Introduction to the conditional sentences – الْجُمَلُ الشَّرْطِيَّةُ
There are two parts in a conditional sentence: the condition or protasis – فِعْلُ الشَّرْطِ and apodosis – جَوَابُ الشَّرْطِ. Sometimes, the protasis and the apodosis have the verb in the perfect or jussive mood in a verbal sentence.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِن تَنصُرُوا اللَّـهَ يَنصُرْكُمْ وَيُثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَكُمْ
O you who have believed, if you support Allah, He will support you and plant your feet firmly. (47:7)
A conditional sentence is introduced by one of the following particles.
- إِنْ – if
- إذَا – when
- لَوْ – if
- مَنْ – who/ whom / whoever
- مَهْمَا – whatever
- أَيُّ – which / whichever
- لَمَّا – when
- مَا – what
- أَيْنَ – where
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1. إنْ (if) is used to begin the sentence
وَإِن تَعُودُوا نَعُدْ
but if you return [to war], We will return (8:19)
When إِنْ is preceded by لَ, it means indeed if / certainly if.
لَئِن لَّمْ تَنتَهِ لَأَرْجُمَنَّكَ ۖ وَاهْجُرْنِي مَلِيًّا
If you do not desist, I will surely stone you, so avoid me a prolonged time.” (19:46)
وَلَئِن لَّمْ يَفْعَلْ مَا آمُرُهُ لَيُسْجَنَنَّ وَلَيَكُونًا مِّنَ الصَّاغِرِينَ
and if he will not do what I order him, he will surely be imprisoned and will be of those debased.” (12:32)
Note: إِنْ, when followed by إلَّا, is merely a negative particle.
إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا وَحْيٌ يُوحَىٰ
It is not, but a revelation revealed, (53:4)
2. إِنْ and إِذَا are said to be likely or possible conditions
In the likely conditional sentence, the protasis – فِعْلُ الشَّرْطِ and apodosis – جَوَابُ الشَّرْطِ can be the perfect or the jussive.
فَإِذَا جَاءَ الْخَوْفُ رَأَيْتَهُمْ يَنظُرُونَ إِلَيْكَ
And when fear comes, you see them looking at you (33:19)
فَإِذَا ذَهَبَ الْخَوْفُ سَلَقُوكُم بِأَلْسِنَةٍ
But when fear departs, they lash you with sharp tongues, indisposed toward [any] good. (33:19)
3. The unlikely condition is introduced by the conjunction لَوْ
وَلَوْ شَاءَ رَبُّكَ لَجَعَلَ النَّاسَ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً
And if your Lord had willed, He could have made humanity one community (11:118)
لَوْ أَنزَلْنَا هَـٰذَا الْقُرْآنَ عَلَىٰ جَبَلٍ لَّرَأَيْتَهُ خَاشِعًا مُّتَصَدِّعًا مِّنْ خَشْيَةِ اللَّـهِ
If We had sent down this Qur’an upon a mountain, you would have seen it humbled and coming apart from fear of Allah (59:21)
An unlikely negative condition is often expressed by لَوْ لَا (if not/had not):
وَلَوْلَا أَن كَتَبَ اللَّـهُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْجَلَاءَ لَعَذَّبَهُمْ فِي الدُّنْيَا
And if not that Allah had decreed for them evacuation, He would have punished them in [this] world (59:3)
وَلَوْلَا دَفْعُ اللَّـهِ النَّاسَ بَعْضَهُم بِبَعْضٍ
And if it were not for Allah checking [some] people using others (2:251)
Examples of the conditional sentences used in the Holy Quran
وَإِنْ أَرَدتُّمُ اسْتِبْدَالَ زَوْجٍ مَّكَانَ زَوْجٍ
But if you want to replace one wife (4:20)
وَإِن تُصِبْهُمْ سَيِّئَةٌ يَقُولُوا هَـٰذِهِ مِنْ عِندِكَ ۚ قُلْ كُلٌّ مِّنْ عِندِ اللَّـهِ
and if evil befalls them, they say, “This is from you.” Say, “All [things] are from Allah.” (7:78)
فَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًا يَرَهُ
So whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it, (99:7)
وَمَن يَكْفُرْ بِهِ فَأُولَـٰئِكَ هُمُ الْخَاسِرُونَ
And whoever disbelieves in it – it is they who are the losers. (2:121)
مَن يَعْمَلْ سُوءًا يُجْزَ بِهِ
Whoever does a wrong will be recompensed for it (4:123)
فَلَمَّا جَهَّزَهُم بِجَهَازِهِمْ
So when he had furnished them with their supplies (12:70)
You have now completed this Arabic lesson. The next one will be insha’Allah about Inna and its sisters in Arabic.
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