ال
الا
الب
أَلَا
أَلَا [in its primitive acceptation, being composed of the interrogative hemzeh and the negative لا,] denotes an interrogation respecting a negative, as in the saying [of the poet],
* أَلَا ٱصْطِبَارَ لِسَلْمَى أَمْ لَهَا جَلَدٌ ** إِذَا أُلَاقِى ٱلَّذِى لَاقَاهُ أَمْثَالِى *
[Is there not any patience belonging to Selmà, or has she hardiness, when I experience what persons like me have experienced?]: (Mughnee, Ḳ:) and when used in this manner, it is put before a nominal proposition only, and governs like the negative لا [when used without the interrogative hemzeh]. (Mughnee.)
It also denotes a wish; as in the saying [of the poet],
* أَلَا عُمْرَ وَلَّى مُسْتَطَاعٌ رُجُوعُهُ ** فَيَرْأَبَ مَا أَثْأَتْ يَدُ الغَفَلَاتِ *
[May there not be a life which has declined whereof the returning is possible, so that it may repair what the hand of negligences hath marred?]; for which reason يرأب is mansoob, because it is the complement of a wish, coupled with فَ: and used in this manner, also, it is put before a nominal proposition only, [ولّى in the verse above being a qualificative, like an epithet,] and it governs like the negative لا [without the interrogative hemzeh], and has no enunciative either expressed or understood. (Mughnee.)
It also denotes reproof, or reproach, (T, Mughnee, Ḳ,) and disapproval; as in the saying [of the poet],
* أَلَا ٱرْعِوَآءَ لِمَنْ وَلَتْ شَبِيْبَتُهُ ** وَاذَنَتْ بِمَشِيبٍ بَعْدَهُ هَرَمُ *
[Is there no self-restraint to him whose youth hath declined, and announced hoariness, after which is to follow decrepitude?]: (Mughnee, Ḳ:) and used in this manner, also, it is put before a nominal proposition only, and governs as in the cases mentioned above, (Mughnee,) or before a verb [also], which is always marfooa; as in the phrase أَلَا تَنَدَّمَ عَلَى فِعَالِكَ [Dost not thou repent of thine actions?] and أَلَا تَسْتَحْيِى مِنْ جِيرَانِكَ [Art not thou ashamed for thyself, or of thyself, with respect to thy neighbours?] and أَلَا تَخَافُ رَبَّكَ [Dost not thou fear thy Lord?]. (T.)
It also denotes عَرْضٌ, (T,) or العَرْضُ, and التَّحْضِيضُ, both of which signify the asking, or requiring, a thing; (Mughnee, Ḳ;*) but the former means the doing so with gentleness; (Mughnee, Ḳ;) and the latter, the doing so with urgency: (Mughnee:) and when used in this manner, [also,] it is said to be composed of لا with the interrogative hemzeh; (TA;) and is put before a verbal proposition only; (Mughnee;) as in the saying [in the Ḳur xxiv. 22], أَلَا تُحِبُّونَ أَنْ يَغْفِرَ ٱللّٰهُ لَكُمْ [Do not ye, or wherefore do not ye, (see أَمَا,) like that God should forgive you?] (Mughnee, Ḳ,) and [in the same, ix. 13,] أَلَاتُقَاتِلُونَ قًوْمًا نَكَثُوا أَيْمَانَهُمْ [Will not ye, or wherefore will not ye, fight a people who have broken their oaths?]; (Mughnee;) or before a mejzoom or marfooa aor., both of these forms being mentioned on the authority of the Arabs, as in أَلَا تَنْزِلْ تَأْكُلْ and أَلَا تَنْزِلُ تَأْكُلُ [Wilt not thou, or wherefore wilt not thou, alight and eat?]. (Ks, T.)
