# لن يذهب



## Qureshpor

Once again, *لن يذهب *is given the meaning as:

"He will never go" in the Urdu Arabic grammar book instead of the normal, "He will not go". Is this a stronger form of the negative future when *لا يذهب* could mean the unemphatic "He will not go"?


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## clevermizo

In modern usage, لن يذهب means "He will not go." To say he will never go, you would say something like لن يذهب أبدًا. I can't speak for any differences in usage Classically.

لا يذهب means "He doesn't go/isn't going." It could have implied future depending on context.


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## إسكندراني

QURESHPOR said:


> Once again, *لن يذهب *is given the meaning as:
> 
> "He will never go" in the Urdu Arabic grammar book instead of the normal, "He will not go".


I agree with this analysis; it can very well mean 'never' if one doesn't specify a time-frame and ends it there.
But the same goes for english 'he will not go' as well!


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## Mahaodeh

I would have to disagree with you mizo, لن يذهب implies something final - he will never go, or he will not go, ever; the أبدًا part is just an added توكيد. I think it's basically the same in Classical usage.


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## Qureshpor

So, is there a verifiable difference between سوف لا يذهب and لن يذهب?


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## إسكندراني

QURESHPOR said:


> So, is there a verifiable difference between سوف لا يذهب and لن يذهب?


The former is incorrect I think


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## Josh_

I believe the point is that لن is a strong negating particle of future action (perhaps stronger than the English "will").

However, I think we need to clarify that it is often time-frame dependent, as Iskandaraani alluded to.  That is, it is a strong negation of future action within the time-frame indicated. 

If no time frame given, we might say لن يذهب (in isolation) could mean "he will never go (for all time). But if a time frame is given then the strong negation is relevant for that time frame only.  For example:

لن يذهب اليوم، وإنما سيذهب غدا.ـ
(He will not go today, but (he) will go tomorrow.)

That is, within the confines of today, he will certainly not go/never go/not go ever, but tomorrow he will go.


إسكندراني said:


> The former is incorrect I think


Both ways are acceptable, but the former is uncommon.


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## Kinan

لن يذهب doesn't necessarily mean he won't go ever.
Both لن يذهب and لا يذهب need continuation or at least you need to know the question.


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## cherine

I don't see why لن indicate "never". Isn't it just the negation of/in the future? To indicate "never" we need to add أبدًا or another word that gives this meaning.

I don't think سوف لا يذهب is a correct usage, at least not a common one.


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## Qureshpor

^If it is incorrect, then it seems strange that grammar books (MSA) should include this option!

One of our friends in this thread has, I think, hit the nail on the head. لن يذهب may not mean "He will never go" but لن perhaps imparts a more emphatic negative sense than لا يذهب or سوف لا يذهب. One must not forget that a مضارع does have a present/future sense and لا is the particle which traditionally negates present/future whereas ما negated the present only. At least this is what I have been led to believe.


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## إسكندراني

الجيش المصري لم ولن يطلق النار على المتظاهرين
Here it means never - but this is equally implied by the English:
'The Egyptian Army has not fired on protesters and will not do so.'


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## Qureshpor

Thank you and to everyone else for their kind help.


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## cherine

Hi,

If I say لن أذهب للحفل does this mean "I will never go to the party"? I would not think that. It's a simple "I'm not going" or "I will not go". The "never" meaning needs to be implied from context, as in the example given by Iskandarany. But I would never say لن أقول أبداً that "lan" in itself has the meaning of أبدًا .


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## إسكندراني

If you say
لن أذهب لحفل
it could very well mean never.
I suppose what I was saying about a similarity with English is what you just clarified; even in English some sentences hold the meaning 'never' just because of the context which they give 'will not'.


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## Kinan

سوف لا أذهب is definitely incorrect.


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## rayloom

For lan to surely mean never, it has to be followed by أبدا. Otherwise, it depends on the timeframe intended and the context.

And combining sawfa and negation in the same sentence is incorrect, even though you can see it from time to time in poetry (for metric reasons), but poetry is another matter.

Even if you want to use لا laa, you don't use it with sawfa, and if you want it to mean never, you add أبدا.
ولا يتمنونه أبدا بما قدمت أيديهم
62:7

(cf. with ولن يتمنوه أبدا بما قدمت أيديهم 2:95)


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## L-art-a

the Arabic is a very specific Language,
the sentence *لن يذهب*  simply means : (he) will not go, word for word ( future form)
  لا* يذهب*  means : he is not going now ( present form)
  لم* يذهب*  means : he did not go ( past form, but using the present tens verb)
in Arabic grammar, these three  حروف (letters=لم*,*لا,*لن* )are used in exercises to practice the tenses, and they are what we call   حروف نافية


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## Qureshpor

Perhaps you ought to qualify your statement. Arabic might have been more precise in the olden days but perhaps not anymore.

