اما

اـِمَّا أم أما اـما اما ما آم آما is sometimes written أَمَّا, and sometimes its first م is changed into ى, [forming أَيْمَا or اـِيْمَا or both, as will be shown below,] (Mughnee, [in my copy of which it is written أَيْمَا, and so in some copies of the K,] and K, [in some copies of which it is written اـيمَا,]) and it is held by Sb to be a compound of اـِنْ and مَا, (Mughnee,) or as denoting the complement of a condition it is a compound of اـِنْ and مَا. (M, K.) ― -b2- It denotes doubt; (Ks, T, Mughnee, K;) as in مَا أَدْرِى مَنْ قَامَ اـِمَّا زَيْدٌواـِمَّا عَمْرٌو [ I know not who stood: either Zeyd or 'Amr ]: (Ks, T:) and جَاآءَنِى اـِمَّا زَيْدٌ وَاـِمَّا عَمْرٌو [ There came to me either Zeyd or 'Amr ], said when one knows not which of them came. (Mughnee, K.) ― -b3- It also denotes vagueness of meaning; as in [the Kur ix. 107,] اـِمَّا يُعَذِّبُهُم وأمَّا يَتُوبُ عَلَيْهِمْ [ Either He will punish them or He will turn unto them with forgiveness ]. (Mughnee, K.) ― -b4- It also denotes giving option; as in [the Kur xviii. 85,] اـِمَّا أَن تُعَذِّبَ واـِمَّا أَنْ تَتَّخِذَ فِيِهِمْ حُسْناً [ Either do thou punish, or do thou what is good to them ]. (Mughnee, K.) ― -b5- It also denotes the making a thing allowable; as in تَعَلَّمْ اـِمَّا فِقْهًا واـِمَّا نَحْوًا [ Learn thou either low or syntax; (an ex. given in the T, on the authority of Ks, as an instance of the usage of اـِمَّا to denote giving option;)] but its use with this intent is disputed by some, (Mughnee, K,) while they assert it of أَوْ. (Mughnee.) ― -b6- It is also used as a partitive; as in [the Kur lxxvi. 3,] اـمَّا شَاكِراً و اـمَّا كَفُورًا [ Either, or whether, being thankful or being unthankful ]; (Mughnee, K;) the two epithets being here in the accus. case as denotatives of state: or, accord. to the Koofees, اـمَّا may be here [a compound of] the conditional اـِنْ and the redundant مَا; كَانَ, accord. to Ibn-EshShejeree, being understood after it: (Mughnee:) and Fr says that the meaning is, اـِنْ شَكَرَ وَاـِنْ كَفَرَ [ if he be thankful and if he be unthankful ]. (T.) ― -b7- It also denotes taking option; as in the saying, لِى دَارٌ بِالكُوفَةِ فَأنَا خَارِجٌ اـلَيْهَا فَاـمَّا أَنْ أَسْكُنَهَا واـِمَّا أَنْ أَبِيعَهَا [ I have a house in El-Koofeh, and I am going forth to it, and either I will inhabit it or I will sell it: but this is similar to the usage first mentioned above]. (Ks, T.) ― -b8- It is a conjunction, (S in art. امو, and Mughnee,) accord. to most authorities, i. e., the second اـِمَّا in the like of the saying, جَاءَنِى اـمَّا زَيْدٌ واـِمَّا عَمْرٌو [mentioned above]; (Mughnee;) used in the manner of أَوْ in all its cases except this one, that in the use of او you begin with assurance, and then doubt comes upon you; whereas you begin with اـِمَّا in doubt, and must repeat it; as in the saying last mentioned: (S: [and the like is said in the Mughnee, after the explanations of the meanings:]) but some assert that it is like the first اـِمَّا, not a conjunction; because it is generally preceded by the conjunction و: and some assert that اـِمَّا conjoins the noun with the noun, and the و conjoins اـِمَّا with اـِمَّا; but the conjoining of a particle with a particle is strange. (Mughnee.) ― -b9- Sometimes the و is suppressed; as in the following verse, (Mughnee,) of El-Ahwas; (S;) يَا لَيْتَمَا أُمُّنِا شَالَتْ نَعَامَتُهَا أَيْمَا اـِلَى جَنَّةٍ أَيْمَا اـِلَى نَارِ [ O, would that our mother took her departure, either to Paradise or Hell-fire! ]; (S,* Mughnee, K;) cited by Ks, with ايما for اـِمَّا: (T:) and sometimes it is with kesr [i. e. اـِيمَا]: (S:) IB says that it is correctly اـِمَّا, with kesr; asserting the original to be اـِمَّا, with kesr, only. (TA.) ― -b10- And sometimes the former مَا is dispensed with; as in the following verse, (Mughnee,) which shows also that مَا is sometimes suppressed; سَقَتْهُ ارَّوَاعِدُ مِنْ صَيِّفٍ وَاـِنْ مِنْ خَرِيفٍ فَلَنْ يَعْدَمَا [ The thundering clouds of summer-rain watered him, or of autumn-rain; so he will not want sufficient drink]: i. e. اـِمَّا مِنْ صَيِّفٍ وَاـِمَّا مِنْ خَرِيفٍ. (Mughnee, K.) Mbr and As say that اـِنْ is here conditional, and that the ف is its complement: but this assertion is of no weight; for the object is the description of a mountain-goat as having sufficient drink in every case: AO says that اـِنْ in this verse is redundant. (Mughnee.) ― -b11- Sometimes, also, one does not require to mention the second اـِمَّا, by mentioning what supplies its place; as in the saying, اـِمَّا أَنْ تَتَكَلَّمَ بِخَيْرٍ وَاـِلَّا فاسْكُتْ [ Either do thou speak what is good or else be silent ]. (Mughnee.) [See art. الا, near its end.] -A2- Distinct from the foregoing is اـِمَّا in the saying in the Kur [xix. 26], فَاـِمَّأِتَريِنَّ مِنَ الْبَشَرِ أَحَدًاِ [ And if thou see, of mankind, any one ]: for this is [a compound of] the conditional اـِن and the redundant مَا. (S * in art. امو, and Mughnee.) [In like manner,] you say, in expressing a condition, اـِمَّا تَشْتِمَنَّ زْيدًا فَاـِنَّهُ يَحْلُمُ عَنْكَ [ If thou revile Zeyd, he will treat thee with forbearance ]. (Ks, T.) And اـِمَّا تَأْتِنِي أُكِْرِمْكَ [ If thou come to me, I will treat thee with honour ]. (S.) ― -b2- In the following saying, اـِمَّا أَنْتَ مُنْطَلِقًا انْطَلَقْتُ [ If thou be going away, I go away ], the مَا is not that which restrains the particle to which it is subjoined from governing, but is a substitute for a verb; (K and TA in art. مَا;) as though the speaker said, اـِذَا صِرْتَ مُنْطَلِقًا [or rather اـِنْ صِرْتَ]. (TA in that art.) And hence the saying of the poet, [of which a reading different from that here following has been given voce أَمَّا,] أَبَا خُرَاشَةَ اـِمَّا أَنْتَ ذَا نَسفَرٍ فَاـنَّ قَوْمِىَ لَمْ تَاـْكُلْهُمُ الضَّبُغُ [ O Aboo-Khurásheh, if thou be possessor of a number of men, verily, my people, the year of dearth, or of sterility, hath not consumed them ]; as though he said, اـِنْ كُنْتُ ذَا نَفَرٍ. (TA in that art.) [But IHsh states the [...]