full chart of كان forms so you can see how it shifts between “was,” “could,” “would,” “should,” and “be!” depending on grammar. That way, this flexibility won’t be confusing later.
Detailed meaning of وَمَا كُنتُمْ تَسْتَتِرُونَ أَن يَشْهَدَ عَلَيْكُمْ سَمْعُكُمْ وَلَا أَبْصَارُكُمْ وَلَا جُلُودُكُمْ وَلَـٰكِن ظَنَنتُمْ أَنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَعْلَمُ كَثِيرًا مِّمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ
ChatGPT said:
Alright — let’s go through Qur’an 41:22 word by word and phrase by phrase so you can see exactly how it’s constructed, what each part means, and how the ideas fit together.
Full verse segment
وَمَا كُنتُمْ تَسْتَتِرُونَ أَن يَشْهَدَ عَلَيْكُمْ سَمْعُكُمْ وَلَا أَبْصَارُكُمْ وَلَا جُلُودُكُمْ وَلَـٰكِن ظَنَنتُمْ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يَعْلَمُ كَثِيرًا مِّمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ
1. وَمَا كُنتُمْ تَسْتَتِرُونَ
-
وَ — “and” or “but” (linking to the previous statement about their testimony against themselves).
-
مَا كُنتُمْ — “you were not” (negation + past continuous sense).
-
تَسْتَتِرُونَ — from the root س-ت-ر (to cover, hide, conceal oneself). In form X (istafʿala pattern) it can mean “seek to hide” or “protect oneself from being seen.”
-
Here: “you were not hiding yourselves” / “you did not conceal yourselves.”
-
Sense:
“You were not taking cover / hiding yourselves…”
2. أَن يَشْهَدَ عَلَيْكُمْ سَمْعُكُمْ
-
أَن — “from” / “lest” / “so that not” depending on context — here it expresses the reason for hiding (i.e., “from the possibility that…”).
-
يَشْهَدَ — “to bear witness, testify.”
-
عَلَيْكُمْ — “against you.”
-
سَمْعُكُمْ — “your hearing” (can mean the faculty of hearing or the ears themselves).
Sense:
“…from your hearing testifying against you…”
3. وَلَا أَبْصَارُكُمْ
-
وَلَا — “nor.”
-
أَبْصَارُكُمْ — “your sights” (i.e., eyes, vision).
Sense:
“…nor your sight testifying against you…”
4. وَلَا جُلُودُكُمْ
-
جُلُودُكُمْ — “your skins” (plural jild), here referring to the physical skin of the body — in Qur’anic context, meaning one’s own body parts speaking as witnesses.
Sense:
“…nor your skins (bodies) testifying against you…”
5. وَلَـٰكِن ظَنَنتُمْ
-
وَلَـٰكِن — “but rather.”
-
ظَنَنتُمْ — “you assumed / you thought” (with the connotation of a belief or presumption, not certainty).
Sense:
“But you assumed…”
6. أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يَعْلَمُ كَثِيرًا مِّمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ
-
أَنَّ — “that.”
-
ٱللَّهَ — “Allah.”
-
لَا يَعْلَمُ — “does not know.”
-
كَثِيرًا — “much” / “a lot.”
-
مِّمَّا — “of what” / “from that which.”
-
تَعْمَلُونَ — “you do” / “you are doing.”
Sense:
“…that Allah does not know much of what you do.”
Putting it all together (literal rendering)
“You were not hiding yourselves lest your hearing, nor your sight, nor your skins testify against you — but you assumed that Allah does not know much of what you do.”
Nuance in meaning
-
Testimony of body parts — This is a Qur’anic image of the Day of Judgment where one’s own faculties (ears, eyes, skin) bear witness against a person’s deeds.
-
Not hiding from them — The verse suggests that during their sinful acts, they didn’t even try to conceal themselves from their own faculties — because they never thought those faculties would testify.
-
Root cause — Their false assumption about Allah’s knowledge (“Allah does not know much of what you do”) is the moral disease behind their careless disobedience.
If you want, I can also give you the classical tafsīr breakdown of this phrase so you can see how early scholars understood "تستترون" here — it has an interesting interpretation tied to physical concealment vs. spiritual awareness. Would you like me to do that?
You said:
ChatGPT said:
Yes — كُن comes from the verb كان (kāna), which is a very flexible auxiliary verb in Arabic.
Its core meaning is simply “to be” (in the past), but the exact English translation depends heavily on context.
Core form
-
كان = “was / were”
-
كُن = imperative form: “be!” (command)
In your verse (كُنتُم), it’s the past tense plural: “you were.”
Why so many possible translations?
Arabic كان doesn’t work exactly like English “to be” — it can:
-
Indicate past state
-
كان الجوُّ حارًّا = “The weather was hot.”
-
-
Serve as an auxiliary to give tense/aspect to another verb:
-
كنتُ أكتب = “I was writing” (past continuous).
-
-
Sometimes carry modal sense (could / would / should) when paired with other verbs and conditional structures:
-
لو كنتُ أعلم = “If I had known / If I knew” (implies “I would…”)
-
-
In the imperative (كُن) it’s “Be!” — as in كُن فيكون (“Be! and it is”).
