8) فصل المستثنى

The mustathnaa is a word mentioned after illaa and its sisters to know that whatever ruling is happening to the word before illaa is not happening to it. And it is upon two types:

1) muttaSil – and it is excluded from a group by illaa and its sisters, such as جاءني القومُ الا زيدًا .

2) munqaTi’ – and it the one mentioned after illaa and its sisters, without being excluded from a group, because of the lack of its being part of the mustathnaa minhu (excluded from), such as جاءني القومُ الا حمارًا .

And know that the i’raab of the mustathnaa is upon four types:

i. And if it is

- muttaSil, coming after illaa (not the other sisters) in a moojab (affirmative) speech

- or munqaTi’ as has passed

- or if it precedes the mustathnaa minhu (inverted structure, even in a negative sentence), such as ما جاءني الا زيدًا احدٌ

- or of it is after خلا (save Zaid) and عدا (crossing Zaid), according to the majority

- or after ما خلا و ما عدا و ليس و لا يكون , such as ما جاءني القومُ خلا زيدًا , etc.

it will be manSoob.

ii.  And if it is after illaa in a speech that is not moojab (not affirmative), and it is every speech occuring in it is nafee (negation) or nahee (prohibition) or istifhaam (interrogation), and the mustathnaa minhu is mentioned, then within it both methods are permitted, naSb and badl from that which is before it, such as ما جاءني احدٌ الا زيدًا و الا زيدٌ .

iii.  And if it is mufarrag (emptied) by its being after illaa in a speech that is ghayr moojab, and the mustathnaa minhu is not mentioned, its i’raab will be subject to ‘awaamil.  You will say ما جاءني الا زيدٌ و ما رايت الا زيدًا و ما مررث الا بزيدٍ .

iv. And if it is after سوى و سواءَ و حاشا , according to the majority, it will be majroor, such as جاءني القومُ غيرَ زيدٍ و سوى زيدٍ و سواء زيدٍ و حاشا زيدٍ .

And know that the i’raab of ghayr is like the i’raab of the mustathnaa in the case of illaa.  You say

جاءني القومُ غيرَ زيدٍ و غيرَ حمارٍ

(muttaSil and munqaTi’ moojab)

و ماجاءني غيرَ زيدٍ القومُ

(inverted structure)

و ما جاءني احدٌ غيرُ زيدٍ و غيرَ زيدٍ

(ghayr moojab, mustathnaa minhu mentioned)

و ما جاءني غيرُ زيدٍ

(mufarrag)

و ما ريت غيرَ زيدٍ

(mufarrag)

و ما مررت بغيرِ زيدٍ

(mufarrag)

And know that the word ghayr was coined as a Sifah, and sometimes it is used as a for istithnaa, like the word illaa was coined for istithnaa, but sometimes it is used for a Sifah, like in His saying, Most High:

لَو كان فيهما الِهَةٌ الا اللهُ لَفَسَدَتا , which is غير اللهِ , and likewise, your saying لا الهَ الا اللهُ .

فصل الكلام

ﺍﹶﻟﹿﻜﻼﹶﻡ is a ﻟﹷﻔﹿﻈ which comprises of two اِسم with ﺍﹺﺳﹿﻨﹷﺎﺩ . ﺍﹺﺳﹿﻨﹷﺎﺩ is the relationship of one of the words with the other in a manner which benefits the listener; a complete benefit upon which silence is appropriate, such as: زيدٌ قائمٌ و قام زيدٌ , and it is called ﺟﹹﻤﹿﻠﹷﺔ.

And know that the ﻛﻼﹶﻡ is not acquired except:

From two اِسم ,  such as زيدٌ قائمٌ , and it is called ﺟﹹﻤﹿﻠﹷﺔ ﺍﹺﺳﹿﻤﹻﻴﳲﺔ.

Or from a فعل and an اِسم , such as قام زيدٌ , and it is called ﺟﹹﻤﹿﻠﹷﺔ ﻓﹻﻌﹿﻠﹻﻴﳲﺔ.

Since the ﻣﹹﺴﻨﹷﺪ (subject) and ﻣﹹﺴﻨﹷﺪ ﺍﹺﻟﹷﻴﹿﻪ (predicate) are not found together in other than these, and it is necessary for the ﻛﻼﹶﻡ to have one of them.  If it is said that this is contradicted by the ﻧﹻﺪﺃ (vocative) , such as يا زيدُ , we say that ﺍﹶﻟﹿﺤﹷﺮﹾﻑ ﺍﹶﻟﻨﳴﺪﺃ (the vocative particle) stands in the place of  ادعو و اطلب , and there is no contradiction.

And when we have finished with the المقدمة, we will begin the three ﺍﹶﻗﹿﺴﹷﺎﻡ , and Allah is ﺍﹶﻟﹿﻤﹹﺆﻓﹻﻖ (the one who makes fit/suitable) and ﺍﹶﻟﹿﻤﹹﻌﹻﻴﹿﻦ (the Helper).

Hidayatun Nahw : rough translation/ notes

This was created for personal study purposes; however, I would appreciate any corrections and/or constructive criticism. I tried to keep the translation as literal as possible, at the expense of english grammar, as I found this facilitates reading and understanding the text in its original arabic.  Additionally, as the text progresses, I will use arabic terminology rather than english (eg: marfoo’ instead of nominative).