LessonsSupplementary Practice 22: Comparative Rhetorical Study of Sūrat al-Kāfirūn and al-NaṣrQuiz

لَا أَعْبُدُ مَا تَعْبُدُونَ
I do not worship what you worship. (109:2)

Lā is negative, not prohibitive, so aʿbudu is an indicative imperfect verb, not a jussive command. The verse denies the speaker's act of worship and identifies its contrasting object through mā taʿbudūn.

Using an imperfect verb foregrounds worship as an action. The verse should not be reduced either to a momentary refusal or exclusively to a future promise; read with the following verses, it gives a strong proclamation of non-participation in the other's worship.

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Negating the imperfect: lā aʿbudu

Supplementary Practice 22: Comparative Rhetorical Study of Sūrat al-Kāfirūn and al-Naṣr

لَا أَعْبُدُ مَا تَعْبُدُونَ
I do not worship what you worship. (109:2)

Lā is negative, not prohibitive, so aʿbudu is an indicative imperfect verb, not a jussive command. The verse denies the speaker's act of worship and identifies its contrasting object through mā taʿbudūn.

Using an imperfect verb foregrounds worship as an action. The verse should not be reduced either to a momentary refusal or exclusively to a future promise; read with the following verses, it gives a strong proclamation of non-participation in the other's worship.