "the Contact"; the five uses with على (9:84, 9:103, 33:43, 33:56 twice) state a relation with a person and keep the lower case, like the plurals "contacts from their Guardian" (2:157) and "your contacts" (9:103).

Evidence

The word صَلَاتِهِمْ (or صَلَوَٰتِهِمْ) occurs seven times in the corpus. Six times it follows « ٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ » and a preposition; the seventh (8:35) is another construction: صَلَاتُهُمْ is the subject of كَانَ, without « ٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ ».

In the six occurrences of the pattern, three prepositions share the uses, each with a clear meaning:

• with عَلَىٰ (6:92, 23:9, 70:23, 70:34): standing on the Contact, holding to it: "constant in their Contact", "they guard their Contact";
• with فِى (23:2): being inside the Contact: "in their Contact, they are humble";
• with عَنْ (107:5): being away from it, the mind elsewhere: "absent-minded about their Contact".

The same person can thus perform the Contact (107:4 speaks of "those who make contact") and be absent from it (107:5): the preposition alone carries the reproach. In each language, the translation keeps the nuance of each preposition.

Evidence

The survey counts 24 occurrences of أَرْسَلَ followed by عَلَىٰ within three words.

Nineteen concern something falling from above: rain (« يُرْسِلِ ٱلسَّمَآءَ عَلَيْكُم مِّدْرَارًۭا », 71:11), the icy wind (54:19), the cry (54:31), the birds and their stones (105:3), the flood and the locusts (7:133). The preposition gives the direction: from above onto the target.

The other five concern preservers, and the division is clear:

• affirmed once only, with God as subject: « وَيُرْسِلُ عَلَيْكُمْ حَفَظَةً », "He sends upon you preservers" (6:61);
• negated four times when it concerns the Informant (4:80, 17:54, 42:48: « فَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَٰكَ عَلَيْهِمْ حَفِيظًا ») or human beings (83:33: « وَمَآ أُرْسِلُوا۟ عَلَيْهِمْ حَٰفِظِينَ »).

No occurrence departs from this division. The translation renders عَلَىٰ as "upon" throughout.

Evidence

The root ولي expresses nearness, the one who is next to. Form V draws two opposite movements from it: turning one's back on someone, or placing oneself at his side. Arabic distinguishes them only by construction:

• intransitive: « وَمَن يَتَوَلَّ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ هُوَ ٱلْغَنِىُّ ٱلْحَمِيدُ », "And whoever turns his back — indeed God is the Self-Sufficient" (60:6);
• transitive: « أَن تَوَلَّوْهُمْ », "from taking as allies those who fought you" (60:9); « وَمَن يَتَوَلَّهُم مِّنكُمْ فَإِنَّهُۥ مِنْهُمْ », "whoever among you takes them as allies is then of them" (5:51).

Sura 60 places both meanings three verses apart without any confusion. The survey of the whole corpus counts 78 occurrences of form V: 65 intransitive, rendered "turn one's back", except where the scene names another movement (move off 28:24; move away 27:28; go away 9:92), and 13 transitive: ten "take as an ally", three where nearness takes another form ("it is He who protects" 7:196; "what he has turned to" 4:115; "who took the greatest part of it" 24:11).

The few apparent departures come from another form of the verb: form II وَلَّىٰ, which takes two objects. In 8:15, « فَلَا تُوَلُّوهُمُ ٱلْأَدْبَارَ » means "do not turn your backs to them": it is وَلَّىٰ + ٱلْأَدْبَار, outside the scope of the rule.

Evidence

The clearest case is the skeleton كلا, which carries three words:

• the form كُلَا, "eat", an imperative addressed to two persons: Adam and his spouse, "and eat from it, at your ease" (2:35);
• the form كُلًّا, "each, all": "To all, We grant" (17:20);
• the form كَلَّا, "by no means!", which rejects what has just been said: "By no means! We will record what he says" (19:79).

The skeleton اذا carries two words: إِذَا, "when", and إِذًا, "then", which draws a consequence: "you would then surely be among the wrongdoers" (2:145). The corpus counts 31 of them.

