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24 The verb کَانَ
24.1 Introduction
We have learned that a verb must have a doer in the u-state and can have a direct doee in the a-state. In this chapter, we will learn about a new type of verb, whose doer is called its subject, and whose direct doee is called its information.
The principal verb of this type is کَانَ which is used to mean “was”. There are other verbs which behave in a similar manner and they are called the sisters of کَانَ.
24.2 کَانَ, its subject, and its information
Consider the sentence:
ٱلرَّجُلُ مُعَلِّمٌ.
“The man is a teacher.”
This is a subject-information sentence. ٱلرَّجُلُ is the subject in the u-state, and مُعَلِّمٌ is the information, also in the u-state. Arabic does not, in this case, express any word for “is”.
Consider now the following sentence:
Now, as you can see, Arabic does express a word for “was”. It is the past verb کَانَ kāna. کَانَ is a hollow verb from the root «کون». It’s resembling verb is يَکُونُ yakūnu. The complete table for this verb for all doer pronouns is given below:
| Doer pronoun | past verb | resembling verb |
|---|---|---|
| he | کَانَ | يَکُونُ |
| she | کَانَتْ | تَکُونُ |
| you1m | کُنْتَ | تَکُونُ |
| you1f | کُنْتِ | تَکُونِينَ |
| I | کُنْتُ | أَکُونُ |
| they2m | کَانَا | يَکُونَانِ |
| they2f | کَانَتَا | تَکُونَانِ |
| you2 | کُنْتُمَا | تَکُونَانِ |
| they3m | کَانُوا | يَکُونُونَ |
| they3f | کُنَّ | يَکُنَّ |
| you3m | کُنْتُمْ | تَکُونُونَ |
| you3f | کُنْتُنَّ | تَکُنَّ |
| we | کُنَّا | نَکُونُ |
Like, for other verbs, the doer of کَانَ, ٱلرَّجُلُ, is in the u-state, and and its direct doee, مُعَلِّمًا, is in the a-state.
However, unlike most other verbs, the doer of کَانَ, ٱلرَّجُلُ, is also called its subject and its direct doee, مُعَلِّمًا, is also called its information.5
So a sentence with کَانَ used in this way is a subject-information sentence. If it begins with کَانَ then it is also a verbal sentence at the same time.
This property also applies to the sisters of کَانَ that we will learn later in this chapter. Together, these verbs are also called deficient verbs, because, besides their doer/subject, they also need an information to complete the meaning of the sentence. That is, without the information, the sentence is deficient.
“Is” subject-information sentences can be converted to “was” subject-information sentences using the verb کَانَ. Here are some examples:
| “is” | “was” |
|---|---|
| زَيْنَبُ جَائِعَةٌ. | کَانَتْ زَيْنَبُ جَائِعَةً. |
| “Zaynab is hungry.” | “Zaynab was hungry.” |
| ٱَلْغُلَامُ زَيْدٌ. | کَانَ ٱلْغُلَامُ زَيْدًا. |
| “The boy is Zayd.” | “The boy was Zayd.” |
| ٱَلنِّسَاءُ فِي بُيُوتِهِنَّ. | کَانَتْ ٱلنِّسَاءُ فِي بُيُوتِهِنَّ. |
| “The women are in their houses.” | “The women were in their houses.” |
| هُمْ مَسْرُورُونَ وَفَرِحُونَ. | کَانُوا مَسْرُورِينَ وَفَرِحِينَ. |
| “They3m are happy and rejoicing.” | “They3m were happy and rejoicing.” |
| أَنَا نَائِمَةٌ. | کُنْتُ نَائِمَةً. |
| “I1f am sleeping.” | “I1f was sleeping.” |
| أَنْتَ لِي أَخٌ. | کُنْتَ لِي أَخًا. |
| “You1m are a brother to me. | “You1m were a brother to me. |
24.2.1 Sequence of کَانَ, its subject, and its information
In sentence word order, the natural sequence is verb, subject, information.
کَانَ زَيْدٌ قَائِمًا.
“Zayd was standing.”
but we may also, for the same meaning, apply the sequence verb, information, subject:
کَانَ قَائِمًا زَيْدٌ.
“Zayd was standing.”
and also the sequence information, verb, subject:
قَائِمًا کَانَ زَيْدٌ.
“Zayd was standing.”
This last order is common in questions and alternative sentence sentences. For example:
أَقَائِمًا کَانَ زَيْدٌ.
“Was Zayd standing?”
ٱُدْعُ زَيْدًا قَائِمًا کَانَ أَوْ جَالِسًا!
“Call Zayd, be he standing or sitting!”
