Have you not seen those who were told, "Restrain your hands [from fighting] and establish prayer and give zakāh"? But then when battle was ordained for them, at once a party of them feared men as they fear Allāh or with [even] greater fear. They said, "Our Lord, why have You decreed upon us fighting? If only You had postponed [it for] us for a short time." Say, "The enjoyment of this world is little, and the Hereafter is better for he who fears Allāh. And injustice will not be done to you, [even] as much as a thread [inside a date seed]."
Sahih International
أَلَمْ
alam
Have not
Word breakdown
أَ
Harf · Interrogative particle?
لَمْ
Harf · Negative particledid not
Grammar rules
أَلَمْ (Have not) is a negation word — it makes the next word negative, like "not" or "no".
We add "not" or "no" to negate what follows.
Lesson 19 · Negation & Exceptionsأَلَمْ (Have not) marks a question — it turns the sentence into a question.
We rearrange the English into question form.
Lesson 17 · Questions & Prohibition