supposing that ... will never (ẓanna anna lan)
فَظَنَّ أَن لَّن
fa-ẓanna anna lan — and supposed that ... would never
In the seven verses given, the frame ẓanna + anna + lan + verb marks a supposition that something will never happen, and in four of the seven cases the supposition concerns Allah's power or action—power over a person, help, raising anyone, never being rendered incapable—while 72:5 and 48:12 concern what creatures will do and 84:14 the person's own return—so the frame repeatedly stages a human or jinn estimate of impossibility that the surrounding context treats as mistaken.
The frame consists of a verb from the root ẓ-n-n followed by the subordinator anna and the negative lan with a following verb. The ẓanna verb varies in person and form: third masculine singular perfect (21:87, 84:14), third masculine singular imperfect (22:15), second masculine plural perfect (48:12, 72:7), and first person plural perfect (72:5, 72:12). The slot after lan is filled by seven different verbs: naqdira 'we have power' (21:87), yanṣurahu 'he help him' (22:15), yanqaliba 'turn back' (48:12), taqūla 'say' (72:5), yab'atha 'raise' (72:7), nu'jiza 'render incapable' (72:12), and yaḥūra 'return' (84:14). Four of the fillers concern what Allah can or will do: that He would never have power over the man of the fish (21:87), never help him in this world and the Hereafter (22:15), never raise anyone (72:7), or never be rendered incapable on the earth or by fleeing (72:12). Two fillers concern what creatures will do—humankind and the jinn never saying a falsehood against Allah (72:5), the Messenger and believers never turning back to their families (48:12)—and one concerns the person's own return, that he would never return (84:14). In 21:87 the supposition is attributed to a named figure and immediately contradicted by his own cry 'There is no god except You'; in 22:15 the thinker is challenged to test his supposition; in 48:12 the supposition is called 'a supposition of evil'. The frame thus introduces a claim of 'never' that the verse's own words undercut in 21:87, 22:15 and 48:12, while 72:12 voices a supposition its speakers affirm.
Where it occurs
- 21:87 The man of the fish supposed that We would never have power over him; the supposition is followed by his call acknowledging Allah in the darknesses.
- 22:15 Whoever has been thinking that Allah will never help him in this world and the Hereafter is invited to stretch a means to the sky and see whether his plotting removes what enrages him.
- 48:12 The addressees supposed that the Messenger and the believers would never turn back to their families ever; the verse calls this 'a supposition of evil'.
- 72:5 The speakers supposed that humankind and the jinn would never say a falsehood against Allah.
- 72:7 They supposed, just as the addressees supposed, that Allah would never raise anyone.
- 72:12 The speakers supposed that they would never render Allah incapable on the earth, nor by fleeing.
- 84:14 He supposed that he would never return.
All Qur'anic expressions