دُونَto the exclusion of

Example sentences

• وَيصير هُوَ وَحدهُ هَمَّهُ دُونَ مَا سِوَاهُ

  And He alone becomes his concern, to the exclusion of all else.

  دُونَ — to the exclusion of. A relation-word 'short of / below', frozen in the accusative and governing the genitive — 'apart from'. It sets up the exclusion of everything else.

  From: Reflecting on God's Names →

• لَيْسَ لِعِبَادِهِ من دونه ولي وَلَا شَفِيع

  His servants have no guardian or intercessor besides Him.

  دُونِهِ — Him. A relation-word 'short of / besides' with '-hi' (Him) attached, genitive after 'min' — 'besides Him'. Together: no protector apart from God.

  From: God's Majesty →

• وحفظُها يكون على ثلاث درجات الضَّرورياتِ التي لا يقومُ العيشُ بدونها،

  Preservation occurs on three levels: necessities that life cannot go on without,

  بِدُونِها — without them. 'without them' — a fixed 'without' phrase with '-ha' for the necessities. Life does not go on WITHOUT them; the 'them' reaches back to those essentials, sealing the definition.

  From: Five Objectives of Islamic Law →

• فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم لا يقدمن أحد منكم إلى شيء حتى أكون أنا دونه

  The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: 'None of you should advance towards anything until I am ahead of him.'

  دُونَهُ — ahead of him. This is a position-word 'below/before' with 'him' attached, here meaning 'ahead of him / nearer than him', the suffix pointing back to whoever might advance. The preposition-like noun governs the attached pronoun; it locates the Prophet in front, between the man and the danger.

  From: A Handful of Dates and Paradise →

• قَالَ اللهُ تَعَالَى إِنَّ اللهَ لَا يَغْفِرُ أَنْ يُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَلِكَ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ

  Allah the Exalted said: 'Indeed, Allah does not forgive associating partners with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills.'

  دُونَ — less than. A noun used prepositionally, 'less than', forcing the next word into the (genitive) form and ranking the forgivable sins below shirk. It sets the threshold of what can be pardoned.

  From: What Small Worship Erases →

• قَالَ اللهُ تَعَالَى إِنَّ اللهَ لَا يَغْفِرُ أَنْ يُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَلِكَ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ

  Allah the Exalted said: 'Indeed, Allah does not forgive associating partners with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills.'

  دُونَ — less than. A noun used prepositionally, 'less than', forcing the next word into the (genitive) form and ranking the forgivable sins below shirk. It sets the threshold of what can be pardoned.

  From: The Sin of Idolatry →

• كل المخلوقات دليل عليه فلا يقال هذا دون هذا،

  All creatures are evidence of Him, so it cannot be said that this one is lesser than that one.

  دُونَ — lesser than. This word marks comparison short of equality, 'less than / below', behaving like a preposition that links two things by rank. It governs the noun after it into the post-preposition form and sets up the contrast 'this below that'.

  From: Signs of God's Transcendence →

• وَيَتَقَرَّبُ بِتَقْبِيلِ يَدِهِ وَيَعْتَادُ بَرَكَتَهُ، وَيَعْمَلُ بِهَوَّاتِهِ دُونَ شَرْعِ اللَّهِ وَسُنَّتِهِ

  And he seeks closeness by kissing his hand, becomes accustomed to his blessing, and acts according to his whims instead of God's law and His Sunnah.

  دونَ — instead of. A preposition of exclusion meaning 'short of' or 'instead of', setting up a contrast: his whims taking the place of something higher. It governs the noun after it into the dependent form, framing what he abandons in favour of his whims.

  From: Guidance for the Seeker →

• وَخَصَّهُمْ بِهِدَايَتِهِ دُونَ مَنْ عَدَاهُمْ

  And He singled them out for His guidance, excluding whoever was other than them.

  دُونَ — except. This word means 'apart from / to the exclusion of' and behaves like a preposition, putting the following word in the genitive. Its job is to set up an exclusion: the guidance went to them and not to whoever the next word names.

  From: Three States of the Heart →

• فَعَلِمْتُ أَنَّ الْعُقُوبَاتَ وَإِنْ عَظُمَتْ دُونَ إِجْرَامِهِمْ؛

  And I realized that the punishments, even if severe, fall short of their wrongdoing.

  دُونَ — less than. A word meaning 'short of / below', which behaves like a preposition here: it governs the noun after it into the 'of'-style ending and sets up a comparison, 'less than their crimes'. It is the pivot that weighs the punishments against the wrongdoing and finds them lacking.

  From: Preparing for Death and Repentance →