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Negation — ما and لا

Core ruleحَرْف النَّفْي

مَا

is the negation letter for the past tense.

مَا ضَلَّ صَاحِبُكُمْ وَمَا غَوَىٰYour companion has not strayed, nor has he erred.Qur'an 53:2

Core ruleحَرْف النَّفْي

لَا

is the negation letter for the present tense.

لَا يُكَلِّفُ ٱللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَاAllah does not burden a soul beyond what it can bear.Qur'an 2:286
Remember

Negation does not change the verb's endings — it only sits in front of it. The conjugation you already know stays exactly the same.

Why the two differ​

  • مَا negates the المَاضِي(past): مَا فَعَلَ — he did not do.
  • لَا negates the المُضَارِع(present): لَا يَفْعُلُ — he does not do.

Arabic negates each tense with its own particle. This is not a style choice you get to make — the particle follows the tense.

Examples from the Qur'an​

مَا — past tense​

مَا ضَلَّ صَاحِبُكُمْ وَمَا غَوَىٰ

Your companion has not strayed, nor has he erred.Qur'an 53:2

Two past-tense verbs negated by مَا: مَا ضَلَّ (has not strayed) and مَا غَوَىٰ (nor has he erred). Note the second مَا — the negation repeats with each verb.

مَا كَذَبَ ٱلْفُؤَادُ مَا رَأَىٰ

The heart did not lie about what it saw.Qur'an 53:11

مَا كَذَبَ — a past-tense verb (did not lie), again negated with مَا.

وَمَا أَنَا۠ بِظَلَّامٍ لِّلْعَبِيدِ

And I am not unjust to the servants.Qur'an 50:29

لَا — present tense​

لَا يُكَلِّفُ ٱللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا

Allah does not burden a soul beyond what it can bear.Qur'an 2:286

لَا يُكَلِّفُ — a present-tense verb (does not burden), negated with لَا.

وَهُمْ لَا يُظْلَمُونَ

…and they will not be wronged.Qur'an 23:62

لَا يُظْلَمُونَ — present tense, passive (مَجْهُول), negated with لَا. This one shows the two rules meeting: present tense, passive, negated with لَا.

note

References are to سُورَة(sūrah) : آيَة(āyah). The wording follows the Uthmani text; translations are given only as a plain-language gloss, not as a translation to rely on.