In his notable tafsir, Al-Zamakhshari makes a particular observation on the ayah:

وَلَمَّا جَاء مُوسَى لِمِيقَاتِنَا وَكَلَّمَهُ رَبُّهُ قَالَ رَبِّ أَرِنِي أَنظُرْ إِلَيْكَ قَالَ لَن تَرَانِي وَلَـكِنِ انظُرْ إِلَى الْجَبَلِ فَإِنِ اسْتَقَرَّ مَكَانَهُ فَسَوْفَ تَرَانِي
“And when Musa (Moses) came at the time and place appointed by Us, and his Lord spoke to him, he said: “O my Lord! Show me (Yourself), that I may look upon You.” Allah said: “You will not (لن) see Me, but look upon the mountain if it stands still in its place then you shall see Me…” [Al-A’raf: 143]

He (rahimahullah) makes the claim that grammatically, the negative particle لن has the added implication of نفي إلى الأبد (forever) i.e. the particle not only negates the near future of this world, but also negates the Akhira too; لن = never, neither in this world nor in the Hereafter.

Now, many may accept this statement at point-blank, but re-reading the verse with this grammatical connotation spells trouble. Due to his heavy alliance with the Mu’tazili aqeedah, Al-Zamakhshari propagates the view that by using the word لن here, Allah `azza wa jall is saying that Musa (`alayhisalam) and the creation in general will never see Allah, neither in this world nor in the Hereafter – which is a belief held by the Mu’tazilah. However the correct belief, confirmed by ahadith, is that in the Hereafter the believers in Paradise will be blessed with seeing Allah `azza wa jall (something the Mu’tazilah deny).

Shaykh Salih al-Maghamisi (hafidhahullah) puts this argument on the table and exposes the falsehood of it by bringing forth other verses in the Qur’an which clearly contradict it. The particle لن is for sure one of negation of the future tense, but it does not always imply negation of the Hereafter too as demonstrated below. These verses are an address to the Jews:

قُلْ إِن كَانَتْ لَكُمُ الدَّارُ الآَخِرَةُ عِندَ اللّهِ خَالِصَةً مِّن دُونِ النَّاسِ فَتَمَنَّوُاْ الْمَوْتَ إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ
وَلَن يَتَمَنَّوْهُ أَبَداً بِمَا قَدَّمَتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَاللّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِالظَّالِمينَ
Say to (them): “If the home of the Hereafter with Allah is indeed for you specially and not for others, of mankind, then long for death if you are truthful.”
But they will never (لن) long for it because of what their hands have sent before them (i.e. what they have done)…” [Al-Baqarah: 94-95]

Now, even though the particle لن is also used here (as well as the emphasis with ‘abadan’), does it mean that the Jews and Christians will never wish for death, even in the Hereafter? Well, no actually it doesn’t. And the answer lies in Soorah al-Zukhruf:

وَنَادَوْا يَا مَالِكُ لِيَقْضِ عَلَيْنَا رَبُّكَ قَالَ إِنَّكُم مَّاكِثُونَ
And they will cry: “O Malik (Keeper of Hell)! Let your Lord put an end to us.” He will say: “Verily you shall abide forever.” [Al-Zukhruf: 77]

What a sweet win. Pretty cool huh? 🙂

Linguistics at war? Maybe. But hey, you gotta pay attention especially when it enters the realm of ‘aqeedah.