Sharh Ibn Aqil on Alfiyyat Ibn Malik — Volume 2 (شرح ابن عقيل على ألفية ابن مالك) — Page 232

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

وَاسْتَثْنِ نَاصِبًا بِلَيْسَ وَخَلَا وَبِعَدَا، وَيَكُونُ بَعْدَ «لَا»

Use 'laysa', 'khala', and 'ada' to perform exception by putting the following noun in the accusative case; if 'la' precedes them, they function similarly.

أَيْ: اِسْتَثْنِ بِـ «لَيْسَ» وَمَا بَعْدَهَا نَاصِباً الْمُسْتَثْنَى؛ فَتَقُولُ: «قَامَ الْقَوْمُ لَيْسَ زَيْداً، وَخَلاَ زَيْداً، وَعَدَا زَيْداً، وَلاَ يَكُونُ زَيْداً»، فَـ «زَيْداً» فِي قَوْلِكَ «لَيْسَ زَيْداً، وَلاَ يَكُونُ زَيْداً» مَنْصُوبٌ عَلَى أَنَّهُ خَبَرُ «لَيْسَ، وَلاَ يَكُونُ»، وَاسْمُهُمَا ضَمِيرٌ مُسْتَتِرٌ، وَالْمَشْهُورُ أَنَّهُ عَائِدٌ عَلَى الْبَعْضِ الْمَفْهُومِ مِنَ الْقَوْمِ.

This means you should make an exception using 'laysa' and the words following it, keeping the exception in the accusative. You would say: 'The people stood, not Zayd,' 'excluding Zayd,' 'passing over Zayd,' or 'it is not Zayd.' In the phrases 'laysa Zaydan' and 'la yakunu Zaydan,' the word 'Zaydan' is in the accusative because it serves as the predicate for 'laysa' and 'la yakunu.' Their subject is a hidden pronoun, which is generally understood to refer to a portion of the group mentioned.

وَيُعْرَبُ هُوَ تَقْدِيراً بِمَا يُعْرَبُ بِهِ غَيْرُ لَفْظاً، خِلاَفاً لِأَكْثَرِ الْبَصْرِيِّينَ فِي ادِّعَاءِ لُزُومِهَا النَّصْبَ عَلَى الظَّرْفِيَّةِ وَعَدَمِ التَّصَرُّفِ، وَإِنَّمَا اخْتَرْتُ خِلاَفَ مَا ذَهَبُوا إِلَيْهِ لِأَمْرَيْنِ، أَحَدُهُمَا إِجْمَاعُ أَهْلِ اللُّغَةِ عَلَى أَنَّ مَعْنَى قَوْلِ الْقَائِلِ: قَامُوا سِوَاكَ، وَقَامُوا غَيْرَكَ، وَاحِدٌ، وَأَنَّهُ لاَ أَحَدَ مِنْهُمْ يَقُولُ إِنَّ سِوَى عِبَارَةٌ عَنْ مَكَانٍ أَوْ زَمَانٍ، وَمَا لاَ يَدُلُّ عَلَى زَمَانٍ أَوْ مَكَانٍ فِي مَعْزِلٍ عَنِ الظَّرْفِيَّةِ، وَالثَّانِي أَنَّ مَنْ حَكَمَ بِظَرْفِيَّتِهَا حَكَمَ بِلُزُومِ ذَلِكَ وَأَنَّهَا لاَ تَتَصَرَّفُ، وَالْوَاقِعُ فِي كَلاَمِ الْعَرَبِ نَثْراً وَنَظْماً خِلاَفُ ذَلِكَ.

It is parsed by estimation just as 'ghayr' is parsed explicitly. This contradicts most Basrian grammarians, who claim it must always be in the accusative as an adverb of place or time and remains indeclinable. I chose a different path for two reasons. First, linguists agree that the phrases 'they stood, except you' (qamu siwaka) and 'they stood, except you' (qamu ghayraka) share the same meaning, and no one argues that 'siwa' denotes a specific place or time; anything that does not indicate time or place cannot be an adverb. Second, those who classify it as an adverb insist it is mandatory and indeclinable, yet the reality of Arabic prose and poetry proves otherwise.

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Vocabulary · المفردات (11 verbs · 74 nouns)

• اِسْتَثْنَى — to except
• كَانَ — to be
• قَامَ — to stand
• نَاصِب — accusative
• مُسْتَثْنًى — exception
• قَوْم — people