Fabricating a lie or denying the truth
وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنِ ٱفْتَرَىٰ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ كَذِبًا أَوْ كَذَّبَ بِٱلْحَقِّ لَمَّا جَآءَهُۥٓ
wa-man aẓlamu mimmani iftarā ʿalā llāhi kadhiban aw kadhdhaba bi-l-ḥaqqi lammā jāʾahu — And who is more unjust than one who fabricates a lie against Allah, or denies the truth when it comes to him?
Two near-identical rhetorical questions pair two acts – inventing falsehood against Allah and denying what came to him – and close with the same question about Hell; the small verbal differences shift the emphasis between the two acts in each setting.
The two verses pose the same question – who is more unjust (aẓlam) than the person described – and end with an identical clause: 'Is there not in Hell a dwelling-place for the deniers?' (29:68, 39:32). Each verse names two acts: speaking falsehood against Allah, and rejecting something when it came to him. The differences are small but pointed. In (29:68) the first act is expressed with the Form VIII verb iftarā ('fabricates') plus the indefinite accusative noun kadhiban ('a lie'), joined to the second act by aw ('or'); the object of denial is al-ḥaqq ('the truth'), and the temporal marker is lammā. In (39:32) the first act uses the simple verb kadhaba ('has lied') with no separate noun, the conjunction is wa- ('and'), the object of denial is al-ṣidq ('the truth'), and the temporal marker is idh. The aw of (29:68) presents the two acts as alternatives, either of which makes one the most unjust; the wa- of (39:32) presents them as combined in one person. The context sharpens each: (29:68) follows a verse contrasting believing in 'what is null and void' with being ungrateful for Allah's favor (29:67), so the paired acts of fabricating and denying stand against that contrast; (39:32) is followed immediately by 'the one who came with the truth, and the one who affirmed it' (39:33), where al-ṣidq recurs, so the denial of al-ṣidq in (39:32) answers directly to those who accept it. The shared closing question names the addressee of the dwelling-place as al-kāfirīn, 'the deniers', in both verses.
Where it occurs
- 29:68 Poses the question with iftarā + kadhiban joined by aw, denying al-ḥaqq, and closes with the Hell question, following the contrast of believing in what is null and void (29:67).
- 39:32 Poses the same question with the simple verb kadhaba joined by wa-, denying al-ṣidq, and closes with the identical Hell question, its denial of al-ṣidq set against the one who came with the truth and the one who affirmed it (39:33).
All Qur'anic expressions