Core sense — other, another; other than, not; exceptgenerated
1a man other than you came to me—جَآءَنِى رَجُلٌ غَيْرُكَ
Same as سِوًى [other]; the plural is أَغْيَارٌ. [But غَيْر itself often has a plural meaning, as will be seen below.]
Or, [by general usage, as will be seen below,] غَيْرُ means the same as سِوَى [other than; excluding; or not, before a noun or an adjective]. In the CK, wrongly, سِوًى.
[we will in that case do good, other than what we used to do]—نَعْمَلْ صَالِحًا غَيْرَ ٱلَّذِى كُنَّا نَعْمَلُ
[of water not altered in taste and colour]—مِنْ مَآءٍ غَيْرِ آسِنٍ
It is used to qualify a noun; [as a prefixed noun it governs the noun following it in the genitive case;] and when so used it takes the same case as the noun before it.
It qualifies an indeterminate noun.
Qur'ān 35:34.
Qur'ān 47:16.
As to the sense, it is a noun that must be prefixed to a noun which it governs in the genitive case; but sometimes it stands without that noun, when the meaning is understood and it is preceded by لَيْسَ or by لَا [in which case it means any other person or thing; anything besides, or else].
[I received ten; nothing other than them was received by me, that is, nothing else]—قَبَضْتُ عَشَرَةً لَيْسَ غَيْرُهَا
The khabar, مَقْبُوضًا, being left out.
And ليس غَيْرَهَا, the noun [of ليس] being understood, that is, لَيْسَ المَقْبُوضُ غَيْرَهَا.
And ليس غَيْرَ, in which the noun it is prefixed to is left out — [for المضاف in the K, I read المضاف اليه, as in the Mughnee] — and the noun [of ليس] is also understood.
And ليس غَيْرُ: according to Mbr and the later authors, غير is here indeclinable, being likened to قَبْلُ and بَعْدُ, so that it may be either the noun or the khabar [of ليس].
Or, according to Akh, it is declinable, because it is not a noun of time like قَبْلُ and بَعْدُ, nor of place like فَوْقُ and تَحْتُ, but like كُلٌّ and بَعْضٌ, so that it is the noun [of ليس] and the khabar is left out; or, according to Ibn-Kharoof, it may be either indeclinable or declinable.
And ليس غَيْرًا and ليس غَيْرٌ: in both of these it is declinable, as though the noun it is prefixed to were mentioned.
And لَا غَيْرُ: the statement [which we find in the Mughnee], apparently taken from Seer, that this is incorrect, is not good, since it occurs in the following verse, cited by Ibn-Málik: [Aim at having an answer by which you may be safe; for, by our Lord, you will be asked about an action you have done before, and about nothing else]
shāhidجَوَابًا بِهِ تَنْجُو ٱعْتَمِدْ فَوَرَبِّنَالَعَنْ عَمَلٍ أَسْلَفْتَ لَا غَيْرُ تُسْأَلُ
Qur’ān 35:37 matched to Lane’s own quotation of it Lane cites “Kur xxxv. 34”
Qur’ān 47:16 approximate — somewhere between 47:4 and 47:38 Lane cites “Kur xlvii. 16”
Qur’ān 35:37 Lane quotes this verse
وَهُمْ يَصْطَرِخُونَ فِيهَا رَبَّنَآ أَخْرِجْنَا نَعْمَلْ صَـٰلِحًا غَيْرَ ٱلَّذِى كُنَّا نَعْمَلُ ۚ أَوَلَمْ نُعَمِّرْكُم مَّا يَتَذَكَّرُ فِيهِ مَن تَذَكَّرَ وَجَآءَكُمُ ٱلنَّذِيرُ ۖ فَذُوقُوا۟ فَمَا لِلظَّـٰلِمِينَ مِن نَّصِيرٍTherein will they cry aloud (for assistance): "Our Lord! Bring us out: we shall work righteousness, not the (deeds) we used to do!" - "Did We not give you long enough life so that he that would should receive admonition? and (moreover) the warner came to you. So taste ye (the fruits of your deeds): for the wrong-doers there is no helper."Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur’ān (1934)
1.1[the way of those on whom You have conferred favour, not those who are the objects of anger]—صِرَاطَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ ٱلْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ
It does not become determinate by being prefixed to another noun, because it is very vague; but it is also used as an adjective qualifying a determinate noun that is close to being indeterminate.