It is also an inceptive particle, (Ṣ, Mughnee, Ḳ,) of which those who parse show the place but neglect the meaning, (Mughnee,) used to give notice of something about to be said, [like as Now, and why, (by the former of which I think it is generally best rendered when thus used,) are often employed in our language, and like as ἀλλὰ (which is remarkable for its near agreement with it in sound) is often used in Greek,] (Ṣ, Mughnee, Ḳ,) and importing averment, because it is composed of the interrogative hemzeh and the negative لا which, when thus composed, have this import, (Mughnee, Ḳ,) like أَلَمْ, and أَلَيْسَ, because the interrogative particle resembles the particle of negation, and the negation of a negation is an affirmation, (Ḥam p. 589,) and like أَمَا before an oath: (Z, Mughnee:) [it may therefore be further rendered by our word surely;; for this word (as Dr. Johnson says in his Dictionary) “is often used rather to intend and strengthen the meaning of the sentence, than with any distinct and explicable meaning:”] or it signifies حَقًّا [verily, or truly]: (M voce أَمَا:) it is put before both the [kinds of] propositions, [the nominal and the verbal;] (Mughnee;) as in the saying [in the Ḳur ii. 12], أَلَا إِنَّهُمْ هُمُ ٱلسُّفَهَآءُ [meaning Now surely it is they who are the lightwitted], (Mughnee, Ḳ,) and [in the same, xi. 11,] أَلَا يَوْمَ يَأْتِيهِمْ لَيْسَ مَصْرُوفًا عَنْهُمْ [meaning Now surely, on the day of its coming to them, it shall not be averted from them], (Mughnee,) in which يَوْمَ يَأْتِيهِمْ appears to be the object of government of مَصْرُوفًا, which is the enunciative of لَيْسَ whence it has been argued that, as the object of government of the enunciative of ليس precedes that verb, the enunciative itself may precede it: (I’Aḳ pp. 74 and 75:) [J says,] you say, أَلَا إِنَّ زَيْدًا خَارِجٌ [Now surely Zeyd is going forth], like as you say, إِعْلَمْ أَنَّ زَيْدًا خَارِجٌ [Know thou that Zeyd is going forth]: (Ṣ:) Ks says, أَلَا is used to give notice of what is about to be said, and is followed by a command and a prohibition and an enunciation, as in أَلَا قُمْ [Now stand thou], and أَلَا لَا تَقُمْ [Now stand not thou], and أَلَا إِنَّ زَيْدًا قَدْ قَامَ [Now surely Zeyd has stood, or has just now stood]. (T.) When it is put before the particle [يَا] used to give notice of what is about to be said, it is merely an inceptive, as in the saying. [of the poet],
* أَلَا يَا ٱسْلَمِى يَا دَارَ مَىَّ عَلَى البِلَى *
[Now be thou free from evil, O abode of Meiyà, during wear and tear]. (AAF, M.)
Lth says, sometimes أَلَا is immediately followed by another لا; and he cites the following ex.:
* فَقَامَ يَذُودُ النَّاسَ عَنَّا بِسَيْفِهِ ** يَقُولُ أَلَا لَا مِنْ سَبِيلٍ إِلَى هِنْدِ *
[Then he began to drive away the people from us, saying, Now is there no way to Hind?]: and one says to a man, “Did such and such things happen?” and he answers, أَلَا لَا [Why no]: he holds الا to be used to give notice of what is about to be said, and لا to be a negative. (T.)
أُلَا / الأُلَا / أُلَآءِ
أَلَّا
أَلَّا is a particle denoting تَحْضِيض; (Mṣb in art. حض, Mughnee, Ḳ;) i. e., when followed by a future, exciting to an action, and seeking or desiring or demanding the performance of it; and when followed by a preterite, reproof for not doing a thing; (Mṣb ubi suprà;) syn. with هَلَّا; (T, TA;) and peculiar to enunciative verbal propositions, (Mughnee, Ḳ,) like the other particles used for the same purpose. (Mughnee.) You say, [أَلَّا تَفْعَلُ كَذَا Wherefore wilt not thou do such a thing? and] أَلَّا. فَعَلْتَ كَذَا [Wherefore didst not thou such a thing?] (T, TA,) meaning, (TA,) or as though meaning, (T,) لِمَ لَمْ تَفْعَلْ كَذَا. (T, TA.)
