إِلَهَ god in Arabic

قُلْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ

Say, there is no god but God.

إِلَهَ god

A common noun, 'god', in the bare fixed shape that the absolute negator forces on what it denies, with no 'the'. It is the category being swept away, 'no god whatsoever', before the exception is named. Its form is the grammatical signature of that total negation.

From A Mother's Forgiveness

قُلْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ

Say, 'There is no god but Allah.'

إِلَهَ a god

This noun is the thing whose existence is being denied, locked by the absolute 'no' before it into a bare open-vowel ending with no tanwin. That stripped ending is the grammatical fingerprint of total negation: not 'no particular god' but 'no god whatsoever'. The statement then carves out the sole exception in the next words.

From A Mother's Forgiveness

فَقَالَ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ

So he said, "There is no god but Allah."

إِلَهَ god

This is the noun being swept away by the absolute negation: not one specific deity but the whole idea of a god. The negation before it fixes it in a bare open-vowel ending with no tanwin, the grammatical signature of 'none whatsoever'. The exception that follows then admits the single real one.

From A Mother's Forgiveness

اللَّهُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ

God—there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer.

إِلَهَ deity

The indefinite noun caught in the absolute denial before it; left without 'the', it is the whole class being negated. Its place in that fixed negation pattern forces a special bare ending, asserting that no member of the category exists.

From The Verse of the Throne

فَنَادَى بِأَعْلَى صَوْتِهِ أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ،

Then he cried out in his loudest voice, "I bear witness that there is no god but God."

إِلَهَ god

The bare noun swept up by the absolute negation just before it. Standing without 'the', it is the whole category being denied — 'no god of any sort' — and it takes a special clipped ending that this strong negation forces on it.

From A Stranger Finds the Prophet

إِذَا مَاتَ قَالَ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ عِنْدَ الْمَوْتِ

When a person dies, at the moment of death he says, "There is no god but God."

إِلَهَ god

An indefinite noun, 'god/deity', stripped of any 'the' and locked in by the absolute-negation word before it as the thing wholly denied. Its bare shape is exactly what that negator requires, giving 'no god at all'.

From Paradise for the Sincere

أَنَّ أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ، كَانَ يَقُولُ آللَّهُ الَّذِي لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ

Abu Hurayrah used to say, "Allah, there is no deity except Him."

إِلَهَ deity

An indefinite noun, 'deity', stripped of any 'the' and locked in by the absolute-negation word before it as the thing wholly denied. Its bare shape is what that negator demands, giving 'no deity at all'.

From Generosity to the Poor

يَخْرُجُ مِنَ النَّارِ مَنْ قَالَ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ

Whoever says "There is no god but God" will come out of the Fire.

إِلَهَ a god

This noun is the thing whose existence is denied, governed by the preceding negator and taking the bare clipped ending that the 'there is no...' construction assigns. Together with the negator it states that no such being exists, the first half of the testimony.

From Intercession on Judgment Day

ثُمَّ يَخْرُجُ مِنَ النَّارِ مَنْ قَالَ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ

Then whoever says, "There is no god but Allah" will come out of the Fire.

إِلَهَ a god

The noun whose existence is denied, governed by the negator and taking the bare clipped ending of the 'there is no...' frame. With the negator it states that no such being exists.

From Intercession on Judgment Day

فَقَالَ أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ،

Then he said, "I bear witness that there is no god but God."

إِلَهَ god

The noun 'god' in the special ending the absolute-negation forces, marking it as the wholly denied category. Its bare, un-tipped ending is the grammatical signature of the 'no X whatsoever' construction.

From What Was Created First

فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه و سلم الْإِسْلَامُ أَنْ تَشْهَدَ أَنْ لَا إلَهَ إلَّا اللَّهُ وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ، وَتُقِيمَ الصَّلَاةَ،

The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: Islam is to bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except God and that Muhammad is the Messenger of God, and to establish the prayer.

إِلَهَ deity

The noun governed by the absolute 'no', so it stands in the bare accusative form that this negation demands, with no 'the' and no tanwin. Together they assert there is not a single deity. It is the thing whose existence is being categorically ruled out before the exception is made.

From When Gabriel Came to Teach