Al-muqaddimah Al-ajurrumiyyah [on the Science of Arabic Grammar]

The Chapter on the ISTITHNĀ’

[^79]

The Ḥurūf[^80] (particles) of alistithnā’ (exception/exclusion) are eight, and they are:

إلاّ                           (except/save/excluding)

غير **                          ** (other than)

سِوى                         (other than)

سُوى                         (other than)

سواء                         (other than)

خلا                          (except)

عدا                           (except)

حاشا                                    (except)

The Mustathnā by means of إلاّ:

is Manṣūb when the Kalām is Tāmm (i.e. the Mustathnā minhu[^81] is mentioned in the sentence) and Mūjab (i.e. positive, and not negated by a negative particle), like:

قام القوم إلاّزيداً                      (The people came exceptZayd )

خرج الناس إلاّ عمراً                  (The people left/went out except‘Amr )

and if the Kalām is Manfiyy (negative) and Tāmm, then there are the options of (1) Badal and (2) Naṣb by virtue Istithnā’, like:

ما قام القومُ إلاّزيدٌ وإلاّزيداً                   (The people stood exceptZayd )

and if the Kalām is Nāqiṣ (i.e. the Mustathnā minhu is not mentioned), then it is according to the ‘Awāmil (that precede it), like:

ما قام إلاّزيدٌ                           (No one stood exceptZayd )

ما رأيتُ إلاّ زيداً                                    (I did not see exceptZayd )

ما مررتُ إلاّ بزيدٍ                    (I did not pass except byZayd )

The Mustathnā with  سُوى، سِوى، غير and سواء  is Majrūr only and nothing else.

The Mustathnā with  خلا، عدا and حاشا  has the options of Naṣb and Jarr, like:

قام القوم خلازيداً وزيدٍ ، وعدازيداً وزيدٍ ، وحاشابكرا ً وبكرٍ (The people stood exceptZayd and exceptBakr )