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Why was the word "نعمة" (blessing/favor) singular in the verse "And if you should count the blessings of Allah, you could not enumerate them"?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The meaning of "blessing" (نعمة) in the verse is plural, as transmitted by Al-Baghawi from Al-Hasan, and this is supported by the verse: "you could not enumerate them (لاَ تُحْصُوهَا)" because it is not difficult to enumerate a singular item. The word "blessing" (نعمة) is a generic noun that refers to the plural when it is in an genitive construction (mudaf), and examples of this are the aforementioned verse, and Allah's saying: "He said, 'Indeed, these are my guests, so do not disgrace me' (قَالَ إِنَّ هَؤُلاء ضَيْفِي فَلاَ تَفْضَحُونِ)" meaning my guests (plural), and His saying: "And let those who oppose his command beware (فَلْيَحْذَرِ الَّذِينَ يُخَالِفُونَ عَنْ أَمْرِهِ)" meaning his commands (plural).

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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