The skeleton اما carries إِمَّا, "if" ("if guidance comes to you from Me", 2:38), and أَمَّا, "as for" (2:26).

This is not an isolated curiosity but a constant principle of the script: before translating, one identifies the word, not just the letters.

Evidence

Founding examples:

• « قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ » opens suras 113 and 114 identically;
• « وَمَا ٱلْحَيَوٰةُ ٱلدُّنْيَآ إِلَّا لَعِبٌۭ وَلَهْوٌۭ », "the present life is nothing but play and distraction", recurs in six suras (6:32, 6:70, 7:51, 29:64, 47:36, 57:20);
• « يَبْدَؤُا۟ ٱلْخَلْقَ ثُمَّ يُعِيدُهُۥ », "He initiates creation then repeats it", recurs in five suras (10:4, 10:34, 27:64, 30:11, 30:27, 85:13).

This phenomenon is not grammatical in the classical sense: it is a fact of the composition of the text itself, invisible to one who reads root by root, and revealed only by comparative reading.

It is one of the rules that most guide the translation. The formulas that call for their own demonstration each have their own page, under the theme "Formulas and refrains".

Evidence

The test covered all 114 suras: only these five begin with قل. In each, the text does not speak to the reader, it gives him the words to say: "Say: He is God, the Absolute Singularity" (112), "Say: I seek refuge…" (113, 114), "Say: O you who disown!" (109), "Say: It has been revealed to me…" (72).

Dropping قل in translation would turn these suras into God's statement about Himself, or into a narrative; keeping it gives the reader his place: he is the one who speaks. All six languages keep it: « Dis : », « Say: », « Di: », « Di': », « Katakanlah: », « Скажи: ».

Sura 72 confirms it from within: four more قل divide its ending (72:20, 72:21, 72:22, 72:25), each introducing a new utterance.

Evidence

The five openings are 37:1-3, 51:1-4, 77:1-5, 79:1-5 and 100:1-5. Each time the participle is feminine plural and has no noun to carry it: « وَٱلْعَٰدِيَٰتِ ضَبْحًۭا », "by those that cross the limits, panting". The reader knows what they do, not what they are.

Commentaries propose identities (horses, winds, angels), but the text names none of them. Translating "By the horses …" or "By the angels …" would add to the text what it chose to leave unsaid. The translation therefore keeps the form: a pronoun and a relative clause, "those that".

French, Spanish and Italian mark the feminine ("celles qui", "las que", "quelle che"); English has no gender ("those that / those who").

Evidence

The formula occurs eight times, in seven sentences (56:79, 69:42, 70:41, 75:2 deux fois, 81:21, 84:19, 90:4).

The text itself shows that it is indeed an oath, not its refusal. In 56:79, after « فَلَآ أُقْسِمُ بِمَوَٰقِعِ ٱلنُّجُومِ », it adds at once: « وَإِنَّهُۥ لَقَسَمٌۭ لَّوْ تَعْلَمُونَ عَظِيمٌ », "and indeed, it is a great oath, if you but knew". If لَا negated the oath, that sentence would make no sense.

The لَا is therefore a reply: it rejects the opposing claim (the denial of the Day, of the Recitation, of the Return), and then the oath establishes the truth. The same construction appears in 4:65: « فَلَا وَرَبِّكَ », "But no, by your Guardian!". The translation keeps both steps, separated by the exclamation mark: "No! I swear".

Evidence

The four occurrences:

• 51:10, « قُتِلَ ٱلْخَرَّٰصُونَ », "May the guessers perish";
• 74:19-20, « فَقُتِلَ كَيْفَ قَدَّرَ », "may he perish, how he determined!", twice in a row;
• 80:17, « قُتِلَ ٱلْإِنسَٰنُ مَآ أَكْفَرَهُۥ », "May the human being perish; how he disowns!";
• 85:4, « قُتِلَ أَصْحَٰبُ ٱلْأُخْدُودِ », "May the companions of the trench perish".

None of these verses narrates a killing: they pronounce a condemnation. The form is a perfect, but, like the perfects of wish (« رَضِيَ ٱللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ »), it expresses what the speaker pronounces, not a past event.

