إِمَّا
Root: اما
Full Definition
إِمَّا
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, or as denoting the complement of a condition it is a compound of إِنْ and مَا.
2 It denotes doubt; as in مَا أَدْرِى مَنْ قَامَ إِمَّا زَيْدٌوإِمَّا عَمْرٌو [I know not who stood: either Zeyd or 'Amr]: and جَآءَنِى إِمَّا زَيْدٌ وَإِمَّا عَمْرٌو [There came to me either Zeyd or 'Amr], said when one knows not which of them came.
3 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].
4 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].
5 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, while they assert it of أَوْ.
6 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]; 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: and Fr says that the meaning is, إِنْ شَكَرَ وَإِنْ كَفَرَ [if he be thankful and if he be unthankful].
7 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].
8 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
9 Sometimes the و is suppressed; as in the following verse, of El-Ahwas;
10 And sometimes the former مَا is dispensed with; as in the following verse, which shows also that مَا is sometimes suppressed;
11 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]. [See art. الا, near its end.]
def.2 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]. And إِمَّا تَأْتِنِي أُكِْرِمْكَ [If thou come to me, I will treat thee with honour].
2 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]. And hence the saying of the poet, [of which a reading different from that here following has been given voce أَمَّا,]
3 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: 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: [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: 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. 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. You say also, خُذْ هٰذَا إِمَّالَا, meaning Take thou this if thou take not that. 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.
2 It denotes doubt; as in مَا أَدْرِى مَنْ قَامَ إِمَّا زَيْدٌوإِمَّا عَمْرٌو [I know not who stood: either Zeyd or 'Amr]: and جَآءَنِى إِمَّا زَيْدٌ وَإِمَّا عَمْرٌو [There came to me either Zeyd or 'Amr], said when one knows not which of them came.
3 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].
4 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].
5 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, while they assert it of أَوْ.
6 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]; 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: and Fr says that the meaning is, إِنْ شَكَرَ وَإِنْ كَفَرَ [if he be thankful and if he be unthankful].
7 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].
8 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
9 Sometimes the و is suppressed; as in the following verse, of El-Ahwas;
[O, would that our mother took her departure, either to Paradise or Hell-fire!]; cited by Ks, with ايما for إِمَّا: and sometimes it is with kesr [i. e. إِيمَا]: IB says that it is correctly إِمَّا, with kesr; asserting the original to be إِمَّا, with kesr, only.يَا لَيْتَمَا أُمُّنِا شَالَتْ نَعَامَتُهَا أَيْمَا إِلَى جَنَّةٍ أَيْمَا إِلَى نَارِ
10 And sometimes the former مَا is dispensed with; as in the following 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]: i. e. 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 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.سَقَتْهُ ارَّوَاعِدُ مِنْ صَيِّفٍ وَإِنْ مِنْ خَرِيفٍ فَلَنْ يَعْدَمَا
11 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]. [See art. الا, near its end.]
def.2 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]. And إِمَّا تَأْتِنِي أُكِْرِمْكَ [If thou come to me, I will treat thee with honour].
2 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]. And hence the saying of the poet, [of which a reading different from that here following has been given voce أَمَّا,]
[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. [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
3 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: 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: [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: 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. 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. You say also, خُذْ هٰذَا إِمَّالَا, meaning Take thou this if thou take not that. 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.
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