1
It is sometimes written أَمَّا, and sometimes its first م is changed into ى [forming أَيْمَا or إِيْمَا or both, as will be shown below].
In my copy of the Mughnee it is written أَيْمَا, and so in some copies of the K; in some copies of the K it is written إيمَا.
Sb holds it to be a compound of إِنْ and مَا; or, as denoting the complement of a condition, a compound of إِنْ and مَا.
1.1[I know not who stood: either Zeyd or 'Amr]—مَا أَدْرِى مَنْ قَامَ إِمَّا زَيْدٌوإِمَّا عَمْرٌو
[There came to me either Zeyd or 'Amr]—جَآءَنِى إِمَّا زَيْدٌ وَإِمَّا عَمْرٌو
Said when one does not know which of the two came.
on this sense It denotes doubt.
1.2[Either He will punish them or He will turn to them with forgiveness]—إِمَّا يُعَذِّبُهُم وأمَّا يَتُوبُ عَلَيْهِمْ
Kur 9:107.
It also denotes vagueness of meaning.
Qur’ān 9:106 matched to Lane’s own quotation of it Lane cites “Kur ix. 107”
Qur’ān 9:106 Lane quotes this verse
وَءَاخَرُونَ مُرْجَوْنَ لِأَمْرِ ٱللَّهِ إِمَّا يُعَذِّبُهُمْ وَإِمَّا يَتُوبُ عَلَيْهِمْ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌThere are (yet) others, held in suspense for the command of Allah, whether He will punish them, or turn in mercy to them: and Allah is All-Knowing, Wise.Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur’ān (1934)
1.3[Either punish, or do good to them]—إِمَّا أَن تُعَذِّبَ وإِمَّا أَنْ تَتَّخِذَ فِيِهِمْ حُسْناً
Kur 18:85.
It also denotes giving option.
Qur’ān 18:86 approximate — somewhere between 18:80 and 18:110 Lane cites “Kur xviii. 85”
Qur’ān 18:86 the verse Lane’s citation points to, and it uses this word
حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا بَلَغَ مَغْرِبَ ٱلشَّمْسِ وَجَدَهَا تَغْرُبُ فِى عَيْنٍ حَمِئَةٍ وَوَجَدَ عِندَهَا قَوْمًا ۗ قُلْنَا يَـٰذَا ٱلْقَرْنَيْنِ إِمَّآ أَن تُعَذِّبَ وَإِمَّآ أَن تَتَّخِذَ فِيهِمْ حُسْنًاUntil, when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it set in a spring of murky water: Near it he found a People: We said: "O Zul-qarnain! (thou hast authority,) either to punish them, or to treat them with kindness."Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur’ān (1934)
1.4[Learn either law or syntax]—تَعَلَّمْ إِمَّا فِقْهًا وإِمَّا نَحْوًا
It also denotes making a thing allowable.
[An example given in the T, on the authority of Ks, as an instance of the use of إِمَّا to denote giving option.]
Some dispute its use with this intent, while they assert it of أَوْ.
1.5[Either, or whether, being thankful or being unthankful]—إمَّا شَاكِراً و إمَّا كَفُورًا
It is also used as a partitive. Kur 76:3.
The two adjectives are here in the accusative case as denotatives of state.
Or, according to the Koofees, إمَّا may here be the conditional إِنْ with the redundant مَا, with كَانَ understood after it, according to Ibn-Esh-Shejeree.
Fr says that the meaning is إِنْ شَكَرَ وَإِنْ كَفَرَ [if he be thankful and if he be unthankful].
Lane cites “Kur lxxvi. 3” — Flügel numbering, not yet mapped
1.6[I have a house in El-Koofeh, and I am going out to it, and either I will live in it or I will sell it]—لِى دَارٌ بِالكُوفَةِ فَأنَا خَارِجٌ إلَيْهَا فَإمَّا أَنْ أَسْكُنَهَا وإِمَّا أَنْ أَبِيعَهَا
[But this is similar to the usage first mentioned above.]