The rendering is the same everywhere in each language: "perish" in English; "binasalah" in Indonesian, distinct from "celakalah", reserved for ويل ("woe to"): two Arabic words, two Indonesian words.

Evidence

The four occurrences:

• 85:8, the men of the trench: « وَمَا نَقَمُوا۟ مِنْهُمْ إِلَّآ أَن يُؤْمِنُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ », "And they resented them for nothing except that they believed in God" (85:8);
• 7:126, the magicians to Fir'awn: « وَمَا تَنقِمُ مِنَّآ إِلَّآ أَنْ ءَامَنَّا », "And you resent us for nothing, except that we believed in the signs of our Guardian" (7:126);
• 5:59, to the people of the Scripture: "Do you resent us for anything other than that we believed in God" (5:59);
• 9:74, the hypocrites: « وَمَا نَقَمُوٓا۟ إِلَّآ أَنْ أَغْنَىٰهُمُ ٱللَّهُ », "They have nothing to resent, except that God and His messenger enriched them from His favor" (9:74).

The construction is an exception after a negation: "nothing … except". The text empties the grievance of any content, then names the only thing left, and it is a good thing. The irony is only visible if the same turn is used everywhere: "en vouloir" in French, "resent" in English, "tener … contra", "avere … contro", "kesal", "быть в обиде".

Evidence

The six occurrences:

• 111:2, « مَآ أَغْنَىٰ عَنْهُ مَالُهُۥ وَمَا كَسَبَ »: his goods availed him nothing;
• 69:28, « مَآ أَغْنَىٰ عَنِّى مَالِيَهْ »: the man himself says it, on the Day of Appearance;
• 92:11, « وَمَا يُغْنِى عَنْهُ مَالُهُۥٓ إِذَا تَرَدَّىٰٓ »: in the future, when he falls;
• 3:10, 3:116 and 58:17, « لَن تُغْنِىَ عَنْهُمْ أَمْوَٰلُهُمْ وَلَآ أَوْلَٰدُهُم مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ شَيْـًۭٔا »: with children, and against God.

The negation changes form (مَا for the past, لَن for the future), the subject moves from singular to plural, but the structure does not vary: goods as subject of a negated أَغْنَىٰ عَنْ. It is a formula in the sense of the rule "The repeated formula: same Arabic, same translation": translation gives it one rendering, "avail nothing", in all six languages.

Evidence

The formula brings together three fixed elements: the question أَلَمْ تَرَ ("Have you not seen"), the question of manner كَيْفَ فَعَلَ ("how He dealt"), and the addressee's Guardian رَبُّكَ ("your Guardian"), followed by بِـ and the name of the people struck.

It occurs only twice, in 89:6 before the Aad and in 105:1 before the companions of unreason. Two close forms (14:24, 25:45: « أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ … ») have neither فَعَلَ nor رَبُّكَ and do not belong to the formula.

The rendering is identical in both occurrences and in all six languages, in line with the rule "The repeated formula: same Arabic, same translation".

Evidence

The formula joins two acts, believing (ءَامَنُوا۟) and doing (عَمِلُوا۟), and puts them in the perfect: they are acts accomplished, from which the outcome (the reward, the Garden) follows. Rendering these verbs in the present ("those who believe") would turn them into a description of a state, which the Arabic does not say.

All 50 occurrences are in the perfect, including 11:23: "Those who have believed, done sound deeds, and been lowly before their Guardian".

The noun ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰت is rendered by a single term per language: "œuvres saines", "sound deeds", "obras sanas", "opere sane", "amal saleh", "здравые дела".

Evidence

In Arabic the usual order would put the noun before the complement; here the complement is brought forward, and that order expresses exclusivity. The five occurrences:

• 75:12, « إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ يَوْمَئِذٍ ٱلْمُسْتَقَرُّ », to your Guardian, that Day, will be the place of settlement;
• 75:30, « إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ يَوْمَئِذٍ ٱلْمَسَاقُ », the drive;
• 79:44, « إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ مُنتَهَىٰهَآ », the final boundary of the Hour;
• 53:42, « وَأَنَّ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ ٱلْمُنتَهَىٰ », the final boundary;
• 96:8, « إِنَّ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ ٱلرُّجْعَىٰٓ », the return.

