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The question

Why was "لَمْ يَكُ شَيْئًا" written in the Holy Qur’an instead of "لَمْ يَكُنْ"?

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Source: FtawySummarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 20261 min readAlso available in العربية
The answer

The omission of the letter "nun" from the jussive imperfect verb of "kana" (to be) is common in the Arabic language. The origin of "lam yak" (he was not) is "lam yakun" (he was not), and the "nun" was omitted for lightness. This omission is permissible, not obligatory. It has appeared in the Holy Quran, poetry, and proverbs in both forms: with and without the omission.

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

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