It also means أَنْ لَا; the ن being incorporated into the ل, which is written with teshdeed: (T, TA:) in which case, it is not to be confounded with the foregoing particle. (Mughnee.) You say, أَمَرْتُهُ أَلَّا يَفْعَلَ ذَاكَ [I commanded him that he should not do that]; and you may say, أَمَرْتُهُ أَنْ لَا يَفْعَلَ ذَاكَ: it occurs in the old copies of the Ḳur written in the former manner in some places, and in the latter manner in other places. (T, TA.) In the saying in the Ḳur [xxvii. 31], أَلَّا تَعْلُوا عَلَىَّ, [which may mean That ye exalt not yourselves against me, or exalt ye not yourselves against me,] it may be a compound of أَنْ governing a mansoob aor. and the negative لَا, or of the explicative أَنْ and the prohibitive لا. (Mughnee.) [It often has لِ prefixed to it, forming the compound لِئَلَّا, which signifies That, or in order that,... not; and may frequently be rendered by lest; as in the Ḳur ii. 145, لِئَلَّا يَكُونَ لِلنَّاسِ عَلَيْكُمْ حُجَّةٌ That, or in order that, there may not be, or lest there should be, to men, against you, any allegation.]
إِلَّا
إِلَّا, [regarded as a simple word,] not to be confounded with the compound of the conditional إِنْ and the negative لَا, (Mughnee at the end of the article on this word,) is used in four manners. (The same in the beginning of the art.) First, (Mughnee,) it is used (as a particle, Ṣ, Mṣb,) to denote exception; [meaning Except, save, or saving; and sometimes but; and sometimes but not; as will be seen below;] (T, Ṣ, Mṣb, Mughnee, Ḳ; [in which last it is mentioned in art. ال, and again, as in the Ṣ, in the last division of the work;]) and to denote exception, it is used in five manners; after an affirmation, and a negation, and a portion of a sentence devoid of the mention of that from which the exception is made, and when the thing excepted precedes that from which the exception is made, and when these two are disunited in kind, in which last case it has the meaning of لٰكِنَّ [but when the sentence is negative, and but not when the sentence is affirmative]. (Ṣ, TA.) You say, قَامَ القَوْمُ إِلَّا زَيْدًا [The people, or company of men, stood, except Zeyd]; i. e., Zeyd was not included in the predicament of the people, or company of men: (Mṣb:) and it is said in the Ḳur [ii. 250], (T,) فَشَرِبُوا مِنْهُ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا مِنْهُمْ [And they drank of it, except a few of them]: (T, Mughnee, Ḳ:) here قليلا is governed in the accus. case by الّا, (Mughnee, Ḳ,) accord. to the most correct opinion: (Mughnee:) accord. to Th, it is so because there is no negation in the beginning of the sentence. (T.) And it is also said in the Ḳur [iv. 69], (T,) مَا فَعَلُوهُ إِلَّا قَلِيلٌ مِنْهُمْ [They had not done it, or they would not do it, except a few of them]: (T, Mughnee, Ḳ:) here قليل is in the nom. case as being a partial substitute, (Mughnee, Ḳ,) accord. to the Basrees, (Mughnee,) i. e., as being a [partial] substitute for the [pronoun] و [in فعلوه], for it may here be so without perversion of the meaning, whereas it cannot be so without such perversion when the sentence is affirmative: (TA:) accord. to the Koofees, الّا is a conjunction, like the conjunctive لَا: (Mughnee:) accord. to Th, قليل is here in the nom. case because the sentence commences with a negative: (T:) or in a sentence [like this,] which is not affirmative, in which the thing excepted is united in kind to that from which the exception is made, accord. to