A New Way to Think About Kaana in the Qur'an - Part One
The verb kaana is usually translated as "was", however its many
different usages in the Qur'an have brought about a variety of interpretations.
In what follows I would like to present a different way to think about this
verb which might help us see why it's so difficult to come up with one
translation for it.
1. The reason why kaana is so problematic to explain is that, even though in
some aayaat the translation "was" fits, there are aayaat in which
thinking of this word as "was" doesn't seem to make sense. For
example, there are many aayaat that use kaana in reference to Allah's
qualities. Ar-Raghib Al-Asfahani in his book "Mufradaat Alfaadh
Al-Qur'an" discusses this when he says: "Kaana is an expression for
what has passed in time, and many times it is used in the description of Allah
to give the meaning of an eternal quality."
2. Ar-Raghib then gives the example of 33:40 which says: "...wa kaanallahu
(and Allah was/always has been) All-Knowing of everything." It is easy to
see here why kaana is hard to translate. Based on Ar-Raghib's explanation I
translated it as "always has been", however I left "was" so
the reader could see why interpreting kaana can be problematic. As Ar-Raghib
explained, sometimes it does mean that something has passed in time, and in
that case "was" is appropriate. However, in a case like this, we
don't want to think that Allah's knowledge existed in the past but does not
exist now.
3. kaana is also used to express qualities of human beings. For example:
"...wa kaana al-insaanu (insaan (man/human) was/is/will always be/is
perpetually) hasty." 17:11 "...wa kaana al-insaanu (insaan
is/was/will always be/is perpetually) the most argumentative of all things."
18:54 What does it mean when Allah says human beings have a quality, and He
uses the word kaana? Does it mean insaan WAS hasty? Meaning he's not anymore?
That doesn't seem to be what's being said. Ar-Raghib's opinion is that when
kaana is used with a description it indicates "...the description that is
attached to something and seldom separates from it." (Mufradaat Alfaadh
Al-Qur'an)
4. There are also other examples where kaana (or one of its other forms) just
doesn't seem to fit the meaning of past tense. For example: "Those who are
wasteful are brothers of the devils..." 17:27 Most translations will
probably say "are", even though the Arabic is " kaanoo",
the plural of kaana. Clearly this ayah is not saying they "were", past
tense, brothers of the devils.
5. Because of these aayaat and more like them, we find scholars giving so many
different explanations for kaana. Ar-Raghib, who we previously quoted, wrote a
book solely focused on explaining the words of the Qur'an, and his book
"Mufradaat Alfaadh Al-Qur'an" is a main reference in Qur'anic
studies. He gave a few different explanations himself. I have already quoted
two of them. He also says: "And when it is used for a time that is passed,
then it is possible that what it has been used for has remained in the state it
was in as it had been previously mentioned, and it is also possible that it has
changed."
6. Ar-Raghib also discusses the aayah: "kuntum khayra ummatin..."
3:110 Here "kuntum" is the past tense of kaana, second person,
meaning "you were". "You were the best nation..." However
most times it is translated as "You are". Ar-Raghib says: "It is
said: kuntum (here) has the meaning of 'your state is...' but that is nothing.
Rather, it is an indication that you were (kuntum) like that in the decree of
Allah and His judgment."
7. Az-Zamakhshari, a famous scholar of tafsir (explanation of the Qur'an) known
for his focus on the Arabic language in his explanations, takes a different
approach to this aayah, he says: "Kaana expresses the existence of
something in a previous time in an ambiguous way. It does not indicate previous
nonexistence nor an unexpected interruption...it is as if it is being said:
'You have been found as the best nation.' And it is said: 'You were the best
nation in the knowledge of Allah.' And it is said: 'You were mentioned among
the nations before you, that you are the best nation.' " (Al-Kashaaf)
8. I am in no way saying that any of these explanations are incorrect. They are
all very interesting and offer us insight into the use of kaana in the Qur'an.
However, I think because the discussion of kaana is usually focused on the
grammatical function of the word, we may be missing the beauty that this word
contains. In part two of our discussion of kaana, I want to provide a new way
to think about kaana that encompasses the explanations of these scholars, while
at the same time helping us understand why kaana is so hard to interpret. My
next discussion about kaana will be based on how it is not just some obscure
Arabic verb, rather it contains within it the philosophical branch of knowledge
known as ontology (the study of the nature of being).
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