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القرآن
1 God and oneness 6 / 8

The two "We": God and a human group

Established rule 2 examples 1 min

The pronoun نَحْنُ ("we") has two uses that nothing distinguishes in form: God speaking of Himself in the plural, and a truly plural human group. Only the identity of the speaker and the nature of the act decide.

The two uses:

  • God: « إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا ٱلذِّكْرَ », "It is indeed We who have sent down the Reminder" (15:9): the act (sending down revelation) belongs to God alone;
  • humans: « إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ مُصْلِحُونَ », "We are only setting things right" (2:11): it is the hypocrites speaking.

No morphological mark separates these two نَحْنُ. The reader relies on context: who is speaking, and what is he doing? Creating, sending down, raising are divine acts; justifying oneself, plotting, claiming are human acts.

The translation makes the distinction visible with the capital letter: "We" when God speaks, "we" when humans do.

In the text

Example 15:9
إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا ٱلذِّكْرَ
“It is indeed We who have sent down the Reminder”
The act is divine: "We".
Example 2:11
إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ مُصْلِحُونَ
“We are only setting things right.”
The hypocrites speak: the same pronoun denotes a human group.

In the same theme

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