9:78

Salaam all,

9:78
أَلَمْ يَعْلَمُواْ أَنَّ اللّهَ يَعْلَمُ سِرَّهُمْ وَنَجْوَاهُمْ وَأَنَّ اللّهَ عَلاَّمُ الْغُيُوبِ
Alam yaAAlamoo anna Allaha yaAAlamu sirrahum wanajwahum waanna Allaha AAallamu alghuyoobi

The Aya says:
Have they not known that Allah knows what their private and shared secrets and that Allah is very knowledgeable of the unperceived?!

My personal note:
The term SIRR is translated as inner secret and that it applies to any secret whether held inside the person or shared with others. However, the term Najwa is about private communication that is meant to stay within a select group of people. So the terms “sirrahum wanajwahum” encompasses any form of secret they hold whether kept within the person or shared with a select group.

Translation of the transliterated words:

Alam: Have they not?/ did they not?
Note: this is a question in the negative that takes the form of “Have not?/ Did not?”
yaAAlamoo: they know
Note: YaAALAMOO is derived from the root Ain-L-M and it means knowing/knowledge or knowledge of facts. YaAALAMOO is an action that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action of knowing is happening or will be happening by the subject (third person plural). ALAM YaAALAMOO takes the meaning of: Have they not known/ Did they not know?

Anna: that
Allaha: Allah
yaAAlamu: knows/ knows for fact
Note: YaAALAMU is derived from the root Ain-L-M and it means knowing/knowledge or knowledge of facts. YaAALAMU is an action that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action of knowing the object (what is coming next) for fact is happening or will be happening by the subject (third person singular).
Sirrahum: their secret
Note: the root is S-R-R and it means the inside of someone or something. One of the concrete meanings is the umbilical cord because it goes to the inside. The word means then any inner feeling as in secret or happiness and is understood according to the context. SIRRA means secret of or what is kept secret of. HUM means them.
Wanajwahum: and their tightly held ones/ including the private communications
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 is often translated as an addition (and), but inclusion probably covers the meaning a little better. LA is for emphasis. NAJWA is derived from the root N-J-W and it means to come out of a tight situation or place or otherwise according to the situation. It is used to mean saving from a bad place but it can mean other things according to the context. One of the derivatives of the word is NAJWA which means the thing that people keep tightly held and that is their secret mainly within a small group of people.
Waanna: and that
Allaha: Allah
AAallamu: very knowing of
Note: AAaLLAMU is derived from the root Ain-L-M and it means knowing/knowledge or knowledge of facts. AAaLLAMU means very knowing of
Alghuyoobi: the unperceived/ the unseen
Note: the root is GH-Y-B or GHAIN-Y-B and it means unperceived in general. One concrete word is the word for thick forest where many things are hidden and unperceived as opposed to the open desert that the Arabs were familiar with. This is then conceptually taken to anything that disappears or becomes as if it disappeared in the forest. ALGHUYOOBI means the unseen or the unperceived.

Salaam all and have a great day

Hussein