لَوْif

Example sentences

• وَلَوْ زَالَ رَيْنُ الْهَوَى عَنْ بَصَرِ بَصِيرَتِهِ لَرَأَى أَنَّهُ قَدْ شَقِيَ مِنْ حَيْثُ قَدَّرَ السَّعَادَةَ وَاغْتَمَّ مِنْ حَيْثُ ظَنَّ الْفَرَحَ وَأَلِمَ مِنْ حَيْثُ أَرَادَ اللَّذَّةَ

  If the veil of desire were lifted from the eyes of his insight, he would see that he is miserable where he thought he was happy, grieved where he thought he was joyous, and in pain where he sought pleasure.

  وَلَوْ — and if. 'And' plus a special 'if' for cases known to be contrary to fact — 'if (but it isn't so)'. Its result clause usually answers back with a 'then would have'.

  From: The Discipline of Foresight →

• يَا رَسُول الله لَو أَن أحدهم نظر إِلَى مَا تَحت قَدَمَيْهِ لَأَبْصَرنَا تَحت قَدَمَيْهِ

  O Messenger of Allah, if one of them were to look beneath his feet, he would see us.

  لَوْ — if. The particle 'law' of an unreal / counterfactual 'if' — supposing something contrary to fact. Its answer-clause will be marked with a 'la-' (would have…).

  From: The Night of the Migration →

• وَاعْلَمْ أَنَّ الْأُمَّةَ لَوْ اجْتَمَعَتْ عَلَى أَنْ يَنْفَعُوك بِشَيْءٍ لَمْ يَنْفَعُوك إلَّا بِشَيْءٍ قَدْ كَتَبَهُ اللَّهُ لَك،

  Know that if the nation gathered to benefit you with anything, they would not benefit you except with what Allah has decreed for you.

  لَوِ — if. This 'if' is the counterfactual kind, supposing something not real, 'if [hypothetically] they were to...'. It takes a past verb, and its answer later carries 'would'. The vowel has opened to '-i' before the next word.

  From: Patience and Trust in God →

• يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ لَوْ بَلَغَتْ ذُنُوبُك عَنَانَ السَّمَاءِ ثُمَّ اسْتَغْفَرْتنِي غَفَرْتُ لَك،

  O son of Adam! If your sins were to reach the clouds of the sky and then you were to ask for My forgiveness, I would forgive you.

  لَوْ — if. This 'if' frames a far-fetched supposition — 'even if it went so far as...'. It leads to a result stated later, and both its halves come in the past; the whole pictures an extreme case to magnify the mercy that answers it.

  From: The Vastness of God's Mercy →

• يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ إنَّك لَوْ أتَيْتنِي بِقُرَابِ الْأَرْضِ خَطَايَا ثُمَّ لَقِيتنِي لَا تُشْرِكُ بِي شَيْئًا لَأَتَيْتُك بِقُرَابِهَا مَغْفِرَةً

  O son of Adam! Were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, not associating anything with Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as it.

  لَوْ — were you. The hypothetical 'if' again — 'were you to...'. It governs the two past verbs ahead and points to a result later flagged by an emphatic 'la-'.

  From: The Vastness of God's Mercy →

• فقال رسول الله والذي نفسي بيده لو تدومون على ما تكونون عندي وفي الذكر لصافحتكم الملائكة على فرشكم وفي طرقكم، ولكن يا حنظلة ساعة وساعة ثلاث مرات،

  The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: 'By Him in Whose Hand my soul is, if you remained in the state that you are with me and in remembrance, the angels would shake hands with you in your beds and on your paths. But, O Hanzala, a time and a time.' He repeated this three times.

  لَوْ — if. This is the 'if' of an unreal, counterfactual condition — 'if [only] you remained...' — implying that in fact they do not. Arabic reserves this 'if' for hypotheticals contrary to reality, and it typically pairs with a 'la-' answer further on.

  From: Devotion and Daily Life →

• فيقول كيف لو رأوني؟

  He says: How would it be if they saw Me?!

  لَوْ — if. This is the 'if' of an unreal, counterfactual condition — 'if they HAD seen Me' (which they have not). Arabic reserves this 'if' for the contrary-to-fact, and the imagined result follows.