the opinion which is generally preferred and which commonly obtains, the noun signifying the thing excepted is a substitute for the noun signifying that from which the exception is made; but it is allowable to put it in the accus. case according to the general rule respecting exception; so that one says, مَا قَامَ أَحَدٌ إِلَّا زَيْدٌ and إِلَّا زَيْدًا [There stood not any one, except Zeyd]: and the same is the case in a prohibitive sentence; as in لَا يَقُمْ أَحَدٌ إِلَّا زَيْدٌ and إِلَّا زَيْدًا [Let not any one stand, except Zeyd]; and in an interrogative sentence; as in هَلْ قَامَ أَحَدٌ إِلَّا زَيْدٌ and إِلَّا زَيْدًا [Did any one stand, except Zeyd?]; when, in such sentences, the thing excepted is united in kind to that from which the exception is made. (I’Aḳ p. 162.) You say also, مَا جَآءَنِى إِلَّا زَيْدٌ [There came not to me any, save Zeyd], without mentioning that from which the exception is made; (TA;) and مَا ضَرَبْتُ إِلَّا زَيْدًا [I beat not any, save Zeyd]; and مَا مَرَرْتُ إِلَّا بِزَيْدٍ [I passed not by any, save by Zeyd]; (I’Aḳ p. 164;) the case of the noun signifying the thing excepted being the same as if الّا were not mentioned: (I’Aḳ ubi suprà, and TA:*) but you may not say, affirmatively, ضَرَبْتُ إِلَّا زَيْدًا, or the like. (I’Aḳ ubi suprà.) When the thing excepted precedes that from which the exception is made, if the sentence is affirmative, the noun signifying the former must be in the accus. case; as in قَامَ إِلَّا زَيْدًا القَوْمُ [Except Zeyd, the people, or company of men, stood]: and so, accord. to the usage generally preferred, when the sentence is not affirmative; as in مَاقَامَ إِلَّا زَيْدًا القَوْمُ [Except Zeyd, the people, or company of men, stood not]; but recorded instances allow one's saying also, مَا قَامَ إِلَّا زَيْدٌ القَوْمُ. (I’Aḳ p. 163.) When the thing excepted is disunited in kind from that from which the exception is made, if the sentence is affirmative, the noun signifying the former must likewise be in the accus. case; as in قَامَ القَوْمُ إِلَّا حِمَارًا [The people, or company of men, stood, but not an ass], and ضَرَبْتُ القَوْمَ إِلَّا حِمَارًا [I beat the people, but not an ass], &c.: (I’Aḳ p. 162:) and so, accord. to the generality of the Arabs, when the sentence is negative; as in مَا قَامَ القَوْمُ إِلَّا حِمَارًا [The people stood not, but an ass]; (I’Aḳ p. 163;) and مَا رَأَيْتُ القَوْمَ إِلَّا حِمَارًا [I saw not the people, but an ass]; الّا being here syn. with لٰكِنَّ; as also in the Ḳur [xlii. 22], where it is said, لَا أَسْأَلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ أَجْرًا إِلَّا ٱلْمَوَدَةَ فِى ٱلقُرْبَى [I ask not of you a recompense for it, but affection in respect of relationship]; (Mṣb;) and in the same xx. 1 and 2, مَا أَنْزَلْنَا عَلَيْكَ ٱلقُرْآنَ لِتَشْقَى إِلَّا تَذْكِرَةً [We have not sent down unto thee the Ḳur-án that thou shouldest suffer fatigue, but as an admonition]; (Bḍ, Jel;) or it is here syn. with بَلْ [which in this case means the same as لكنّ]: (Ṣ:) so, too, when the sentence resembles a negative, being prohibitive or interrogative; (I’Aḳ p. 163, explained in p. 162;) [thus, لَا تَضْرِبِ القَوْمَ إِلَّا حِمَارًا means Beat not thou the people, but an ass; and] فَلَولَا كَانَتْ قَرْيَةٌ آمَنَتْ فَنَفَعَهَا إِيمَانُهَا إِلَّا قَوْمَ يُونُسَ [in the Ḳur x. 98] means And wherefore did not any inhabitants of a town believe, before the punishment befell them, and their belief profit them, but the people of