1. The sentence (He did not beget) is a second predicate and the sentence (nor is He born) is the third predicate of the subject “Allah” from the previous verse where the first predicate was “al-samad.” So the sentence reads - Allah is al samad and He did not beget and neither is He born. This presents three attributes of Allah because “al samad”, “He did not beget” and “nor is He born” are on the same grammatical level. This structure is declarative and categorical and presents a list of divine attributes.
2. The sentence (He did not beget nor is He born) is a badal Ishtimāl which means that the second statement does not restate the first statement, but rather mentions something that is inherently contained in its meaning. The resulting meaning is that one of the intrinsic implications of Allah being al samad is that He did not beget nor is He born. Being al samad necessarily implies that Allah did not beget nor was He born. It clarifies what truly being al samad implies. Al- samad means the perfect, flawless entity. Being born is a flaw because it entails non existence before being born. Another condition of being al- samad is being eternal. A being that is not eternal, which had a beginning in time and which will have an end; which is brought into existence - which also means that it was dependent on others to bring Him into existence - cannot be al samad. Just as one cannot be ahad if he is not al samad, one cannot be al Samad if he begets or was born.
Being Ahad and al Samad necessarily imply that begetting and being born is impossible.113 There are a number of questions that come up regarding the structure of this verse and its wording pointed out by al Razi 1. Why does “He did not beget” come before “He is not born” when the natural order is to say “He was not born nor did He beget?” The answer is that the major false creeds regarding God stem from attributing sons or daughters to Allah. The Jews and Christians attributed a son to Allah while the polytheists of Arabia attributed daughters to Him but they did not attribute a father to Allah. So he followed the sentence ‘He did not beget’ with ‘nor is He born’ as evidence for it to say that the proof that Allah did not beget is that He is not born from anyone. To beget a child, one must be in a parent child relationship. The fact that Allah was never born shows that this parent child relationship does not exist with Allah. This also refutes the Christian belief of eternal generation of the persons inside the trinity.
2. Why does it say ‘He did not beget’ in the past tense rather than saying it as ‘He does not beget? This is to show the falsehood of their creeds which had them believe that certain individuals such as Jesus and angels were sons and daughters of Allah. The past tense is to refute them to say that such a thing never happened.
3. Why does He say ‘He did not beget’ while in other places of the Qurʾān such as 17:111 He says ‘He did not take a son.” ‘He did not beget’ means nothing is born from Him. “He did not take a son” is in the meaning of adoption. It is to negate the claim that He called a person His son. A human being can either have his own son or he could adopt a son because of certain benefits that come from it. Both of these things are rejected for Allah.114 We can see that one attribute necessarily leads to another. Being ahad necessarily implies being al- samad; which necessarily implies the impossibility of begetting and being born.
The core point of the surah remains that Allah is ahad. Every other quality naturally follows the quality of being ahad. Everything we know has a beginning and an end. Allah being ahad - the one and only - implies that Allah is the exception. So Allah not begetting nor being born is already contained inside the word ahad.
113 al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb, vol. 32, p. 184 114 al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb, vol. 32, p. 183
He did not beget nor is He born
There are two possibilities.
1. The sentence (He did not beget) is a second predicate and the sentence (nor is He born) is the third predicate of the subject “Allah” from the previous verse where the first predicate was “al-samad.” So the sentence reads - Allah is al samad and He did not beget and neither is He born. This presents three attributes of Allah because “al samad”, “He did not beget” and “nor is He born” are on the same grammatical level. This structure is declarative and categorical and presents a list of divine attributes.
2. The sentence (He did not beget nor is He born) is a badal Ishtimāl which means that the second statement does not restate the first statement, but rather mentions something that is inherently contained in its meaning. The resulting meaning is that one of the intrinsic implications of Allah being al samad is that He did not beget nor is He born. Being al samad necessarily implies that Allah did not beget nor was He born. It clarifies what truly being al samad implies. Al- samad means the perfect, flawless entity. Being born is a flaw because it entails non existence before being born. Another condition of being al- samad is being eternal. A being that is not eternal, which had a beginning in time and which will have an end; which is brought into existence - which also means that it was dependent on others to bring Him into existence - cannot be al samad. Just as one cannot be ahad if he is not al samad, one cannot be al Samad if he begets or was born.
This is summarized by al- Razi
فالأحَدِيَّ ةُ والصَّ مَدِيَّ ةُ يُوجِبانِ نَفْيَ الوَلَدِيَّ ةِ والمَوْلُودِيَّ ةِ
Being Ahad and al Samad necessarily imply that begetting and being born is impossible.113 There are a number of questions that come up regarding the structure of this verse and its wording pointed out by al Razi 1. Why does “He did not beget” come before “He is not born” when the natural order is to say “He was not born nor did He beget?” The answer is that the major false creeds regarding God stem from attributing sons or daughters to Allah. The Jews and Christians attributed a son to Allah while the polytheists of Arabia attributed daughters to Him but they did not attribute a father to Allah. So he followed the sentence ‘He did not beget’ with ‘nor is He born’ as evidence for it to say that the proof that Allah did not beget is that He is not born from anyone. To beget a child, one must be in a parent child relationship. The fact that Allah was never born shows that this parent child relationship does not exist with Allah. This also refutes the Christian belief of eternal generation of the persons inside the trinity.
2. Why does it say ‘He did not beget’ in the past tense rather than saying it as ‘He does not beget? This is to show the falsehood of their creeds which had them believe that certain individuals such as Jesus and angels were sons and daughters of Allah. The past tense is to refute them to say that such a thing never happened.
3. Why does He say ‘He did not beget’ while in other places of the Qurʾān such as 17:111 He says ‘He did not take a son.” ‘He did not beget’ means nothing is born from Him. “He did not take a son” is in the meaning of adoption. It is to negate the claim that He called a person His son. A human being can either have his own son or he could adopt a son because of certain benefits that come from it. Both of these things are rejected for Allah.114 We can see that one attribute necessarily leads to another. Being ahad necessarily implies being al- samad; which necessarily implies the impossibility of begetting and being born.
The core point of the surah remains that Allah is ahad. Every other quality naturally follows the quality of being ahad. Everything we know has a beginning and an end. Allah being ahad - the one and only - implies that Allah is the exception. So Allah not begetting nor being born is already contained inside the word ahad.
113 al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb, vol. 32, p. 184
114 al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb, vol. 32, p. 183