قَالُوا۟ ٱتَّخَذَ ٱللَّهُ وَلَدًا سُبْحَٰنَهُۥ هُوَ ٱلْغَنِىُّ … إِنْ عِندَكُم مِّن سُلْطَٰنٍۭ بِهَٰذَآ أَتَقُولُونَ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ · قُلْ إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ يَفْتَرُونَ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ ٱلْكَذِبَ لَا يُفْلِحُونَ · مَتَٰعٌ فِى ٱلدُّنْيَا ثُمَّ إِلَيْنَا مَرْجِعُهُمْ
"They said: 'God has taken a child.' He is far above this; He is the One who needs nothing. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and on the earth. You have no warrant for this. Do you say about God what you do not know?' · Say: 'Those who invent lies against God will not prosper.' · An enjoyment in this world; then their return is to Us."
| Step | Expression | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huwa'l-ghaniyy, lahū mā fi's-samāwāti wa'l-arḍ | Absence of need — it removes the reason for adopting a child |
| 2 | In ʿindakum min sulṭānin bi-hādhā | Absence of proof — it asks for the claim's support |
I record this as my own reading, and its ground is that the two sentences are built separately: the first makes the claim meaningless, the second groundless. And the second is an application of the sūra's axis of knowledge.
The root غ-ن-ي: to be without need, to be sufficient in oneself. And the root occurs for the third time in the sūra (24 lam taghna, 36 lā yughnī, 68 al-ghaniyy). In all three the core is the same: sufficiency.
| Verse | Expression | What is or is not sufficient |
|---|---|---|
| 24 | Ka-an lam taghna bi'l-ams | A place — its ability to stand |
| 36 | Al-ẓanna lā yughnī mina'l-ḥaqq | Conjecture — it does not suffice |
| 68 | Huwa'l-ghaniyy | God — He is without need |
I record this as an observation about the wording: one root, on three distinct planes within the sūra.
سُلْطَٰن — the sense "proof" for this word was treated at al-Ṣāffāt 37/156 and at Ghāfir (al-Muʾmin) 40/35, 40/56. I rely on that treatment: in the Qurʾān sulṭān is used regularly in the sense of support, warrant.
أَتَقُولُونَ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ — and this sentence has the same structure as the answer in the eighteenth verse (a-tunabbiʾūna'llāha bimā lā yaʿlam). In both places knowledge is put in question: in the one God's knowledge, in the other the claimant's.
مَتَٰعٌ فِى ٱلدُّنْيَا — and the construct is the same as matāʿa'l-ḥayāti'd-dunyā in the twenty-third verse. In both places it does the same work: it puts a limit of time on the matter.