What is the Meaning of Kun Fa-Yakun (“Be, and It Is”)?
Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Question
What does the Quranic phrase “Be, and it is” (kun fayakun) mean, and what does it teach us about God and about how we are to live?
Answer
In the name of God, Most Merciful and Compassionate.
May Allah bless our Master Muhammad and his folk and Companions.
“Be, and it is” (kun fayakun) is one of the Quran’s clearest affirmations of the glory of Allah Most High.
It tells us that His Will and His Power alone are enough to bring anything into being: at once, with no effort, no instrument, and no delay. He wills a thing, and it is.
This is not a remote doctrine. If everything that touches you stands only by His word “Be,” then nothing you face is outside His power, and nothing you need is beyond His reach. T
To know this is to know your Lord; and to know it truly is to be freed from anxiety into trust, contentment, and the handing of your affairs back to their Owner.
Where the Phrase Appears
The phrase occurs eight times in the Quran, each time to magnify God’s power, whether over creation, the resurrection, or the creation of Jesus and Adam (peace be upon them).
بَدِيعُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ۖ وَإِذَا قَضَىٰ أَمْرًا فَإِنَّمَا يَقُولُ لَهُ كُن فَيَكُونُ
“Originator of the heavens and earth: When He decrees a thing, He but tells it ‘Be’ and it is” [Quran 2:117; Keller, The Quran Beheld]. Here, it answers those who claim God took a son.
إِنَّمَا قَوْلُنَا لِشَيْءٍ إِذَا أَرَدْنَاهُ أَن نَّقُولَ لَهُ كُن فَيَكُونُ
“Our word to anything when We wish it is but ‘Be’ and it is” [Quran 16:40; Keller]. Here it proves the resurrection.
إِنَّمَا أَمْرُهُ إِذَا أَرَادَ شَيْئًا أَن يَقُولَ لَهُ كُن فَيَكُونُ
“His one command when He wants a thing is but to tell it ‘Be’ and it is.” [Quran 36:82] It appears as well at Aal Imran 3:47 and 3:59 (the creation of Jesus and the parallel with Adam), al-An’am 6:73, Maryam 19:35, and Ghafir 40:68.
In each, the lesson is one: the willed thing answers His Power the instant He willed it.
What “Be” Means
The commentators read the word “Be” in two ways, and both, in the end, magnify the same glory.
The first, taken by most theologians and by mufassirun like Fakhr al-Din al-Razi and Imam Nasafi, treats “Be” as a figure of speech (tamthil): not a literal address to a thing, but an image of how the willed thing comes to be instantly.
Imam Nasafi is plain: “This is a metaphor for the speed of bringing-into-being. There is no actual speech there. The nonexistent cannot be addressed with ‘Be.’” [Nasafi, Madarik al-Tanzil]
The second, affirmed by Imam Qurtubi, takes “Be” as God’s real, eternal word.
Will, Then Power
The theologians place the verse within an ordered relation of Allah’s attributes. His Knowledge encompasses all things in absolute eternity. His will specifies that a given possible thing should exist, in this way, at this time. His Power then brings it into being, in the context of time and place.
The other between these is conceptual, and for us to understand; otherwise, order and time don’t relate to Allah, who exists in absolute eternity, unbound by time. [Bajuri, Tuhfat al-Murid `ala Jawharat al-Tawhid; Nablusi, Ra’ihat al-Janna Sharh Ida’at al-Dujunna]
A clarification from Sayyidi Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulusi keeps the verse in focus. Allah’s command is of two kinds: the creative (takwini) and the prescriptive (taklifi). The prescriptive is the law, which may be obeyed or defied.
The creative “is His saying to a thing, ‘Be,’ and it is,” subordinate to the formative will [Nabulusi, Ra’ihat al-Janna]. So “Be” is not a law set before creatures to keep; it is the word of origination that nothing in existence can refuse.
The Glory Confirmed in the Sunna
The Sunna takes up the very phrase. In the long hadith qudsi narrated by Abu Dharr (Allah be pleased with him), the Prophet (peace be upon him) relates that Allah says at its close:
«إِنَّمَا عَطَائِي كَلَامٌ، وَعَذَابِي كَلَامٌ، إِنَّمَا أَمْرِي لِشَيْءٍ إِذَا أَرَدْتُهُ أَنْ أَقُولَ لَهُ كُنْ فَيَكُونُ»
“My giving is speech, and My punishment is speech. My command for a thing, when I will it, is only that I say to it ‘Be,’ and it is.” [Tirmidhi; Ahmad; Ibn Maja]
His giving and His withholding cost Him nothing; both are simply His word. The same instantaneity is the sense of “And Our command is but a single word, like the twinkling of an eye.” [Quran 54:50]
How the Early Muslims and the Masters Lived It
For the people of Allah, this verse was not only a doctrine to affirm but a reality to live.
