إِنَّمَا قَوْلُنَا لِشَىْءٍ إِذَآ أَرَدْنَٰهُ أَن نَّقُولَ لَهُۥ كُن فَيَكُونُ
The verse is the last answer to the denial of the thirty-eighth verse (lā yabʿathu'llāhu man yamūt). And the answer is not a proof but a description.
| Part | What it does |
|---|---|
| Innamā | Restriction (ḥaṣr) — "only, no more than" |
| Qawlunā li-shayʾin idhā aradnāh | The condition: the will first |
| An naqūla lahū kun | A single word |
| Fa-yakūn | The outcome — from the same root |
And what draws the attention is that there is no intermediary at all between kun and yakūn: fa — immediately after.
The form occurs in eight places in the Qurʾān and was treated in detail in this commentary at Yāsīn, 36/82 (innamā amruhū idhā arāda shayʾan an yaqūla lahū kun fa-yakūn). I rely on that treatment.
The difference that belongs here must be recorded, and the wording of the two verses parts at one point:
| Yā Sīn 36/82 | al-Naḥl 16/40 | |
|---|---|---|
| The key word | Innamā amruhū — His command | Innamā qawlunā — Our word |
| Person | Third — amruhū, arāda | First person plural — qawlunā, aradnā |
| Its place in the sūra | Among the last verses — a closing | The end of a block — a transition |
And one further note: amru'llāh occurred in the first verse. In the fortieth the same idea is given with the word qawl. This is an overlap verifiable within the sūra.
A note on the variant readings: it is transmitted that in some readings fa-yakūn is read fa-yakūna (subjunctive); on that reading the clause is coordinated with an naqūla. It is recorded that there is no essential change in meaning.