Qur'ān 1:6 and 7.
This is because a noun made determinate by the article ال, denoting a genus, is close to being indeterminate, and because when غير stands between two opposites its vagueness is weakened, or disappears altogether. Or it is here used as an adjective qualifying a determinate noun because it resembles a determinate noun in being prefixed to such a noun.
Az: غير is here in the genitive case because it qualifies الذين, and it may qualify [what is technically called in this instance] a determinate noun [as having the article ال prefixed to it], because الذين has no direct meaning of its own, [it being merely a conjunct noun, whose meaning is fixed by what follows it,] even though the article ال is prefixed to it.
Abu-l-ʿAbbás: Fr holds الذين to have the office of an indeterminate noun, and غير to be an adjective qualifying it, not any other noun; but some say that غير may be an adjective relating to the nouns implied in انعمت عليهم, these having no direct meaning.
Akh: غير [with what follows] is a substitute [for الذين with what follows], as though the meaning were صِرَاطَ غَيْرِ المَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ [the way of those who are not the objects of anger].
The reading غَيْرَ is also related, on the authority of Ibn-Ketheer, in the accusative case, as a denotative of state, [meaning: they not being the objects of anger,] relating to the pronoun governed in the genitive case by the preposition [in عليهم]; or by أَعْنِى [I mean] understood; or as an exceptive, [according to a usage explained below,] if the favours are taken as conferred on the two classes of persons in common.
Qur’ān 1:7 matched to Lane’s own quotation of it Lane cites “Kur i. 6”
Qur’ān 1:7 Lane quotes this verse
صِرَٰطَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ ٱلْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا ٱلضَّآلِّينَThe way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace, those whose (portion) is not wrath, and who go not astray.Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur’ān (1934)
1.2
Since it resembles a determinate noun in being prefixed to a determinate noun, [as المغضوب in the passage of the Qur'ān quoted above,] some have gone so far as to prefix the article ال to it.
Against this it may be argued that its prefixion to a determinate noun is not to make the expression determinate but for specifying, and ال does not imply specifying.
1.3
In the following verse of Hassán the meaning is: [A prophet came to us, who appeared in the darkness of night, a guide in the right way,] and we did not weigh another than him against another than the other — that is, against him.
shāhidأَتَانَا فَلَمْ نَعْدِلْ سِوَاهُ بِغَيْرِهِنَبِىٌّ بَدَا فِى ظُلْمَةِ اللَّيْلِ هَادِيَا
1.4and so on, et cetera—وَغَيْرُ ذٰلِكَ
A phrase that occurs often.
1.5[the word of God is not created]—كَلَامُ ٱللّٰهِ غَيْرُ مَخْلُوقٍ
غَيْرُ is also used in the sense of لَيْسَ [he, or it, is not].
Same as لَيْسَ بِمَخْلُوقٍ.
1.6[but whoever is compelled, being hungry, not transgressing the due bounds]—فَمَنِ ٱضْطُرَّ غَيْرَ بَاغٍ
It is also used in the sense of لَا [meaning not, before a participle], and is then in the accusative case, as a denotative of state.
In the Qur'ān 2:168 and other places; that is, جَائِعًا لَا بَاغِيًا.
