وَإِنَّا لَنَحْنُ نُحْىِۦ وَنُمِيتُ وَنَحْنُ ٱلْوَٰرِثُونَ · وَلَقَدْ عَلِمْنَا ٱلْمُسْتَقْدِمِينَ مِنكُمْ وَلَقَدْ عَلِمْنَا ٱلْمُسْتَـْٔخِرِينَ · وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ يَحْشُرُهُمْ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ حَكِيمٌ عَلِيمٌ
Wa innā la-naḥnu nuḥyī wa numītu wa naḥnu'l-wārithūn · Wa laqad ʿalimnā'l-mustaqdimīna minkum wa laqad ʿalimnā'l-mustaʾkhirīn · Wa inna Rabbaka huwa yaḥshuruhum · Innahu Ḥakīmun ʿAlīm
"We give life and We give death; and it is We who remain. · We know those of you who go ahead, and We know those who stay behind. · Your Lord will gather them. He is wise, knowing."
The word's use here must be recorded: inheritance comes about by the going of the owner. The verse says who remains after everyone has gone.
And the pattern is a plural active participle (al-wārithūn), not a verb. That is, it conveys not an event but a state.
The two words are active participles of the istifʿāl form: "those who go ahead" and "those who stay behind."
| Reading | The distinction is by |
|---|---|
| 1 | Time — those who came first / those who will come later (the order of death or of creation) |
| 2 | Place — those who stand in front in the ranks of battle or of prayer / those who stand behind |
| 3 | Deed — those who go ahead in good / those who lag |
What must be recorded is the repeated framing of the sentence: wa laqad ʿalimnā… wa laqad ʿalimnā… — the verb twice, with the same emphasis.
I record this as an observation about the word order: the sentence could have gathered the two groups under one verb. Its repeating the verb emphasises that the two groups are known separately. The knowledge is given not collectively but as directed at each of the two sides separately.
And its link with the maʿlūm weave must be recorded: in four places the sūra speaks of a determined measure; here what is known is not measures but persons.
The block closes with two names, and the second is from the same root as the verb of the block: ʿalimnā (24) → ʿAlīm (25). The verb belongs to the servant, the name to God.