4:144

Salaam all,

This is 4:144
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ لاَ تَتَّخِذُواْ الْكَافِرِينَ أَوْلِيَاء مِن دُونِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَتُرِيدُونَ أَن تَجْعَلُواْ لِلّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ سُلْطَانًا مُّبِينًا
Ya ayyuha allatheena amanoo la tattakhithoo alkafireena awliyaa min dooni almumineena atureedoona an tajAAaloo lillahi AAalaykum sultanan mubeenan

The Aya says:
O you who made themselves safe (in Allah and the message) Do not take the rejecters guardians for yourselves, short of the ones who make themselves safe. Do you (plural) seek to make for Allah clear overpowering proof against you (plural)?!

My personal note:
The Aya repeats the issue of not taking the rejecters as guardians and directors as opposed to the ones who share belief. The aya ends up explaining that taking them as directors and guardians would make for a proof against us in the sight of Allah. See 4:139 for more detail on this issue.

Translation of the transliterated words.
Ya ayyuha allatheena: O those who
Note: the three words used here are callings.
Amanoo: made themselves safe
Note: the root is Hamza-M-N and it means safe or safety. AMANOO is an action that is derived from the root and that is completed. It means: the action of making the object (not mentioned and therefore the subject and the object can be the same entity here) become safe happened by the subject (third person plural). So, it ends up meaning: they made themselves safe.
La: not
Tattakhithoo: take for yourselves
Note: the root is Hamza-KH-TH and it means to take. TATTAKHITHOO is an action that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action of taking the object (Alkafireen= the rejectors) as another object (awliya- guardians) for oneself is being made to happen or will be made to happen by the subject (second person plural). LA TATTAKHITHOO is an order to not take.
Alkafireena: the rejecters/ the discarders of truth
Note: the root is K-F-R and it means cover or bury in the ground, as in put the seed in the ground and cover it. This is then used conceptually for many purposes as in discarding and rejecting as well as burying. ALKAFIREENA are the ones who reject the truth or discard it.
Awliyaa: protégés/ allies/guardians
Note: the root is W-L-Y and it means direction or following direction with some guarantee. It comes close to guardianship. AWLIYAA is either the one who is a guardian or the one who receives guardianship of another or both. In this context, they are the ones who receive guardianship and or protection from Alakafireen. Therefore I used protégés or allies or guardians.
Min: from
Dooni: 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. DOONI means short of or below of.
Almumineena: the ones who made themselves safe
Note: the root Hamza-M-N and it means safety. ALMUMINEENA means ones who make themselves safe.
Atureedoona: Do you (plural) seek? Want?
Note: ATUREEDOONA is derived from the root R-W-D and it means in concrete the person that goes ahead of the people looking for resources. Therefore, the word has within it the meanings of pioneering, seeking and desiring. ATUREEDOONA is a question about an action that is being completed or will be completed that is derived from the root. It means: Do you (plural) seek or want?
An: that
tajAAaloo: you (plural) make
Note: the root is J-Ain-L and it means making or to make. TAJAAaLOO is an action that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action of making the object (Sultan= power) is happening or will be happening by the subject (second person plural).
Lillahi: to Allah
AAalaykum: upon you (plural)/against you
Sultanan: power of proof/ overpowering proof
Note: the root is S-L-TTA and it means power that can overcome obstacles. As a concept it can be extended to the power that is physical, mental, spiritual and power of argument and proof. It also could mean overpowering. SULTAN means power and in this context, it is the power of proof or the overpowering proof. It can be extended to license for punishment and so on.
Mubeenan: clear/ self evident/ clarifying
Note: the root is B-Y-N and it means in concrete between. The action of the verb is betweening. This betweening can mean clarifying because one can know better the difference between two things. It also can mean distancing because the betweening makes things become apart. MUBEEN is the one that makes between in a conceptual sense. In this context, SULTANAN MEBEEN carries the meaning of clear or self evident and clarifying license to fight or proof against you.

Salaam all and have a great day.


Hussein