2:224

Salaam all,

This is 2:224

وَلاَ تَجْعَلُواْ اللّهَ عُرْضَةً لِّأَيْمَانِكُمْ أَن تَبَرُّواْ وَتَتَّقُواْ وَتُصْلِحُواْ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ وَاللّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ
Wala tajAAaloo Allaha AAurdatan liaymanikum an tabarroo watattaqoo watuslihoo bayna alnnasi waAllahu sameeAAun AAaleemun

The Aya says:
And do not make Allah in the path of your oaths,that you be firmly grounded and be conscious and be reconciling between the people. And Allah is all listening, all knowing.

My personal note:
The word AAuRDATAN which I translated as, in the path of, is a difficult word to translate. It means put in width, which denotes that when the width of the car is parked in the middle or the road, it become an obstacle, but also more likely to be hit by other cars. So, Making GOD be in width to our oaths, means that making GOD an obstacle as using GOD as an excuse to not fulfill an oath. At the same time, it also can mean using GOD’s name for an oath that a person does not plan to fulfill or an oath that a person should not have made in the first place.

So, in a certain sense, the Aya asks us not to use GOD for many oaths. This becomes important in case the oath that we made was one that we should not have made in the first place, as in an oath that will lead to more harm than good, so that breaking it may be better than meeting it, even if one used GOD’s name on it.

The Aya makes it important that we stand on firm grounding, that we be conscious and that we work on reconciliation. Those are the important principles of a Muslim.

There will be more elaboration on this in the coming Aya.

Translation of the transliterated words:
Wala: and not
tajAAaloo: you (plural) make/you put
Note: the root is J-Ain-L and it means making. TAJaAALOO is the second person plural present or future tense of a verb that is derived from the root. This verb means you become making in a literal sense and that means you (plural) make.
Allaha: Allah/GOD
AAurdatan: be in the path of/be exposed/be an obstacle
Note: this is a little harder to explain. The root is Ain-R-Dhad and it means wide or width as opposed to length. The word AAuRDATAN means stand in width opposite something. This is the literal sense and it then means stand as an obstacle or stand in the way being both as obstacle and being exposed.
Liaymanikum: to your oaths
Note: LI means to. AYMANIKUM is derived from the root Y-M-N and it means right hand or right side. AYMANI are the plural for right hand or right side. This is the concrete and the abstract means oaths because people raise their right hands to make an oath. So, AYMANI are oaths of. KUM is plural you.
An: that
Tabarroo: you make stand firm (your oath)/you fulfill/you be firmly grounded
Note: the root is B-R-R and it means in concrete firm ground and dry land. TABARROO is the second person plural present or future tense of a verb that is derived from the root. This verb means you (plural) make stand firm. This,in turn means, you fulfill or you be firmly grounded in all the aspects of that especially mentally and ethically.
Watattaqoo: and you (plural) make yourselves conscious.
Note: WA means and. TATTAQOO is derived from the root W-Qaf-Y and it means guarding. Since the best way to guard is through consciousness then it also means consciousness. TATTAQOO is a second person plural present or future tense of a verb that is derived from the root. It means You (plural) make yourselves guarded or make yourselves conscious of.
Watuslihoo: and do right/and make become right/and reconcile
Note: WA means and. TUSLIHOO is derived from the root Sad-L-Ha and it means becoming right as in being useful, correcting what is wrong, and reconciliation. TUSLIHOO is the second person plural present or future tense of a verb that is derived from the root. This verb means you make arrive righting or you make become right. In this case the reconciliation is the strongest association according to the sentence.
Bayna: between
Alnnasi: the people/ the society.
Note: ALNNASI is derived from the root Hamza-N-S and it means socialize. ALNNASI are the society or the people.
waAllahu: And Allah/And GOD
sameeAAun: All listening/al hearing
Note: the root is S-M-Ain and it means hear or listen. The word has in it the absorption of the words and the understanding of them as to generate the appropriate response. SAMeeAAuN is the one that listens a lot or the all listening.
AAaleemun: knowledgeable/all knowing
Note: the root is Ain-L-M and it means knowing or knowledge. AAaLEEMUN is the one that knows a lot, the all knowing.

Salaam all and have a great day

Hussein