Jonas? for these were different from the former. (T.) When إِلَّا is repeated for the purpose of corroboration, it has no effect upon what follows it, except that of corroborating the first exception; as in مَا مَرَرْتُ بِأَحَدٍ إَلَّا زَيْدٍ إِلَّا أَخِيكَ [I passed not by any one, except Zeyd, except thy brother], in which اخيك is a substitute for زيد, for it is as though you said, مَا مَرَرْتُ بِأَحَدٍ إِلَّا زَيْدٍ أَخِيكَ; and as in قَامَ القَوْمُ إِلَّا زَيْدًا وَإِلَّا عَمْرًا [The people stood, except Zeyd, and except ʼAmr], originally إِلَّا زَيْدًا وَعَمْرًا. When the repetition is not for that purpose, if the sentence is devoid of the mention of that from which the exception is made, you make the governing word [which is the verb] to affect one, whichever you please, of the nouns signifying the things excepted, and put the others in the accus. case, so that you say, مَا قَامَ إِلَّا زَيْدٌ إِلَّا عَمْرًا إِلَّا بَكْرًا [There stood not any, save Zeyd, save ʼAmr, save Bekr]; but if the sentence is not devoid of the mention of that from which the exception is made, different rules are observed accord. as the things excepted are mentioned before that from which the exception is made or after it: in the former case, all must be put in the accus., whether the sentence be affirmative or not affirmative; as in قَامَ إِلَّا زَيْدًا إِلَّا عَمْرًا إِلَّا بَكْرًا القَوْمُ [Except Zeyd, except ʼAmr, except Bekr, the people stood], and مَاقَامَ إِلَّا زَيْدًا إِلَّا عَمْرًا إِلَّا بَكْرًا القَوْمُ [Except Zeyd, except ʼAmr, except Bekr, the people stood not]: in the latter case, when the sentence is affirmative, all must likewise be put in the accus., so that you say, قَامَ القَوْمُ إِلَّا زَيْدًا إِلَّا عَمْرًا إِلَّا بَكْرًا [The people stood, except Zeyd, except ʼAmr, except Bekr]; but when the sentence is not affirmative, the same rule is observed with respect to one of them as when the exception is not repeated, accord. to the usage generally preferred, or it may be put in the accus., which is rarely done, and the rest must be put in the accus., so that you say, مَا قَامَ أَحَدٌ إِلَّا زَيْدٌ إِلَّا عَمْرًا إِلَّا بَكْرًا [There stood not any one, except Zeyd, except ʼAmr, except Bekr, accord. to the more approved usage], زيد being a substitute for احد, or you may make the other nouns which remain to be substitutes. (I’Aḳ pp. 164 - 166.)
Secondly, (Mughnee,) it is used as a qualificative, (Ṣ, Mṣb, Mughnee, Ḳ,) in the manner of غَيْرُ, (Mughnee, Ḳ,) [i. e.] in the place of غَيْرُ, (Ṣ,) [i. e.] as syn. with غَيْرُ, (T, Mṣb,) and سِوَى; (T;) [both meaning the same, i. e. Other than; or not, as used before a subst. or an adjective;] but its primary application is to denote exception, and its use as a qualificative is adventitious; whereas the primary application of غَيْرُ is as a qualificative, and its use to denote exception is adventitious. (Ṣ.) It [generally] follows an indeterminate, unrestricted pl.; (Mṣb;) or an indeterminate pl., or the like thereof, is qualified by it and by that which follows it; (Mughnee, Ḳ;) the noun which follows it being put in the same case as that which precedes it. (Ṣ.) The following is an ex. of the indeterminate pl.: (Mughnee, Ḳ:) لَوْ كَانَ فِيهِمَا آلِهَةٌ إِلَّا ٱللّٰهُ لَفَسَدَتَا [If there had been in them (namely the heavens and the earth) deities other than God, or not God, assuredly they would have become in a state of disorder, or ruin; occurring in the Ḳur xxi. 22]; (Fr, T, Ṣ, Mṣb, Mughnee, Ḳ;) الّا here meaning سَوِى, (Fr, T,) or غَيْرُ, (Mṣb, TA,) and الّا ٱللّٰه being a qualificative of آلهة. (TA.) And the following is an ex. of the like of an indeterminate pl.:
