We will certainly take it away. This is the response to an omitted oath, substituting for the reward of the condition. The 'lam' that precedes 'if' serves as an emphasis for the oath. The meaning is: If We wish, We can take away the Qur'an and erase it from the chests and the manuscripts, leaving no trace of it, and you would remain as you were, not knowing what the Book is. Then you will not find anyone after its removal who will rely on Us to restore it and return it preserved and concealed, except by the mercy of your Lord, unless your Lord has mercy on you and returns it to you, as if His mercy relies on Him for its return. Or it could be an exception that is disconnected, meaning: But by the mercy of your Lord, We left it unremoved. This is a favor from Allah, the Exalted, for the Qur'an remaining preserved after the great favor of its revelation and preservation. Therefore, every knowledgeable person should not neglect these two favors and should express gratitude for them. They are Allah's favor upon him in preserving knowledge and its firm establishment in his heart, and His favor upon him in the preservation of what is kept. And from Ibn Mas'ud: 'The first thing you will lose from your religion is trustworthiness, and the last thing you will lose is prayer. A people will pray while having no religion. And this Qur'an will be gone from you one day, and there will be nothing of it among you.' A man said: 'How is that when we have established it in our hearts and recorded it in our manuscripts, teaching it to our children and our children teaching it to their children?' He said: 'It will be taken away at night, and in the morning the people will be left poor of it. The manuscripts will be lifted, and what is in the hearts will be removed.' [Reported by Abdul Razzaq, and through him by Al-Tabarani, and reported by Ibn Abi Shaybah and Ibn Mardawayh, all from the path of Shaddad ibn Ma'qil from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, and he added at the end: Then Abdullah recited: 'And if We wish, We can certainly take away that which We have revealed to you.']