Sometimes, however, this inversion is impossible because of an indistinguishable state of the two nouns.
For example, in order to express “My brother was my companion,” we must say:
کَانَ أَخِي رَفِيقِي.
“My brother was my companion.”
This is because, if we invert it, it would naturally mean:
کَانَ رَفِيقِي أَخِي.
“My companion was my brother.”
The following apparent sequence is also possible:
زَيْدٌ کَانَ قَائِمًا.
“Zayd: he was standing.”
But this is actually a topic-comment sentence. زَيْدٌ is the topic. And the comment is کَانَ قَائِمًا, which is itself a کَانَ subject-information sentence in the sequence verb, subject, information. The subject is the hidden pronoun “he” and the information is قَائِمًا.
24.2.2 Plurals of non-rational beings with کَانَ
Because کَانَ sentences are subject-information being sentences, many of the rules that we have learned for subject-information sentences also apply to کَانَ sentences. One such rule is that when the subject of a sentence is a plural of non-rational beings, and the information is a adjectival noun, then the feminine singular adjectival noun is often used. (See section 11.7.) For example:
کَانَتِ ٱلْبُيُوتُ صَغِيرَةً. (typical)
“The houses were small.”
Also allowed, but not as common:
کَانَتِ ٱلْبُيُوتُ صَغِيرَاتٍ.
کَانَتِ ٱلْبُيُوتُ صِغَارًا.
ٱلثِّيرَانُ کَانَتْ ضَخْمَةً. (typical)
“The bulls were large.”
Also allowed, but not as common:
ٱلثِّيرَانُ کَانَتْ ضِخَامًا.
ٱلثِّيرَانُ کُنَّ ضَخْمَاتٍ.
24.2.3 کَانَ with a separating pronoun
Another rule that applies to subject-information sentences, and that carries over to کَانَ sentences, is that when the subject and information are both definite, then a separating pronoun, which is a detached pronoun that matches the subject, can be inserted between them. For example,
کَانَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ هُمُ ٱلْفَائِزِينَ.
“The believers were the winners.”
The separating pronoun هُمْ does not, in this case, serve to disambiguate the information ٱلْفَائزِينَ “the winners”, from being a describer, as it did in sentences without کَانَ (see section ??). This is because the a-state of ٱلْفَائزِينَ already tells us that it is the information of کَانَ. If ٱلْفَائزِينَ were a describer of the u-state subject ٱَلْمُوْمِنُونَ, then it too would be in the u-state, not the a-state. So the separating pronoun serves more, here, to emphasize the subject.
Most of the time, separating pronouns are used in کَانَ sentences when the subject of کَانَ is itself a pronoun. Examples:
وَکُنَّا نَحْنُ ٱلْوَارِثِينَ
“And it is We who were the inheritors” [al-Qurʾān 28:58, translation by Saheeh International]
کُنْتَ أَنْتَ ٱلرَّقِيبَ عَلَيْهِمْ
“You were the Observer over them” [al-Qurʾān 5:117, translation by Saheeh International]
Sometimes a pronoun may appear to be a separating pronoun, but actually is not one. Consider, for example, the following sentence:
کَانَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ هُمُ ٱلْفَائِزُونَ.
“The believers were the winners.”
Note that ٱَلْفَائِزُونَ is in the u-state, so it is not, by itself, the information of کَانَ. So this is, in fact, a topic-comment sentence. ٱَلْمُوْمِنُونَ is the topic and the subject of کَانَ. The information of کَانَ is the comment هُمُ ٱلفَائِزُونَ, which is itself a subject-information sentence with a u-state subject (هُمْ) and a u-state information (ٱلْفَائزُونَ).
24.2.4 Negating کَانَ
Like other past verbs, the verb کَانَ may be negated by preceding it with the particle مَا. For example:
مَا کَانَ إِبْرَٰهِيمُ يَهُودِيًّۭا وَلَا نَصْرَانِيًّۭا وَلَـٰکِن کَانَ حَنِيفًۭا مُّسْلِمًۭا وَمَا کَانَ مِنَ ٱلْمُشْرِکِينَ
“Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was one inclining toward truth, a Muslim [submitting to Allāh]. And he was not of the polytheists.”
(al-Qurʾān 3:67, translation Saheeh International)
A similar meaning may be obtained with the particle لَمْ followed by the ø-state resembling verb يَکُنْ. This is dealt with in section 24.3.3 below.
24.2.5 Gender of a pronoun subject of کان
Remember from section ?? that when the subject of a sentence is a pronoun, then it may optionally either match the gender of the noun it refers to, or the the gender of the predicate. This rules carries over to کَانَ subject-information sentences as well. For example:
ذَهَبْتُ إِلَى ٱلسُّوقِ فِي ٱلصَّبَاحِ. وَکَانَتْ لِي عَادَةً.