* أُنِيخَتْ فَأَلْقَتْ بَلْدَةً فَوْقِ بَلْدَةٍ ** قَلِيلٍ بِهَا الأَصْوَاتُ إِلَّا بُغَامُهَا *
[She (the camel) was made to lie down, and threw her breast upon a tract of ground in which were few sounds other than her broken yearning cry for her young one]; for the determination of الاصوات [by the article ال] is generical: (Mughnee, Ḳ:) this verse is by Dhu-r-Rummeh. (Ṣ in art. بلد.) The following is an ex. of the like of a pl..: (Mughnee:) it is by Lebeed: (T:)
* لَوْ كَانَ غَيْرِى سُلَيْمَى اليَوْمَ غَيَّرَهُ ** وَقْعُ الحَوَادِثِ إِلَّا الصَّارِمُ الذَّكَرُ *
[If it had been other than I, (O) Suleymà, today, the befalling of misfortunes would have altered him; other than the sharp sword diversified with wavy marks or streaks or grain, or of which the edge is of steel and the middle of the broad side of soft iron]. (T, Mughnee. [But in the latter, in the place of اليَوْمَ, I find الدَّهْرَ, i. e. ever.]) What Sb says necessarily implies its not being a condition that the word qualified must be a pl. or the like thereof; for he gives as an ex., لَوْ كَانَ مَعَنَا رَجُلٌ إِلَّ [If there had been with us a man other than Zeyd, we should have been overcome]. (Mughnee.) Another ex. of the same usage of إِلَّا is the following: جَآءَنِى القَوْمُ إِلَّا زَيْدٌ [The people came to me, others than Zeyd, or not Zeyd]. (Ṣ.) [And مَ أَنْتُمْ إِلَّا بَشَرٌ مِثْلُنَا Ye are no other than human beings like us. (Ḳur xxxvi. 14.)] And the saying [in the Ḳur xliv. 56], لَا يَذُقُونَ فِيهَا ٱلْمَوْتَ إِلَّا ٱلمَوْتَةَ ٱلْأُولَى [They shall not taste therein death, other than the first death]; الّا here meaning سِوَى: (T:) or, accord. to some, it here means بَعْدَ [after]. (Jel.) And the saying of ʼAmr Ibn-Maadee-kerib,
* وَكُلُّ أَخٍ مُفَارِقُهُ أَخُوهُ ** لَعَمْرُ أَبِيكَ إِلَا الفَرْقَدَانِ *
[And every brother, his brother forsakes him, or separates himself from him, by the life of thy father, other than the Farhadán; which is the name of the two stars b and r of Ursa Minor]; as though he said غَيْرُ الفَرْقَدَيْنِ: (Ṣ:) but Ibn-El-Hájib regards this instance as a deviation from a general rule; for he makes it a condition of the use of الّا as a qualificative that it must be impossible to use it for the purpose of denoting exception: (Mughnee:) Fr says that this verse has the meaning of a negation, and therefore الّا here governs the nom. case; as though the poet said, There is not any one but his brother forsakes him, except the Farkadán. (T.) When it is used as a qualificative, it differs from غَيْرُ inasmuch as that the noun qualified by it may not be suppressed; so that one may not say, جَآءَنِى إِلَّا زَيْدٌ [meaning There came to me not Zeyd]; whereas one says, جَآئَنِى غَيْرُ زَيْدٍ: and, accord. to some, in this also; that it may not be used as such unless it may be used to denote exception; so that one may say, عِنْدِى دِرْهَمٌ إِلَّا دَانِقٌ [I have a dirhem, not a dánik], because one may say إِلَّا دَانِقًا [except a dánik]; but not إِلَّا جَيِّدٌ [not a good one], because one may not say إِلَّا جَيِّدًا [except a good one]; but it may be said that this is at variance with what they assert respecting the phrase لَوْ كَانَ فِيهِمَا آلِهَةٌ, and with the ex. given by Sb, and with the saying of Ibn-El-Hájib mentioned above. (Mughnee.)
