سوف

Core meaning

Particle of the announced future: set before the imperfect, it states that the thing will come, after a delay, without doubting it.

Uses

1. سَوْفَ + imperfect → "soon", or the plain future : the announcement of a knowledge, a gift or a punishment to come.

   • «فَسَوْفَ يَعْلَمُونَ» — "they will soon know" (15:3)
   • «وَسَوْفَ يُؤْتِ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَجْرًا عَظِيمًۭا» — "and God will soon give the believers an immense reward" (4:146)

2. لَسَوْفَ → "surely soon" : the particle affirmed by لَ: the promise reinforced.

   • «وَلَسَوْفَ يَرْضَىٰ» — "And he will surely soon be satisfied" (92:21)

Evidence from the text

The formula "you will soon know" closes the warnings (6:67, 15:3, 102:3): knowledge will come, it only delays. The same particle carries the promises: reward (4:146, 4:152), satisfaction (92:21, 93:5). When the sentence already carries the announcement, the translation keeps the plain future (4:74, 4:114).

It forms a pair with لَن: سَوْفَ states what will come, لَن what will not; both commit the word about the future.

Distinctions

• لن — the negation of the future: what will not happen