“I went to the market in the morning. And it was a habit for me.”
وَرَکِبُوهُمْ فَکَانَتْ هَزِيمَتَهُمْ
“And they bore down upon them and it was their defeat.”
Note, how, in the above examples, کَانَتْ has a ت of femininity to match the feminine gender of the information عَادَة “habit”, and هَزِيمَتَهُمْ “their defeat”.
24.3 The resembling verb يَکُونُ
The rules related to کَانَ, its subject, and its information, that we have given above apply also to its resembling verb يَکُونُ.
We will now discuss the usages of the specific states of the resembling verb.
24.3.1 The u-state resembling verb يَکُونُ
We have already mentioned that Arabic does not usually express any word for “is”. So when, then, is the u-state resembling verb يَکُونُ used? There are actually a few uses of this verb. We will explain them below:
24.3.1.1 يَکُونُ used for habitual “is”
Consider the sentence, “The mother cooks the food.” The verb “cooks” implies that the action is habitually done, not necessarily that it is being done at present. If we wished to say that the action is being done at present, we might instead say, “The mother is cooking the food.” English maintains this distinction between the present and the habitual for most verbs. But it does not for ther verb “is”. So if we say, “The sky is blue,” then it can mean both (i) that the sky is blue at present, or (ii) that it is habitually blue, not necessarily that it is blue at present.
In Arabic the situation is somewhat different. Arabic does not usually have a distinction between the present and the habitual for most verbs. So تَطْبُخُ الْأُمُّ الطَّعَامَ. may mean both (i) that the mother is cooking the food at present, or (ii) that she habitually does.
But for the verb “is”, Arabic can distinguish between the present and the habitual. So if we say السَّمَاءُ زَرْقَاءُ, then this can, in general, mean both (i) that the sky is blue at present, and (ii) that it is habitually blue. If we wish to emphasize the habitual meaning, we may use the resembling verb يَکُونُ, thus:
تَکُونُ السَّمَاءُ زَرْقَاءَ.
“The sky is [habitually] blue.”
While we call this the habitual يَکُونُ, it can include a range of meanings, including continually, recurringly, regularly, typically, generally, often, sometimes, can, may, etc. Habitual يَکُونُ is negated using مَا or لَا, just like other u-state resembling verbs.
Here are some examples:
قَالَ وَمَا الْبِتْعُ وَالْمِزْرُ؟ قُلْتُ شَرَابٌ يَکُونُ مِنَ الْعَسَلِ وَالْمِزْرُ يَکُونُ مِنَ الشَّعِيرِ
“He said: ‘What is mead and beer?’ I said: ‘A drink [made] from honey, and beer is [made] from barley.’
(Part of ḥadīt͡h 5604 from Sunan al-Nisāʾī)
يَکُونُ اللِّحَافُ وِسَادَةً وَلَا تَکُونُ الْوِسَادَةُ لِحَافًا.
“The blanket can be a pillow but the pillow cannot be a blanket.”
مَا يَکُونُ الرَّجُلُ صَدِيقَکَ حَتّى يَصْدُقَکَ.
“A man is not your friend until he is truthful to you.”
24.3.1.2 يَکُونُ used for future “will be”
Another usage of the resembling verb يَکُونُ is for the future tense to mean “will be”. In this case, it is often preceded by سَ or سَوْفَ. سَ and سَوْفَ are optional and are commonly dropped, especially when the context indicates the future. Future يَکُونُ is negated by لَا. Here are some examples:
فَقَدْ کَذَّبْتُمْ فَسَوْفَ يَکُونُ لِزَامًا
“For you [disbelievers] have denied, so it [i.e., your denial] is going to be adherent.”
(al-Qurʾān 25:77, translation Saheeh International)
لا يَکونُ اللَّعَّانُونَ شُفَعَاءَ وَلَا شُهَدَاءَ يَومَ القِيَامَةِ
“The frequent cursers will be neither intercessors nor witnesses [on] the day of resurrection.”
(Ḥadīt͡h 1553 from Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn, يَوْمَ is in the a-state because it is an adverb of time, see chapter ??.)
