كون

Core meaning

To be: existence that holds, that comes to be, and the place where it holds.

Uses

1. كَانَ · كَانَتِ → "to be", "to become" : the state held or reached.

   • «وَكَانَتِ ٱلْجِبَالُ كَثِيبًۭا مَّهِيلًا» — "and the mountains will become a heap of poured-out sand" (73:14)

2. فَيَكُونُ → "and it is" : the immediate effect of the creating word "Be".

   • «فَيَكُونُ» — "and it is" (36:82)
   • «فَيَكُونُ» — "and he was" (3:59)

3. كُنتُمْ تَكْسِبُونَ · كَانُوا۟ يَكْسِبُونَ → past habitual ("you used to earn") : the auxiliary that sets a repeated act in the past.

   • «بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَكْسِبُونَ» — "for what you used to earn" (10:52)

4. مَكَان → "place" : the spot where one stands.

   • «مِنْ أَهْلِهَا مَكَانًۭا شَرْقِيًّۭا» — "from her people in a place toward the east" (19:16)

5. مَكَانَة → "position" : the standing held, from which one acts.

   • «ٱعْمَلُوا۟ عَلَىٰ مَكَانَتِكُمْ» — "Act according to your position" (6:135)

6. شَرٌّ مَّكَانًا → "the worst place" : مَكَان judged: the place one occupies.

   • «أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ شَرٌّۭ مَّكَانًۭا وَأَضَلُّ سَبِيلًۭا» — "those have the worst place and the most astray way" (25:34)
   • «فَسَيَعْلَمُونَ مَنْ هُوَ شَرٌّۭ مَّكَانًۭا وَأَضْعَفُ جُندًۭا» — "they know who has the worst place and who is weakest in army" (19:75)

Evidence from the text

The verb says existence under three aspects: the state, "to be"; the passage into a state, "to become", like the mountains that will become a heap of sand (73:14); the auxiliary that sets an action in past duration, "what you used to earn" (10:52). These variations belong to syntax, not to meaning. The creation formula, "Be", and it is (2:117, 3:47, 3:59, 16:40, 19:35, 36:82), shows the verb in its pure state: the thing is as soon as it is spoken.

The nouns مَكَان and مَكَانَة extend the same sense: the place is where being stands (19:16), the position the one from which one is and acts (6:135, 36:67).

The comparative شَرٌّ مَّكَانًا takes the word for place: those "have the worst place" (5:60, 25:34), and Youssof tells his brothers: "You have the worst place" (12:77). In 19:73, those who disown ask which of the two fractions has "the better standing" (19:73); 19:75 answers them with another word: they will know who has "the worst place" (19:75).

Distinctions

• كان — كأنّ, a particle of comparison, has no link of meaning with the verb "to be".
• قوم — مَقَام, the standing where one stands; مَكَان names the place one occupies (19:73, 19:75).