2:219

Salaam all,

This is 2:219

يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْخَمْرِ وَالْمَيْسِرِ قُلْ فِيهِمَا إِثْمٌ كَبِيرٌ وَمَنَافِعُ لِلنَّاسِ وَإِثْمُهُمَآ أَكْبَرُ مِن نَّفْعِهِمَا وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ مَاذَا يُنفِقُونَ قُلِ الْعَفْوَ كَذَلِكَ يُبيِّنُ اللّهُ لَكُمُ الآيَاتِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَفَكَّرُونَ
Yasaloonaka AAani alkhamri waalmaysiri qul feehima ithmun kabeerun wamanafiAAu lilnnasi waithmuhuma akbaru min nafAAihima wayasaloonaka matha yunfiqoona quli alAAafwa kathalika yubayyinu Allahu lakumu alayati laAAallakum tatafakkaroona

The Aya says:
They ask you (Muhammad) about the intoxicant/wine and the gambling/easy money? Say, in them, great fault and benefits to the society. And their fault is bigger than their benefit. And they ask you what they spend (for charity)? Say, what can be spent. This is how GOD makes clear to you (plural) his signs. Perhaps you (plural) start thinking.

My personal note:
This is an Aya that some people have used to make a case that Wine or intoxicants are not necessarily prohibited in Islam. However, I caution anyone against making a decision just from one Aya or one hadeeth or one single understanding of either.

Translation of the transliterated words:
Yasaloonaka: They ask you
Note: the root is S-Hamza-L and it means asking. YASALOONA is the third person plural past tense of a verb that is derived from the root. This verb means they arrive asking/questioning in a literal sense and that means they ask. KA is a singular you. Therefore YASALOONAKA means they ask you.
AAani: about
Alkhamri: the wine/intoxicant
Note: the root is KH-M-R and the concrete word is wine. This word is used to mean cover because the making of the wine includes covering. Also, it means intoxication or mixing as the wine mixes with the brain and changes it. ALKHAMR is therefore the wine, but can be extended to all other intoxicants.
Waalmaysiri: and the gambling
Note: WA means and. ALMAYSIRI is derived from the root Y-S-R and it means ease or easy. ALMAYSIR is the place or time of ease in a literal sense. In this case, it is used to mean gambling because it is a time of ease and it is easy money that one does not work for.
Qul: Say
Note: the root is Qaf-W-L and it means speech or saying. QUL is an order form of a verb that is derived from the root. This verb means say.
Feehima: in the two of them
Ithmun: error/inappropriateness/fault
Note: the root is Hamza-TH-M and it means error or any act of deed or word that is inappropriate. ITHMUN therefore is error or inappropriateness.
Kabeerun: big
Note: the root is K-B-R and it means big in all the aspects of bigness physical and non physical. KABEERUN means big.
wamanafiAAu: and sources of benefit/and benefits
Note: WA means and. MANAFiAAu is derived from the root N-F-Ain and it means benefit. MANAFiAAu is plural of a word that would mean place or time or source of benefit.
Lilnnasi: to the people/to the society.
Note: LI means to. ILNNASI is derived from the root Hamza-N-S and it means socialize. ILNNASI are the society or the people.
Waithmuhuma: and their error/and their inappropriateness
Note: WA means and. ITHMU is derived from the root Hamza-TH-M and it means error or any act of deed or word that is inappropriate. ITHMU therefore is error of or inappropriateness of. HUMA means the two of them. Therefore ITHMUHUMA means the error/inappropriateness of the two of them, which, in turn means, their error/inappropriateness.
Akbaru: bigger
Note: the root is K-B-R and it means big in all the aspects of bigness physical and non physical. AKBARU means bigger.
Min: from/than
nafAAihima: their benefit
Note: the root is N-F-Ain and it means benefit. NAFAAi means benefit of. HIMA means the two of them. Therefore NAfAAiHIMA means benefit of the two of them and that, in turn means, their benefits.
Wayasaloonaka: and they ask you
Note: WA means and. YASALOONAKA the root is S-Hamza-L and it means asking. YASALOONA is the third person plural past tense of a verb that is derived from the root. This verb means they arrive asking/questioning in a literal sense and that means they ask. KA is a singular you. Therefore YASALOONAKA means they ask you.
Matha: what
Yunfiqoona: they spend for charity/they tunnel
Note: the root is N-F-Qaf and it means tunnel and tunneling for the action. This means spending for charity or just spending because the money comes from one opening and then comes out from another. YUNFIQOON is the third person plural present or future tense of a verb that is derived from the root. This verb means they make arrive tunneling in a literal way. This, in turn means, they spend.
Quli: Say
Note: the root is Qaf-W-L and it means speech or saying. QULI is an order form of a verb that is derived from the root. This verb means say.
alAAafwa: what can be spent/what is erasable of what they have.
Note: the root is Ain-F-W and it means the erasing in concrete form. In abstract, it means the erasing of sins or crime and that is forgiveness or the erasing of what one can erase and that means the giving to charity what one wills to give up. ALAAaFWA is means the erasable and that means what they can give up for charity or what they are willing to give for charity and so forth.
Kathalika: like that/similar to that/this is how
Yubayyinu: HE makes clear/HE makes clarified
Note: the root is B-Y-N and it means between. This is the concrete and it carries the meaning of anything that between carries with it as distance, differentiation and clarification between things. YUBAYYINU is the third person singular present or future tense of a verb that is derived from the root. This verb means make arrive/happen between in a concrete fashion. This, in turn means, make clear of makes clarified.
Allahu: ALLAH/the GOD
Lakumu: to you (plural)
Alayati: the signs
Note: the root is Hamza-Y-H and it means sign. ALAYATI are the signs.
laAAallakum: perhaps you (plural)
tatafakkaroona: you (plural) start thinking/attempt thinking.
Note: the root is F-K-R and it means thinking and thought. TATAKAKKAROON is the second person plural present or future tense of a verb that is derived from the root. This verb suggests that one is in the action and out of the action at the same time. This form then carries with it the possibility of attempting to think, commencing to think or, the least likely here, a hesitation to think. Because of this I would choose for tatafakkaoona as start thinking or attempt thinking.

Salaam all and have a great day

Hussein