3
One word, one meaning 13 / 18
Same spelling, different words
Several words of the Qur'an share the same skeleton of letters yet have neither the same meaning nor the same function. Only vocalisation and context tell them apart; reader and translator must therefore always identify them before rendering them.
The clearest case is the skeleton كلا, which carries three words:
- the form كُلَا, "eat", an imperative addressed to two persons: Adam and his spouse, "and eat from it, at your ease" (2:35);
- the form كُلًّا, "each, all": "To all, We grant" (17:20);
- the form كَلَّا, "by no means!", which rejects what has just been said: "By no means! We will record what he says" (19:79).
The skeleton اذا carries two words: إِذَا, "when", and إِذًا, "then", which draws a consequence: "you would then indeed be among the unjust" (2:145). The corpus counts 31 of them.
The skeleton اما carries إِمَّا, "if" ("if guidance comes to you from Me", 2:38), and أَمَّا, "as for" (2:26).
This is not an isolated curiosity but a constant principle of the script: before translating, one identifies the word, not just the letters.
In the text
وَكُلَا مِنْهَا رَغَدًا“and eat from it, at your ease”
The skeleton كلا read كُلَا: "eat", dual imperative.
كُلًّۭا نُّمِدُّ هَٰٓؤُلَآءِ“To all, We grant”
The same skeleton read كُلًّا: "all, each".
كَلَّا سَنَكْتُبُ“By no means!”
The same skeleton read كَلَّا: a rejection.
إِنَّكَ إِذًۭا لَّمِنَ ٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ“you would then indeed be among the unjust”
The word إِذًا, "then", not to be confused with إِذَا, "when".