فَإِن كُنتَ فِى شَكٍّ مِّمَّآ أَنزَلْنَآ إِلَيْكَ فَسْـَٔلِ ٱلَّذِينَ يَقْرَءُونَ ٱلْكِتَٰبَ مِن قَبْلِكَ · وَلَا تَكُونَنَّ مِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا۟ بِـَٔايَٰتِ ٱللَّهِ فَتَكُونَ مِنَ ٱلْخَٰسِرِينَ
"If you are in doubt about what We have sent down to you, ask those who were reading the Book before you. The truth has come to you from your Lord; so do not be among those who doubt. · And do not be among those who deny the signs of God, or you will be among the losers."
The verse has been debated in the classical commentaries, because the condition is put directly to the Prophet.
| Explanation | What it says |
|---|---|
| 1 | The condition is a supposition not assumed to be realised — in Arabic a condition built with in does not state that the event has happened. The sentence is the strongest way of saying "you have no doubt" |
| 2 | The address is to the Prophet, the intent is the community — a manner of speech of which there are other instances in the Qurʾān |
| 3 | It states that the proof can be confirmed from outside as well — what is really being said is that the people of the earlier books would know this |
And this datum of word order must be recorded, and it can be stated without entering into a preference: the rest of the sentence removes the doubt. Laqad jāʾaka'l-ḥaqqu min rabbika fa-lā takūnanna mina'l-mumtarīn — "do not be among those who doubt." The condition, that is, is closed the moment it is set up.
The root م-ر-ي: to fall into disagreement, to waver. Mirāʾ — contention. The lexicographers also record the concrete sense of the root as "to squeeze the udder for milk" and make the link thus: to keep worrying at a thing. I give this derivation as a transmission from the lexicographers.
And the form of the prohibition in the two verses must be recorded: lā takūnanna — a prohibition plus the nūn of emphasis. This pattern will occur once more in the sūra, in the hundred and fifth verse: wa lā takūnanna mina'l-mushrikīn. The same pattern three times, three commands to keep clear of three distinct groups: those who doubt (94), those who deny (95), those who associate others with God (105).
I record this as an observation about the word order: towards its close the sūra frames its commands negatively — it says not what is to be done but whom one is not to be among.