It also denotes taking option.
1.7
It is a conjunction according to most authorities — that is, the second إِمَّا in a saying like جَاءَنِى إمَّا زَيْدٌ وإِمَّا عَمْرٌو, mentioned above.
It is used in the manner of أَوْ in all its cases except this one: in the use of او you begin with assurance, and then doubt comes upon you, whereas with إِمَّا you begin in doubt, and must repeat it, as in the saying just mentioned.
But some say that it is like the first إِمَّا, not a conjunction, because it is generally preceded by the conjunction و.
And some say that إِمَّا joins the noun to the noun, and the و joins إِمَّا to إِمَّا; but the joining of a particle to a particle is strange.
1.8
Sometimes the و is suppressed, as in this verse of El-Ahwas: [O, would that our mother took her departure, either to Paradise or Hell-fire!]
shāhidيَا لَيْتَمَا أُمُّنِا شَالَتْ نَعَامَتُهَاأَيْمَا إِلَى جَنَّةٍ أَيْمَا إِلَى نَارِ
Cited by Ks with ايما for إِمَّا; and sometimes it is with kesr [that is, إِيمَا].
IB says that it is correctly إِمَّا with kesr, asserting the original to be إِمَّا with kesr only.
1.9
And sometimes the former مَا is dispensed with, as in this verse, which shows also that مَا is sometimes suppressed: [The thundering clouds of summer-rain watered him, or of autumn-rain; so he will not want sufficient drink]
shāhidسَقَتْهُ ارَّوَاعِدُ مِنْ صَيِّفٍوَإِنْ مِنْ خَرِيفٍ فَلَنْ يَعْدَمَا
— that is, إِمَّا مِنْ صَيِّفٍ وَإِمَّا مِنْ خَرِيفٍ.
Mbr and As say that إِنْ is here conditional and that the ف is its complement; but this assertion has no weight, for the object is to describe a mountain-goat as having sufficient drink in every case.
AO says that إِنْ in this verse is redundant.
1.10[Either speak what is good or else be silent]—إِمَّا أَنْ تَتَكَلَّمَ بِخَيْرٍ وَإِلَّا فاسْكُتْ
Sometimes one does not need to mention the second إِمَّا, because something is mentioned that supplies its place.
[See the article الا, near its end.]
2[And if you see, of mankind, any one]—فَإِمَّأِتَريِنَّ مِنَ الْبَشَرِ أَحَدًاِ
Distinct from the foregoing is إِمَّا in the saying in the Kur 19:26.
For this is the conditional إِن with the redundant مَا.
[If you revile Zeyd, he will treat you with forbearance]—إِمَّا تَشْتِمَنَّ زْيدًا فَإِنَّهُ يَحْلُمُ عَنْكَ
In the same way, these are said in expressing a condition.
[If you come to me, I will treat you with honour]—إِمَّا تَأْتِنِي أُكِْرِمْكَ
2.1[If you are going away, I go away]—إِمَّا أَنْتَ مُنْطَلِقًا انْطَلَقْتُ
Here the مَا is not what keeps the particle it is joined to from governing, but is a substitute for a verb, as though the speaker said إِذَا صِرْتَ مُنْطَلِقًا [or rather إِنْ صِرْتَ].
And hence the saying of the poet — a different reading of which has been given under أَمَّا — [O Aboo-Khurásheh, if you are the possessor of a number of men, my people, the year of dearth, or of sterility, has not consumed them]
shāhidأَبَا خُرَاشَةَ إِمَّا أَنْتَ ذَا نَسفَرٍفَإنَّ قَوْمِىَ لَمْ تَإْكُلْهُمُ الضَّبُغُ
; as though he said إِنْ كُنْتُ ذَا نَفَرٍ.