All five nouns express a point of arrival. The French "C'est vers … que" and the English fronted "To your Guardian is …" render the exclusivity without adding a word such as "only". In 53:42, the sentence belongs to the series in « وَأَنَّ » ("and that …") that structures the end of sura 53, and keeps that form.

Evidence

The three occurrences:

• 73:19 and 76:29: « فَمَن شَآءَ ٱتَّخَذَ إِلَىٰ رَبِّهِۦ سَبِيلًا », "a way";
• 78:39: « فَمَن شَآءَ ٱتَّخَذَ إِلَىٰ رَبِّهِۦ مَـَٔابًا », "a place of return".

The formula always comes after a reminder (« إِنَّ هَٰذِهِۦ تَذْكِرَةٌۭ », "this is a reminder" in 73:19 and 76:29): the text has said what it had to say, and it does not compel. The verb ٱتَّخَذَ ("to take for oneself") makes the act the person's own decision.

A shorter variant is found in 74:55: « فَمَن شَآءَ ذَكَرَهُۥ », "so whoever wants may remember it"; it keeps the same opening, "whoever wants". The translation follows the same structure in all six languages.

Evidence

Sura 77 is built on this refrain. Between two occurrences the text puts forward a proof: the creation of the human being from a despised water (77:20-23), the earth that gathers the living and the dead (77:25-27), the mountains and the sweet water (77:27), the fate of earlier peoples (77:16-18). After each one, the same sentence returns (77:15, 19, 24, 28, 34, 37, 40, 45, 47, 49).

The refrain's force lies in its exact repetition: the reader must recognise, each time, the same sentence. That is why the rendering is identical in all twelve occurrences and in all six languages. Two occurrences lie outside sura 77: 52:11 and 83:10, where the refrain is followed by a description of the deniers.

Evidence

The nine occurrences:

• in sura 37 it closes five accounts in a row: Nuh (37:80), Ibrahim (37:105, 37:110), Moussa and Haroun (37:121), Ilyas (37:131);
• it follows the praise of the informants in 6:84, Youssof's coming of age in 12:22 and Moussa's in 28:14;
• it closes the description of those who guard themselves in 77:44.

The participle ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ is rendered "those who do good": it describes a practice, not a rank.

Whether the formula begins with إِنَّا كَذَٰلِكَ or with وَكَذَٰلِكَ, the translation is the same in all nine occurrences: the fronted construction renders the emphasis of إِنَّا (37:80, 37:105, 37:121, 37:131, 77:44), with no added "indeed": this is the rule of the cleft construction.

Evidence

The six occurrences: 37:21, 44:40, 77:13, 77:14, 77:38 and 78:17.

The root فصل expresses separating, cutting between two things. The name is therefore rendered "Separation", not "Decision" or "Judgment", which are reserved for other roots (حكم, قضى); دين gives "the Day of the Due". In 77:12-14 the text plays on this name: "for what Day were they deferred? For the Day of Separation. And what will give you an idea of what the Day of Separation is?". The question only has force if the same word returns.

The six occurrences are rendered identically.

Evidence

The three occurrences:

• 74:11, « ذَرْنِى وَمَنْ خَلَقْتُ وَحِيدًۭا », "Leave Me with the one I created alone";
• 73:11, « وَذَرْنِى وَٱلْمُكَذِّبِينَ », "And leave Me with the deniers";
• 68:44, « فَذَرْنِى وَمَن يُكَذِّبُ بِهَٰذَا ٱلْحَدِيثِ », "So leave Me with whoever denies this discourse".

The وَ here is that of accompaniment (وَاوُ ٱلْمَعِيَّةِ): "leave me together with …", that is, "leave him to me". Translating it as "and" ("leave me and the deniers") would distort the meaning.

The three occurrences have the same rendering, and "so" only translates the فَـ of 68:44.