Thirdly, (Mughnee,) sometimes, (Ṣ, Mṣb,) it is used as a conjunction, (Mughnee, Ḳ,) in the manner of وَ (Ṣ, Mughnee, Ḳ,) consociating both literally and as to the meaning, as mentioned by Akh and Fr and AO, (Mughnee,) [i. e.] as syn. with وَ [And]. (Mṣb.) Thus in the saying, لِئَلاَّ يَكُونَ لِلنَّاسِ عَلَيْكُمْ حُجَةٌ إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا [That there may not be to men, against you, any allegation, and (meaning nor) to those who have acted wrongfully]; (Mṣb, Mughnee, Ḳ;) occurring in the Ḳur [ii. 145]; (Mṣb;) so accord. to Akh and Fr and AO; (Mughnee;) i. e., and those who have acted wrongfully also, to them there shall not be, against you, any allegation: (Mṣb:) Fr explains it as meaning that the wrongdoer has no allegation of which account should be taken; and this is correct, and is the opinion held by Zj. (T.) Thus, too, in the saying [in the Ḳur xxvii. 10 and 11], لَا يَخَافُ لَدَىَّ ٱلْمُرْسَلُونَ إِلَّا مَنْ ظَلَمَ ثُمَّ بَدَلَ حُسْنًا بَعْدَ سُوءٍ [The apostles shall not fear in my presence, and neither shall he who hath acted wrongfully, then hath done good instead, after evil; as some explain it; but others say that وَلَا مَنْ ظَلَمَ here denotes exception]. (Mughnee, in which it is explained as meaning; and Ḳ.) And thus in the saying of the poet, [namely, El-Mukhabbal Es-Saadee, (Ṣ in art. خلد,)]
* وَأَرَى لَهَا دَارًا بِأَغْدِرَةِ السْ ** سِيدَانِ لَمْ يَدْرُسْ لَهَا رَسْمُ ** إِلَّا رَمَادًا هَامِدًا دَفَعَتْ ** عَنْهُ الرِّيَاحَ خَوَالِدٌ سُحْمٌ *
[And I see a dwelling formerly belonging to her, at the pools of Es-Seedán, (a hill so called,) the remains of which have not become effaced, and ashes wasted and compacted together, from which three black pieces of stone whereon the cooking-pot was wont to be placed turned back the winds]: he means, أَرَى لَهَا دَارًا وَرَمَادًا. (Ṣ.)
Fourthly, (Mughnee,) it is redundant, as in the following verse, (Ṣ in art. فك, Mughnee, Ḳ,) of Dhu-rRummeh, (Ṣ ubi suprà, Mughnee,) accord. to Aṣ and IJ: (Mughnee:)
* حَرَاجِيجُ مَا تَنْفَكُّ إِلَّا مُنَاخَةٌ ** عَلَى الخَسْفِ أَوْ نَرْمِى بِهَا بَلَدًا قَفْرَا *
[She-camels long-bodied, or lean, (but other meanings are assigned to the word which I thus render,) that cease not to be made to lie down in a state of hunger, or with which we direct our course to a desert region]; (Ṣ ubi suprà, Mughnee; [but in one copy of the former, in the place of نَرْمِى, I find يَرْمِى; and in my copy of the latter, تَرْمِى;]) meaning, ما تنفكّ مناخةً: (Ṣ ubi suprà:) but it is said that this is a mistake of the poet: (Mughnee:) so says Aboo-ʼAmr Ibn-El-ʼAlà; for, he says, الّا is not to be introduced after تَنْفَكُّ and تَزَالُ: (TA:) and some say that the right reading is إِلًّا, with tenween, [perhaps a mistranscription, for آلًا,] meaning شَخْصًا [in a pl. sense]: and some, that تنفكّ is a complete [or an attributive] verb, and مناخة is a denotative of state; [consequently, that إِلَّا is a compound of إِنْ and لَا, as in some other instances hereafter to be mentioned;] the meaning being, that are not disengaged, or not free, from fatigue [unless when made to lie down]. (Mughnee.) The following is also given as an ex. of the same kind:
* أَرَى الدَّهْرَ إِلَّا مَنْجَنُونًا بِأَهْلِهِ *
[I see fortune, or time, to be like a water-wheel, with its people]: but the reading which is remembered to have been heard is وَمَا الدَّهْرُ: and if the former be correct, it may be explained on the supposition that ارى is the complement of an oath meant to be understood, and that لا is suppressed, as in [the saying in the Ḳur xii. 85,] تَٱللّٰهِ تَفْتَأُ تَذْكُرُ يُوسُفَ; [so that the meaning is, I see not fortune, or time, to be aught save a water-wheel, with its people;] the form of the exceptive sentence which is devoid of the mention of that from which the exception is made indicating such an explanation. (Mughnee.)
