2:170

Salaam all,

This is 2:170
وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمُ اتَّبِعُوا مَا أَنزَلَ اللّهُ قَالُواْ بَلْ نَتَّبِعُ مَا أَلْفَيْنَا عَلَيْهِ آبَاءنَا أَوَلَوْ كَانَ آبَاؤُهُمْ لاَ يَعْقِلُونَ شَيْئاً وَلاَ يَهْتَدُونَ
Waitha qeela lahumu ittabiAAoo ma anzala Allahu qaloo bal nattabiAAu ma alfayna AAalayhi abaana awa law kana abaohum la yaAAqiloona shayan wala yahtadoon

The Aya says:
And if said to them: follow what the GOD made arrive (of revelation). They said: but we follow what scrapings of use we found our ancestors on. Or, if their ancestors were not knotting/connecting a thing (of thought), nor were they making themselves arrive at guidance?

My personal note:
This aya asks us to make use of GOD’s message and not anything that does not connect knowledge together to make sound conclusions nor guidance. We are asked to question even when it is something that we inherited in our cultural background.

Translation of the transliterated words:
Waitha: And if
Qeela: Was said
Note: the root is Qaf-W-L and it means saying. QEELA is the third person singular or plural past tense of a verb that is derived from the root. This verb means was arrived saying in a literal sense and that means was said.
Lahumu: To them
ittabiAAoo: make your selves follow/follow
Note: the root is T-B-Ain and it means following footsteps in the concrete sense and it becomes follow for the abstract. ITTABiAAOO is an order form of a verb that is addressing a group of people. It means make yourselves arrive following in a literal sense. This, in turn means follow or make yourselves follow
ma anzala: What made arrive
Note: MA means what. ANZALA is derived from the root N-Z-L and it means arriving/arrival. ANZALA is the first person plural past tense of a verb that is derived from this root. This verb means, literally, made arrive.
Allahu: The GOD
Qaloo: They said
Note: the root is Qaf-W-L and it means saying. QALOO is the third person plural past tense of a verb that is derived from the root. This verb means, literally, they arrived saying. This means they said.
Bal: but
nattabiAAu: We make ourselves follow
Note: the root is T-B-Ain and it means following footsteps in the concrete sense and it becomes follow for the abstract. NATTABiAAOO is the first person plural present or future tense of a verb that is derived from the root. It means make ourselves arrive following in a literal sense. This, make ourselves follow.
Ma: What
Alfayna: found scrapings of meat/we made arrive (made discovery) scrapings of use
Note: The root is L-F-W and it means the scraping the meat from the bone in concrete sense. The abstract means finding/scraping something to use or stumbling on something useful. ALFAYNA is the first person plural past tense of a verb that is derived from the root. It, literally, means We made arrive scrapings of meat. This means we made use of scrapings that we found
AAalayhi: on him
Note: the him here is about life and rules of life and religion
Abaana: Our fathers/our ancestors
Note: the root is A-B and it means father. ABAA is the plural of father. This is sex inclusive of males and females therefore it means fathers and mothers. NA means our.
Awa: Or/and
Note: AW means or, yet the or can have other associated meanings as in association or so forth.
Law: if
Kana: were/arrived being
Note: the root K-W-N and it means being. KANA is the third person singular or plural past tense of a verb that is derived from the root. This verb means literally, arrived being. This means were in this situation.
Abaohum: Their fathers/their ancestors
Note: the root A-B and it means father. ABAO is the plural of father. HUM means their.
La: not
yaAAqiloona: knot/connect/think
Note: the root is Ain-Qaf-L and it means knotting of a knot in the abstract meaning and it means knotting knowledge together as in connecting things in the thought process.
Shayan: an entity/ a thing/a thought
Note: The root is SH-Y-Hamza and it means entity. SHAYAN is an entity and here it is probably talking about a thought.
Wala: and not
Yahtadoon: make themselves arrive at guidance.
Note: the root is H-D-Y and it means gift. The abstract means guidance because guidance is a gift. YAHTADOON is the third person plural present or future tense of a verb that is derived from the root. This verb means, literally, make selves arrive guidance, or arrive at guidance.

Salaam all and have a great day


Hussein