In Qur’an 41:22
-
كُنتُم = “you were” (past continuous sense).
-
وما كنتم تستترون = “and you were not hiding yourselves” / “and you did not conceal yourselves.”
So here it’s purely “were” — no “could” or “should” nuance.
If you want, I can give you a full chart of كان forms so you can see how it shifts between “was,” “could,” “would,” “should,” and “be!” depending on grammar. That way, this flexibility won’t be confusing later.
You said:
ChatGPT said:
Perfect — let’s map out كان so you can see how its meaning shifts depending on form, tense, mood, and context.
1. Base meaning
Root: ك و ن = “to be, exist, occur.”
Core past tense: كان = “he was / it was.”
It often works as:
-
A main verb (“was, became, existed”)
-
An auxiliary (modifies tense/aspect of another verb)
2. Conjugation of كان (past & present)
| Person | Past Tense (was) | Present Tense (is/are) | Imperative (be!) |
|---|---|---|---|
| أنا (I) | كُنتُ | أكون | — |
| نحن (we) | كُنَّا | نكون | — |
| أنتَ (you m.) | كُنتَ | تكون | كُنْ |
| أنتِ (you f.) | كُنتِ | تكونين | كُوني |
| أنتم (you pl.) | كُنتُم | تكونون | كُونوا |
| هو (he) | كانَ | يكون | — |
| هي (she) | كانَت | تكون | — |
| هم (they) | كانوا | يكونون | — |
3. Major functions of كان
A. Simple past state
كان الجوُّ حارًّا.
= The weather was hot.
B. Past continuous (auxiliary)
كنتُ أكتب.
= I was writing.
C. Habitual past (“used to”)
كانوا يزوروننا كلَّ أسبوع.
= They used to visit us every week.
D. Hypothetical / conditional (would, could, should)
In لو (if) clauses:
لو كنتَ هنا، لساعدتُك.
= If you were here, I would help you.
(Here كان gives the would meaning in English.)
E. Past perfect (“had been”)
With another verb in perfect aspect:
كان قد ذهب.
= He had gone.
F. Imperative (“be!”)
كُنْ صبورًا.
= Be patient!
كُن فيكون.
= Be! and it is.
4. Special Qur’anic nuance
-
كان + اسم/صفة = describes a persistent quality (“was and is”):
-
وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا
= “And Allah is always Forgiving, Merciful” (not just past tense — ongoing quality).
-
-
ما كان = “it was not / it is not befitting that” (expresses prohibition or impossibility):
-
وَمَا كَانَ لِنَبِيٍّ أَنْ يَغُلَّ
= “It is not for a prophet to act dishonestly.”
-
I can also make you a diagram of كان’s “timeline meanings” so you can visually see where “was,” “would,” “could,” “should,” and “be!” sit on the same root meaning. That makes it much easier to predict its translation.
Do you want me to prepare that visual chart?
You said:
ChatGPT said:
Got it — yes, كانَ is often an auxiliary verb (helping verb) that changes its meaning depending on tense, mood, and context.
The core meaning is “to be”, but Arabic uses it in ways that overlap with many English auxiliaries like am, is, are, was, were, will, would, should, could, might, may, etc.
Here’s a full set of examples so you can see each case clearly.
1. “Am / Is / Are” (present state — usually in kana + present tense with timeless meaning)
وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا
= And Allah is (always) Forgiving, Merciful.
(Qur’an 4:96)
Even though it’s past in form, it implies an ongoing present quality.
2. “Was / Were” (past state)
كانَ الجوُّ جميلًا أمسِ.
= The weather was beautiful yesterday.
3. “Shall / Will” (future — in certain Qur’anic and formal contexts, esp. with continuous verbs)
سيكون هناك اجتماع غدًا.
= There will be a meeting tomorrow.
4. “Would” (hypothetical / conditional with لو)
لو كنتُ غنيًّا، لساعدتُ الفقراء.
= If I were rich, I would help the poor.
5. “Should” (expressing duty / obligation — usually from ما كان or لم يكن constructions)
ما كانَ لَكَ أن تقول هذا.
= You should not (it is not befitting for you to) say this.
6. “Could” (ability in a hypothetical context)
لو كانَ يستطيع، لأتى.
= If he could, he would have come.
7. “Might / May” (possibility in a hypothetical or indirect context)
كانَ قد ينجح لو درس أكثر.
= He might have succeeded if he had studied more.
8. “Used to” (habitual past)
كانوا يزوروننا كل أسبوع.
= They used to visit us every week.
Why so many translations?
Arabic كان is like a universal auxiliary verb that:
-
Anchors the time (past, continuous, future by context)
-
Can combine with present tense verbs to shift meaning toward progressive or habitual actions
-
Can combine with modal particles like لو to take on “would / could / should / might” meanings.
If you like, I can make you a single master table showing كان with all 12 English modal meanings, the Arabic example, and literal + idiomatic translations side by side so it’s easy to reference.
.jpeg)