  From: Where Angels Gather →

• قال يقولون لو رأوك كانوا أشد لك عبادة، وأشد لك تمجيدًا، وأكثر لك تسبيحًا

  They say: If they saw You, they would be more devout in worship, more devoted in glorifying, and more frequent in praising.

  لَوْ — if. The counterfactual 'if' — 'if they saw You', a condition contrary to fact. The imagined consequence follows in a 'would be' clause.

  From: Where Angels Gather →

• حتى لو أن أحدكم دخل في كبد جبل، لدخلته عليه حتى تقبضه،

  Even if one of you were to enter the core of a mountain, it would enter upon him to take his soul.

  لَوْ — if. This is the 'if' of an unreal, counterfactual case — 'if [only] one of you...', imagining the most extreme refuge. It pairs with a 'that'-clause next and a 'la-' answer later.

  From: The Return of Jesus →

• وَأَنَّهُ لَوْ تَقَوَّلَ عَلَيْهِ لَمَا أَقَرَّهُ وَلَعَاجَلَهُ بِالْإِهْلَاكِ،

  And if he had fabricated against Him, He would not have approved of him and would have hastened his destruction.

  لَوْ — if. This is the word law, an unreal, contrary-to-fact 'if'. It frames a supposition that did not actually happen and signals an equally unreal result is coming. It differs from the ordinary 'if'; this one means 'had he done so, which he did not'.

  From: Proof of the True Messenger →

• ولو كانت إضافته إليه إضافة إنشاء وابتداء لم يكن رسولًا

  And if ascribing it to Him were an act of creation and origination, He would not be a messenger.

  وَلَوْ — and if. An 'and' fused to a conditional word 'if' that introduces a hypothetical contrary to fact. This particular 'if' signals 'had it been so (but it was not)', preparing a would-have consequence. It governs a past-tense verb to build the unreal condition.

  From: God's Eternal Word →

• ولو كان غيره هو المتكلم به لكان من ذلك الغير

  And if another had spoken it, it would have been from that other.

  وَلَوْ — and if. An 'and' fused to the contrary-to-fact 'if', introducing an unreal condition, 'and if (it had been so, but it was not)'. It governs a past verb to build the hypothetical and prepares a would-have result.

  From: God's Eternal Word →

• وأنه لو تقول عليه لما أقره ولعاجله بالإهلاك

  And that if he had falsely attributed to Him, He would not have approved it and would have hastened to destroy him.

  لَوْ — if. This is the conditional word for an unreal, contrary-to-fact 'if', used for situations imagined as not having happened. Unlike a plain conditional, it signals 'had he, which he did not', and its answer clause later will carry a matching 'would have' marker.

  From: False Prophets →

• ولو نظر بعين البصيرة لعلم أن السلامة في ترك ما يخشى عاقبته

  Had he looked with insight, he would have known that safety lies in avoiding what is feared in its outcome.

  وَلَوْ — and if. The wa- opens the sentence and the particle joined to it sets up a contrary-to-fact condition, 'if (but it did not happen)'. This particular 'if' signals that the thing did not occur, framing the whole as 'had he done X, then Y would have followed'.

  From: Think Before You Act →

• فقال جحا لو كنت تعلم أن الدواء يوضع في الفم ما أعطيتني إياه لعين

  Joha said, 'If you knew that the medicine should go in the mouth, why did you give it to me for the eye!'

  لَوْ — if. A conditional word, 'if', used for an unreal or contrary-to-fact case, 'if you had known (but you did not)'. Unlike the everyday 'if', this one signals the condition was not actually met, much like English 'had you known'.

  From: Reflections on Literal Obedience →

• وقال عبد الواحد بن زيد لو رأيت الحسن، لقلت صب على هذا حزن الخلائق؛ من طول تلك الدمعة، وكثرة ذلك النشيج

  Abdul-Wahid ibn Zaid said: If you saw Al-Hasan, you would say: 'The sorrow of all beings has been poured upon him,' because of the length of his weeping and the abundance of his lamentations.