[Fifthly,] it occurs as syn. with لضَا [as a particle denoting exception, equivalent to our But; meaning both except and (after an oath or the like) only, or nothing more than]; as in the saying in the Ḳur [xxxviii. 13], إِنْ كُلٌّ إِلَّا كَذَّبَ الرُّسُلَ [There was not any one but such as accused the apostles of lying], in which ʼAbd-Allah reads, in its place, لَمَّا; and for كُلٌّ he reads كُلُّهُمْ; and as in the saying, أَسْأَلُكَ بِٱللّٰهِ إِلَّا أَعْطَيْتَنِى [I ask, or beg, or beseech, thee by God but that thou give me; i. e., I do not ask of thee anything save thy giving me; the preterite here, as in many instances in which it is preceded by لَمَّا (q. v.), not being a preterite in meaning]; for which one says also لَمَّا اعطيتنى. (T.)
It is also a particle [or rather a compound of two words] denoting the complement of a condition; originally إِنْ لَا, which form a compound that does not admit of [the pronunciation termed] imáleh, because إِنْ and لَا are particles. (T.) [It signifies, lit., If not.] It is followed by a fut., which it renders mejzoom; [and in this case it may be rendered as above, or by unless;] as in the saying in the Ḳur [viii. 74], إِلَا تَفْعَلُوهُ تَكُنْ فِتْنَةٌ فِى الأَرْضِ [If ye do it not, or unless ye do it, there will be a weakness of faith and an appearing of unbelief in the earth]. (T.) [In like manner,] in a saying such as the following, [in the Ḳur ix. 40,] إِلَّا تَنْصُرُوهُ فَقَدْ نَصَرَهُ ٱللّٰهُ [If ye do not, or will not, aid him, certainly God aided him], it is only a compound of two words, the conditional إِنْ and the negative لَا, and is distinct from إِلَّا of which the usages have been mentioned before, though Ibn-Málik has included it therewith. (Mughnee.) [Often in post-classical works, and perhaps in classical also, but seldom except when it is preceded by a condition with its complement, the verb or verbal proposition which should immediately follow it is suppressed; as in the like of the saying, إِنْ فَعَلْتَ كَذَا عَفَوْتُ عَنْكَ وَإِلَّا قَتَلْتُكَ If thou do such a thing, I forgive thee, or cancel thine offence; but if thou wilt not do it (i. e., إِلَّا تَفْعَلْهُ,) I kill thee: sometimes also it ends a sentence, by an aposiopesis; the whole of what should follow it being suppressed: and sometimes the complement of the condition which precedes, as well as the verb or verbal proposition which should immediately follow it, is suppressed; so that you say, إِنْ فَعَلْتُ كَذَا وَإِلَّا قَتَلْتُكَ If thou do such a thing, excellent will it be, or the like, (فَنِعِمَّا هُوَ, or the like, being understood,) but if not, I kill thee. Hence,] it sometimes has the meaning of إِمَّا, [signifying Or, denoting an alternative, corresponding to a preceding إِمَّا, which signifies “either,”] as in the saying, إِمَّا أَنْ تُكَلِّمَنِى وَإِلَّا فَٱسْكُتْ [Either do thou speak to me or else (meaning وَإِلَّا تُكَلِّمَنِى or if thou wilt not speak to me) be silent], i. e., وَإِمَّا أَنْ تَسْكُتَ. (Ṣ.) [It is also followed by أَنْ, as in إِلَّا أَنْ يَشَآءَ ٱللّٰهُ Unless God should please; in the Ḳur vi. 111, &c. And by و as a denotative of state, as in لَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ Do not ye die unless ye be Muslims; in the Ḳur ii. 126 and iii. 97. And sometimes it is preceded by اَللّهُمَّ; for the effect of which, in this case, see art. Alh.]