[Because you were going away, I went away]—أَمَّا أَنْتَ مُنطَلِقًا اِنْطَلَقْتُ
[But IHsh states the case differently, saying:] an instance of أَمَّا أَنْتَ مُنطَلِقًا انْطَلَقْتُ used not to keep a particle from governing, but as a substitute for a verb, occurs here; originally اِنْطَلَقْتُ لِأَنْ كُنْتَ مُنطَلِقاً.
[For an explanation of this, see what is said of أَمَّا أَنْتَ in a reading of the verse beginning with أَبَا خُرَاشَة, under أَمَّا.]
But according to El-Fárisee and IJ, the government belongs to مَا, not to كَانَ [or كُنْتَ], as is said in the article مَا.
2.2[Do this if you will not do another thing; or do this at least]—اِفْعَلْ هذَا إِمَّالَا
It means إِنْ كُنْتَ لَاتَفْعَلُ غَيْرَهُ; so the Mughnee and the K, each in the article مَا.
if you will not do that, then do this—إِمَّالَا فَافْعَلْ كَذَا
It indicates a person's refusal to do fully what he is ordered to do.
The three particles [إِنْ and مَا and لَا] are made into one word; so says Lth.
[J says:] إِمَّالَا فَافْعَلْ كَذَا is pronounced with imáleh [that is, “immá-lè”], and is originally إِن لَا with مَا as a connective; and the meaning is: if that thing will not be, then do this.
AHát [disallows this pronunciation, and] says that sometimes the common people, in place of اِفْعَلْ ذٰلِكَ إِمَّالَا, say اِفْعَلْ ذٰلِكَ بَارِى [Do that at least]; but this is Persian, and is rejected as wrong.
They say also أُمَّالَىْ, with damm to the ا [and with imáleh in the final vowel, and so it is commonly pronounced at the present day]; but this too is wrong, for it is correctly إِمَّالَا [with kesr, and] not pronounced with imáleh, since particles are not pronounced in that way. The common people also change the hemzeh into ه with damm [saying هُمَّالَىْ].
[Fei says:] لَا is a substitute for the verb in the saying إِمَّالَا فَافْعَلْ هٰذَا, the meaning being: if you do not do that, then at least do this.
The origin of it is this: certain things are incumbent on a man, and he is required to do them, but refuses; then one is content with his doing some, or a part, of them, and says this to him — that is, if you will not do all, then do this. The verb is then suppressed, because the phrase is used so often, and مَا is added to give force to the meaning.
Some say that this is why لَا is here pronounced with imáleh, because it serves for the verb, as بَلَى does, and the vocative يَا; but it is said that it is correctly pronounced without imáleh, because particles are not pronounced so, as Az says.
[El-Hareeree says that] إِمَّالَا is properly three particles — إِنْ and مَا and لَا — made into one word, and the ا at the end of it is like the ا of حُبَارَى [which is written ى, in agreement with rule]; and for that reason it is pronounced with imáleh, like the ا of that latter word.
In the Lubáb it is said that لَا is used as a negative of the future, as in لا تَفْعَلْ, and the verb [in إِمَّالَا] is suppressed; so it [لا] serves as a substitute in the saying اِفْعَلْ هٰذَا إِمَّالَا, and therefore they pronounce its ا with imáleh.
IAth says that the Arabs sometimes pronounced لَا with a slight imáleh, and that the common people make the imáleh of it full, so that its ا becomes ى; but this is wrong.
Take this if you do not take that.—خُذْ هٰذَا إِمَّالَا
It is related that the Prophet saw a runaway camel and said, “To whom does this camel belong?” when some young men of the Ansár said, “We have drawn water with him for twenty years, and yet he still has fat in him; so we wanted to slaughter him, but he escaped from us.” He said, “Will you sell him?” They answered, “No; but he is yours.” And he said, إِمَّالَا فأَحْسِنُوا إِلَيْهِ حَتَّى يأْتِيَهُ أَجَلُهُ, meaning: if you will not sell him, treat him well until his term of life comes to him.
