الا

Core meaning

Particle of the negated condition: the joining of إِنْ (if) and لَا (not), it states what will happen if an act does not take place.

Uses

1. وَإِلَّا + jussive imperfect → "and if … not" : in an invocation, the condition set on God's act, then the dreaded consequence.

   • «وَإِلَّا تَغْفِرْ لِى وَتَرْحَمْنِىٓ أَكُن مِّنَ ٱلْخَٰسِرِينَ» — "and if You do not forgive me and show me benevolence, I will be among the losers" (11:47)
   • «وَإِلَّا تَصْرِفْ عَنِّى كَيْدَهُنَّ» — "and if You do not turn their scheme away from me" (12:33)

Evidence from the text

Both uses are invocations, that of Nuh (11:47) and that of Youssof (12:33). Each time the following verb is in the jussive (تَغْفِرْ, تَصْرِفْ), and so is the consequence (أَكُن, أَصْبُ): this is the mark of a condition, not of an exception.

The invocation of Adam and his spouse says the same thing with the two words apart: وَإِن لَّمْ تَغْفِرْ لَنَا وَتَرْحَمْنَا, "if You do not forgive us and have benevolence on us" (7:23). The joined form of 11:47 is its exact equivalent.

Distinctions

• ان — إِنْ alone: the affirmed condition, whereas إِلَّا negates it
• لا — negation, which here enters the condition