Arabic vocabulary
How to say “rather” in Arabic, with pronunciation and real example sentences from OpenArabic texts.
وَإِنَّمَا يُذَمُّ الْمُفْرَطُ مِنْ ذَلِكَ
Rather, only the excess of it is condemned.
وَإِنَّمَا — and indeed only. 'wa-' = 'and'; 'innama' = 'only', a restricting emphasis.
From: When Desire Exceeds Its Bounds →وَنَدُرَ مِثَالُهُ أَنَّ شَهْوَةَ الْمَطْعَمِ إِنَّمَا خُلِقَتْ لاجْتِلابِ الْغِذَاءِ
A rare example of this is that the craving for food was only created to draw nourishment.
إِنَّمَا — indeed only. 'innama' = 'only', a restricting emphasis.
From: When Desire Exceeds Its Bounds →وأمثال ذَلِك مِمَّا اسْتعْمل فِيهِ لفظ الْكَلِمَة من الْكتاب وَالسّنة بل وَسَائِر كَلَام الْعَرَب فَإِنَّمَا يُرَاد بِهِ الْجُمْلَة التَّامَّة
And the likes of that from the usage of the term (the word) in the Book and the Sunnah, as well as the rest of Arab speech, for it indeed means the complete sentence.
فَإِنَّمَا — for it indeed. 'for indeed only' — 'fa' giving the reason plus 'innama' restricting it. Together: 'for in all these, it is ONLY...'.
From: The Declaration of Faith →إِنَّمَا خلقت الأكوان كلهَا لَك
Indeed, I created all the universes for you.
إِنَّمَا — indeed only. The restriction tool 'only / none other than' — it fences the statement to exactly what follows. The whole creation was for you alone.
From: Remembering and Loving God →إِنَّمَا أبعدنا إِبْلِيس إِذْ لم يسْجد لَك
Indeed, We cast out Iblis because he did not prostrate to you.
إِنَّمَا — indeed only. The restriction tool 'only / for no other reason than' — it fences the cause to exactly what follows. We banished Iblis solely because of this.
From: Remembering and Loving God →وَهَذَا إِنَّمَا يأتى مِنْهُ إِذا تمكن حبه من قلبه
And this only comes from him when His love is firmly rooted in his heart.
إِنَّمَا — indeed only. The restrictive 'only', confining what follows: 'this comes about only...'. It rules out every path but the one the sentence is about to give.
From: Accepting God's Decree →ابن آدم، إنما أنت أيام، كلما ذهب يوم ذهب بعضك
"Son of Adam, you are but days; whenever a day passes, a part of you goes."
إِنَّمَا — only indeed. A restriction particle meaning 'only' or 'nothing but'. Its job is to limit the statement so it reads 'you are nothing but days', narrowing rather than just emphasizing; it sets up an exclusive claim about what you are.
From: While You Still Can →إنما يُنكر فعلُه الذي هو كسبه،
What is denied is his action, which is his own doing,
إِنَّمَا — indeed only. A two-part particle of restriction meaning 'only / nothing but', built to fence off the statement: it tells you what follows is the one thing that holds and everything else is excluded. Arabic packs that 'only' emphasis into this single opener.
From: Trust in God →الأول أن هذا الكتاب إنما وضع لذكر أخبار الأخيار،
The first is that this book was composed to mention the reports of the virtuous;
إِنَّمَا — indeed only. A two-part particle of restriction, 'only / nothing but', fencing off the statement: it says the book was composed for this purpose and no other. Arabic carries that exclusive 'only' force in this single opener.
From: Gaps in a Collection of Pious Lives →وَإِنَّمَا الْعِبَادَة مَا يجمع كَمَال الْأَمريْنِ
Rather, worship is what combines the completion of both matters.
وَإِنَّمَا — and rather. This word fuses the 'and' connector with a restriction particle meaning 'only/rather'. It narrows the statement to one truth, the equivalent of 'it is only...', steering the sentence toward a single defining claim about worship.
From: Worship and Repentance →يَقُول الله يَا ابْن آدم إِنَّمَا هِيَ ارْبَعْ وَاحِدَة لي وَوَاحِدَة لَك وَوَاحِدَة بيني وَبَيْنك وَوَاحِدَة بَيْنك وَبَين خلقي
Allah says, 'O son of Adam, there are four things: one for Me, one for you, one between Me and you, and one between you and My creation.'
إِنَّمَا — indeed only. This is a restriction particle meaning 'only/just', narrowing what follows to a fixed set. It frames the whole statement as 'they are only four', limiting the count before it is listed.
From: Worship and Repentance →وَإِنَّمَا رَفْعُهُ إِلَى فَوْقِ يَحْتَاجُ إِلَى التَّكَلُّفِ
Rather, raising it upward requires deliberate effort.
وَإِنَّمَا — and rather. The connector wa- ('and') fused to a restrictive particle that means 'rather/only'. The restrictive part narrows the point to exactly one thing, setting up a contrast: it is ONLY the raising, not the descending, that takes effort.
From: Guarding the Heart from Heedlessness →وَإِنَّمَا يَعْرِفُ الزِّيَادَةُ مِنَ النُّقْصَانِ الْمُحَاسِبُ لِنَفْسِهِ
Only the one who holds himself accountable can distinguish increase from decrease.
وَإِنَّمَا — and only. A 'wa-' fused to a restriction particle that together mean 'and only / and it is solely'. The 'wa-' links this to the prior thought, while the restriction word narrows the claim to one case alone, 'only X does Y'. It sets up an exclusive frame whose sole qualifier is named later in the sentence.
From: Preparing for Death and Repentance →OpenArabic teaches words like إِنَّمَا through real bilingual reading with native audio and spaced-repetition practice.
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