Vocative address followed by prohibition
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا
yā ayyuhā lladhīna āmanū lā — O you who have believed, do not…
In the fourteen verses given, the direct address to 'you who have believed' is followed by lā and a prohibition, so that the address to the believers frames each command as something they, already addressed as believers, are told not to do. The slot after lā is filled by a different verb in each verse, covering actions from eating to betraying.
The frame consists of the vocative yā ayyuhā lladhīna āmanū followed immediately by lā and a verb. In the verses given, the relative clause lladhīna āmanū is masculine plural with a fourth-form perfect verb, and the addressee is then commanded not to do something. The filler changes each time: do not follow the footsteps of the Satan (24:21), do not enter houses (24:27), do not render your charities void (2:264), do not be like those who harmed Moses (33:69), do not consume the increase (3:130), do not go ahead in front of Allah and His messenger (49:1), do not raise your voices (49:2), do not come near the ṣalāh while intoxicated (4:43), do not make lawful the shaʿāʾir of Allah (5:2), do not take as protectors those who mock your way of life (5:57), do not kill the game (5:95), do not turn in close allegiance toward a people (60:13), and do not betray Allah and the Messenger (8:27). In all of these the word data marks lā as a prohibitive particle and the following verb is second person masculine plural. One verse breaks the pattern: in (4:19) the lā is marked as a negative particle and the verb is third person masculine singular, yaḥillu, giving 'it is not permitted for you to inherit women against their will' — the frame still opens with the vocative and lā, but the prohibition is expressed as a statement of what is not permitted rather than a direct 'do not'. The frame thus takes a wide range of actions — ritual, social, financial, marital, and political — and presents each as addressed to those who have believed.
Where it occurs
- 24:21 Opens the verse; the filler is 'do not follow the footsteps of the Satan'.
- 24:27 Opens the verse; the filler is 'do not enter houses other than your own'.
- 2:264 Opens the verse; the filler is 'do not render your charities void'.
- 33:69 Opens the verse; the filler is 'do not be like those who caused harm to Moses'.
- 3:130 Opens the verse; the filler is 'do not consume the increase'.
- 49:1 Opens the verse; the filler is 'do not go ahead in front of Allah and His messenger'.
- 49:2 Opens the verse; the filler is 'do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet'.
- 4:19 Opens the verse, but with a negative particle and third-person singular yaḥillu: 'it is not permitted for you'.
- 4:43 Opens the verse; the filler is 'do not come near the ṣalāh while you are intoxicated'.
- 5:2 Opens the verse; the filler is 'do not make lawful the shaʿāʾir of Allah'.
- 5:57 Opens the verse; the filler is 'do not take as protectors those who mock your way of life'.
- 5:95 Opens the verse; the filler is 'do not kill the game while you are in a state of sanctity'.
- 60:13 Opens the verse; the filler is 'do not turn yourselves in close allegiance toward a people'.
- 8:27 Opens the verse; the filler is 'do not betray Allah and the Messenger'.
All Qur'anic expressions