Show Lane's original text
is sometimes written أَمَّا , and sometimes its first م is changed into ى , [forming أَيْمَا or إِيْمَا or both, as will be shown below,] (Mughnee, [in my copy of which it is written أَيْمَا , and so in some copies of the K,] and K, [in some copies of which it is written إيمَا ,]) and it is held by Sb to be a compound of إِنْ and مَا , (Mughnee,) or as denoting the complement of a condition it is a compound of إِنْ and مَا . (M, K.) It denotes doubt; (Ks, T, Mughnee, K;) as in مَا أَدْرِى مَنْ قَامَ إِمَّا زَيْدٌوإِمَّا عَمْرٌو [I know not who stood: either Zeyd or 'Amr]: (Ks, T:) and جَآءَنِى إِمَّا زَيْدٌ وَإِمَّا عَمْرٌو [There came to me either Zeyd or 'Amr], said when one knows not which of them came. (Mughnee, K.) It also denotes vagueness of meaning; as in [the Kur ix. 107,] إِمَّا يُعَذِّبُهُم وأمَّا يَتُوبُ عَلَيْهِمْ [Either He will punish them or He will turn unto them with forgiveness]. (Mughnee, K.) It also denotes giving option; as in [the Kur xviii. 85,] إِمَّا أَن تُعَذِّبَ وإِمَّا أَنْ تَتَّخِذَ فِيِهِمْ حُسْناً [Either do thou punish, or do thou what is good to them]. (Mughnee, K.) It also denotes the making a thing allowable; as in تَعَلَّمْ إِمَّا فِقْهًا وإِمَّا نَحْوًا [Learn thou either low or syntax; (an ex. given in the T, on the authority of Ks, as an instance of the usage of إِمَّا to denote giving option;)] but its use with this intent is disputed by some, (Mughnee, K,) while they assert it of أَوْ . (Mughnee.) It is also used as a partitive; as in [the Kur lxxvi. 3,] إمَّا شَاكِراً و إمَّا كَفُورًا [Either, or whether, being thankful or being unthankful]; (Mughnee, K;) the two epithets being here in the accus. case as denotatives of state: or, accord. to the Koofees, إمَّا may be here [a compound of] the conditional إِنْ and the redundant مَا ; كَانَ , accord. to Ibn-EshShejeree, being understood after it: (Mughnee:) and Fr says that the meaning is, إِنْ شَكَرَ وَإِنْ كَفَرَ [if he be thankful and if he be unthankful]. (T.) It also denotes taking option; as in the saying, لِى دَارٌ بِالكُوفَةِ فَأنَا خَارِجٌ إلَيْهَا فَإمَّا أَنْ أَسْكُنَهَا وإِمَّا أَنْ أَبِيعَهَا [I have a house in El-Koofeh, and I am going forth to it, and either I will inhabit it or I will sell it: but this is similar to the usage first mentioned above]. (Ks, T.) It is a conjunction, (S in art. امو , and Mughnee,) accord. to most authorities, i. e., the second إِمَّا in the like of the saying, جَاءَنِى إمَّا زَيْدٌ وإِمَّا عَمْرٌو [mentioned above]; (Mughnee;) used in the manner of أَوْ in all its cases except this one, that in the use of او you begin with assurance, and then doubt comes upon you; whereas you begin with إِمَّا in doubt, and must repeat it; as in the saying last mentioned: (S: [and the like is said in the Mughnee, after the explanations of the meanings:]) but some assert that it is like the first إِمَّا , not a conjunction; because it is generally preceded by the conjunction و : and some assert that إِمَّا conjoins the noun with the noun, and the و conjoins إِمَّا with إِمَّا ; but the conjoining of a particle with a particle is strange. (Mughnee.) Sometimes the و is suppressed; as in the following verse, (Mughnee,) of El-Ahwas; (S;) 1 [O, would that our mother took her departure, either to Paradise or Hell-fire!]; (S,* Mughnee, K;) cited