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القرآن
2 Time, condition, question 4 / 12

The question أَلَمْ covers every verb that follows it

Established rule 2 examples 1 min

When a question begins with أَلَمْ ("Did … not …?") and other verbs are coordinated with it by وَ or فَ, the question does not stop at the first verb: it covers each of them. The translation therefore repeats the question before each verb.

Arabic writes أَلَمْ only once, at the head; the following verbs are linked by وَ. But they remain under the question. In 93:6-8: « أَلَمْ يَجِدْكَ يَتِيمًۭا فَـَٔاوَىٰ وَوَجَدَكَ ضَآلًّۭا فَهَدَىٰ وَوَجَدَكَ عَآئِلًۭا فَأَغْنَىٰ ». The second and third وَجَدَكَ are not separate statements: the text asks three times "did He not find you …?".

English and the other languages lack this mechanism: if the question is not repeated, the following verbs become statements, or the question fades. The translation therefore repeats the question before each verb: "Did He not find you an orphan …? Did He not find you astray …? Did He not find you in need …?".

The rule holds for the three series where it occurs in the short suras (93:6-8, 94:1-3, 105:2-5).

In the text

Example 93:6-8
أَلَمْ يَجِدْكَ يَتِيمًۭا فَـَٔاوَىٰ وَوَجَدَكَ ضَآلًّۭا فَهَدَىٰ وَوَجَدَكَ عَآئِلًۭا فَأَغْنَىٰ
“Did He not find you an orphan and give you shelter? Did He not find you astray and guide you? Did He not find you in need and enrich you?”
A single أَلَمْ in Arabic, three questions in the translation.
Example 94:1-2
أَلَمْ نَشْرَحْ لَكَ صَدْرَكَ وَوَضَعْنَا عَنكَ وِزْرَكَ
“Did We not open your chest for you? Did We not remove your burden from you”
Here, وَوَضَعْنَا remains under the question of أَلَمْ نَشْرَحْ.