4:108

Salaam all,

this is 4:108
يَسْتَخْفُونَ مِنَ النَّاسِ وَلاَ يَسْتَخْفُونَ مِنَ اللّهِ وَهُوَ مَعَهُمْ إِذْ يُبَيِّتُونَ مَا لاَ يَرْضَى مِنَ الْقَوْلِ وَكَانَ اللّهُ بِمَا يَعْمَلُونَ مُحِيطًا
Yastakhfoona mina alnnasi wala yastakhfoona mina Allahi wahuwa maAAahum ith yubayyitoona ma la yarda mina alqawli wakana Allahu bima yaAAmaloona muheetan

The aya says:
They seek to hide from the people while they do not seek to hide from Allah. And He is witnessing them as they scheme, what He does not approve, of the saying. And Allah happened to be, in what they do, encircling.

My personal note:
The aya continues the same theme. It carries the meaning that those misleading people have their attention to other people and not on Allah. It reminds us that Allah is with us, witnessing what we do, aware of what we feel, wherever we are.

The aya also reminds us that Allah has complete awareness of what we do and also ultimate control over it.

Translation of the transliterated words:
Yastakhfoona: they seek to hide/ they hide
Note: The root is KH-F-Y and it means not apparent and also, rarely, it can mean the opposite which is apparent. One would decide which meaning according to the sentence and context. YASTAKHFOONA is an action that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action of seeking to make the object (the subject itself or it’s actions) not apparent or hidden, is happening or will be happening by the subject (third person plural).
Mina: from
Alnnasi: the people/ society
Note: ALNNAS is derived from the root Hamza-N-S and it means socializing. ALNNAS are the society/the people.
Wala: while not/ and not
Yastakhfoona: they seek to hide/ hide
Note: The root is KH-F-Y and it means not apparent and also, rarely, it can mean the opposite which is apparent. One would decide which meaning according to the sentence and context. YASTAKHFOONA is an action that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action of seeking to make the object (the subject itself or it’s actions) not apparent or hidden, is happening or will be happening by the subject (third person plural).
Mina: from
Allahi: Allah
Wahuwa: and HE
maAAahum: with them
Note: the term MaAAa means something close to “with”. This “with” can be in many angles concrete withness and awareness but does not necessarily have to mean close proximity. In this context, it carries the meaning of witnessing what they do.
Ith: as/ when
Yubayyitoona: they privately manipulate/ scheme
Note: the root is B-Y-T and it means to reach the night and BAYT is the place that you spend the night in. It is also used for any structure that can be used for that purpose and for animal dwellings. Therefore BAYT is closer to a shelter as the conceptual meaning and within that meaning falls the home or the house. YUBAYYITOONA is an action that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the making of shelter is happening or will be happening by the subject (third person plural). The context here makes the shelter more of acts of manipulation or treachery in privacy of their shelter, which would be the place where they feel safest to scheme.
Ma: what
La: not
Yarda: accept/ lovingly accept/ approve
Note: the root is R-Dhad-Y and it means loving acceptance, or agreeing and loving at the same time or mainly approval since approval has the meaning of acceptance in a deeper sense. YARDA is an action that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action of loving acceptance or approval of the object (min Alqawl= of the speech) is happening or will be happening by the subject (third person singular pointing to God).
Mina: of/ from
Alqawli: the saying/ communication
Note: The root is Qaf-W-L and it means saying or communicating. ALQAWLI means: the saying or the communication.
Wakana: and happened to be
Note: WA is a letter that links what is before with what is after. This link is through inclusion, either one is included in the other or they are all included in the bigger sentence or bigger picture. WA often corresponds with “and/ addition” but the more encompassing meaning is in inclusion one in another or all in a bigger picture or sentence. KANA is derived from the root K-W-N and it means being. KANA is an action that is completed that is derived from the root. It means: the action of being happened by the subject (third personal singular pointing to Allah). This in turn means: He was or He happened to be.
Allahu: Allah
Bima: By what/ with what/ in what
Note: Bi denotes that what comes after is a tool and/or an object or an association with an action that was mentioned. If it is an object of the action then it makes it stronger. MA means what
yaAAmaloona: they do
Note: the root is Ain-M-L and it means doing or work. YaAAMALOONA is an action that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action of doing or making is happening or will be happening by the subject (third person plural).
Muheetan: surrounding/ enclosing/ encricling
Note: The root is Ha-W-Ta and it means to surround or enclose for the verb. The concrete noun is an enclosing wall. Conceptually, it takes the meaning of being well protected and also of being in total control or total awareness just as the person is control of what is in the enclosure and has great knowledge of it and so on. Those conceptual meanings are determined by the context. MUHEETAN here means: enclosing or surrounding and in this context, it takes the meaning of knowing it well and also in control of it so that it will not get out of hand.

Salam all and have a great day.


Hussein