= Ibn Abbas explained: la ʿamruka means la ʿayshuka – “by your life.” Fath al-Bari, 11/546. Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar adds in the same work, 11/547: under the heading “Chapter: A man saying ‘la ʿamr Allah’ (by the life of Allah) – does it count as an oath?” The discussion hinges on the meaning of la ʿamr, hence his citation of the report from Ibn Abbas, already mentioned in the commentary on Surat al-Hijr and transmitted with a connected chain by Ibn Abi Hatim. He likewise quotes Abu al-Jawza’ from Ibn Abbas regarding the divine statement la ʿamruka, i.e. “by your life.” Al-Raghib observes that ʿumr (with ḍamma) and ʿamr (with fatḥa) are one word, but the latter is reserved for oaths. A poet said: “ʿAmruka Allah, kayfa yaltaqiyān” – “By your life, may Allah prolong it, how could the two ever meet?” Abu al-Qasim al-Zajjaj comments that ʿumr means life; whoever says la ʿamr Allah is in effect swearing by the everlastingness of Allah. The prefixed lām is for emphasis and the predicate is omitted, meaning: “I swear by it.” For that reason the Malikis and Hanafis rule that the phrase constitutes a binding oath, because Allah’s everlastingness is one of His essential attributes. Malik nevertheless said: I do not like people to swear in that way. Ishaq b. Rahawayh records in his Musannaf, from ʿAbd Allah b. Abi Bakrah, that ʿUthman b. Abi l-ʿAs habitually swore saying la ʿamri (“by my life”). Al-Shafiʿi and Ishaq maintain that it counts as an oath only if one intends it, since the word may also denote “knowledge” or “truth”; “knowledge” may refer to what is known and “truth” to what Allah has ordained. Two views are narrated from Ahmad; the stronger coincides with that of al-Shafiʿi. They answer the Qurʾanic precedent by noting that Allah may swear by any of His creation, whereas His creatures are limited to swearing by Allah alone, in line with the prohibition of swearing by other than Allah. Al-Nawawi writes in his commentary on Sahih Muslim, 1/168: Concerning the Prophet’s words, “Aflaha wa-abīhi in ṣadaqa” (“He has succeeded, by his father, if he is truthful”), people often ask how this accords with the Prophet’s injunctions: “Whoever wishes to swear, let him swear by Allah,” and “Allah forbids you to swear by your forefathers.” The answer is that “Aflaha wa-abīhi” is not intended as an oath; it is merely a stock expression current among the Arabs, used without the intention of actually swearing. The prohibition concerns cases where one deliberately intends an oath, for that entails exalting the object sworn by and likening it to Allah Most High. This is the satisfactory reply. Others have suggested that the incident occurred before the ban on swearing by anything other than Allah – and Allah knows best. I say: As the prohibition of swearing by other than Allah was well known to the Imam of the Sunnah, the first explanation presented by al-Nawawi must be adopted, and that is, God willing, the sound answer. This is to be understood like the Arab expressions: thakilatka ummuk (“may your mother lose you”), raghima anfuk (“may your nose be rubbed in dust”), and taribat yaminuk (“may your right hand be impoverished”); they are conventional turns of phrase, not genuine invocations.