Qur’anic Root A N Y

1. Qur’anic forms and scope

The family’s Qur’anic forms can be examined in two groups.

The first consists of eight lexical occurrences: يَأْنِ in Al-Ḥadīd 57:16; إِنَاهُ in Al-Aḥzāb 33:53; آناء in Āl ʿImrān 3:113, Ṭā Hā 20:130, and Al-Zumar 39:9; آنٍ in Al-Raḥmān 55:44; and آنِيَة in Al-Insān 76:15 and Al-Ghāshiyah 88:5.

The second is أَنَّى, which occurs 28 times in the Qur’an. Grammatically it mostly functions as an interrogative or adverbial. Although some root indexes count it alongside A N Y, its meaning should not be derived directly from the verb anā.

The total of 36 includes both groups, whereas the lexical derivatives excluding annā comprise eight occurrences.

Other Arabic forms, including الأَنَاة (al-anāh), تَأَنَّى (taʾannā), and اسْتَأْنَى (istaʾnā), also inform a historical examination of the family, but these forms do not themselves occur in the Qur’an.

2. The root in early Arabic

The Arabic lexical tradition records several fields of meaning: slowness and deliberation, a portion or hour of time, arrival and readiness, and a vessel.

Al-anāh describes acting without haste and with consideration. Taʾannā describes someone who pauses in an undertaking or proceeds patiently. Depending on context, this pause can express good judgment or delay and slowness.

The following line is attributed to Al-Ḥuṭayʾah, a poet who lived across the pre-Islamic and Islamic periods. That lifespan alone does not establish that this particular line predates the Qur’an’s revelation:

وَآنَيْتُ الْعَشَاءَ إِلَى سُهَيْلٍ
أَوِ الشِّعْرَى فَطَالَ بِيَ الْأَنَاءُ

wa-ānaytu al-ʿashāʾa ilā suhaylin / awi al-shiʿrā fa-ṭāla biya al-anāʾu

“I delayed the evening meal until Suhayl or Sirius, and my waiting grew long.” In this transmission, ānaytu concerns delay, and al-anāʾ waiting or lateness. Lisān al-ʿArab also transmits wa-annaytu, while the apparatus of Al-Muḥkam reports wa-akraytu instead of wa-ānaytu and al-ʿashāʾ instead of al-anāʾ in the diwan’s reading. The line should therefore be read with its transmission variants, rather than as evidence with a single certain reading and date.

A line attributed to ʿAlqamah Al-Faḥl also reads:

وَمُطْعَمُ الْغُنْمِ يَوْمَ الْغُنْمِ مُطْعَمُهُ
أَنَّى تَوَجَّهَ، وَالْمَحْرُومُ مَحْرُومُ

wa-muṭʿamu al-ghunmi yawma al-ghunmi muṭʿamuhu / annā tawajjaha wa-al-maḥrūmu maḥrūmu

“One granted a share of the spoils receives it on the day of spoils, whichever way he turns; the deprived remains deprived.” Here مُطْعَم (muṭʿam) is explained as a passive participle meaning one provided for, rather than مُطْعِم (muṭʿim), a giver of food. Annā tawajjaha expresses direction and a general conditional meaning: whichever way he turns. Thus not every use of annā is a question.

A line attributed to Al-Mutanakhkhil Al-Hudhalī also includes بِكُلِّ إِنْيٍ (bi-kulli inyin), referring to a portion or hour of time. Its transmissions differ in wording, and the lexical record alone does not establish a precise date of composition. The use of iny for a unit of time is nevertheless recorded in the lexical tradition.

Lexical accounts also describe the arrival of a time and something reaching readiness through this family. Food whose cooking was complete, or water that had become intensely hot, could be described with anā.

These examples establish an Arabic association between time, waiting, and reaching a particular stage. Yet ināʾ as a vessel and grammatical annā require their own evidence.

3. The arrival of a time and portions of time in the Qur’an

يَأْنِ: has the time not come?