Evidence

Sura 65 regulates the separation of spouses: waiting periods, lodging, maintenance, care of the children. These concrete measures are interrupted three times by the same refrain, each time followed by a different promise:

• 65:2: « يَجْعَل لَّهُۥ مَخْرَجًۭا », He grants him a way out, and provides for him from where he does not expect;
• 65:4: « يَجْعَل لَّهُۥ مِنْ أَمْرِهِۦ يُسْرًۭا », He makes his affair easy for him;
• 65:5: « يُكَفِّرْ عَنْهُ سَيِّـَٔاتِهِۦ », He covers his misdeeds and makes his reward immense.

The refrain binds law to conscience: each rule of separation is placed under the eye of the one who "guards himself". So that the reader hears it return, it is rendered word for word the same way: "And whoever guards himself toward God, He …".

Evidence

In sura 11 the accounts of Nuh (11:25-49), Hud (11:50-60), Salih (11:61-68) and Shu'ayb (11:84-95) take up the same sentences:

• the sending: « وَإِلَىٰ عَادٍ أَخَاهُمْ هُودًۭا », "And to the Aad, their brother Hud";
• the proof: « أَرَءَيْتُمْ إِن كُنتُ عَلَىٰ بَيِّنَةٍۢ مِّن رَّبِّى », "do you see? If I rely on a clear proof from my Guardian" (11:28 = 11:63 = 11:88);
• the rescue: « وَلَمَّا جَآءَ أَمْرُنَا نَجَّيْنَا … », "And when Our command came, We saved …" (11:58, 11:66, 11:94);
• the closing: « أَلَا بُعْدًۭا لِّـ… », "Far removed be …!" (11:44, 11:60, 11:68, 11:95).

The template holds in sura 7 (7:59-93) and in sura 26, whose refrains (« إِنِّى لَكُمْ رَسُولٌ أَمِينٌۭ », « فَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُونِ », « وَمَآ أَسْـَٔلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَجْرٍ ») are identical in all six languages. Each sura keeps its own elements: the refusal of a wage is missing in sura 7; sura 10 tells of Nuh and Moussa without the template.

The call « مَا لَكُم مِّنْ إِلَٰهٍ غَيْرُهُۥ » is rendered the same way in suras 7, 11 and 23.

Evidence

The four occurrences:

• the Aad, in 54:19-20: « إِنَّآ أَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ رِيحًۭا صَرْصَرًۭا … تَنزِعُ ٱلنَّاسَ كَأَنَّهُمْ أَعْجَازُ نَخْلٍۢ مُّنقَعِرٍۢ », trunks of uprooted palm trees;
• the same, in 69:6-7: a wind "subjected against them", and the people lying "كَأَنَّهُمْ أَعْجَازُ نَخْلٍ خَاوِيَةٍۢ", like hollow trunks of palm trees;
• the Thamud, in 54:31: « أَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ صَيْحَةًۭ وَٰحِدَةًۭ فَكَانُوا۟ كَهَشِيمِ ٱلْمُحْتَظِرِ », like the dry twigs of a pen;
• the companions of unreason, in 105:3-5: birds sent upon them, then « فَجَعَلَهُمْ كَعَصْفٍۢ مَّأْكُولٍۭ », like eaten husk.

The comparison is not an isolated ornament: it recurs in four accounts, always in the same place, after the sending and the فَـ of the result. The people who thought themselves strong are reduced to what remains of a plant. So that the reader recognises the pattern, the same Arabic words receive the same words: أَعْجَازُ نَخْلٍ is rendered "trunks of palm trees" in 54:20 as in 69:7.

Evidence

The observation arose from sura 9, then was checked in the other passages on fighting:

• 9:4-13: the exception of the pact kept (« إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ عَٰهَدتُّم … ثُمَّ لَمْ يَنقُصُوكُمْ شَيْـًۭٔا », "except those … who then did not fail you in anything"); protection for whoever asks it (9:6); "as long as they stand straight with you" (9:7); broken oaths and the first aggression (9:12-13);
• 2:190-193: « وَقَٰتِلُوا۟ … ٱلَّذِينَ يُقَٰتِلُونَكُمْ وَلَا تَعْتَدُوٓا۟ », "fight … those who fight you, but do not commit aggression", then « فَإِنِ ٱنتَهَوْا۟ فَلَا عُدْوَٰنَ إِلَّا عَلَى ٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ », "if they cease, then no hostility, except toward the wrongdoers";
• 4:89-91: the exception of those bound by a covenant, or who offer peace;
• 8:56-61: « وَإِن جَنَحُوا۟ لِلسَّلْمِ فَٱجْنَحْ لَهَا », "if they incline toward peace, incline toward it also";
• 60:8-9: the criterion is having fought and expelled; toward those who did not, God does not forbid virtue and equity.