by Ks, with ايما for إِمَّا : (T:) and sometimes it is with kesr [i. e. إِيمَا ]: (S:) IB says that it is correctly إِمَّا , with kesr; asserting the original to be إِمَّا , with kesr, only. (TA.) يَا لَيْتَمَا أُمُّنِا شَالَتْ نَعَامَتُهَا | أَيْمَا إِلَى جَنَّةٍ أَيْمَا إِلَى نَارِ And sometimes the former مَا is dispensed with; as in the following verse, (Mughnee,) which shows also that مَا is sometimes suppressed; 1 [The thundering clouds of summer-rain watered him, or of autumn-rain; so he will not want sufficient drink]: i. e. إِمَّا مِنْ صَيِّفٍ وَإِمَّا مِنْ خَرِيفٍ . (Mughnee, K.) Mbr and As say that إِنْ is here conditional, and that the ف is its complement: but this assertion is of no weight; for the object is the description of a mountain-goat as having sufficient drink in every case: AO says that إِنْ in this verse is redundant. (Mughnee.) سَقَتْهُ ارَّوَاعِدُ مِنْ صَيِّفٍ | وَإِنْ مِنْ خَرِيفٍ فَلَنْ يَعْدَمَا Sometimes, also, one does not require to mention the second إِمَّا , by mentioning what supplies its place; as in the saying, إِمَّا أَنْ تَتَكَلَّمَ بِخَيْرٍ وَإِلَّا فاسْكُتْ [Either do thou speak what is good or else be silent]. (Mughnee.) [See art. الا , near its end.] Distinct from the foregoing is إِمَّا in the saying in the Kur [xix. 26], فَإِمَّأِتَريِنَّ مِنَ الْبَشَرِ أَحَدًاِ [And if thou see, of mankind, any one]: for this is [a compound of] the conditional إِن and the redundant مَا . (S * in art. امو , and Mughnee.) [In like manner,] you say, in expressing a condition, إِمَّا تَشْتِمَنَّ زْيدًا فَإِنَّهُ يَحْلُمُ عَنْكَ [If thou revile Zeyd, he will treat thee with forbearance]. (Ks, T.) And إِمَّا تَأْتِنِي أُكِْرِمْكَ [If thou come to me, I will treat thee with honour]. (S.) In the following saying, إِمَّا أَنْتَ مُنْطَلِقًا انْطَلَقْتُ [If thou be going away, I go away], the مَا is not that which restrains the particle to which it is subjoined from governing, but is a substitute for a verb; (K and TA in art. مَا ;) as though the speaker said, إِذَا صِرْتَ مُنْطَلِقًا [or rather إِنْ صِرْتَ ]. (TA in that art.) And hence the saying of the poet, [of which a reading different from that here following has been given voce أَمَّا ,] 1 [O Aboo-Khurásheh, if thou be possessor of a number of men, verily, my people, the year of dearth, or of sterility, hath not consumed them]; as though he said, إِنْ كُنْتُ ذَا نَفَرٍ . (TA in that art.) [But IHsh states the case differently; saying,] An instance of أَمَّا أَنْتَ مُنطَلِقًا انْطَلَقْتُ not used to restrain from governing, but as a substitute for a verb, occurs in the saying, أَمَّا أَنْتَ مُنطَلِقًا اِنْطَلَقْتُ [Because thou wast going away, I went away]; originally, اِنْطَلَقْتُ لِأَنْ كُنْتَ مُنطَلِقاً : [for an explanation of which, see what is said of أَمَّا أَنْتَ in a reading of the verse commencing with أَبَا خُرَاشَة voce أَمَّا :] but accord. to El-Fárisee and IJ, the government belongs to مَا ; not to كَانَ [or كُنْتَ ]. (Mughnee in art. مَا .) أَبَا خُرَاشَةَ إِمَّا أَنْتَ ذَا نَسفَرٍ | فَإنَّ قَوْمِىَ لَمْ تَإْكُلْهُمُ الضَّبُغُ So too in the saying, اِفْعَلْ هذَا إِمَّالَا , meaning إِنْ كُنْتَ لَاتَفْعَلُ غَيْرَهُ [i. e. Do thou this if thou wilt not do another thing; or do thou this at least]; (Mughnee and K, each in art. مَا ;) indicating a person's refusal to do [fully] that