يَوْمَ يَکُونُ ٱلنَّاسُ کَٱلْفَرَاشِ ٱلْمَبْثُوثِ
“It is the Day when people will be like moths, dispersed,”
(al-Qurʾān 101:4, translation Saheeh International)
24.3.2 The a-state resembling verb يَکُونَ
Like a-state resembling verbs in general, يَکُونَ “be” expresses the meaning of purpose, wish, or expectation. It occurs after the particles أَنْ, لَنْ, لِ, کَيْ, حَتَّىٰ, and إِذَنْ. All this is consistent with what we have learned about a-state resembling verbs in chapter 19. Here are some examples:
نَزَلَ بِهِ ٱلرُّوحُ ٱلْأَمِينُ. عَلَىٰ قَلْبِکَ لِتَکُونَ مِنَ ٱلْمُنذِرِينَ
“The Trustworthy Spirit [i.e., Gabriel] has brought it down. Upon your heart, [O Muḥammad] - that you may be of the warners -”
(al-Qurʾān 26:193–194, translation Saheeh International)
لَّن يَسْتَنکِفَ ٱلْمَسِيحُ أَن يَکُونَ عَبْدًۭا لِّلَّهِ وَلَا ٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِکَةُ ٱلْمُقَرَّبُونَ
“Never would the Messiah disdain to be a servant of Allāh, nor would the angels near [to Him]”
(From al-Qurʾān 4:172, translation Saheeh International)
أَفَأَنتَ تُکْرِهُ ٱلنَّاسَ حَتَّىٰ يَکُونُوا۟ مُؤْمِنِينَ
“Then, [O Muḥammad], would you compel the people in order that they become believers?”
(al-Qurʾān 10:99, translation Saheeh International)
24.3.3 The ø-state resembling verb يَکُنْ
The ø-state resembling verb يَکُنْ is used consistent with the usage of ø-state resembling verbs in general. (See chapter ??.)
For example:
وَلْتَکُن مِّنکُمْ أُمَّةٌۭ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى ٱلْخَيْرِ وَيَأْمُرُونَ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ ٱلْمُنکَرِ
“And let there be [arising] from you a nation inviting to [all that is] good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong,1 and those will be the successful.”
[From al-Qurʾān 3:104, translation by Saheeh International]
ٱلْحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّکَ فَلَا تَکُن مِّنَ ٱلْمُمْتَرِينَ
“The truth is from your Lord, so do not be among the doubters.”
[From al-Qurʾān 3:60, translation by Saheeh International]
لَمْ يَکُنِ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم سَبَّابًا وَلاَ فَحَّاشًا وَلاَ لَعَّانًا
“The Prophet (ﷺ) was not one who would abuse (others) or say obscene words, or curse (others)”
[From Ḥadīt͡h in al-Buk͡hārī:6031]
24.3.3.1 Deletion of ن
The ن may (irregularly) be deleted for the ø-state resembling verbs that don’t have a و before them. These are:
- يَکُنْ, becomes يَکُ
- تَکُنْ, becomes تَکُ
- نَکُنْ, becomes نَکُ
- أَکُنْ, becomes أَکُ
This may only be done when the word following the verb does not begin with a connecting hamzah ٱ. Examples:
وَلَا تَکُ فِى ضَيْقٍۢ مِّمَّا يَمْکُرُونَ
“and do not be in distress over what they conspire.”
[From al-Qurʾān 16:127, translation by Saheeh International]
وَقَدْ خَلَقْتُکَ مِن قَبْلُ وَلَمْ تَکُ شَيْـًۭٔا
“for I created you before, while you were nothing”
[From al-Qurʾān 19:9, translation by Saheeh International]
But we can’t say:
\(\times\) لَمْ تَکُ ٱلرَّجُلَ.
This is because ٱلرَّجُل begins with with a connecting hamzah ٱ. So we have to say instead:
لَمْ تَکُنِ ٱلرَّجُلَ.
“You were not the man.”
24.4 The verb of command کُنْ
The verb of command کُنْ is used to mean “Be!”. Examples:
قُلْنَا يَـٰنَارُ کُونِى بَرْدًۭا وَسَلَـٰمًا عَلَىٰٓ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ
We [i.e., Allāh] said, “O fire, be coolness and safety upon Abraham.”
[al-Qurʾān 21:69, translation by Saheeh International]
فَقُلْنَا لَهُمْ کُونُوا۟ قِرَدَةً خَـٰسِـِٔينَ
“and We said to them, ‘Be apes, despised.’
[From al-Qurʾān 2:65, translation by Saheeh International]
The verb of command کُنْ followed by the name of a person in the a-state is used to express one’s guessing that the person whom one sees is the individual named. For example:
کُنْ زَيْدًا.
“I presume that the person approaching is Zayd.”
or
“I guess that you are Zayd.”
