2:272

Salaam all,

This is 2:272
لَّيْسَ عَلَيْكَ هُدَاهُمْ وَلَـكِنَّ اللّهَ يَهْدِي مَن يَشَاء وَمَا تُنفِقُواْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَلأنفُسِكُمْ وَمَا تُنفِقُونَ إِلاَّ ابْتِغَاء وَجْهِ اللّهِ وَمَا تُنفِقُواْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ يُوَفَّ إِلَيْكُمْ وَأَنتُمْ لاَ تُظْلَمُونَ
Laysa AAalayka hudahum walakinna Allaha yahdee man yashao wama tunfiqoo min khayrin falianfusikum wama tunfiqoona illa ibtighaa wajhi Allahi wama tunfiqoo min khayrin yuwaffa ilaykum waantum la tuthlamoona

The Aya says:
Their guidance (is) not on you (Muhammad). But, Allah guides whomever HE entities. And what you (plural) spend of good, then to yourselves. And you (plural) spend only seeking Allah’s face. And what you spend of good will meet it’s dues, to you. And transgression against you (plural) will not happen.

My personal note:
Allah’s face falls under the issue of God’s attributes that are mentioned in the Qur’an. That caused lots of discussion between muslim theologians till our day. The rule is accept those attributes, without negating, nor changing the meaning of the word, nor likening God to any creation nor explaining how. An understanding of the way the Arabic language works helps a lot. In Arabic, the words have general meanings that became more specific and detailed once one knows the plane of thought or the entity that is being discussed. So, face means what faces others or what meets others, rather than the face of a man or woman. The face of God is what God meets us with. We are not supposed to liken to anything nor are we supposed to deny it.

Translation of the transliterated words:
Laysa: not
AAalayka: on you (singular and points to the prophet pbuh)
Hudahum: their guidance/ guiding them
Note: the root is H-D-Y and it means gift or gifting. This is the general meaning of the word and it attains the meaning of guidance since guidance is the greatest gift. HUDA means guidance of or guiding of. HUM means them
Walakinna: but
Allaha: Allah/God
Yahdee: He guides
Note: the root is H-D-Y and it means gift in all it’s forms and it carries the meaning of guidance since guidance is a gift. YAHDEE is an action that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action of gifting or guiding is happening or will be happening by the subject (third person singular pointing to Allah) to the object (the next word MAN YASHAO).
Man: whomever
Yashao: He entities
Note: the root is SH-Y-Hamza and it means entity for noun and to entity for the action. This means making a non entity entity, which also means making what was impossible possible, or what was non existent, existent or what was un-allowed allowed, and so forth. YASHAO is the third person singular present or future action that is related to the root. It means that HE (ALLAH) is the one that is making the entity happen. The entity in this place is the guidance.
Wama: and what
Tunfiqoo: you (plural) spend
Note: the root is N-F-Qaf and it means tunnel for the concrete. In abstract, it attains many meanings, including ones that are two faced as well as spending money to the poor because that is tunneling money from one place to another. TUNFIQOO is an action that is derived from the root and that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action of spending is being made to happen or will be made to happen by the subject (second person plural).
Min: of/from
Khayrin: good
Note: the root is KH-Y-R and it means choice. This also means good, because one chooses what is good. KHAYRIN is good.
Falianfusikum: then to yourselves
Note: FA means therefore or so and at times then. LI means to and it means belonging to. ANUFUSIKUM is derived from the root N-F-S and it means breath. ANFUSI means breaths of, but it also means selves of, because the selves breathe. KUM means you (plural)
Wama: and what/ and not
Tunfiqoona: you (plural) spend/ you tunnel
Note: the root is N-F-Qaf and it means tunnel in the concrete sense. This is then used to mean anything that is tunneled from one place to another as in hiding your thoughts or presenting different than the ones that you hold. Another is tunneling you money to another destination as in giving some of your money to charity or so forth. Here, it is used for the tunneling of the money or the spending it for charity. TUNFIQOONA is an action that is derived from the root and that is being completed or will be completed. It means the action of making tunneling or spending is or will be occurring by the subject (second person plural).
Illa: except
Ibtighaa: seeking/desiring
Note: the root is B-GH-Y and it means the young unripe fruit and the young animal. This is some of the concrete meaning. It does attain the meaning of something desirable or desire as well as something bad. Both may share that youth is desirable and youth is associated with immaturity and foolish actions. IBTIGHAA means the desiring for one self or the seeking for oneself.
Wajhi: face of
Note: the root is W-J-H and it means face. Here, one has to understand face in an Arab’s mind. In the arab’s mind, the face is what faces others or what meets others. So, for the man, the face is the face with eyes and nose and so forth. For a building, the face is the part that looks at the main street and for the fruit basket, the face is the top of it that meets the eye. WAJHI means face of.
Allahi: Allah/God
Note: the face of Allah is what faces us or what meets us of Allah. It does not mean that God has a face with two eyes and a nose, or any other face that comes to mind. Since we lack knowledge on the nature of God, then we accept that God has a face which means that God has what He meets us with or what He faces us with.
Wama: and what
Tunfiqoo: you (plural) spend
Note: the root is N-F-Qaf and it means tunnel for the concrete. In abstract, it attains many meanings, including ones that are two faced as well as spending money to the poor because that is tunneling money from one place to another. TUNFIQOO is an action that is derived from the root and that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action of spending is being made to happen or will be made to happen by the subject (second person plural).
Min: of/from
Khayrin: good
Note: the root is KH-Y-R and it means choice. This also means good, because one chooses what is good. KHAYRIN is good.
Yuwaffa: Will be made to meet it’s dues
Note: the root is W-F-Y and it means meeting dues. YUWAFFA is an action that is derived from the root and that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action making dues being met is happening or will be happening by an unnamed subject to the object (Khayrin).
Ilaykum: to you (plural)
Waantum: and you (plural)
La: not
Tuthlamoona: Will be transgressed against.
Note: the root is THa-L-M and it means darkness. It also means transgression or misplacement of right and wrong. TUTHLAMOONA is an action that is derived from the root that is being completed or will be completed. It means the action of transgressing or misplacing right and wrong is happening or will be happening by an unnamed subject to the object ( plural you). The presence of the LA=not, means that you will not be transgressed against.

Salaam all and have a great day

Hussein