which he is ordered to do: (TA in that art.:) or إِمَّالَا فَافْعَلْ كَذَا , meaning if thou wilt not do that, then do thou this; the three particles [ إِنْ and مَا and لَا ] being made as one word: so says Lth: (T:) [J says,] إِمَّالَا فَافْعَلْ كَذَا is pronounced with imáleh, [i. e. “ immá-lè, ”] and is originally إِن لَا with مَا as a connective; and the meaning is, if that thing will not be, then do thou thus: (S in art. لَا :) [but] AHát [disallows this pronunciation, and] says, sometimes the vulgar, in the place of اِفْعَلْ ذٰلِكَ إِمَّالَا , say, اِفْعَلْ ذٰلِكَ بَارِى [Do thou that at least]; but this is Persian, and is rejected as wrong: and they say also, أُمَّالَىْ , with damm to the ا [and with imáleh in the case of the final vowel, and thus it is vulgarly pronounced in the present day]; but this too is wrong; for it is correctly إِمَّالَا , [with kesr, and] not pronounced with imáleh, for particles [in general] are not thus pronounced: (T:) and the vulgar also convert the hemzeh into ه with damm [saying هُمَّالَىْ ]. (TA in art. مَا .) [Fei says,] لَا is a substitute for the verb in the saying, إِمَّالَا فَافْعَلْ هٰذَا , the meaning being If thou do not that, then [at least] do thou this: the origin thereof is this; that certain things are incumbent on a man to do, and he is required to do them, but refuses; and then one is content with his doing some, or a part, of them, and says to him thus: i. e., if thou wilt not do all, then do thou this: then the verb is suppressed, on account of the frequency of the usage of the phrase, and مَا is added to give force to the meaning: and some say that it is for this reason that لَا is here pronounced with imáleh; because it serves for the verb; like as بَلَى is, and the vocative يَا : but it is said that it is correctly pronounced without imáleh; because particles [in general] are not pronounced therewith; as Az says. (Msb in art. لَا .) [El-Hareeree says that] إِمَّالَا is properly [a compound of] three particles, which are إِنْ and مَا and لَا , made as one word, and the ا at the end thereof is like the ا of حُبَارَى [in which it is written ى , agreeably with rule]; wherefore it is pronounced with imáleh, like as is the ا of this latter word. (Durrat el-Ghowwás, in De Sacy's Anthol. Gr. Ar. p. 57 of the Arabic text.) In the Lubáb it is said that لَا is used as a negative of the future, as in لا تَفْعَلْ ; and the verb [in إِمَّالَا ] is suppressed; so it [ لا ] serves as a substitute in the saying, اِفْعَلْ هٰذَا إِمَّالَا ; therefore they pronounce its ا with imáleh: and IAth says that the Arabs sometimes pronounced لَا with a slight imáleh; and the vulgar make the imáleh thereof full, so that its ا becomes ى ; but this is wrong. (TA.) You say also, خُذْ هٰذَا إِمَّالَا , meaning Take thou this if thou take not that. (T.) It is related that the Prophet saw a runaway camel, and said, “ To whom belongeth this camel? ” when, lo, some young men of the Ansár said, “ We have drawn water upon him during twenty years, and yet he has in him fat; so we desired to slaughter him; but he escaped from us. ” He said, “ Will ye sell him? ” They answered, “ No: but he is thine. ” And he said, إِمَّالَا فأَحْسِنُوا إِلَيْهِ حَتَّى يأْتِيَهُ أَجَلُهُ , meaning If ye will not sell him, act well to him until his term of life come to him. (T.)