mā kāna Allāhu li-: negating an act of God
وَمَا كَانَ ٱللَّهُ
wa-mā kāna llāhu — And God was not to…
In the verses given, وَمَا كَانَ ٱللَّهُ followed by a lam-prefixed verb (once an active participle) negates a range of actions attributed to God — wronging, letting faith be lost, chastising, leaving the believers as they are, informing of the unseen, letting a guided people go astray, being made incapable — presenting each as something that never happens with God (at 35:44, that nothing in the heavens or the earth could make Him incapable).
The frame وَمَا كَانَ ٱللَّهُ consists of the negator مَا, the perfect verb كَانَ (3MS), and ٱللَّهُ as its nominative subject; what follows is the changing slot. In the verses given the slot is filled by a verb in the imperfect with prefixed لَمْ-purpose لِـ: لِيَظْلِمَهُمْ (29:40; 30:9; 9:70), لِيُضِيعَ (2:143), لِيُعْجِزَهُۥ (35:44), لِيَذَرَ and لِيُطْلِعَكُمْ (3:179), لِيُعَذِّبَهُمْ (8:33), and لِيُضِلَّ (9:115). The frame does one thing to all of them: it states, as a negated kāna-clause, that a given action is not something God does. Three of the fillers concern harm to past communities, and all three of those verses pair the negation with the same counter-statement وَلَٰكِن كَانُوٓا۟ أَنفُسَهُمْ يَظْلِمُونَ (29:40; 30:9; 9:70), shifting the wrong from God to the people themselves. Other fillers negate acts toward the addressees: not letting their faith be lost (2:143), not leaving them undistinguished or informing them of the unseen (3:179); 8:33 negates chastising a group among whom the addressee is. Two fillers negate acts that would compromise God's own position: being made incapable by anything in the heavens or earth (35:44) and letting a people go astray after guidance before making clear what they are to be wary of (9:115). In 8:33 the verse runs the frame twice, the second time with the active participle مُعَذِّبَهُمْ instead of the لِـ verb, varying the slot within a single verse.
Where it occurs
- 29:40 Negates that God was to wrong the seized communities, paired with the counter-statement that they wronged their own selves.
- 2:143 Negates that God was to cause the addressees' faith to be lost, followed by a statement of God's kindness and mercy.
- 30:9 Negates that God was to wrong those before them, paired with the counter-statement that they wronged their own selves.
- 35:44 Negates that God was to be made incapable by anything in the heavens or the earth, followed by a statement that He is All-Knowing, All-Powerful.
- 3:179 Occurs twice: negating that God was to leave the believers as they are until He distinguishes the corrupt from the good, and negating that God was to inform the addressees of the unseen.
- 8:33 Occurs twice: negating that God was to chastise them while the addressee is among them, and, with the participle مُعَذِّبَهُمْ, negating that God was to be one who chastises them while they seek covering-forgiveness.
- 9:115 Negates that God was to let a people go astray after guiding them until He makes clear what they are to be wary of.
- 9:70 Negates that God was to wrong the past peoples, paired with the counter-statement that they wronged their own selves.
All Qur'anic expressions