لحن

Core meaning

The inflection of speech: the manner of saying, which lets show what the words do not say.

Uses

1. لَحْنِ ٱلْقَوْلِ → "the tone of their saying" : the tone, which betrays what the saying hides.

   • «وَلَتَعْرِفَنَّهُمْ فِى لَحْنِ ٱلْقَوْلِ» — "And you will surely recognize them by the tone of their saying" (47:30)

Evidence from the text

The single use, 47:30, concerns those who hide what is in their core. The verse first sets aside visible marks, then affirms emphatically a certain recognition, by the tone and not the content: what they say may deceive, the way they say it does not.

Distinctions

• قول — the saying itself, of which لحن is the inflection

See also

عرف (to recognize: what the tone makes possible)