1.7the people came, except Zeyd—جَآءَ القَوْمُ غَيْرَ زَيْدٍ
It is also used as an exceptive, in the sense of إِلَّا [except; save; but]; and it is then put in the same case that the word following إِلَّا would take in the same phrase, because it is originally a qualifying word, and its use as an exceptive is secondary.
no one came to me, except Zeyd—مَا جَآءَنِى أَحَدٌ غَيْرَ زَيْدٍ
no one came to me, except Zeyd—غَيْرُ زَيْدٍ
no one stood, except Zeyd—مَا قَامَ غَيْرُ زَيْدٍ
I saw no one, except Zeyd—مَا رَأَيْتُ غَيْرَ زَيْدٍ
Or its case depends on the governing words.
Fr: some of the Benoo-Asad and Kudáʿah put غير in the accusative case when it is used in the sense of إِلَّا, whether the phrase before it is complete or incomplete.
no one came to me, except you—مَا جَآءَنِى غَيْرَكَ
no one came to me, except you—ما جاءنى أَحَدٌ غَيْرَكَ
AA: when غير stands in the place of إِلَّا, it is put in the accusative case.
there is no deity other than God—لَا إِلٰهَ غَيْرُ ٱللّٰهِ
غير is in the nominative case because it is the khabar of لا; but it may be put in the accusative, as meaning إِلَّا.
When, as an exceptive, it is prefixed to an indeclinable word [and not preceded by a preposition], it may itself be indeclinable, ending in fet-ḥ, as in this verse: [Nothing prevented drinking from it, except that a pigeon cooed upon branches having اوقال, which apparently means stumps of cut shoots]
shāhidلَمْ يَمْنَعِ الشُّرْبَ مِنْهَا غَيْرَ أَنْ نَطَقَتْحَمَامَةٌ فِى غُصُونٍ ذَاتِ أَوْقَالِ
[See also an example in a verse cited under بَيْدَ.]
1.8without reckoning—بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ
Qur'ān 2:208 and elsewhere.
without leprosy—مِنْ غَيْرِ سُوْءٍ
Qur'ān 20:23 and elsewhere.
on this sense It is often used with a preposition.
Qur’ān 2:212 approximate — somewhere between 2:191 and 2:223 Lane cites “Kur ii. 208”
Qur’ān 20:20 approximate — somewhere between 20:1 and 20:61 Lane cites “Kur xx. 23”
Qur’ān 2:212 the verse Lane’s citation points to, and it uses this root
زُيِّنَ لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ ٱلْحَيَوٰةُ ٱلدُّنْيَا وَيَسْخَرُونَ مِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ۘ وَٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّقَوْا۟ فَوْقَهُمْ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ يَرْزُقُ مَن يَشَآءُ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍThe life of this world is alluring to those who reject faith, and they scoff at those who believe. But the righteous will be above them on the Day of Resurrection; for Allah bestows His abundance without measure on whom He will.Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur’ān (1934)
2the act of altering, or changing—غَيْرٌ
the act of altering, or changing—غِيَرٌ
Same as تَغْيِيرٌ. Both are nouns from غَيَّرَهُ, not maṣdars, since there is no unaugmented verb.
2.1the accidents, or chances, of time or fortune, which alter things—غِيَرُ الدَّهْرِ
The first of these two words is of the same measure as عِنَب.
[may God not show me, in you, alteration of state]—لَا أَرَانِى ٱللّٰهُ بِكَ غِيَرًا
[Or alteration, or change, of time or of fortune.]
IAmb: غِيَرٌ is from تَغَيُّرُ الحَالِ, a noun like قِطَعٌ [meaning “a portion of the night”]; or it may be a plural whose singular is غِيْرَةٌ.
2.2figurative · مجازlying; a lie, or falsehood—بَنَاتُ غَيْرٍ
[Or غِيَرٍ, as in Freytag's Arab. Prov. 1:309.]
Same as كَذِبٌ, or rather: lies.
he uttered lies—جَآءَ بِبَنَاتِ غَيْرٍ
[Or غِيَرٍ.]