لا* يذهب* does not always mean : he is not going now ( present form)

إن الذين يكتمون ما أنزل الله  من الكتاب ويشترون به ثمنا قليلا أولئك ما يأكلون في بطونهم إلا النار *ولا يكلمهم الله* يوم القيامة

Those who conceal what God has revealed of the book and sell it for a small price, they are only putting fire in their bellies and *God will not speak* to them on the Day of Judgement.


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## Mazhara

The Ayah, perhaps, does not negate what is suggested earlier. "God will not speak" is because of following [مفعول فيه منصوب]


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## إسكندراني

Mazhara said:


> "God will not speak" is because of following [مفعول فيه منصوب]


How does the preceding word affect the meaning of لا يكلّمهم?


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## L-art-a

Although Arabic IS a very specific language, BUT it lakes the TENSES that the English has, we can use the Present Form, of a verb to say something  about the Future, the past or the present:
as quoted earlier


> the sentence *لن يذهب*  simply means : (he) will not go, word for word ( future form)
> لا* يذهب*  means : he is not going now ( present form)
> لم* يذهب*  means : he did not go ( past form, but using the present tens verb)


this extends to all verbs. the differentiation always comes from the whole context of the sentence..
What I wanted to say earlier was as IS, 
- *لن* preceding a verb makes the context in the future
-  لم  preceding a verb makes the context in the past
-  لا  preceding a verb makes the context in the present

unless followed by other words , example:
سوف يصبح طبيباً ما لم يصبح مهندساً, where ما  brings the whole sentence to the future form when used ahead of  لم .

This can go on forever!!


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## aurelien.demarest

Good morning guys,

I am studying الشرط and جوابه and I'm having confusion with لن.
If I am not mistaken, after لن in most cases when لن is نفية the following verb is مضارع منصوب as this sentence:
المعلمُ لن يُقْبَلَ أيَّ عُذْرِ بعدَ الآن

My question is what about النهي ? Is it possible to give an imperative in the future with لن ?
Like: !لن تدْخُلْ الصف متأخرًا

I am asking this because with الشرط and جوابه which should be مجزوم that is driving me crazy...
Example:
مَهْمَا يَكُنْ العُذْرُ فلن *تدْخُلْ* الصف متأخرًا
Whatever the excuse is you will not enter late into the classroom
or
مَهْمَا يَكُنْ العُذْرُ فلن *تدْخُلَ* الصف متأخرًا
Whatever the excuse is you will not enter late into the classroom

Thank you in advance
Aurélien


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## cherine

Bonjour Aurélien,

I'm a bit confused here (and too lazy to check my grammar book) so could you please clarify where you got the idea that لن can be used for النهي?
As far as I know, it's only used for النفي للمستقبل and is always followed by a verb in النصب .


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## aurelien.demarest

مرحبا يا شيرين

I didn't get that sentence from any source actually . I did it by myself so to illustrate an example of لن with النهي in order to ask the community whether this strucutre is possible in Arabic.
In other words whether it is possible to have an imperative order in the future (with لن) in a conditional response (جواب الشرط) where the verb conjugation is not منصوب but مجزوم because of النهي
This is existing is latin for instance: Ne falsum dixeritis! (you won't say false things!)

Aurélien


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## cherine

Thanks for the clarification.
In this case, I'd say that this is not possible in Arabic. لن is نافية not ناهية.
The part with لن تدخل as a جواب شرط, the phrase as a whole is a جواب شرط. If you haven't studied this yet, you don't need to worry about it now. But if you have, then you should remember that a جملة can take the place of a noun, so to speak, which is the case with the sentence you mentioned.
مَهْمَا يَكُنْ العُذْرُ فلن *تدْخُلَ* الصف متأخرًا


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## aurelien.demarest

Thanks Cherine for the support


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## cherine

You're welcome, Aurélien.


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## Tarkin

I remember that there is a difference of opinion regarding لن:

1. Some say it simply negates the future
2. Others say it negates the future for all time
3. Yet others say it negates the future with emphasis

The first would be translated "will not", the second "never", and the third "certainly/definitely will not".

