5:11

Salaam all,

This is 5:11
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ اذْكُرُواْ نِعْمَتَ اللّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ هَمَّ قَوْمٌ أَن يَبْسُطُواْ إِلَيْكُمْ أَيْدِيَهُمْ فَكَفَّ أَيْدِيَهُمْ عَنكُمْ وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ وَعَلَى اللّهِ فَلْيَتَوَكَّلِ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ
Ya ayyuha allatheena amanoo othkuroo niAAmata Allahi AAalaykum ith hamma qawmun an yabsutoo ilaykum aydiyahum fakaffa aydiyahum AAankum waittaqoo Allaha waAAala Allahi falyatawakkali almuminoona

The aya says:
O you (plural) who made themselves safe, mention and remember Allah’s favor upon you as/when a group of people contemplated to attack you so Allah stopped their hands away from you. And act consciously of Allah. And let the ones who make themselves safe (in Allah) entrust their guarantee upon Allah.

My personal note:
This Aya has the interesting phrase hamma Qawmun an Yabsutoo aydiyahum ilaykum. This phrase means literally: A group of people contemplated opening their palms towards you (plural). This context of the sentences determined that the opened palms is actually a sign of attack rather than something else. The reason is that the aya continues that Allah held back their hands. So, Allah holds back an attack or harm rather than otherwise.
In other contexts in the Qur’an, the “opening of the hands” can be a sign of giving and providing, but this is not the case here.

The Aya ends with asking the believers to trust that Allah Guarantees that the works will never go for nothing or be lost. We are asked to trust this guarantee and we thank God for it.

Translation of the transliterated words:
Ya ayyuha allatheena: O you (plural) who
Note: the three words used here are callings.
Amanoo: made themselves safe
Note: the root is Hamza-M-N and it means safe or safety. AMANOO is an action that is derived from the root and that is completed. It means: the action of making the object (not mentioned and therefore the subject and the object can be the same entity here) become safe happened by the subject (third person plural). So, it ends up meaning: they made themselves safe.

Othkuroo: mention and remember
Note: OTHKUROO is derived from the root TH-K-R and it means mention and remember, at the same time. The concrete word is something running on the tongue as if speaking it. Another concrete word is male or the male organ. The relationship between the two is not very clear and they can be different words that share the sound but have different root. It could be that the male is considered the active organ and that memory is an active process, but that is only a theory. OTHKUROO is a demand or request addressing a group. It means: mention and remember at the same time.
niAAmata: favor of/softness of
Note: the root is N-Ain-M and it means soft in the concrete sense. Conceptually, it means anything that can be understood as soft as in soft to touch and soft in treatment and soft life as in a life that does not have much hardship. NiAAMATA means favor of or favor belonging to or soft treatment of.
Allahi: Allah
AAalaykum: upon you (plural)
Ith: as/ when
Note: it points to something that happened in the past.
Hamma: they contemplated/ they commenced
Note: HAMMA is derived from the root H-M-M and it means concern or contemplated thought which may or may not be followed by commencement of action upon that concern. Sometimes, the meaning will take the form of commencement of action alone, others the concern or thought alone and in others, both. HAMMA is an action that is completed. It means: the action of contemplating or commencing action happened by the subject (third person singular or plural).
Qawmun: a people/ a group of people
Note: the root is Qaf-Y-M and it means standing or standing upright. QAWMUN are the people that stand together and that makes the group or people or nation, basically, any group of people that stand together or form a group.
An: that/ to
Yabsutoo: open wide the palms of their hands
Note: the root is B-S-TTa and it means open palm. Conceptually it can mean many things that are related to a wide open palm. YABSUTOO is an action that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action of opening their palm widely is happening or will be happening by the subject (third person plural)..
Ilaykum: towards you (plural)
Aydiyahum: their hands/ arms
Note: AYDIYAHUM is derived from the root Y-D and it means hand. It is also used conceptually for anything that shares features or functions of hands or the upper arm. AYDIYA means hands of. HUM means them.
Fakaffa: So He held back
Note: FA means so or therefore or then. KAFFA is derived from the root K-F-F and it means the palm of the hand when it is held in a position as a sign to stop an incoming person or thing. This then can take several conceptual meanings including hold back or stop. KAFFA is an action that is completed. It means: the action of making the object (aydiyahum=their hands) stop or held back happened by the subject (third person singular pointing to Allah).

Aydiyahum: their hands/ arms
Note: AYDIYAHUM is derived from the root Y-D and it means hand. It is also used conceptually for anything that shares features or functions of hands or the upper arm. AYDIYA means hands of. HUM means them.
AAankum: from you (plural)/ away from you
Note: this word takes the meaning of from, but at times takes the meaning of away from and so on. KUM means plural you.
Waittaqoo: and act consciously of
Note: WA is a letter that links what is before with what is after. This link is through inclusion, either one is included in the other or they are all included in the bigger sentence or bigger picture. WA is often translated as an addition (and), but inclusion probably covers the meaning a little better ITTAQOO is derived from the root W-Qaf-W and it means guarding or protecting. Since the best way to guard is through consciousness and action according to consciousness. ITTAQOO is a demand addressing a group of people. It means: make yourselves act consciously of.
Allaha: Allah
waAAala: and upon
Allahi: Allah
Falyatawakkali: then let put their guarantee/ let them entrust guarantee
Note: Fa means then or therefore or so. LYATAWAKKAL is derived from the root W-K-L and it means entrusting a matter to another, or trusting the guarantee or guardianship of another. LYATAWAKKAL is an order for action that is addressing a plural. It means: let them entrust their guarantee upon the object (Allah which just preceded).

Almuminoona: the ones who make themselves safe
ALMUMINOONA is derived from the root Hamza-M-N and it means safety. Conceptually, it can also be extended to trust as well, because we feel safe in the entity we trust. ALMUMINOONA means: those who make themselves safe.

Salaam all and have a great day.

Hussein