Qur’ānic occurrences غَيْر 5 shown of 142
50:31
وَأُزْلِفَتِ ٱلْجَنَّةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ غَيْرَ بَعِيدٍAnd the Garden will be brought nigh to the Righteous,- no more a thing distant.
56:86
فَلَوْلَآ إِن كُنتُمْ غَيْرَ مَدِينِينَThen why do ye not,- If you are exempt from (future) account,-
68:3
وَإِنَّ لَكَ لَأَجْرًا غَيْرَ مَمْنُونٍNay, verily for thee is a Reward unfailing:
70:28
إِنَّ عَذَابَ رَبِّهِمْ غَيْرُ مَأْمُونٍFor their Lord's displeasure is the opposite of Peace and Tranquillity;-
74:10
عَلَى ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ غَيْرُ يَسِيرٍFar from easy for those without Faith.
Occurrences of this form in the Qur’ān, not Lane’s choice of verse. They show the word in use; they do not say which sense above applies. Where more occur than are shown, the shortest āyāt are chosen.
Show Lane's original text
signifies i. q. سِوًى [Other]: and the pl. is أَغْيَارٌ : (S:) [but غَيْر itself often has a pl. meaning, as will be seen in what follows:] or [accord. to general usage, as will be seen below,] غَيْرُ signifies i. q. سِوَى [other than; exclusively of; or not, as used before a substantive or an adjective]. (Msb, K: in the CK [erroneously] سِوًى .) It is used to qualify a subst.; [governing (as a prefixed noun) the noun that follows it in the gen. case;] and when so used, it is put in the same case as the noun preceding it. (S.) It qualifies an indeterminate noun: (Mughnee, Msb:) you say جَآءَنِى رَجُلٌ غَيْرُكَ [A man, other than, or not, thou, came to me]: (Msb:) and نَعْمَلْ صَالِحًا غَيْرَ ٱلَّذِى كُنَّا نَعْمَلُ [We will in that case do good, other than, or not, what we used to do: (Kur xxxv. 34:)]: (Mughnee:) and مِنْ مَآءٍ غَيْرِ آسِنٍ [Of water other than, or not, altered in taste and colour]. (Kur xlvii. 16.) It is a noun necessarily prefixed, as to the sense, to a noun which it governs in the gen. case: but sometimes it is without the latter, when the meaning is understood and it is preceded by لَيْسَ , (Mughnee, K,) or by لَا : (K:) [in which case it signifies Any other person or thing; any person or thing beside, or else:] you say قَبَضْتُ عَشَرَةً لَيْسَ غَيْرُهَا [I received ten; not other than they was received by me; i. e., not any other thing; or not anything beside, or else]; (Mughnee, K;) the enunciative, مَقْبُوضًا , being suppressed: (Mughnee:) and ليس غَيْرَهَا , (Mughnee, K;) the noun [of ليس ] being understood; i. e., لَيْسَ المَقْبُوضُ غَيْرَهَا : (Mughnee:) and ليس غَيْرَ ; in which the affixed noun [for المضاف , in the K, I read المضاف اليه , as in the Mughnee,] is suppressed, and the noun [of ليس ] is also understood: (Mughnee, K:) and ليس غَيْرُ ; (Mughnee, K;) in which, accord. to Mbr, and the later authors, غير is indecl., being likened to قَبْلُ and بَعْدُ , so that it may be either the noun or the enunciative [of ليس ] or, accord. to Akh, it is decl., because it is not a noun of time like قَبْلُ and بَعْدُ , nor of place like فَوْقُ and تَحْتُ , but like كُلٌّ and بَعْضٌ , so that it is the noun [of ليس ], and the enunciative is suppressed; (Mughnee;) or it may be either indecl. or decl., (Mughnee, K,) accord. to Ibn-Kharoof: (Mughnee:) and ليس غَيْرًا , and ليس غَيْرٌ ; (Mughnee, K;) in both which cases it is decl., as though the affixed noun were mentioned: (Mughnee:) and لَا غَيْرُ ; for the saying, [which we find in the Mughnee,] app. taken from a statement of Seer, that this is incorrect, is not