24.5 The complete کَانَ
The verb کَانَ that we have been using so far is called the deficient کَانَ. It is called so because its meaning is deficient without its information. For example, in the sentence کَانَ زَيْدٌ قَائِمًا “Zayd was standing,” if we remove the information قَائِمًا then the sentence is not complete for the desired meaning.
There is another type of کَانَ called the complete کَانَ. This کَانَ does not need an information to complete its meaning. This کَانَ gives the meaning of “exists”. In English, we usually express this meaning using “there was”. For example,
کَانَ مَلِکٌ.
“There was a king.”
(literally: “A king was.”)
Note that مَلِک “king” is in the u-state as the subject. If it were in the a-state, then it would change the meaning:
کَانَ مَلِکًا.
“He was a king.”
Here are some more examples:
کَانَ تَاجِرٌ وَکَانَ لَهُ بَنُونَ.
“There was a trader, and he had sons.”
Incidentally, as you can see, the past verb of “have”: “has” is expressed using کَانَ:
کَانَ عِنْدِي کِتَابٌ.
“I had a book.”
(literally: “A book was for me.”)
يَکُونُ فِي آخِرِ الزَّمَانِ دَجَّالُونَ کَذَّابُونَ
“There will be in the end of time charlatan liars”
[From Ḥadīt͡h in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim:7]
إِنَّهَا تَکُونُ الظُّلْمَةُ وَالسَّيْلُ
“[At times there] is darkness and flooding”
[From Ḥadīt͡h in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Buk͡hārī:667]
لَمْ تَکُنِ ٱلْحَرْبُ.
“The war didn’t occur.”
(literally: “The war was not.”)
24.6 Time signification of the past verb کَانَ
The general siginification of the past verb کَانَ is to indicate a state that existed in the past, and that has possibly ceased. For example:
کَانَ زَيْدٌ قَائِمًا
“Zayd was standing.”
This statement is regarding Zayd’s state in the past and the implication is that he is possibly no longer standing.
This is the most common signification of the past verb کَانَ and the one that we have been using so far. But کَانَ is special in that it admits additional significations:
The second signification of کَانَ is to indicate a state that, at first, had not yet begun, and which then began and remained, possibly up to the present. It has, in this sense, the meaning “became”, “has become”, or “happened”. Examples:
أَبَىٰ وَٱسْتَکْبَرَ وَکَانَ مِنَ ٱلْکَـٰفِرِينَ
“He refused and was arrogant and became of the disbelievers.”
[From al-Qurʾān 2:34, translation by Saheeh International]
احْتَرَقَ الْخَشَبُ فَکَانَ تُرَابًا.
“The wood burned and so became dust.”
A third signification of کَانَ is to indicate a state that will be in the future. For example:
وَيَخَافُونَ يَوْمًۭا کَانَ شَرُّهُۥ مُسْتَطِيرًۭا
“and [they] fear a Day whose evil will be widespread.”
[From al-Qurʾān 76:7, translation by Saheeh International]
A fourth signification of کَانَ is to indicate a state that always existed and will always exist.6 For example:
وَکَانَ ٱللَّهُ غَفُورًۭا رَّحِيمًۢا
“And ever is Allāh Forgiving and Merciful.”
[From al-Qurʾān 33:73, translation by Saheeh International]
وَلَا تَقْرَبُوا۟ ٱلزِّنَىٰٓ ۖ إِنَّهُۥ کَانَ فَـٰحِشَةًۭ وَسَآءَ سَبِيلًۭا
“And do not approach unlawful sexual intercourse.1 Indeed, it is ever an immorality and is evil as a way.”
[From al-Qurʾān 17:32, translation by Saheeh International]
24.7 کَانَ combined with other verbs
The past verb کَانَ and its resembling verb يَکُونُ are combined with other verbs to express complex tenses in the past and the future, respectively. We will explain these combinations below.
24.7.1 کَانَ combined with a resembling verb
کَانَ is combined with a following resembling verb to express that the action of the verb was repeatedly or continually ocurring in the past. For example:
کَانَ زَيْدٌ يَکْتُبُ.
“Zayd was writing.”
or
“Zayd used to write.”
or
“Zayd would write.”
This sentence can be analyzed grammatically as a topic-comment sentence. The subject of کَانَ is زَيْد and it is the topic of the sentence. The information of کَانَ is itself a sentence يَکْتُبُ “he writes”, and it is the comment of the main sentence.
The order of the subject and the resembling verb can be re-arranged for the same meaning thus:
کَانَ يَکْتُبُ زَيْدٌ.
Now, two grammatical analyses are possible:
- زَيْد is the doer of يَکْتُبُ, and the subject of کَانَ is a hidden pronoun of the fact.