I think we can safely rule the second possibility out. The reason is that the Qur'an tells us that the Virgin Mary said, ""فلن أكلم اليوم إنسيا", and it would make no sense for her to say "I will never talk to a human being today." The word "today" makes no sense when talking about eternity.

Another reason is that the Qur'an says, "قُلْ إِن كَانَتْ لَكُمُ الدَّارُ الْآخِرَةُ عِندَ اللَّهِ خَالِصَةً مِّن دُونِ النَّاسِ فَتَمَنَّوُا الْمَوْتَ إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ وَلَن يَتَمَنَّوْهُ أَبَدًا بِمَا قَدَّمَتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِالظَّالِمِينَ". The word أبدًا already means "never", and would be superfluous if لن meant the same thing.

A third reason is that the Qur'an says, "وَلَمَّا جَاءَ مُوسَىٰ لِمِيقَاتِنَا وَكَلَّمَهُ رَبُّهُ قَالَ رَبِّ أَرِنِي أَنظُرْ إِلَيْكَ ۚ قَالَ لَن تَرَانِي وَلَٰكِنِ انظُرْ إِلَى الْجَبَلِ فَإِنِ اسْتَقَرَّ مَكَانَهُ فَسَوْفَ تَرَانِي ۚ فَلَمَّا تَجَلَّىٰ رَبُّهُ لِلْجَبَلِ جَعَلَهُ دَكًّا وَخَرَّ مُوسَىٰ صَعِقًا ۚ فَلَمَّا أَفَاقَ قَالَ سُبْحَانَكَ تُبْتُ إِلَيْكَ وَأَنَا أَوَّلُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ". If لن meant "never", it would imply that Moses would never see God, even though there are other verses and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad that indicate that certain blessed individuals will be allowed to gaze upon Allah someday.


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## Ibn Nacer

This thread is very interesting...
Some time ago I found this link: The Subjunctive Mood in Arabic Grammatical Thought

In this book there is an entire chapter devoted to the particle of negation "lan" ...


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## mrs. miyagi

I don’t know about Classical Arabic, but in Modern Standard Arabic لن is used simply to negate the future, i.e. "will not“. There is no تأكيد or تأبيد in it.


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## Ali Smith

What about in the following verse from the Qur'an?

فَمَا لَكُمْ فِي الْمُنَافِقِينَ فِئَتَيْنِ وَاللَّهُ أَرْكَسَهُم بِمَا كَسَبُوا ۚ أَتُرِيدُونَ أَن تَهْدُوا مَنْ أَضَلَّ اللَّهُ ۖ وَمَن يُضْلِلِ اللَّهُ فَلَن تَجِدَ لَهُ سَبِيلًا (88) وَدُّوا لَوْ تَكْفُرُونَ كَمَا كَفَرُوا فَتَكُونُونَ سَوَاءً ۖ فَلَا تَتَّخِذُوا مِنْهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءَ حَتَّىٰ يُهَاجِرُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ ۚ فَإِن تَوَلَّوْا فَخُذُوهُمْ وَاقْتُلُوهُمْ حَيْثُ وَجَدتُّمُوهُمْ ۖ وَلَا تَتَّخِذُوا مِنْهُمْ وَلِيًّا وَلَا نَصِيرًا
(٤/٨٨)

If لن really only negated the future like it does in MSA, Allah could simply have said ومن يضللِ الله لا تجدْ له سبيلا. I think it's clear that لن does more than just negate the future in classical Arabic. Maybe it puts the action at a more distant point in the future (which is _not_ the same as saying it denotes perpetuity, which is the second option given by Tarkin above).


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## mj99

In al-Mu'jam al-Mufassal fin-Nahw al-Arabi it clearly states that lan does nothing more than make the future negative


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## Aghori2005

In Pakistan they always tell you that lan means "never". Most people don't even know that some people think it means "will not".


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## Ali Smith

If it meant 'never' the following would not make much sense:

وَقَالُوا لَن تَمَسَّنَا النَّارُ إِلَّا أَيَّامًا مَّعْدُودَةً ۚ قُلْ أَتَّخَذْتُمْ عِندَ اللَّهِ عَهْدًا فَلَن يُخْلِفَ اللَّهُ عَهْدَهُ 2:80
And they say, "The Fire will not touch us, except for a few days."

Why would they say "The fire will *never *touch us, except for a few days."? It is extremely unlikely for an assertion to be made using the perpetual future that is then limited temporally, for the perpetuity mentioned initially would serve no purpose.


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## zj73

All the Quranic Arabic courses I've done always said that Lan means "never"! Are you sure that's not what it means?


