1
God and oneness 1 / 8
The double negation « لم … ولم يكن له »
To say what God is not, the Qur'an uses a fixed formula in two steps: « لَمْ » + verb (what He has not done), then « وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُۥ » + noun (what He does not have). The first step denies a child, the second denies any partner: an associate in sovereignty, or an equal.
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.
In the text
لَمْ يَتَّخِذْ وَلَدًۭا وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُۥ شَرِيكٌۭ فِى ٱلْمُلْكِ“who has not taken a child, who has no associate in sovereignty”
First step: the child; second step: the associate.
وَلَمْ يَتَّخِذْ وَلَدًۭا وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُۥ شَرِيكٌۭ فِى ٱلْمُلْكِ“who has taken no child and has no associate in the dominion”
Word for word the same formula as in 17:111.
لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُۥ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌۢ“He begets not, and is not begotten. … And none is His counterpart.”
Same pattern, but the second term is كُفُوًا ("counterpart"): this is what required correcting the statement.