مُسْتَثْنَى
mustathna
Excepted noun (mustathna)
Nahw · syntaxSyntactic roleadvanced term136+ in the Qur'an
In one line
The excepted noun — what is excluded after إلّا (and its sisters).
Classical definition
المُسْتَثْنَى بِإِلَّا يُنْصَبُ إِذَا كَانَ الكَلَامُ تَامًّا مُوجَبًا.
(الآجرّومية)
How to spot it
Recognition test
The noun after إلّا / غير / سوى that is carved out of the preceding statement is the mustathna.
In the Qur'an
فَشَرِبُوا۟ مِنْهُ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا مِّنْهُمْ
Al-Baqarah 2:249 — “they drank from it, except a few of them”
قَلِيلًا is the mustathna after إلّا, in nasb.
Related terms