Al-Ḥadīd states:

أَلَمْ يَأْنِ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنْ تَخْشَعَ قُلُوبُهُمْ لِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَمَا نَزَلَ مِنَ الْحَقِّ وَلَا يَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ مِنْ قَبْلُ فَطَالَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْأَمَدُ فَقَسَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَكَثِيرٌ مِنْهُمْ فَاسِقُونَ

a-lam yaʾni li-lladhīna āmanū an takhshaʿa qulūbuhum li-dhikri allāhi wa-mā nazala mina al-ḥaqqi wa-lā yakūnū ka-lladhīna ūtū al-kitāba min qablu fa-ṭāla ʿalayhimu al-amadu fa-qasat qulūbuhum wa-kathīrun minhum fāsiqūna

Translation: Has the time not come for those who have believed that their hearts should become humble at the remembrance of The God and what has come down of the truth, and that they should not be like those given the Book before, over whom a long time passed so that their hearts hardened, and many of whom became defiant? (Al-Ḥadīd 57:16)

يَأْنِ (yaʾni) is the imperfect form of anā. Its underlying form is يَأْنِي (yaʾnī); the final letter is omitted after لَمْ (lam) here.

In this construction the verb means “for the time of something to arrive.” A-lam yaʾni does not merely ask about the passage of calendar time. The sentence is a call to attention and an admonition, confronting its audience with an action whose time has arrived.

The lexical meaning of yaʾni nevertheless remains the arrival of a time. Humility of heart, remembrance of The God, and avoiding hardness of heart are what that arrival concerns in context, rather than parts of the verb’s meaning.

“Has the time not come?” conveys both the Arabic meaning and the interrogative tone.

آناء: portions or hours of time

Ānāʾ is a plural used for portions of time. All three Qur’anic occurrences accompany al-layl, “the night.”

Āl ʿImrān states:

لَيْسُوا سَوَاءً مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ أُمَّةٌ قَائِمَةٌ يَتْلُونَ آيَاتِ اللَّهِ آنَاءَ اللَّيْلِ وَهُمْ يَسْجُدُونَ

laysū sawāʾan min ahli al-kitābi ummatun qāʾimatun yatlūna āyāti allāhi ānāʾa al-layli wa-hum yasjudūna

Translation: They are not all alike. Among the People of the Book is an upright community reciting the signs of The God during the hours of the night, while they prostrate. (Āl ʿImrān 3:113)

Ānāʾa al-layl concerns portions of the night. Here it specifies when the signs are recited. The word itself neither fixes a number of hours nor requires uninterrupted recitation throughout the night.

Ṭā Hā states:

فَاصْبِرْ عَلَىٰ مَا يَقُولُونَ وَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ قَبْلَ طُلُوعِ الشَّمْسِ وَقَبْلَ غُرُوبِهَا وَمِنْ آنَاءِ اللَّيْلِ فَسَبِّحْ وَأَطْرَافَ النَّهَارِ لَعَلَّكَ تَرْضَىٰ

fa-iṣbir ʿalā mā yaqūlūna wa-sabbiḥ bi-ḥamdi rabbika qabla ṭulūʿi al-shamsi wa-qabla ghurūbihā wa-min ānāʾi al-layli fa-sabbiḥ wa-aṭrāfa al-nahāri laʿallaka tarḍā

Translation: So be patient with what they say, and glorify your Lord with His praise before sunrise and before its setting; glorify Him during portions of the night as well, and at the edges of the day, so that you may be content. (Ṭā Hā 20:130)

Min ānāʾi al-layl appears alongside other times of day. Min and the sentence’s structure accord with “portions of the night.” Ānāʾ itself denotes temporal portions, rather than the name of an act of worship or a fixed number of devotional acts.

The third occurrence is in Al-Zumar:

أَمَّنْ هُوَ قَانِتٌ آنَاءَ اللَّيْلِ سَاجِدًا وَقَائِمًا يَحْذَرُ الْآخِرَةَ وَيَرْجُو رَحْمَةَ رَبِّهِ قُلْ هَلْ يَسْتَوِي الَّذِينَ يَعْلَمُونَ وَالَّذِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ إِنَّمَا يَتَذَكَّرُ أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ

a-man huwa qānitun ānāʾa al-layli sājidan wa-qāʾiman yaḥdharu al-ākhirata wa-yarjū raḥmata rabbihi qul hal yastawī alladhīna yaʿlamūna wa-alladhīna lā yaʿlamūna innamā yatadhakkaru ulū al-albābi

Translation: Is one who is devout during the hours of the night, prostrating and standing, fearing the Hereafter and hoping for his Lord’s mercy, [equal to another]? Say: Are those who know equal to those who do not know? Only people of understanding take heed. (Al-Zumar 39:9)

Ānāʾa al-layl again functions as a temporal adverbial. Sājidan and qāʾiman, “prostrating” and “standing,” describe the person’s conduct during that time. Ānāʾ itself should not be translated as nighttime worship; worship is understood from the sentence’s other components.

