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Some grammarians said that illā (except) here means “and not.” (1) That is: “The messengers do not fear in My presence, nor does one who has done wrong and then replaced evil with good.” In other words, neither the messengers nor repentant sinners fear in My presence. This is like His saying, exalted is He: “So that the people will have no argument against you, except the wrongdoers among them” (al-Baqarah 2:150)—that is, “nor the wrongdoers.” (2)
“Put your hand into your bosom; it will emerge white, without harm, as one of nine signs for Pharaoh and his people. Indeed, they are a defiantly disobedient people.” (12) “But when Our signs came to them, clear to see, they said, ‘This is plain magic.’” (13)
(1) In al-Tabari, al-Nahhas, and others: “with the meaning of the conjunction waw (‘and’).”
(2) Al-Farra' reported this view from some grammarians, but did not approve of it. Al-Nahhas said: “This is not sound Arabic.” Abu Hayyan said: “This is untenable, because the meaning of illa (‘except’) differs greatly from that of waw (‘and’): waw indicates inclusion, whereas illa indicates exclusion; thus, neither can replace the other.” See Ma'ani al-Quran by al-Nahhas, 5:117; al-Bahr al-Muhit, 7:57; Zad al-Masir, 6:157.
وَقَالَ بَعْضُ النَّحْوِيِّينَ: "إِلَّا" هَاهُنَا بِمَعْنَى: "وَلَا" (١) يَعْنِي: لَا يَخَافُ لَدَيَّ الْمُرْسَلُونَ وَلَا مَنْ ظَلَمَ ثُمَّ بَدَّلَ حَسَنًا بَعْدَ سُوءٍ، يَقُولُ: لَا يَخَافُ لَدَيَّ الْمُرْسَلُونَ وَلَا الْمُذْنِبُونَ التَّائِبُونَ، كَقَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى: "لِئَلَّا يَكُونَ لِلنَّاسِ عَلَيْكُمْ حُجَّةٌ إِلَّا الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا مِنْهُمْ" (الْبَقَرَةِ-١٥٠) ، يَعْنِي: وَلَا الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا (٢)
﴿وَأَدْخِلْ يَدَكَ فِي جَيْبِكَ تَخْرُجْ بَيْضَاءَ مِنْ غَيْرِ سُوءٍ فِي تِسْعِ آيَاتٍ إِلَى فِرْعَوْنَ وَقَوْمِهِ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا قَوْمًا فَاسِقِينَ (١٢) فَلَمَّا جَاءَتْهُمْ آيَاتُنَا مُبْصِرَةً قَالُوا هَذَا سِحْرٌ مُبِينٌ (١٣) ﴾
(١) في الطبري والنحاس وغيرهما: (بمعنى الواو) .
(٢) وهذا القول حكاه الفراء عن بعض النحويين ولم يرضه، وقال النحاس: "وذا ليس بجيد في العربية"، وقال أبو حيان: "وهذا ليس بشيء؛ لأن معنى "إلا" مباين لمعنى "الواو" مباينة كثيرة، إذ الواو للإدخال و"إلا" للإخراج، فلا يمكن وقوع أحدهما موضع الآخر". انظر: معاني القرآن للنحاس: ٥ / ١١٧، البحر المحيط: ٧ / ٥٧، زاد المسير: ٦ / ١٥٧.