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## Qureshpor

zj73 said:


> All the Quranic Arabic courses I've done always said that Lan means "never"! Are you sure that's not what it means?


As Ali smith's 2:80 example indicates, "lan" most likely is a strong future negator. If it was always translated as "never", then it would be "never" without any exceptions but 2:80 has exceptions.


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## zj73

How is it strong then?


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## Qureshpor

zj73 said:


> How is it strong then?


By "strong" I meant there is a degree of emphasis in لن یذھب (for Qur'anic and pre-Modern Arabic) not found in لا یذھبُ when the latter is used for a future meaning.


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## Ali Smith

I believe there is at least _some_ evidence that لن connoted perpetuity (التأبيد) in classical Arabic. Witness:

حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ حَدَّثَنِى أَبِى حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى عَنِ ابْنِ عَجْلاَنَ قَالَ حَدَّثَنِى سَعِيدٌ عَنْ أَبِى هُرَيْرَةَ قَالَ وَسَمِعْتُ أَبِى يُحَدِّثُ عَنْ أَبِى هُرَيْرَةَ عَنِ النَّبِىِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ أَبِى قُلْتُ لِيَحْيَى كِلاَهُمَا عَنِ النَّبِىِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ نَعَمْ قَالَ شُعْبَتَانِ مِنْ أَمْرِ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ *لاَ يَتْرُكُهُمَا النَّاسُ أَبَدًا* النِّيَاحَةُ وَالطَّعْنُ فِى النَّسَبِ

Source: Yahya, from Muhammad bin Ajlan, from both his father and Sa'eed, from Abu Hurairah (رضي الله عنه) in Musnad Ahmad

حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ حَدَّثَنِى أَبِى حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ يَزِيدَ حَدَّثَنَا الْمَسْعُودِىُّ عَنْ عَلْقَمَةَ بْنِ مَرْثَدٍ عَنْ أَبِى الرَّبِيعِ عَنْ أَبِى هُرَيْرَةَ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَرْبَعٌ مِنْ أَمْرِ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ *لَنْ يَدَعَهُنَّ النَّاسُ* النِّيَاحَةُ عَلَى الْمَيِّتِ وَالطَّعْنُ فِى الأَنْسَابِ وَالأَنْوَاءُ يَقُولُ الرَّجُلُ سُقِينَا بِنَوْءِ كَذَا وَكَذَا وَالإِعْدَاءُ أَجْرَبَ بَعِيرٌ فَأَجْرَبَ مِائَةً فَمَنْ أَعْدَى الأَوَّلَ

Source: Abdullah bin Yazeed, from al-Mas'oodi, from Alqamah bin Marthad, from Abu ar-Rabee, from Abu Hurairah (رضي الله عنه) in Musnad Ahmad

حَدَّثَنَا مَحْمُودُ بْنُ غَيْلاَنَ حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو دَاوُدَ أَنْبَأَنَا شُعْبَةُ وَالْمَسْعُودِىُّ عَنْ عَلْقَمَةَ بْنِ مَرْثَدٍ عَنْ أَبِى الرَّبِيعِ عَنْ أَبِى هُرَيْرَةَ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَرْبَعٌ فِى أُمَّتِى مِنْ أَمْرِ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ *لَنْ يَدَعَهُنَّ النَّاسُ* النِّيَاحَةُ وَالطَّعْنُ فِى الأَحْسَابِ وَالْعَدْوَى أَجْرَبَ بَعِيرٌ فَأَجْرَبَ مِائَةَ بَعِيرٍ مَنْ أَجْرَبَ الْبَعِيرَ الأَوَّلَ وَالأَنْوَاءُ مُطِرْنَا بِنَوْءِ كَذَا وَكَذَا قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ

Source: Mahmood bin Ghaylan, from Abu Dawood, from both Shu'bah and al-Mas'oodi, from Alqamah bin Marthad, from Abu ar-Rabee, from Abu Hurairah (رضي الله عنه) in Sunan at-Tirmidhi

The three narrations have different wording, which means at least some of the narrators were paraphrasing. Assuming that they remembered the meaning and conveyed it in their own words, we can deduce that, to them, لَنْ يَدَعَ النَّاسُ and لاَ يَتْرُكُ النَّاسُ أَبَدًا were synonymous. Of course, one of them seems to have unintentionally omitted two of the four things talked about in the hadith, but that is a separate issue.


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## zj73

I believe لن can also be used for دعاء or prayer.

لن تزالوا على خير


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