“Portions of the night” or “hours of the night” suits all three verses. “The entire night” requires independent support from the sentence or context for that inclusiveness.

4. Reaching readiness or a limit: إِنَاهُ and آنٍ

إِنَاهُ: the food’s becoming ready

Al-Aḥzāb states:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَدْخُلُوا بُيُوتَ النَّبِيِّ إِلَّا أَنْ يُؤْذَنَ لَكُمْ إِلَىٰ طَعَامٍ غَيْرَ نَاظِرِينَ إِنَاهُ وَلَٰكِنْ إِذَا دُعِيتُمْ فَادْخُلُوا فَإِذَا طَعِمْتُمْ فَانْتَشِرُوا وَلَا مُسْتَأْنِسِينَ لِحَدِيثٍ إِنَّ ذَٰلِكُمْ كَانَ يُؤْذِي النَّبِيَّ فَيَسْتَحْيِي مِنْكُمْ وَاللَّهُ لَا يَسْتَحْيِي مِنَ الْحَقِّ وَإِذَا سَأَلْتُمُوهُنَّ مَتَاعًا فَاسْأَلُوهُنَّ مِنْ وَرَاءِ حِجَابٍ ذَٰلِكُمْ أَطْهَرُ لِقُلُوبِكُمْ وَقُلُوبِهِنَّ وَمَا كَانَ لَكُمْ أَنْ تُؤْذُوا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَلَا أَنْ تَنْكِحُوا أَزْوَاجَهُ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ أَبَدًا إِنَّ ذَٰلِكُمْ كَانَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ عَظِيمًا

yā ayyuhā alladhīna āmanū lā tadkhulū buyūta al-nabiyyi illā an yuʾdhana lakum ilā ṭaʿāmin ghayra nāẓirīna ināhu wa-lākin idhā duʿītum fa-udkhulū fa-idhā ṭaʿimtum fa-intashirū wa-lā mustaʾnisīna li-ḥadīthin inna dhālikum kāna yuʾdhī al-nabiyya fa-yastaḥyī minkum wa-allāhu lā yastaḥyī mina al-ḥaqqi wa-idhā saʾaltumūhunna matāʿan fa-isʾalūhunna min warāʾi ḥijābin dhālikum aṭharu li-qulūbikum wa-qulūbihinna wa-mā kāna lakum an tuʾdhū rasūla allāhi wa-lā an tankiḥū azwājahu min baʿdihi abadan inna dhālikum kāna ʿinda allāhi ʿaẓīman

Translation: You who have believed, do not enter the Prophet’s homes unless you are given permission for a meal, without waiting for its preparation. But when invited, enter; when you have eaten, disperse, without lingering for conversation. This conduct troubles the Prophet, and he is shy of you, but The God is not shy of stating the truth. When you ask his wives for something, ask them from behind a screen; that is purer for your hearts and theirs. You may not cause harm to the Messenger of The God, nor ever marry his wives after him. That would be a grave matter before The God. (Al-Aḥzāb 33:53)

In ghayra nāẓirīna ināhu, ināhu concerns the food’s becoming ready. It relates semantically to something reaching its appropriate stage: food becomes ready through the process of cooking.

Nāẓirīn here means those waiting, and ināhu identifies what they are waiting to reach readiness. A natural rendering is “without waiting for the food to become ready.”

It should not be conflated with ināʾ, “vessel.” Vowels and word structure matter: ināhu here concerns the food’s readiness, rather than the vessel holding it.

Mustāʾnisīn in the same verse also belongs to A N S. Despite a superficial resemblance, it is not a derivative of A N Y.

آنٍ: water whose heat has reached an extreme

Al-Raḥmān states:

يَطُوفُونَ بَيْنَهَا وَبَيْنَ حَمِيمٍ آنٍ

yaṭūfūna baynahā wa-bayna ḥamīmin ānin

Translation: They circulate between it and scalding water whose heat has reached an extreme. (Al-Raḥmān 55:44)

Ānin here describes ḥamīm. In context, it refers to water that has reached an extreme of heat.