- زَيْد is the delayed subject of کَانَ and يَکْتُبُ is the information of کَانَ. The doer of يَکْتُبُ is a hidden pronoun.
Either way, the meaning, as we have mentioned, is the same. Here are some more examples for different types of doers/subjects:
کَانَ يَعْبُدُ مُشْرِکُو مَکَّةَ ٱلْأَصْنَامَ.
or
کَانَ مُشْرِکُو مَکَّةَ يَعْبُدُونَ ٱلْأَصْنَامَ.
“The polytheists of Makkah used to worship idols.”
کَانَتْ تُحِبُّ الصَّدَقَةَ.
“She used to love [to practice] charity.”
[From Ḥadīt͡h in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Buk͡hārī:1420]
کَانَت تَّأْتِيهِمْ رُسُلُهُم بِٱلْبَيِّنَـٰتِ
“their messengers used to come to them with clear evidences”
[From al-Qurʾān 64:6, translation by Saheeh International]
(Sound plurals, even of rational beings, may be treated as grammatically singular feminine. See section ??.)
کُنْتُ أَلْعَبُ بِالْبَنَاتِ عِنْدَ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَکَانَ لِي صَوَاحِبُ يَلْعَبْنَ مَعِي
“I used to play with dolls in the presence of the Prophet, and I had companionsf playing with me.”
[From Ḥadīt͡h in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Buk͡hārī:6130]
Occasionally, the particle قَدْ precedes the combination of کَانَ and the resembling verb. Example:
قَالُوا هَذَا قَدْ کَانَ يَکْتُبُ لِمُحَمَّدٍ
“They said: and said: This [person] used to transcribe for Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم).”
[From Ḥadīt͡h in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim:2781]
The following resembling verb may also be an unknown-doer verb. Example:
إِنَّ أُنَاسًا کَانُوا يُؤْخَذُونَ بِالْوَحْىِ فِي عَهْدِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم
“Indeed people were (sometimes) judged (literally: held) by the [revealing of] divine inspiration in the lifetime of the Prophet.”
[From Ḥadīt͡h in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Buk͡hārī:2641]
24.7.1.1 One کَانَ suffices multiple resembling verbs
If the signification of an action ocurring continually in the past applies to more that one resembling verb, then it is sufficient to prefix کَانَ to only the first one. Example:
کَانَتْ تَعْمَلُ بِيَدِهَا وَتَصَدَّقُ
“She used to work with her hand and spend (that income) on charity.”
[From Ḥadīt͡h in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim:2452]
(تَتَصَدَّقُ is abbreviated to تَصَدَّقُ. See section ??.)
24.7.1.2 Negation of کَانَ and a resembling verb
In order to negate the combination of کَانَ and the following resembling verb, multiple options are available. Using يَفْعَلُ as an example resembling verb, we can have:
- مَا کَانَ يَفْعَلُ
- کَانَ لَا يَفْعَلُ
- لَمْ يَکُنْ يَفْعَلُ
Examples:
مَا کَانَ أَحَدٌ يَبْدَأُ، أَوْ يَبْدُرُ، ابْنَ عُمَرَ بِالسَّلامِ
“No one preceded or got ahead of Ibn Ɛumar with (giving) the greeting.”
[Ḥadīt͡h in al-Adab al-Mufrad:982]
کَانُوا۟ لَا يَتَنَاهَوْنَ عَن مُّنکَرٍۢ فَعَلُوهُ
“They used not to prevent one another from wrongdoing that they did.”
[From al-Qurʾān 5:79, translation by Saheeh International]
لَمْ يَکُونُوا يَسْأَلُونَ عَنِ الإِسْنَادِ
“They would not ask about the chains of narration”
[From Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim:Introduction]
24.7.1.3 The combination of کَانَ with يَکُونُ
Occasionally, کَانَ can be combined with its own resembling verb يَکُونُ This gives the meaning “was being” or “used to be”. يَکُونُ is, in this combination, often optional and may be dropped for no change in meaning. Examples:
کَانَ يَکُونُ فِي مِهْنَةِ أَهْلِهِ
[From Ṣaḥīḥ al-Buk͡hārī:676]
and
کَانَ فِي مِهْنَةِ أَهْلِهِ
[From Ṣaḥīḥ al-Buk͡hārī:6039]
“He used to keep himself busy serving his family”
قَدْ کَانَ يَکُونُ فِي الأُمَمِ مُحَدَّثُونَ
“There used to be in the nations inspired persons”
[From Jāmiɛ al-Tirmid͡hī:2398]
رِجَالٌ کَانُوا يَکُونُونَ مَعَ ٱلْمُلُوکِ
“men that used to be with the kings”
کَانَ يَکُونُ فِي ٱلْبَيْتِ
“He used to be in the house.”
