وَلَهُۥ مَن فِى ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ كُلٌّ لَّهُۥ قَٰنِتُونَ · وَهُوَ ٱلَّذِى يَبْدَؤُا۟ ٱلْخَلْقَ ثُمَّ يُعِيدُهُۥ وَهُوَ أَهْوَنُ عَلَيْهِ وَلَهُ ٱلْمَثَلُ ٱلْأَعْلَىٰ فِى ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَهُوَ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ
Wa lahu man fi's-samāwāti wa'l-arḍ, kullun lahu qānitūn · Wa huwa'lladhī yabdaʾu'l-khalqa thumma yuʿīduhu wa huwa ahwanu ʿalayh, wa lahu'l-mathalu'l-aʿlā fi's-samāwāti wa'l-arḍ, wa huwa'l-ʿazīzu'l-ḥakīm
"Whoever is in the heavens and the earth is His; all are submissive to Him. It is He who originates the creation, then repeats it — and that is easier for Him. In the heavens and the earth the highest attribute is His. He is the Mighty, the Wise."
قَٰنِتُونَ — root ق-ن-ت. The root was treated at al-Zumar 39/9 (amman huwa qānitun ānāʾa'l-layl). I do not repeat it here. The core: to stand continuously in one state, to persist in obedience. The lexicographers particularly record the continuance side of the word — qunūt is not a single act of obedience but a standing fast.
The range of the word here must be recorded: kullun lahu qānitūn — all. That is, the continuance is mentioned not as an attitude left to choice but as the state of all that exists.
The problem is this: ahwan is an elative — "easier". But since degrees of difficulty and ease cannot be set up concerning God, what is the word doing here?
| Reading | How ahwanu ʿalayh is understood |
|---|---|
| 1 | The pattern is not comparative: ahwan here means "easy" and conveys no comparison. Arabic has this use of the elative |
| 2 | By the measure of man: the sentence speaks to the hearer's own logic — by your measure, doing a thing a second time is easier |
| 3 | The pronoun belongs to the created thing: the pronoun in ʿalayh refers back to what is created — the restoration is easier for the created thing |
All three readings are transmitted in the classical commentaries. I do not impose a preference, and I generate no account of the "how" concerning the Essence.
The continuation of the sentence enters a note of its own, and I transmit that note: wa lahu'l-mathalu'l-aʿlā — "the highest attribute is His". That this comes immediately after that sentence is worth recording: after a word of comparison has been used, a boundary is set as to how comparison is to be framed concerning God.
ٱلْمَثَلُ ٱلْأَعْلَىٰ — mathal means "attribute, quality" as much as "likeness". The root of mathal (م-ث-ل) was treated in al-Zukhruf. I do not repeat it here.