  لَوْ — if. This is the 'if' used for an imagined, unreal situation, the kind that sets up a 'had this been so, that would follow' frame. It signals the result clause coming next is hypothetical, not factual.

  From: Grief of the Prophet's Grandson →

• فَيَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا لَوْ أَدْخَلْتَنَا النَّارَ قَبْلَ أَنْ تُرِيَنَا مَا أَرَيْتَنَا مِنْ ثَوَابِ مَا أَعْدَدْتَ لِأَوْلِيَائِكَ كَانَ أَهْوَنَ عَلَيْنَا

  They will say: Our Lord, if You had put us into the Fire before showing us what You showed us of the reward You prepared for Your close ones, it would have been easier for us.

  لَوْ — if. A conditional particle, 'if / had', opening a hypothetical contrary to fact: it frames a situation that did not actually happen and waits for a 'would have' result. Arabic uses it specifically for 'if only it had been...' regrets.

  From: Turned Away at the Gate →

• فسبحان مدبر الفلك ولو لم يدر لم يدر،

  Glory be to the Manager of the cosmos, and had He not directed it, it would not rotate,

  وَلَوْ — and if. The attached connector adds a new clause, and the rest is the 'if' of an unreal, contrary-to-fact supposition: it imagines a situation that did not actually happen. This particle sets up a two-part 'had it been... it would have been' structure and signals that the result clause to come is purely hypothetical.

  From: Rain and God's Decree →

• فَلَوْ قَدْ طَلَعَ عَلَيْهِ صُبْحُ الْعِلْمِ اِفْتَضَحَ

  So if the dawn of knowledge had risen upon him, he would have been exposed.

  فَلَوْ — so if. A counterfactual 'if' particle, opened by the attached 'so', that sets up an unreal, contrary-to-fact condition. Unlike a plain 'if', this one signals the condition did NOT happen, framing the whole sentence as 'had X been so, then Y'.

  From: Finding the Prophet's Way →

• قَالَ أَرَأَيْتَ لَوْ أَنَّ نَارٌ أُجِّجَتْ،

  He said, "Have you considered if a fire were kindled?"

  لَوْ — if. A conditional particle, 'if', that sets up a hypothetical, often a contrary-to-fact one. Its job is to frame what follows as a supposition rather than a fact, opening the 'if X, then Y' structure. So it suspends the next clause as merely imagined.

  From: A Mother's Forgiveness →

• وَتَسْأَلُهُ شَيْئًا لَوْ لَمْ يَكُنْ مِنْ أَمْرِ الدِّينِ لَمَا اِسْتَحْسَنَ السُّؤَالَ عَنْهُ؛

  And she asks him something that, if it were not a matter of religion, would not be appropriate to ask about.

  لَوْ — if. A conditional particle 'if', specifically the kind used for a contrary-to-fact supposition — 'if it were (but it isn't) ...'. It opens the imagined case and signals that what follows is hypothetical and unreal. It sets up the 'had it not been religion, it would be improper' frame.

  From: How the Companions Preserved Hadith →

• فَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ لَوْ تَرَكَتْهُ بَيَّنَ

  The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: If you had left him, he would have made it clear.

  لَوْ — if. A condition word that opens an unreal, contrary-to-fact supposition: it sets up something that did not actually happen. It frames the whole following clause as a hypothetical, which is why the sentence carries the 'if you had... he would have...' shape.

  From: A Night with the Companions →

• لَوْ إِسْتَشْفَعْنَا إِلَى رَبِّنَا

  If only we had sought intercession from our Lord.

  لَوِ — if only. A conditional particle that frames a wished-for, unreal past, the 'if only' of regret about something that did not happen. It opens a two-part 'if/then' structure and colours the following verb as hypothetical rather than factual. Its final vowel here is just a smoothing adjustment before the next sound, not a meaning change.

  From: Intercession on Judgment Day →

• لَوْ أَمْتَعْتَنَا بِهِ

  If only you had let us enjoy it.

  لَوْ — if only. This is a counterfactual-wish particle, 'if only', framing the clause as an unreal longing for something that did not happen. Its job is to set up the regretful 'would that you had...', coloring the following verb as a missed possibility.

  From: The Martyr's Reward →