Salaam all,
This is 4:149
إِن تُبْدُواْ خَيْرًا أَوْ تُخْفُوهُ أَوْ تَعْفُواْ عَن سُوَءٍ فَإِنَّ اللّهَ كَانَ عَفُوًّا قَدِيرًا
In tubdoo khayran aw tukhfoohu aw taAAfoo AAan sooin fainna Allaha kana AAafuwwan qadeeran
The Aya says:
If you reveal goodness or hide it or forgive ugliness then indeed, Allah happened to be forgiving, capable.
My personal note:
The Aya continues the theme from the previous one. After having mentioned that Allah does not like the outward ugly expression, here it gives the things that Allah likes, the open or hidden deeds and words of goodness as well as forgiveness.
The end somewhat subtly reminds us that if we forgive our fellow man then Allah forgives our transgressions against him. It also reminds us of Allah’s great capability to do that and more.
Translation of the transliterated words:
In: if
Tubdoo: you reveal/ you make apparent
Note: the root is B-D-Y and it means in one of the concrete words the open desert or wilderness. It also has the meaning of something exposed or apparent or apparent for the moment. TUBDOO is an action that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action of making exposed or making apparent is happening or will be happening by the subject (second person plural) to the object KHAYRAN = good.
Khayran: good/ choice
Note: the root is KH-Y-R and it means choice. It is also understood as good or as better, because one would chose the good over the bad. KHAYRAN means: good or best choice and so on.
Aw: or
tukhfoohu You (plural) hide him
Note: the root is KH-F-W or KH-F-Yand it means hidden. It also can mean unhidden at other times depending on the sentence. TUKHFOO is an action that is derived from the root and that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action of making the object (HU= him and it points to KHAYRAN= good) hidden is happening or will be happening by the subject (second person plural).
Aw: or
taAAfoo: you erase
Note: the root is Ain-F-W and it means erasing something through the effect of the wind. This is the concrete and in abstract it means erasing a fault from the record as in forgiving it or erasing something from one’s ownership as in giving it up to someone else. In this context, it points to not being accountable to what happened. TaAAFOO is an action that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action of erasing or making unaccounted the object (SOOIN= hated or ugly deed or word) is happening or will be happening by the subject (second person plural).
AAan: about/ away/ from/ of
Note: this word takes the meaning of from, but at times takes the meaning of away from and so on.
Sooin: hated or ugly word or deed
Note: the root is S-Y-Hamza and it means hated word or deed. It can also mean ugly or vulnerable. All the meanings are linked somehow by one concept. This word then means different things according to the plane of thought that is being talked about. SOOIN points to an ugly or hated or bad deed or saying. TaAAFOO AAaN SOOIN takes the meaning of forgiving a bad transgression or erasing a transgression.
Fainna: then indeed
Allaha: Allah
Kana: happened to be
Note: the root is 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). This in turn means: He was or He happened to be
AAafuwwan: eraser of accountability/ forgiving
Note: the root is Ain-F-W and it means erasing something through the effect of the wind. This is the concrete and in abstract it means erasing a fault from the record as in forgiving it or erasing something from one’s ownership as in giving it up to someone else. In this context, it points to not being accountable to what happened. AAaFUWWAN means one who erases accountability of sins of the others.
Qadeeran: capable
Note: the root is Qaf-D-R and it means in concrete cooking the meat in the pot. Conceptually it takes the meaning of measuring, putting limits on an entity and capability to cover the exact need and finish a task. QADEERAN means: an entity that puts limits, measures and is capable to perform accordingly. This takes the meaning of all capable in this context.
Salaam all and have a great day.
Hussein
4 comments:
Assalaamu `aleykum brother Hussein.
A question about your
"Note: the root is KH-Y-R and it means choice. It is also understood as good or as better, because one would chose the good over the bad. KHAYRAN means: good or best choice and so on."
in your explanantion of 4: 149, if you have the time.
Does this mean that Kh-Y-R means both 1. “good”, and 2. the act of choosing it? Is there a different word for choosing/choice when the choice has been bad or negative?
I ask because learning to make choices, in a sense, defines the Western way of life in contrast to traditional eastern ways where growing up is a process of learning to adjust to traditions and more powerful “elders”. In the East, and among some immigrants who are here now, if an individual eventually makes his/her own choices it is in adult life. On the other hand, even traditionally, life here is mostly a matter of answering multiple choice questions.
