كان

Core meaning

To introduce a striking comparison, set out as a hypothesis: "it is as if". Joined to the interjection وَيْ, the comparison becomes the sudden recognition of an overlooked truth.

Uses

1. كَأَنَّهُۥ → "as though", "as if" : brings a thing close to an image without identifying them.

   • «كَأَنَّهُۥ ظُلَّةٌۭ» — "as though it were a canopy" (7:171)
   • «كَأَنَّهُۥ هُوَ» — "It is as if it were" (27:42)

2. فَكَأَنَّمَا · فَكَأَنَّمَآ → "it is as if" : in the answer of a condition, sets out a weighty equivalence.

   • «فَكَأَنَّمَا قَتَلَ ٱلنَّاسَ جَمِيعًۭا» — "it is as if he had killed all mankind together" (5:32)
   • «فَكَأَنَّمَا خَرَّ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ» — "it is as though he had fallen from the sky" (22:31)

3. وَيْكَأَنَّ · وَيْكَأَنَّهُۥ → "Ah! So it is" : the exclamation of those who discover too late what was true.

   • «وَيْكَأَنَّهُۥ لَا يُفْلِحُ ٱلْكَٰفِرُونَ» — "Ah! So it is that those who disown never succeed" (28:82)

Evidence from the text

The gesture is the same everywhere: setting beside a reality an image that tells its weight. In 7:171, the mountain torn out above the Sons of Israel is as a canopy; in 22:31, whoever associates with God is like a man fallen from the sky, snatched by the birds or swept away by the wind. In 5:32, the comparison carries a rule: killing a single Self without right is as killing all mankind; giving life to one is as giving life to all.

In 28:82, those who had wished for Qarun's position see his end and twice say وَيْكَأَنَّ: the comparison becomes recognition, "Ah! So it is…". The construction remains that of a particle of comparison; it is never confused with the verb "to be" of the root كون.

Distinctions

• كون — the verb "to be"; كأنّ is a particle of comparison, with no link of meaning to it.