In this use, reaching a final stage is connected with temperature. Just as food becoming ready may complete a process, intensely hot water is described as reaching the extreme of heat.

Ānin here does not mean “late” or “waiting.” Its particular sense emerges from the noun ḥamīm and the verse’s setting.

Al-Ghāshiyah contains the feminine form of this description:

تُسْقَىٰ مِنْ عَيْنٍ آنِيَةٍ

tusqā min ʿaynin āniyatin

Translation: They are given drink from an intensely hot spring. (Al-Ghāshiyah 88:5)

Āniyatin here is an adjective modifying ʿaynin. Both words are feminine and genitive, and their syntactic relationship is clear.

It belongs to the same family as ānin in Al-Raḥmān. The difference in form reflects the grammatical gender of the noun described.

In these two verses, ānin and āniyatin therefore concern intense heat, rather than hours of the night or vessels.

5. آنِيَة meaning vessels

Al-Insān states:

وَيُطَافُ عَلَيْهِمْ بِآنِيَةٍ مِنْ فِضَّةٍ وَأَكْوَابٍ كَانَتْ قَوَارِيرَا

wa-yuṭāfu ʿalayhim bi-āniyatin min fiḍḍatin wa-akwābin kānat qawārīrā

Translation: And vessels of silver and cups that were glasslike are passed around among them. (Al-Insān 76:15)

Āniyah here is the plural of ināʾ: vessels used to hold, carry, or present things.

The sentence’s structure supports this meaning. Bi-āniyatin min fiḍḍah concerns vessels made of silver, while akwāb separately names cups or drinking vessels.

Āniyah is a noun here; in Al-Ghāshiyah 88:5 it is a feminine adjective meaning intensely hot. Identical spelling should not erase these different functions and meanings.

Arabic ināʾ names a vessel, with the plural āniyah. Explanations have been proposed for the historical connection between this noun and the family’s other branches. They do not establish that a vessel necessarily originally meant “something that has reached completion.” Its established ordinary meaning is a vessel.

For Forqan’s translation, “vessels,” or “vessels of silver” where appropriate, is clear and precise. “Cups” should not automatically replace it, since the verse mentions akwāb separately.

6. أَنَّى: from where, how, or in which direction?

A large proportion of the entries listed under A N Y in root indexes belong to annā. Its Qur’anic use is usually interrogative, but the question is not of the same kind in every verse.

Sometimes it asks about a source, sometimes about how an event could happen, and sometimes it rhetorically challenges a direction taken or the possibility of obtaining something.

Asking about a source

The account of Maryam states:

فَتَقَبَّلَهَا رَبُّهَا بِقَبُولٍ حَسَنٍ وَأَنْبَتَهَا نَبَاتًا حَسَنًا وَكَفَّلَهَا زَكَرِيَّا كُلَّمَا دَخَلَ عَلَيْهَا زَكَرِيَّا الْمِحْرَابَ وَجَدَ عِنْدَهَا رِزْقًا قَالَ يَا مَرْيَمُ أَنَّى لَكِ هَٰذَا قَالَتْ هُوَ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَرْزُقُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ

fa-taqabbalahā rabbuhā bi-qabūlin ḥasanin wa-anbatahā nabātan ḥasanan wa-kaffalahā zakariyyā kullamā dakhala ʿalayhā zakariyyā al-miḥrāba wajada ʿindahā rizqan qāla yā maryamu annā laki hādhā qālat huwa min ʿindi allāhi inna allāha yarzuqu man yashāʾu bi-ghayri ḥisābin

Translation: Her Lord accepted her graciously, nurtured her well, and entrusted her care to Zakariyyā. Whenever Zakariyyā entered the sanctuary to visit her, he found provision beside her. He said: Maryam, where has this come from for you? She said: It is from The God. The God provides for whomever He wills without reckoning. (Āl ʿImrān 3:37)

In annā laki hādhā, Zakariyyā asks about the source of what he has found beside Maryam. The reply huwa min ʿindi allāh, “it is from The God,” agrees with “from where?”

“From where?” is therefore natural here. It should not, however, be extended to every occurrence of annā without examination.

