← All rootsReader's Key

لَوْلَا

exhortation particle · conditional  ·  1 entry  ·  Qur'ānic frequency 75

This is Lane’s article on لَوْلَا. In the printed Lexicon he files it under لو — that is where it appears on the page, not the word’s root.

Lane’s articleلَوْلَا4 senses · 1 main
1

And for لَوْمَا, see حَضَّهُ.

1.1why did you not do such a thing?لَوْلَا فَعَلْتُ كَذَا
why will you not do such a thing?لَوْلَا تَفْعَلُ كَذَا

لَوْمَا, ألَّا and هَلَّا are used in the same way.

See an example in the Qurʾān, 10:98, explained in the article إِلَّا.

1.2had this not been, that would have beenلَوْلَا هٰذَا لَكَانَ ذَاكَ
1.3

لَوْلَا is followed by a noun in the nominative case, or by a verb, as in the examples above.

Show Lane's original text
and لَوْمَا : see حَضَّهُ . لَوْلَا فَعَلْتُ كَذَا means Wherefore didst not thou such a thing? and لَوْلَا تَفْعَلُ كَذَا means Wherefore wilt not thou do such a thing? and in like manner, لَوْمَا and ألَّا and هَلَّا . See an ex. in the Kur, x. 98, explained in art. إِلَّا . لَوْلَا هٰذَا لَكَانَ ذَاكَ Had not this been, or but for this, that had been, or would have been. لَوْلَا is followed by a noun in the nom. case (as in the Kur, viii. 69), or by a verb, as in exs. above.