Sura 9 is thus read as a mobilisation after the breaking of oaths, not as an unconditional order. The translation keeps these frames as they are, neither softening them nor detaching them.

Evidence

A survey of the text gives:

• 56 verses out of 81 end in ـيًّا;
• two zones of rupture: 19:34-40 (right after the account of Issa) and 19:75-98 (the end of the sura);
• the noun وَلَد appears only in those zones: 19:35, 19:79, 19:88, 19:91, 19:92; « مَا كَانَ لِلَّهِ أَن يَتَّخِذَ مِن وَلَدٍۢ », "It is not for God to take a child" (19:35);
• within the rhyme, the child given is غُلَام (19:7, 19:8, 19:19, 19:20) or صَبِىّ (19:12, 19:29).

The form of the text thus follows its meaning: when it tells of a gift, it rhymes; when it refutes the idea of a child of God, the rhyme breaks. It is an observation specific to this sura, fixed for the verified facts.

Numerical conjectures on the opening letters كهيعص (sums, density, windows) were examined and set aside: they depend on a spelling convention or are not significant.

The translation keeps this contrast: صَبِىّ (19:12, 19:29) is rendered "young child", وَلَد "child".

Evidence

The comparison covered the first verse of the 29 suras in nine reading traditions (Hafs, Warsh, the Indo-Pakistani nastaliq edition, Qalun, al-Bazzi, Qunbul, al-Duri, al-Susi, Shu'ba). The 29 openings are identical in rasm; no variant reading touches the letters. The differences are limited to the writing of the hamza (Warsh ألم), the superscript alif, signs of prolongation, and verse division (Hafs counts الم, كهيعص, طه, طسم, يس, حم as verses; Warsh does not).

Even the micro-variants between openings are preserved everywhere: طس (27) against طسم (26, 28), المص (7) and المر (13) against الم and الر, حم عسق (42) against حم. These are the only places in the Qur'an where recitation spells out the letters of the rasm instead of reading them as words.

So that the reader sees the same letters return, the translation always names them the same way: one name per letter, separated by full stops, with an underdot for the emphatic letters ("Ṣad", "Ṭa", "Ḥa") and "ʿAyn" for ع; thus ح ("Ḥa") and ه ("Ha") are not confused.

One may draw a reading from this: the transmission of the rasm does not depend on its being understood, and reflection is asked of everyone (4:82, 47:24, 38:29, 54:17). This is an interpretation, not a fact established by the rule.

Evidence

The sura opens with « قُلْ أُوحِىَ إِلَىَّ أَنَّهُ ٱسْتَمَعَ نَفَرٌۭ مِّنَ ٱلْجِنِّ », "Say: It has been revealed to me that a group of the Occulted listened". The Occulted then speak: "Indeed, we have heard an amazing recitation…".

The question is where their speech ends. With أَنَّ (Hafs), each sentence from 72:3 to 72:14 still depends on "It has been revealed to me that": the Informant would be reporting. With إِنَّ (Warsh), these sentences are a direct statement by the Occulted: "And exalted is the majesty of our Guardian…". The "our Guardian" of 72:3 shows that it is indeed they who speak.

Here the translation follows the reading of Warsh for 72:3-14: twelve clauses rendered "And …", without "that". From 72:17 the text returns to revealed speech, and the sentences keep "And that …": « وَأَنَّ ٱلْمَسَٰجِدَ لِلَّهِ », "And that the places of prostration belong to God" (72:18). The series in وَأَنَّ in 53:38-54, with no divergence of reading, also keeps "And that".