5:20

Salaam all,

This is 5:20
وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَى لِقَوْمِهِ يَا قَوْمِ اذْكُرُواْ نِعْمَةَ اللّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ جَعَلَ فِيكُمْ أَنبِيَاء وَجَعَلَكُم مُّلُوكًا وَآتَاكُم مَّا لَمْ يُؤْتِ أَحَدًا مِّن الْعَالَمِينَ
Waith qala moosa liqawmihi ya qawmi othkuroo niAAmata Allahi AAalaykum ith jaAAala feekum anbiyaa wajaAAalakum mulookan waatakum ma lam yuti ahadan mina alAAalameena

The Aya says:
And as/when Moses said to his people: “O My people, mention and remember the favor of Allah upon you as he transformed within you prophets and He transformed you (into) people of authority and He brought you what He did not bring anyone of the creation."

My personal note:
Here Moses reminds his people of the favors of Allah upon them as in sending many prophets from amongst them as well as making them people of authority. Here, I translated the term MULOOK into people of authority. The more common translation is KINGS. However, it does mean king because the king is the person of authority rather than mere king. So, Moses was contrasting their situation after having left Egypt where the authority over their lives was not theirs, into the new situation where they were transformed in having authority over their own lives.

The Aya also reminds the Israelites that Allah gave them many things that other humans did not get. This is not to be understood as being better than others, but that they did have more responsibility towards humanity than others. For the more the blessing from Allah to each one of us the more is our responsibility towards Allah and Humanity and the higher the risk if we go astray. The message of the Qur’an in it’s totality tells us that this blessing and responsibility that the Israelites had is now passed towards the Muslims or the carriers of the blessings that are contained in the message of Muhammad (pbuh).

Translation of the transliterated words:

Waith: and as/ when
Qala: said/ communicated
Note: QALA is derived from the root Qaf-W-L and it means saying in any way possible. QALA is an action that is completed that is derived from the root. It means the action of saying happened by the subject (third person singular). This, in turn means: He said or responded or communicated.

Moosa: Moses
Liqawmihi: to his people
Note: LI means to or for. QAWMIHI is derived from the root Qaf-Y-M and it means standing or standing upright. QAWM 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. QAWMI means people of. HI means Him and it points to Moses (pbuh)

Ya: O
Qawmi: my people
Note: QAWMI is derived from the root Qaf-Y-M and it means standing or standing upright. QAWM 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. QAWMI means people of mine of my people in this context.
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 is favor of or soft treatment of.

Allahi: Allah
AAalaykum: upon you (plural)
Ith: as/ when
jaAAala: He made / formed/ transformed
Note: JaAAaLA is derived from the root J-Ain-L and it means making, forming or transforming something that already exists. Conceptually, it takes the meaning of transformation more often than formation. JaAAaLA is an action that is completed. It means: the action of making the object (ANBIYA= PROPHETS) by the subject (first person singular).
Feekum: in you (plural)/ amongst you/within you
Anbiyaa: prophets
Note: the term is derived from either one of two roots. The first is N-B-Hamza and it means news. The other is N-B-Y and it means elevated. The word NABIYY means a prophet, and it could be because the prophet brings news or that he is elevated over others or both. ANBIYAA means: prophets.

wajaAAalakum: and He transformed you (plural)/ made you/ formed you
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 often corresponds with “and/ addition” but the more encompassing meaning is in inclusion one in another or all in a bigger picture or sentence. JaAAaLA is derived from the root J-Ain-L and it means making, forming or transforming something that already exists. Conceptually, it takes the meaning of transformation more often than formation. JaAAaLA is an action that is completed. It means: the action of making the object (KUM= plural you) by the subject (first person singular).

Mulookan: kings/ people of authority
Note: the root is M-L-K and it means ownership or authority over something. One concrete meaning is the fruit when it becomes strong and held together. So, in a sense MULK has the meaning of holding things together in a strong bond and that is the authority. MULOOKAN is plural of MALIK which is a word used for king or someone with dominion. In this context, it is used to mean people of authority. In this instance, it is pointing to the Israelites having authority over their fate after having been under the authority of Pharaoh.

Waatakum: and He made come to you (plural)/ brought you
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 often corresponds with “and/ addition” but the more encompassing meaning is in inclusion one in another or all in a bigger picture or sentence. ATAKUM is derived from the root is Hamza-T-Y and it means in concrete the water that comes from the rain of another land. In concrete it means the coming of something or someone with many of it’s implications. ATAKUM is an action that is completed. It means: the action of making come of an object (MA= what) to another object (KUM = plural you) happened by the subject (third person singular pointing to Allah).

ma: what
lam: not
Yuti: He bring about/ make come
Note: the root is Hamza-T-Y and it means in concrete the water that comes from the rain of another land. In concrete it means the coming of something or someone with many of it’s implications. YUTI is an action that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action of making come of an object (undeclared but points to good things) to another object (AHADAN=one) is happening or will be happening by the subject (third person singular pointing to Allah).
ahadan: one/ anyone
Note: the root is W-Ha-D and it means one. AHADAN means one. In this sense, it takes the idea of anyone
Mina: of/ from
alAAalameena: the beings/ the factual entities/ the creation
Note: the root is Ain-L-M and it means knowing/knowledge or knowledge of facts. ALAAaLAMEENA are the knowns and that includes all factual entities other than Allah in this context. This covers all creation

Salaam all and have a great day.

Hussein