Imam Ghazali makes the witnessing of God’s sole agency the very root of reliance on Allah (tawakkul): “When this is unveiled to you, you will see the forelocks of all creatures in His hand, turning them as He wills. Then you will not look to any other.” [Ghazali, Ihya Ulum al-Din]
From that vision rise the rising stations of the heart: reliance, then submission, then entrustment (tafwid), and at their summit contentment (rida), which Imam Qushayri, citing al-Junayd, reduces to a phrase:
«الرِّضَا رَفْعُ الِاخْتِيَارِ»
“Contentment is the lifting of one’s own choice.” [Qushayri, al-Risala]
Nowhere is the practical lesson pressed more sharply than in the Hikam of Ibn Ata’illah: “Free yourself from self-directedness; what Another has handled for you, do not yourself take up.”
Imam Munawi comments that anxious self-directedness — trying to control things — is a contest with the Wise and Powerful, and a slide into hidden reliance on anything other than God. [Munawi, al-Durar al-Jawhariyya]
Imam Ibn Ajiba captures the heart of it: God’s command is
«بَيْنَ الْكَافِ وَالنُّونِ، بَلْ أَسْرَعُ مِنْ لَحْظِ الْعُيُونِ»
“… between the kaf and the nun, swifter than the glance of the eye; whoever knows this will never carry his needs to any but his Master.” [Ibn Ajiba, al-Bahr al-Madid]
This was the source of the Early Muslims’ strength in trial. When Abd al-Malik pressed Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya, with thousands of men around him, he rose and said only: “Allah is the Master of all affairs and their Judge. What God wills is, and what He wills not, is not.” [Dhahabi, Siyar A’lam al-Nubala’]
How, Then, Do We Ask?
The honest counsel on supplication is twofold. The popular invocation “O You whose command is between the kaf and the nun” is a beautiful later formulation, not an established prophetic wording.
But the Sunna’s own supplications invoke the very same reality. After every obligatory prayer, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) gave us:
«اللَّهُمَّ لَا مَانِعَ لِمَا أَعْطَيْتَ، وَلَا مُعْطِيَ لِمَا مَنَعْتَ»
“O God, none can withhold what You give, and none can give what You withhold.” [Bukhari; Muslim]
And in the prayer of seeking guidance (salat al-istikhara):
«فَإِنَّكَ تَقْدِرُ وَلَا أَقْدِرُ، وَتَعْلَمُ وَلَا أَعْلَمُ»
“For You have power and I have none, You know and I know not.” [Bukhari]
So pray with the words the Sunna gave, and let “Be, and it is” be the certainty your heart stands on as you ask.
The Spiritual Consequence
If your existence and every breath in it issue from “Be,” then His glory is not a distant majesty; it is the ground you stand on.
Bring your need to the One whose word is enough. Free yourself from the exhaustion of managing what He has already guaranteed, and spend that strength on what He has asked of you.
Rest your heart in this: what He wills for you arrives faster than a glance, and what He withholds, He withholds from the same perfect wisdom and mercy. Let “Be, and it is” move from your tongue to your reliance, until it loosens your grip on outcomes and returns your affairs to their Owner.
And Allah knows best.
[Shaykh] Faraz Rabbani
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Shaykh Faraz Rabbani is a recognized specialist scholar in the Islamic sciences, having studied under leading scholars from around the world. He is the Founder and Executive Director of SeekersGuidance.
Shaykh Faraz stands as a distinguished figure in Islamic scholarship. His journey in seeking knowledge is marked by dedication and depth. He spent ten years studying under some of the most revered scholars of our times. His initial studies took place in Damascus. He then continued in Amman, Jordan.
In Damascus, he was privileged to learn from the late Shaykh Adib al-Kallas. Shaykh Adib al-Kallas was renowned as the foremost theologian of his time. Shaykh Faraz also studied under Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi in Damascus. Shaykh Hassan is recognized as one of the leading Hanafi jurists of our era.
Upon completing his studies, Shaykh Faraz returned to Canada in 2007. His return marked a new chapter in his service to the community. He founded SeekersGuidance. The organization reflects his commitment to spreading Islamic knowledge. It aims to be reliable, relevant, inspiring, and accessible. This mission addresses both online and on-the-ground needs.
Shaykh Faraz is also an accomplished author. His notable work includes “Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and the Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School.” This book, published by White Thread Press in 2004, is a significant contribution to Islamic literature.
His influence extends beyond his immediate community. Since 2011, Shaykh Faraz has been recognized as one of the 500 most influential Muslims. This recognition comes from the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center. It underscores his impact on the global Islamic discourse.
Shaykh Faraz Rabbani’s life and work embody a profound commitment to Islamic scholarship. His teachings continue to enlighten and guide seekers of knowledge worldwide.