Asking about manner and possibility

Al-Baqarah 2:247, Al-Baqarah 2:259, Āl ʿImrān 3:40, Āl ʿImrān 3:47, Al-Anʿām 6:101, Maryam 19:8, and Maryam 19:20 contain annā in constructions asking how something can happen.

Zakariyyā’s question about having a child in old age and Maryam’s question about having a child without contact with a man concern how something could occur despite their familiar circumstances.

“How?” is often more suitable than “from where?” in such constructions. Asking how does not itself deny possibility. Some verses express wonder; others employ a rhetorical challenge or argument. The difference comes from the sentence and context.

A rhetorical question about turning away

Yūnus states:

فَذَٰلِكُمُ اللَّهُ رَبُّكُمُ الْحَقُّ فَمَاذَا بَعْدَ الْحَقِّ إِلَّا الضَّلَالُ فَأَنَّى تُصْرَفُونَ

fa-dhālikumu allāhu rabbukumu al-ḥaqqu fa-mādhā baʿda al-ḥaqqi illā al-ḍalālu fa-annā tuṣrafūna

Translation: That, then, is The God, your true Lord. What is there beyond truth except error? How, then, are you turned away from the truth? (Yūnus 10:32)

Fa-annā tuṣrafūn does not ask about a particular location. Having stated the truth, the verse challenges the turning away from it.

“How are you turning away?” or “How, then, are you turned away from the truth?” conveys the sense. The passive construction of tuṣrafūn must nevertheless be preserved in analyzing the verb, rather than overlooking its difference from active taṣrifūn.

Related expressions, fa-annā tuʾfakūn and annā yuʾfakūn, occur in Al-Anʿām 6:95, Al-Tawbah 9:30, Yūnus 10:34, Al-ʿAnkabūt 29:61, Fāṭir 35:3, Ghāfir 40:62, Al-Zukhruf 43:87, and Al-Munāfiqūn 63:4. Constructions with tuṣrafūn, yuṣrafūn, and tusḥarūn elsewhere express similar rhetorical questions through different verbs.

Here annā supplies the interrogative function. Turning away, being deceived, or being diverted comes from the following verb; these are not lexical meanings of annā itself.

Asking about the possibility of reaching something

Sabaʾ states:

وَقَالُوا آمَنَّا بِهِ وَأَنَّى لَهُمُ التَّنَاوُشُ مِنْ مَكَانٍ بَعِيدٍ

wa-qālū āmannā bihi wa-annā lahumu al-tanāwushu min makānin baʿīdin

Translation: They said: We have believed in it. But how can they reach it from a distant place? (Sabaʾ 34:52)

Annā lahumu al-tanāwush asks about the possibility of reaching something. Min makānin baʿīd, “from a distant place,” makes the distance explicit.

“How is it possible?” and “From where could they have the possibility of reaching it?” each capture an aspect of the expression. The translation should preserve annā’s connection with al-tanāwush and the distance expressed in the verse.

Parallel constructions can also be examined in Al-Dukhān 44:13, Muḥammad 47:18, and Al-Fajr 89:23. Their questions concern more than location: they challenge the possibility or usefulness of recollection or access in a particular situation.

أَنَّى شِئْتُمْ: the scope of choice in Al-Baqarah 2:223

Al-Baqarah states:

نِسَاؤُكُمْ حَرْثٌ لَكُمْ فَأْتُوا حَرْثَكُمْ أَنَّى شِئْتُمْ وَقَدِّمُوا لِأَنْفُسِكُمْ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّكُمْ مُلَاقُوهُ وَبَشِّرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ

nisāʾukum ḥarthun lakum fa-ʾtū ḥarthakum annā shiʾtum wa-qaddimū li-anfusikum wa-ittaqū allāha wa-iʿlamū annakum mulāqūhu wa-bashshiri al-muʾminīna

Translation: Your women are your cultivated field, so approach your field however you wish, and send something ahead for yourselves. Be mindful of The God and know that you will meet Him; and give good news to the believers. (Al-Baqarah 2:223)

Annā accompanies shiʾtum here and expresses a range of choice in how to act. In Arabic it can concern direction, manner, or, in some constructions, time.

The scope of the verse’s provision cannot nevertheless be determined by this word alone. Ḥarthakum is the verb’s object, and Al-Baqarah 2:222 supplies the immediate context. Neither restricting annā to time without grounds nor deriving unlimited permission for any act independently of the sentence and context is justified.

