لَوْلَا if not for in Arabic

لَوْلَا صِحَة مامته مَا قيل ابْن الحنيفة

If not for the soundness of his leadership, he would not be called the son of Hanifiyyah.

لَوْلَا if not for

This particle launches a 'were it not for ___' frame: it supposes the existence of the thing named next, then states what would follow from removing it. The whole sentence hangs on that suppressed condition.

From The Prophet's Refuge in the Cave

والذي نفس محمد بيده لولا أن يشق على المسلمين ما قعدت خلاف سرية تغزو في سبيل الله أبدا،

By the One in whose hand is Muhammad's soul, if it were not hard on the Muslims, I would never remain behind any expedition that fights in the cause of Allah, ever,

لَوْلَا if it were not

This particle means 'were it not for / if not', setting up a contrary-to-fact condition: because the thing it names does hold, the speaker does the opposite of what follows. Its job is to flag a hypothetical that is known not to be acted on, here 'were it not hard on the Muslims...'.

From Paradise for Those Who Strive

ويمر في أغراضه لولا أن العقل حجوز،

And he pursues his desires, were it not that reason restrains him.

لَوْلَا were it not

This is a special conditional particle meaning 'were it not for', which sets up an unreal condition: something would happen except that a named factor blocks it. It expects a noun to follow naming that blocking factor, and it tells you the youth would run unchecked but for what comes next.

From God's Promise of New Life

واللذيذ أحمد لولا الإكثار منه وملازمة الطعام التفه

Delicious food is praiseworthy, were it not for overeating it, and sticking to bland food.

لَوْلَا except for

This is a conditional particle meaning 'were it not for', which sets up a clause saying the praise would stand except for one ruinous factor. It introduces the thing that spoils the verdict, governing the noun after it as the obstacle; English needs a whole phrase to carry what this one word does.

From The Art of Eating Well

وَيَمُرُّ فِي أَغْرَاضِهِ لَوْلَا أَنَّ الْعَقْلَ حَجُوزٌ،

And he would pursue his aims if reason did not prevent him.

لَوْلَا if not for

A conditional particle 'were it not for / if not that', which sets up a hypothetical: something would happen except that a preventing factor exists. It introduces the obstacle clause and frames the prior verb as what would occur in its absence.

From On Birth and Its Timing

أَمَا وَاللَّهِ لَوْلَا أَنَّكَ مَعَ أَبِي صَفْوَانِ مَا رَجَعْتَ إِلَى أَهْلِكَ سَالِمًا

By God, had you not been with Abu Sufyan, you would not have returned safely to your family.

لَوْلَا if not for

A counterfactual 'were it not for / had it not been' particle. It opens an unreal condition — supposing something that did *not* hold — and its non-occurrence is what makes the consequence threatened but unrealised.

From Warning Before the Battle of Badr

اللَّهُمَّ لَوْلَا أَنْتَ مَا اِهْتَدَيْنَا وَلَا تَصَدَّقْنَا وَلَا صَلَّيْنَا

O Allah, were it not for You, we would not have been guided, we would not have given charity, and we would not have prayed.

لَوْلَا were it not for

This is a counterfactual-condition particle meaning 'were it not for', setting up a hypothetical whose non-fulfilment would have changed everything. It frames the whole clause as an unreal condition: had this not been so, the opposite outcome would have followed.

From The Martyr's Reward

وَلَوْلَا ذَلِكَ مَا هَنَأَهُ الْعَيْشُ

And were it not for that, life would not be pleasant for him.

وَلَوْلَا and if not for

The wa- continues the sentence, and the particle it joins is a contrary-to-fact 'were it not for', which sets up an unreal condition. Its grammatical job is to flag the whole following clause as hypothetical and to demand a matching result clause. So it frames what comes as something that did NOT in fact happen.

From On Foolishness and Wisdom