إِلَٰهَa god

Example sentences

• قُلْ لَهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ

  Say to him, "There is no god but God."

  إِلَٰهَ — god. A common noun, 'god', here in the special bare shape that the absolute negator forces on what it denies, with no 'the' and a fixed ending. It is the category being wiped out, 'no god whatsoever', before the exception arrives. Its form is the grammatical fingerprint of that total negation.

  From: A Mother's Forgiveness →

• اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ حَتَّى تَخْتِمَ الْآيَةَ،

  Allah—there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer—until you finish the verse,

  إِلَٰهَ — deity. A noun standing as what is utterly denied, in the special stripped form that the absolute 'no' before it requires. That bare ending is the grammatical sign of the all-encompassing negation, 'no deity whatsoever'.

  From: The Verse of the Throne →