“So they slaughtered her, though they almost failed to do so.”

[Surah al-Baqara 71]

Thus, when “almost” is negated, the action is affirmed, whereas when “almost” is affirmed, the action is negated (1). This is the well-known view and accords with general usage. It may also be said (2) that either meaning may be intended, depending on the instance. If the occurrence of the action is explicitly affirmed, then it did occur. But if nothing is stated beyond pure negation, as in His words:

“He could hardly see it,”

and:

“They can hardly understand any discourse,”

then this is an absolute negation, with no contextual indication that the action occurred. A distinction is therefore made between its unqualified and qualified usages.

These are the three positions held by the grammarians, and each position has been adopted by a group of them.

Allah Most High has described the hypocrites as lacking understanding, as in His words:

“They are the ones who say, ‘Do not spend on those who are with the Messenger of Allah until they disperse.’ Yet to Allah belong the treasuries of the heavens and the earth, but the hypocrites do not understand.”

[Surah al-Munāfiqūn 7]

And as in His words:

“Among them are those who listen to you until, when they leave your presence, they say to those who were given knowledge, ‘What did he say just now?’ Those are the ones whose hearts Allah has sealed and who follow their desires.”

[Surah Muhammad 16]

This indicates that they did not understand the Quran. However, the word “discourse” is indefinite in the context of negation and therefore has universal scope, just as He said in Surah al-Kahf:

“He found beyond them a people who could hardly understand any speech.”

[Surah al-Kahf 93]

It is known that they (3) must necessarily understand some speech, for otherwise a person could not live. It is therefore evident that what is meant is that they understood it after having nearly failed to understand it (4).