good, since it occurs in the following verse, cited by Ibn-Málik; 1 [Aim thou at having an answer by which thou mayest be safe; for, by our Lord, respecting an action which thou shalt have done before, not any other thing, or not anything beside or else, thou wilt be asked]. (K.) جَوَابًا بِهِ تَنْجُو ٱعْتَمِدْ فَوَرَبِّنَا | لَعَنْ عَمَلٍ أَسْلَفْتَ لَا غَيْرُ تُسْأَلُ It does not become determinate by its being prefixed to another noun, because it is very vague: but it is also applied as an epithet to a determinate noun which is near to being indeterminate; as in صِرَاطَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ ٱلْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ [The way of those upon whom Thou hast conferred favour; the other than, or those who are not, the objects of anger; (Kur i. 6 and 7;)] because the noun rendered determinate by the art. ال denoting a genus is near to being indeterminate, and because when غير occurs between two contraries its vagueness becomes weakened, (Mughnee, K, *) or altogether departs: (K:) or it is here applied as an epithet to a determinate noun because it resembles a determinate noun in its being prefixed to such a noun: (Msb:) Az says that غير is here in the gen. case because it is an epithet to الذين ; and that it may be an epithet to [what is technically termed in this instance] a determinate noun [as having the article ال prefixed to it] because الذين has not [in itself] a direct meaning ( لِأَنَّ الَّذِينَ غَيْرُ مَصْمُودٍ صَمْدُهُ ), [it being merely a conjunct noun, the meaning of which is determined by what follows it,] notwithstanding it has the art. ال prefixed to it: Abu-l-'Abbás says that Fr holds الذين to have the office of an indeterminate noun; and غير to be an epithet of it; not of any other noun; but that غير , accord. to some, may be an epithet relating to the nouns implied in انعمت عليهم , these not having a direct meaning: Akh says that غير [with what follows] is a substitute [for الذين with what follows], as though the meaning were صِرَاطَ غَيْرِ المَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ [the way of those who are not the objects of anger]. (TA.) The reading غَيْرَ is also related, on the authority of Ibn-Ketheer, in the accus. case, as a denotative of state, [meaning they being not the objects of anger,] relating to the pronoun governed in the gen. case by the prep. [in عليهم ]; or by أَعْنِى [I mean] understood; or as an exceptive, [accord. to a usage to be explained below,] if the favours be interpreted as conferred in common upon the two classes of persons. (Bd.) As it resembles a determinate noun in its being prefixed to a determinate noun, [as المغضوب in the above-cited passage of the Kur,] some have presumed to prefix to it the article ال : but against this it may be urged, that its prefixion to a determinate noun is not to render the expression determinate, but for specification; and ال does not imply specification. (Msb.) In the following verse of Hassán, 1 the meaning is, [A prophet came to us, who appeared in the darkness of night, a director in the right way,] and we did not weigh another than him with another than the other, i. e., with him. (Mughnee.) أَتَانَا فَلَمْ نَعْدِلْ سِوَاهُ بِغَيْرِهِ | نَبِىٌّ بَدَا فِى ظُلْمَةِ اللَّيْلِ هَادِيَا [ وَغَيْرُ ذٰلِكَ is a phrase of frequent occurrence, meaning Et cœtera.] غَيْرُ is also used in the sense of لَيْسَ [He, or it, is not]; as in the phrase