The whole issue and culture of making one’s own choices as a significant difference in traditional Islamic vs. modern western cultures is interesting to me. I am curious about whether the act of making a choice is not emphasized, and hidden in the word Kh-Y-R, usually translated as simply “good”.
The issue also came up in my visit to the half way house last Sunday. I may continue that discussion when I go there next.
May the benefits of this sacred month of Rajab be yours.
Salaam brother,
Deep comments as usual.
"Does this mean that Kh-Y-R means both 1. “good”, and 2. the act of choosing it? Is there a different word for choosing/choice when the choice has been bad or negative?"
This is a very interesting question. As I understand KH-Y-R, it is in the understanding of making a choice and one is choosing the "better option". I am not aware of a use for the choosing the worse. In a sense, when we make choices we are doing one of two things:
1- We choose what we think is better (for us or others).
2- We choose what is designated as the better choice.
So, Khayr is when one and two are in harmony. When one and two are in disharmony, then it is more complicated:
1- It can be still be KHAYR as in trying your best and the "designated good" is not as clearly seen or perceived.
2- It is not KHAYR because the "desrignated as good option" is clear, but we went with our own choice despite clarity.
I hope this helps and that I am not complicating things, but please feel free to write me back.
Take care brother
Hussein
Salaam brother Hussein
Thank you much. You are not complicating things at all. But I may be.
The questions that occurred to me on reading your explanantion of Kh-Y-R touch on many different issues, not necessarily related to the meaning of 4: 148-149.
1. The main word question I posed in my previous post was whether there is a different word for “choice” in the Qur`aan, or elsewhere in Arabic, for situations in which there is dispute about whether the choice was good or bad. For example the merits of the choice of AbuBuckr as Kahlifa after the Prophet, continues to be a matter of debate among different groups and sects of Muslims for more than 1400 years.
Your brief breakdown of Kh-Y-R in your 4:149 commentary suggests two different levels or elements; and points out there has been some human thought that has gone into all of what exists in society as “good”, with the tacit or publicized approval of the dominant classes. However, new generations and immigrant groups may question some or all of what is traditionally believed to be “good”. In such situations there may be a lack of harmony between the choices that new generations make and what tradition holds to be better. The sociology of this is what I am more interested in.
People posssibly usually resolve such conflicts politically, or by spending their own money and resources on their choice of the “good”. But there seem to be issues in the conflict which have noting to do with politics, money, or personal will.
2. In our Qur`aan discussion group Sunday before yesterday, we were talking about the story of Moses and Khidr. An issue in that story is how Khidr does things that almost any human being would consder “bad” or questionable. Those actions startle and perplex Moses. Khidr later explains that he did those things by the command of Allah, and that all of them are in preparation for something good that will happen later. Moses as a human being had no way of knowing that future which Khidr and Allah knew.
Some in my class saw a meaning in the story applicable to their situations – being in jail. Being in jail is bad. But it may lead one to some new teaching – in some cases Islam – which may turn out to be good for him.
The Arabic munkar is used in the English version to describe one of the “not good” actions in the story, in one of the translations that was used. How to deal with that word, perhaps in the next class, was also on my mind when I first read your commentary on 4:149.Munkar is a difficult word and concept for me. Is it a classificatory word including in its meaning many kinds of the opposite of khayr?
In this case the resort to keeping munkar in the English may be too mystifying. The point of the story is that the action was not munkar, even though Moses thought that it was.
However, in some other cases, there is possibly a positive value in simply transliterating, and not translating the Qur`aanic word.
Thank you so much brother for your deep thoughts.
In a sense, you are right that societies eventually decide what is KHYR and then are challenged by others. An example would the Qur'an which challenged the notion that it was KHYR to worship other Gods. The issue of what is designated as "good" in a Muslim sense becomes important since we have accumulated some cultural baggage over the last 1400 years. The answer to that is that only what the Qur'an and Sunna declare as KHYR would be good for sure. Others will have to depend on their relationship with the KHYR in the Qur'an.
It is also powerful message from the story of Moses and Khidr, that what appears as not good may be designated as good by God. In this comes some of the issues that non Muslims complain about within Islamic teachings.
Munkar is derived from the root NKR and it carries the concept of "not recognized or not recognizable" and the often understanding of "not recognized as good". It is the opposite of Maaroof which means "recognized or recognizable" and the often understanding of "Recognized as good". So, as if Moses was saying "I cannot recognize/appreciate what you did as good".
I hope this helps and I look forward to your response.
Hussein
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