24.7.1.4 Possible past occurrence
Sometimes کَانَ is used with a resembling verb to express an action that could have occurred in the past, or should have. Examples:
کَانَ يَکُونُ سُوءَ أَدَبٍ.
“It would have been a misbehavior.”
فَقَالَ حُذَيْفَةُ أَنْتَ کُنْتَ تَفْعَلُ ذَلِکَ
“Ḥud͡hayfah said: ‘You might have done that.’”
[From Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim:1788]
24.7.1.5 Omission of کَانَ
If one or more past verbs precedes the resembling verb or if the context indicates that the action was occurring in the past, then کَانَ can be omitted, and the resembling verb is used by itself. For example:
قُلْ فَلِمَ تَقْتُلُونَ أَنۢبِيَآءَ ٱللَّهِ مِن قَبْلُ
“Say,”Then why did you kill the prophets of Allāh before”
[From al-Qurʾān 2:91, translation by Saheeh International]
(No کُنْتُمْ before تَقْتُلُونَ.)
وَٱتَّبَعُوا۟ مَا تَتْلُوا۟ ٱلشَّيَـٰطِينُ عَلَىٰ مُلْکِ سُلَيْمَـٰنَ ۖ
“And they followed [instead] what the devils had recited during the reign of Solomon”
[From al-Qurʾān 2:102, translation by Saheeh International]
(No کَانَتْ before تَتْلُو.)
24.7.1.6 کَانَ followed by a doer or doee verbal-noun instead of a resembling verb
Instead of a resembling verb after کَانَ, its doer or doee verbal noun may be used instead. And this can give the effect of a state of being rather than an action being done. For example:
کَانَ سَاکِنًا فِي ٱلْمَدِينَةِ.
“He was dwelling in the city.”
کَانَتِ ٱلْعُصِيُّ مَرْکُوزَةً فِي ٱلْأَرْضِ.
“The staffs were sticking in the ground.”
(کَانَتْ تُرْکَزُ would imply that they were being stuck.)
When the verbal noun refers to an action taking place in the future, the idea of futurity is transferred to a past time. For example:
أَمْرٌ کَانَ مَفْعُولًا
“a matter which was to be done”
24.7.2 کَانَ combined with a past verb
کَانَ is combined with a following past verb to denote an action completed prior to some past (specified or implied) point in time. Example:
مَاتَ ٱلرَّشِيدُ بِطُوسَ وَکَانَ خَرَجَ إِلَىٰ خُرَاسَانَ لِمُحَارَبَةِ رَافِعِ بْنِ ٱللَّيْثِ.
“al-Ras͡hīd died at Ṭūs after (literally: and) he had set out for K͡hurāsān to combat Rāfiɛ ibn al-Layt͡h.”
The particle قَدْ is often used when کَانَ is combined with a past verb. قَدْ may be placed either between کَانَ and the following past verb, or before کَانَ. Examples:
کُنْتُ قَدْ رَبَّيْتُ جَارِيَةً
“I had brought up a girl”
قَدْ کَانَتْ فَرَغَتْ مِنْ عَمَلِهَا.
“She had been done with her work.”
When their are multiple past verbs, and one (or more) of them occurred farther in the past than the others, it is indicated with قَدْ, the others having merely کَانَ. We re-use a previous example here and extend it:
مَاتَ ٱلرَّشِيدُ بِطُوسَ وَکَانَ خَرَجَ إِلَىٰ خُرَاسَانَ لِمُحَارَبَةِ رَافِعِ بْنِ ٱللَّيْثِ.
وَکَانَ رَافِعٌ هَـٰذَا قَدْ خَرَجَ وَخَلَعَ ٱلطَّاعَةَ وَتَغَلَّبَ عَلَىٰ سَمَرْقَنْدَ.
“al-Ras͡hīd died at Ṭūs after he had set out for K͡hurāsān to combat Rāfiɛ ibn al-Layt͡h.
And this Rāfiɛ had already rebelled and cast off his allegiance and taken forcible posession of Samarqand.”
(Note how
قَدْ
is only used before
Rāfiɛ’s action of rebelling.)
