4:116

Salaam all,

This is 4:116
إِنَّ اللّهَ لاَ يَغْفِرُ أَن يُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَلِكَ لِمَن يَشَاء وَمَن يُشْرِكْ بِاللّهِ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلاَلاً بَعِيدًا
Inna Allaha la yaghfiru an yushraka bihi wayaghfiru ma doona thalika liman yashao waman yushrik biAllahi faqad dalla dalalan baAAeedan

The aya says:
Indeed, Allah does not protectively cover, that He be partnered with. And He protectively covers what is short of that to whomever He wills. And whoever makes partners to Allah then he indeed lost the path, far misguidance.

My personal note:
I used protective cover in this Aya because it carries the profound effect of the Aya. For indeed the one who worships others with Allah have lost Allah’s protective cover and that is the hugest loss.

This Aya carries the meaning of another aya 4:48. They establish an important principle of Islamic thought. The principle is that all sins are forgivable by Allah, or do not remove the person from Allah’s protective cover except the sin of making partners to Allah. In here one needs to understand some main other issues:

1- It does not mean that the other sins will be forgiven for sure, but there is a potential for forgiveness of those sins even if the person does not repent. The criteria for that forgiveness are between the person and Allah. Allah will always judge us with His mercy, justice, love and compassion. It also could mean that the person may still suffer, but less than he or she deserves for the sin. This is an important principle to understand because there are lots of Ayat and sayings of the prophet (pbuh) which carry grave consequences for certain sins, as in murder, usury, adultery and so on. Those grave consequences are understood in the light of this Aya and 4:48 as general rules of grave consequences but with room for exceptions.

2- Making partners with Allah is a sin that is not forgivable without exceptions. However, it will be forgiven with repentance. So, the difference between it and the previous one is that it is the one that requires repentance for it to be forgiven, while others do not.

3- Therefore repentance forgives all sin. Repentance is then defined as accepting the sin and then moving away from it with the intention to never come back. This is addressed in Aya 8:38

The imagery at the end is very important. All movement away from Allah’s path is considered a state of losing the path. The imagery is that polytheism is the deepest form of loosing the path. It is also the deepest form of injustice.

Translation of the transliterated words:
Inna: indeed
Allaha: Allah
La: not
Yaghfiru: He protectively covers/ he forgives
Note: the root is GH-F-R and it means the helmet of the soldier in the battle. This is one of the concrete uses of the word and the word is therefore used to mean protective covering in many fashions as in protecting the person from the error or protecting the person from the consequence of error and that is forgiveness. YAGHFIRU is an action that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action of protectively covering or forgiving is happening or will be happening by the subject (third person singular pointing to Allah).
An: that
Yushraka: be partnered
Note: the root SH-R-K and it means partner or partnership and with this partnership is a measure of equality or being on par. YUSHRAKA is an action that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action of making partner to the object (bihi= with Him pointing to God) is happening or will be happening by an undeclared subject.
Bihi: with Him/ in him
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. HI means him and it points to Allah.
Wayaghfiru: and He protectively covers/ forgives
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. YAGHFIRU is derived from the root GH-F-R and it means the helmet of the soldier in the battle. This is one of the concrete uses of the word and the word is therefore used to mean protective covering in many fashions as in protecting the person from the error or protecting the person from the consequence of error and that is forgiveness. YAGHFIRU is an action that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action of protectively covering or forgiving is happening or will be happening by the subject (third person singular pointing to Allah).
Ma: what
Doona: short of/ below of
Note: The root is D-W-N and it means short of someone or something. It can also mean lower than at times depending on the plane of thought of the sentence. DOONA means short of or below of.
Thalika: that
Liman: to whomever
Yashao: He wills/ He entities
Note: the root is SH-Y-Hamza and it means entity for noun and to entity for the action. This means making a non entity become an entity, which also means making what was impossible possible, or what was non existent, existent or what was un-allowed allowed, and so forth. YASHAO is an action that is related to the root that is being completed or will be completed. It means: The entity is happening or will be happening by the subject (third person singular and points to God).
waman: and whoever
Yushrik: makes equal partner
Note: the root SH-R-K and it means partner or partnership and with this partnership is a measure of equality or being on par. YUSHRIK is an action that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action of making partner to the object (biALLAH= with/in God) is happening or will be happening by the subject (third person plural).
biAllahi: : in Allah
Note: Bi denotes that what comes after is a tool and/or an object or an association with an action that was mentioned. If is the object of the action then it makes it stronger. In here the action is making become safe. ALLAH is Allah.
Faqadi: then indeed
Dalla: lost the path/ become misguided
Note: the root is Dhad-L-L and it means getting lost as in lost the path or road in concrete terminology. Conceptually, it is used for any form of loosing the path, whether it is the path to a location or to the truth, or to be correct spiritually and so on. The imagery is very strong since loosing the path in the desert can mean near certain death. DALLA is an action that is completed. It means: the actions of loosing the path, or becoming misguided happened by the subject (third person singular).

Dalalan: a state of perdition/ loss of path/ misguidance
Note: the root is Dhad-L-L and it means getting lost as in lost the path or road in concrete terminology. Conceptually, it is used for any form of loosing the path, whether it is the path to a location or to the truth, or to be correct spiritually and so on. The imagery is very strong since loosing the path in the desert can mean near certain death. DALALAN is a state of being lost or in perdition or misguidance.
baAAeedan: far
Note: the root is b-ain-d and it means further in time or space. in space it means farther in distance and in time, it means after. BaAAeeDAN means far according to the plane of thought. In this context, it seems to fit with distant.

Salaam all and have a great day.


Hussein