Counting a favor upon another (mann)
يَمُنُّونَ عَلَيْكَ
yamunnūna ʿalayka — they count it as a favor upon you
In (49:17) the verb mann (root م ن ن) appears three times in one verse, each time with the preposition ʿalā ('upon'), tracing the same act of 'counting a favor' as it is redirected from one party to another: from them upon the addressee, denied of the addressee, and finally attributed to Allah upon them.
Verse (49:17) builds a single exchange around the verb mann, 'to count [something] as a favor upon someone'. The verse opens with the third masculine plural imperfect yamunnūna: an unnamed 'they' count it as a favor upon the second-person singular addressee that they have submitted. The command 'Say' then turns the verb back on them in the second person plural jussive, lā tamunnū ʿalayya: 'Do not count your submission as a favor upon me'. The object shifts too — from the clause 'that they have submitted' to the noun 'your submission' (islāmakum). The third occurrence, yamunnu, is third masculine singular: 'rather, it is Allah who counts it as a favor upon you that He has guided you to secure faith'. The particle bal ('rather') sets the third occurrence against the first two, and the reversal is complete: the party who counted a favor upon the addressee is now the party upon whom the favor is counted — this time by Allah. All three occurrences share the preposition ʿalā marking the party upon whom the favor is placed, so the verse's structure rests on one repeated verb whose beneficiaries and benefactors are systematically exchanged.
Where it occurs
- 49:17 first occurrence: they count their submission as a favor upon the addressee
- 49:17 second occurrence: the addressee is told to deny them this — do not count your submission as a favor upon me
- 49:17 third occurrence: the act is reassigned — Allah counts His guidance as a favor upon them
All Qur'anic expressions