LessonsInshāʾ: Requestive and Non-requestive Forms, Imperative Constructions and Rhetorical FunctionsQuiz

كُلُوا وَاشْرَبُوا
Eat and drink.

This phrase occurs in Qurʾān 2:60. An imperative does not invariably impose an obligation. When the setting provides permission and removes a restriction on eating and drinking, its purpose is ibāḥah—permission, rather than compulsion.

كُلُوا: a plural imperative with wāw as subject.
وَاشْرَبُوا: a coordinating wāw followed by a second plural imperative.

The contextual difference: “Eat!” may be a physician’s instruction to a patient or a host’s invitation permitting a guest to eat. Syntax alone does not determine which communicative act is intended.

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8. Permission (ibāḥah)

Inshāʾ: Requestive and Non-requestive Forms, Imperative Constructions and Rhetorical Functions

كُلُوا وَاشْرَبُوا
Eat and drink.

This phrase occurs in Qurʾān 2:60. An imperative does not invariably impose an obligation. When the setting provides permission and removes a restriction on eating and drinking, its purpose is ibāḥah—permission, rather than compulsion.

كُلُوا: a plural imperative with wāw as subject.
وَاشْرَبُوا: a coordinating wāw followed by a second plural imperative.

The contextual difference: “Eat!” may be a physician’s instruction to a patient or a host’s invitation permitting a guest to eat. Syntax alone does not determine which communicative act is intended.