كَلَامُ ٱللّٰهِ غَيْرُ مَخْلُوقٍ [The word of God is not created], syn. لَيْسَ بِمَخْلُوقٍ . (Az, TA.) It is also used in the sense of لَا [meaning Not, as used before a participle]; (S, K;) and then it is in the accus. case, as a denotative of state; (S;) as in the phrase فَمَنِ ٱضْطُرَّ غَيْرَ بَاغٍ , (S, K,) in the Kur [ii. 168, and other places], (S,) i. e., جَائِعًا لَا بَاغِيًا [But whosoever is necessitated, being hungry, not transgressing the due bounds]. (S, K.) It is also used as an exceptive, (S, Mughnee,) in the sense of إِلَّا [Except; save; or but]; (Msb, K;) and then it is put in the same case in which the word following إِلَّا would be put in the same phrase, (S, Mughnee, Msb, K,) because it is originally a qualificative, and its use as an exceptive is adventitious: (S:) therefore you say جَآءَ القَوْمُ غَيْرَ زَيْدٍ [The people came, except Zeyd]; and مَا جَآءَنِى أَحَدٌ غَيْرَ زَيْدٍ and غَيْرُ زَيْدٍ [Not any one came to me, except Zeyd]: (Msb, K:) or its case depends upon the governing words, so that you say مَا قَامَ غَيْرُ زَيْدٍ [No one stood, except Zeyd], and مَا رَأَيْتُ غَيْرَ زَيْدٍ [I saw not any, except Zeyd]: (Msb:) but Fr says that some of the Benoo-Asad and Kudá'ah put غير in the accus. case, when used in the sense of إِلَّا , whether the phrase before it be complete or incomplete; saying مَا جَآءَنِى غَيْرَكَ [Not any one came to me, except thou], and ما جاءنى أَحَدٌ غَيْرَكَ [Not any one came to me, except thou]: (S, Msb:) and AA says that when غير has the place of إِلَّا , it is put in the accus. case. (Msb.) In the saying لَا إِلٰهَ غَيْرُ ٱللّٰهِ [There is no deity other than God], غير is in the nom. case because it is the enunciative of لا ; but it may be put in the accus. case, as meaning إِلَّا . (Msb.) When, as an exceptive, it is prefixed to an indecl. word [and not preceded by a prep.], it may be itself indecl., with fet-h for its termination; as in the following verse; 1 [Nought prevented the drinking from it, except that a pigeon cooed, upon branches having اوقال , which app. means stumps of cut shoots]. (Mughnee, K.) [See also an ex. (of غَيْرَ أَنَّ ) in a verse cited voce بَيْدَ .] لَمْ يَمْنَعِ الشُّرْبَ مِنْهَا غَيْرَ أَنْ نَطَقَتْ | حَمَامَةٌ فِى غُصُونٍ ذَاتِ أَوْقَالِ [It is often used with a prep.; as in بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ Without reckoning; (Kur ii. 208, &c.;) and مِنْ غَيْرِ سُوْءٍ Without leprosy. (Kur xx. 23, &c.)] غَيْرٌ (JK, K) and (JK) غِيَرٌ (JK, S) signifying The act of altering, or changing, i. q. تَغْيِيرٌ , (JK,) are substs. from غَيَّرَهُ ; (S with respect to the latter, and K with respect to the former;) not inf. ns., as having no unaugmented verb. (TA.) [Hence,] غِيَرُ الدَّهْرِ , the former of these two words being of the same measure as عِنَب , The accidents, or casualties, of time or fortune, which alter, or change, things: (K:) [or alteration, or change, of time or of fortune; for] IAmb says, with respect to the saying لَا أَرَانِى ٱللّٰهُ بِكَ غِيَرًا [May God not show me, in thee, alteration of state], that غِيَرٌ is from تَغَيُّرُ الحَالِ , a subst. like قِطَعٌ [as meaning “ a portion of the night ”]; or that it may be a pl., of which the sing. is غِيْرَةٌ . (TA.) [Hence also,] بَنَاتُ غَيْرٍ [or غِيَرٍ , as in Freytag's Arab. Prov. i. 309,] Lying: or a lie, or falsehood: syn. كَذِبٌ : (TS, K:) or [rather] lies. (JK, A.) You say جَآءَ بِبَنَاتِ غَيْرٍ [or غِيَرٍ ] He uttered lies. (A.)