24.7.2.1 Negation
This combination may, again, be negated in multiple ways. Examples:
لاَ يَأْتِي ابْنَ آدَمَ النَّذْرُ بِشَىْءٍ لَمْ يَکُنْ قَدْ قَدَّرْتُهُ
“Vowing does not bring to the son of Adam anything I have not already written in his fate,”
[From Ṣaḥīḥ al-Buk͡hārī:6609]
وَدِدْتُ أَنِّي لَمْ أَکُنْ خَرَجْتُ الْعَامَ
“I wish I had not come out (for Ḥajj) this year”
[From Sunan Abī Dawūd:1778]
وَمَا کَانَ قَدْ أَتَاهَا بِشَيْءٍ7
“And he had not brought her anything”
24.7.3 يَکُونُ combined with a past verb
The resembling verb يَکُونُ is compined with a past verb (often with an interposed قَدْ) to express that the action is conceived of having been completed in the future. Examples:
يَکُونُ قَدْ وَجَبَ عَلَيْکَ صَدَقَةٌ
“Charity will have been incumbent upon you”
[From Mis͡hkāt al-Maṣābīḥ:1793]
فَلْنَأْخُذْهُ فَنَکُونُ قَدْ أَخَْذْنَا عِوَضًا
“Let us take him for (then) we will have taken a substitute”
24.7.3.1 a-state يَکُونَ combined with a past verb
An a-state يَکُونَ is combined with a past verb to express being in a state of an action having occurred or that might have occurred. For example:
خَافَ أَنْ يَکُونَ قَدْ خَطَأَ
“He feared that he could have erred.”
وَيَجُوزُ أَنْ يَکُونُوا قَدْ سُبِقُوا
“And that they might have been preceded is possible”
يَشْطَرِطُ فِي ٱلنَّائِبِ أَنْ يَکُونَ قَدْ حَجَّ عَنْ نَفْسِهِ
“It is conditional for the deputy that he be in as state of already having performed the Ḥajj for himself.”
24.8 کَانَ with the ل of denial
One special use of کَانَ is what is termed the ل of denial. This is a negative کَانَ (either مَا کَانَ or لَمْ يَکُنْ with the appropriate suffixes or prefixes for the subject) followed by لِ and then an a-state resembling verb. This expresses the meaning of:
- to deny being the one to do something, or
- to deny going to do something
Here are some examples:
لَمْ تَکُنْ زَيْنَبُ لِتَضْرِبَ وَلَدَهَا
“Zaynab was not one to beat her child.”
or
“Zaynab was not going to beat her child.”
وَمَا کَانَ ٱللَّهُ لِيُعَذِّبَهُمْ وَأَنتَ فِيهِمْ ۚ
“But Allāh would not punish them while you, [O Muḥammad], are among them”
[From al-Qurʾān 8:33, translation by Saheeh International]
فَقَالَ أَتَخْشَيْنَ أَنْ أَقْتُلَهُ مَا کُنْتُ لأَفْعَلَ ذَلِکَ
“He said: Do you fear that I shall kill him ? I am not going to do that.”
[From Sunan Abī Dawūd:3112]
قَالَ لَمْ أَکُنْ لأَفْعَلَ
“He said: I was not going to do that.”
[From Sunan Ibn Mājah:1503]
24.9 کَانَ with the ل of deserving
Closely related, yet distinct from, the use of کَانَ with the ل of denial (above) is the use of کَانَ with a ل that signifies deserving, behooving, appropriateness, or possibility. This is, again, a negative کَانَ followed by the preposition لِ and a following i-state noun, and then أَنْ followed by an a-state resembling verb. This signifies that the action of the verb does not behoove, or is not appropriate or desrving or possibly for the person denoted by the noun after لِ.8 For example:
فَأَنۢبَتْنَا بِهِۦ حَدَآئِقَ ذَاتَ بَهْجَةٍۢ مَّا کَانَ لَکُمْ أَن تُنۢبِتُوا۟ شَجَرَهَآ ۗ
“causing to grow thereby gardens of joyful beauty which you could not [otherwise] have grown the trees thereof”
[From al-Qurʾān 27:60, translation by Saheeh International]
مَا کَانَ لِبَشَرٍ أَن يُؤْتِيَهُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْکِتَـٰبَ وَٱلْحُکْمَ وَٱلنُّبُوَّةَ ثُمَّ يَقُولَ لِلنَّاسِ کُونُوا۟ عِبَادًۭا لِّى مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ
“It is not for a human [prophet]1 that Allāh should give him the Scripture2 and authority and prophethood and then he would say to the people,”Be servants to me rather than Allāh,“”
[From al-Qurʾān 3:79, translation by Saheeh International]
قَالَ أَبُو بَکْرٍ مَا کَانَ لاِبْنِ أَبِي قُحَافَةَ أَنْ يُصَلِّيَ بَيْنَ يَدَىْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم
“Abu Bakr said ; it was not befitting for the son of Abu Quhafah (Abu Bakr) to lead the prayer in the presence of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)”
[From Sunan Abī Dawūd:940]