and as the poet said:

“No—by your father, daughter of ʿĀmir, the people will never claim that I turn and flee.” ⦗1⦘

Another poet recited:

“By God—never! No remedy will ever be found for what ails me, nor will they ever possess a cure.” ⦗2⦘

Instances of this usage in their speech are too numerous to catalogue.

Now consider the oath-clauses in the Quran that open with the negative particle: you will always find that the point of the oath is itself a negation, or it contains a negation. This holds true even for His words ⦗3⦘: “No! I swear by the positions of the stars—and indeed it is a tremendous oath, if only you knew—surely it is a noble Quran.” ⦗4⦘ For the aim of this oath is to refute what the unbelievers said about the Quran: that it is poetry, or soothsaying, or the tales of those of old,