2:83

Salaam all,

This is Aya 2:83
وَإِذْ أَخَذْنَا مِيثَاقَ بَنِى إِسْرَائِيلَ لاَ تَعْبُدُونَ إِلاَّ اللَّهَ وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ إِحْسَاناً وَذِي الْقُرْبَى وَالْيَتَامَى وَالْمَسَاكِينِ وَقُولُواْ لِلنَّاسِ حُسْناً وَأَقِيمُواْ الصَّلاَةَ وَآتُواْ الزَّكَاةَ ثُمَّ تَوَلَّيْتُمْ إِلاَّ قَلِيلاً مِّنْكُمْ وَأَنْتُمْ مُّعْرِضُونَ
Wa-ith akhathna meethaqabanee isra-eela la taAAbudoona illa Allahawabialwalidayni ihsanan watheealqurba waalyatama waalmasakeeniwaqooloo lilnnasi husnan waaqeemoo alssalatawaatoo alzzakata thumma tawallaytum illaqaleelan minkum waantum muAAridoona

Note:
The AYA says “And as WE (GOD) took the deal/promise of the sons of Israel that you don’t enslave yourselves except to the GOD and by/for the couple that conceived/gave birth (to you) show beauty/niceness/goodness and the ones that are close, and the orphans or lone people and the ones who cannot maneuver out of their bad situation (poverty or otherwise). And say to the people goodness and keep upright the prayer, and bring about what makes growth/maturity (spiritual and may be material, through charity and otherwise). Then, you(israelites) except for a few,directed yourselves away, while you obstacle."

My personal note:
The Aya points to the deal/promise that the Israelites made with GOD:
1- Not to enslave themselves (worship) to other than the GOD.
2- The good treatment of the parents, the relatives or other close people, the orphans or lone people, the people with poor means to get out of bad situations
3- Say goodness to the people
4- Keep standing upright the Salat (prayer)
5- Bring about maturity and growth (spiritual and material through prescribed charity.)

Then it addresses the Israelites that they followed their own direction other than GOD, Except for a few, and that they obstacled (the order of GOD).

It is to be noted that the deal that the Israelites is a deal to humanity and is included in the message of Islam. Another message is that NOT ALL the Israelites strayed from the message. This is important since the Qur’an NEVER condemned all the Jews nor all the Christians.

Translation of the transliterated words:
Wa-ith: And as
Akhathna: We (GOD) took
Note: the root is T-KH-Th and it means to take for the verb and taking for the noun. AKHATHNA is the first person plural past tense of the verb:
Meethaqa: Deal/tying the knot/assurance
Note: the root is W-TH-Qaf and it means to tie a knot for the concrete form. This is also used to mean assurance/deal and so forth. MEETHAQ is the Tying of the knot in concrete form and means assurance/deal.
banee isra-eela: Children of Israel
la taAAbudoona: Not to enslave yourselves/not to worship
Note: LA means not to. TaAABUDOON is derived from the root Ain-B-D and it means enslave oneself for the verb and slave for the noun. TaAABUDOON is the second person plural present tense of the verb. Here enslaving oneself means worship, obedience and service.
illa Allaha: Except for the GOD
wabialwalidayni: And with the two that gave birth/and with the two that conceived.
Note: Wa mean and. Bi means with/by. WALIDAYN is derived from the root W-L-D and it means to give birth or to conceive for the verb and son/child for the noun. WALIDAYN is a dual form denoting the two that conceived or the two that gave birth.
Ihsanan: process of beautiful treatment/nice treatment
Note: The root is Ha-S-N and it means nice/beautiful/good. For the verb it means to become good/beautiful/nice. IHSAN is the process of treating someone in a beautiful/nice/good way.
Watheealqurba: and the ones who are close/related
Note: Wa means And. THEE means those who are. ALQURBA is derived from the root Qaf-R-B and it means to become close for the verb and close for the noun. ALQURBA are the ones who are close and that means relatives but it also could mean other (as in neighbors, close in thinking and so forth)
Waalyatama: And the orphans/ and the ones who are alone
Note: The root is Y-T-M and it means to be alone (as in no relatives, no spouse nothing), or to be an orphan. YATAMA are those who are alone or who are orphans.
Waalmasakeen: and the ones who cannot maneuver out of a bad situation
Note: Wa means And. ALMASAKEEN is derived from the root S-K-N which means to become still (as in not moving)/calm/resting. The noun means the non movement/calm state. ALMASAKEEN is plural of the people who are still and is used for the people who cannot maneuver out of a bad situation.
Waqooloo: And say
Note: Wa means And. QULOO is derived of Qaf-W-L and it means to say for the verb and Saying for the noun. QULOO is an order form of the verb addressing a plural.
Lilnnasi: To the people
Note: The root is Hamza-N-S and it means to socialize for the verb and socialization. NAS are who you socialize with and that is the people.
Husnan: beauty/goodness/nicety
Note: the root is Ha-S-N and it means to become Good/beautiful/nice. HUSNAN is Goodness/beauty and nicety
Waaqeemoo: And make stand upright/maintain
Note: WA means And. AQEEMOO is derived from the root is Qaf-Y-M and it means to stand upright. AQEEMOO is an order form of the verb that is addressing a group of people. It means make stand upright which in effect means Maintain.
Alssalata: The prayer
Note: SALAT is the word that is used to mean Prayer in Arabic and as practiced by the prophet in front of thousands of his followers. The concrete words that may shed light to this word are two:
1- Root S-L-W and it means to heat/to warm. Therefore SALAT, if derived from this root, would be the process that makes heat/warmth/energy between man and GOD.
2- SALA is the lower back that provides support to movement, around which muslims move through the Salat. In an abstract form SALAT becomes the process that makes support for movement/direction of man towards GOD.

Therefore, to me, SALAT is the prayer and it is the process that makes warmth and/or support for man’s movement/direction towards GOD. GOD knows best.
Waatoo: And make come (with determination)/bring about
Note: the root is Hamza-T-W and it means to come (with determinedness). AATOO is an order form of a verb derived of the same root. An order to a group of people. The meaning of AATOO is Make come/bring about.
Alzzakata: The process that makes growth (spiritually or otherwise)/maturation. This is usually used for prescribed charity since it causes spiritual growth to the giver and material as well as spiritual growth to the receiver.
Note: the root is Z-K-W and it means to grow/mature for the verb and growth /maturation for the noun. ALZAKAT is the process that makes growth and maturation (spiritually and otherwise). This term is used Islamically speaking to mean the prescribed charity., since it causes spiritual maturity and financial growth to the ones that receive it.
Thumma: then
Tawallaytum: Directed yourselves away from the prescribed direction (the way of GOD)
Note: the root is W-L-Y and it means to direct, or to follow direction, depending to where it falls in the sentence. TAWALLAYTUM is a second person plural past tense of a verb that is derived of this root. This derivative means direct oneself away from the prescribed direction.
Illa: Except for
Qaleelan: a few
Note: the root is Qaf-L-L and it means to become small (in quantity, quality or otherwise depending on the situation). QALEEL means Few.
Minkum: From you/amongst you
Waantum: And you (with some stress)
muAAridoona: presenting your width/making obstacle
Note: the root is Ain-R-Dad and it means width. All the derivatives of this root have width as the source of the meaning which is the concrete word. MuAARIDOON are the plural that are presenting their width. Here the width is used to mean an obstacle to movement, since it stands in the way, rather than allowing a smooth flow.

Salaam all and I hope that you have a great weekend


Hussein