“However you wish” can preserve the expression’s breadth in the base translation. The verse’s own exegetical study can examine its limits within the language of ḥarth and the immediate context.

Overview of the 28 occurrences of أَنَّى

All 28 occurrences are found in the following verses:

Al-Baqarah 2:223, Al-Baqarah 2:247, Al-Baqarah 2:259, Āl ʿImrān 3:37, Āl ʿImrān 3:40, Āl ʿImrān 3:47, Āl ʿImrān 3:165, Al-Māʾidah 5:75, Al-Anʿām 6:95, Al-Anʿām 6:101, Al-Tawbah 9:30, Yūnus 10:32, Yūnus 10:34, Maryam 19:8, Maryam 19:20, Al-Muʾminūn 23:89, Al-ʿAnkabūt 29:61, Sabaʾ 34:52, Fāṭir 35:3, Yā Sīn 36:66, Al-Zumar 39:6, Ghāfir 40:62, Ghāfir 40:69, Al-Zukhruf 43:87, Al-Dukhān 44:13, Muḥammad 47:18, Al-Munāfiqūn 63:4, and Al-Fajr 89:23.

Together they show annā’s broad grammatical function. Its appropriate translation comes from the sentence and kind of question, rather than a single fixed equivalent.

7. Morphological distinctions, neighboring roots, and translation proposals

Several distinctions matter when translating and studying this family.

First, anā is distinct from أَتَى (atā). Atā can concern coming and arrival, whereas anā in a use such as Al-Ḥadīd 57:16 concerns an undertaking’s proper time. They may have similar English equivalents in some sentences but should not be treated as one root or one field of use.

Study of A T Y

Second, ānāʾ differs from āniyah. In the verses examined, ānāʾ denotes portions of the night. Āniyah is the plural “vessels” in Al-Insān 76:15, but describes an intensely hot spring in Al-Ghāshiyah 88:5. Similar spelling does not establish identical grammatical functions or meanings.

Third, الآن (al-ān), “now,” should not be counted as a certain A N Y derivative merely because of similar spelling or a temporal connection. The Qur’anic corpus examined records it as an independent temporal word without a root tag. Some other indexes place it under A W N, and its origin is disputed. آنِفًا (ānifan), “just a short while ago,” belongs to A N F.

Study of A N F

Fourth, annā should not be treated as identical to أَيْنَ (ayna) or كَيْفَ (kayfa). It can approach “from where?” in one context and “how?” in another. Similar function in one sentence does not equate all their grammatical possibilities.

For Forqan’s translation, the principal forms should be considered as follows:

• يَأْنِ: for its time to arrive; in Al-Ḥadīd 57:16, “Has the time not come?”
• إِنَاهُ: its becoming ready; in Al-Aḥzāb 33:53, “the food’s becoming ready.”
• آناء الليل: portions or hours of the night.
• حَمِيمٍ آنٍ: scalding water whose heat has reached an extreme.
• عَيْنٍ آنِيَةٍ: an intensely hot spring.
• بِآنِيَةٍ مِنْ فِضَّةٍ: vessels of silver.
• أَنَّى: from where, how, in what manner, or in which direction, with the precise equivalent determined by the sentence.

These equivalents do not automatically determine the translation of every expression. For example, rhetorical annā may require a more natural English sentence, but the verb or object should not be absorbed into the meaning of annā itself.

Conclusion

Arabic A N Y is a family with several branches. The arrival of a time, portions of time, deliberation and delay, and reaching readiness or a limit have semantic connections that can be examined. Ānin for intensely hot water is a clear example of reaching an extreme of a condition.

Ināʾ and its plural āniyah concern vessels. This familiar concrete meaning should not be replaced by hypothetical definitions about time or completion.

With its 28 Qur’anic occurrences, annā is the largest part of this group in some indexes, but its main function is grammatical and interrogative. From “from where?” in Maryam’s account to “how?” in questions of possibility and turning away, translation varies with the sentence and context.

An appropriate account therefore identifies several distinct branches and their uses, rather than imposing a single all-encompassing phrase. These distinctions prevent reducing ānāʾ to nighttime worship, āniyah invariably to vessels or heat, or annā to one fixed translation in every verse.