5:66

Salaam all



Walaw annahum aqamoo alttawrata waalinjeela wama onzila ilayhim min rabbihim laakaloo min fawqihim wamin tahti arjulihim minhum ommatun muqtasidatun wakatheerun minhum saa ma yaAAmaloona

The Aya says:
And if they upheld the Torah and the Evangile and what was brought down to them from their nurturing Lord, then they would have eaten from above them and from below their feet. Amongst them is a group aiming for moderation while many of them, ugly is what they do.

My personal note:
The WAW suggests inclusion where the preceding word does not have to be the encompassing one. In here, the last word (What was descended upon them from their Lord) was the more encompassing term because it includes the Torah and the Evangile. The reason they were mentioned before is to bring attention to them because of their importance.

I translated the term MUQTASIDA as aiming for moderation. The term suggests being in the middle and this could be the pace of their movement towards God or it could be the middle ground between being away from Allah and being close to him. Another term that used to mean middle is WASAT but WASAT always point to being in the middle and the middle is the best place to be in. MUQTASID just says middle, which sometimes can be good as in the context of the Aya here. Sometimes it is good but not the best as in Aya 35:32 and sometimes, it is hanging between bad and may be acceptable as in Aya 31:32

Translation of the transliterated words:
Walaw: and if
Annahum: that they (people of the book)
Aqamoo: upheld/ applied/ made stand upright
Note: AQAMOO is an action that is completed. It is a form of the verb that comes after the conditional of WALAW that came earlier. The root is Qaf-W-M and it means standing upright or standing. The upright can be in all planes of position and for a horizontal dimension it means straight. Conceptually, it takes any meaning that is consistent with standing upright. AQAMOO means: The action of making stand the object (ALTAWRATA WAALINEEL= the Torah and Evangile) happened by the subject (third person plural). Here it comes as applied what is in them.
alttawrata: The Torah
waalinjeela: and the Evangile
Wama: and what
Onzila: was brought/ was descended
Note: the root is N-Z-L and it carries the meaning of arrival to stay and descent. One concrete meaning is the descent of the person from his or her horse or camel as they arrive at the place where they plan to stay. ONZILA is an action that is completed that is derived from the root. It means the action of arrival or descent was happened to the object (ma=what and points to the books that were sent from God) by an undeclared subject.
ilayhim: To them/ towards them
Min: from/ of
Rabbihim: their nurturing lord
Note: the root is R-B-B and it means nurturing and Lordship as two components of the meaning that can be present together or one at a time according to the context of the sentence. RABBI is nurturing Lord of. HIM means them.
Laakaloo: then they would have eaten
Note: LA is the response to the conditional WALAW. AKALOO is derived from the root Hamza-K-L and it means eating. This will then take different meanings depending on the different planes of thought that a person has. AKALOO is an action that is completed. It means: the action of eating the object (min Fawqihim= from above them) happened by the subject (third person plural). Because it is a response to the conditional it comes as meaning: they would have eaten.

Min: from
Fawqihim: above them
Note: the root is F-W-Qaf and it means above or rising (aboving). This is used for waking up from sleep because it is a form of rising, but it is also used in many other forms according to the plane of thought of the sentence. FAWQI means above. HUM means them.
Wamin: and from
Tahti: under /underneath/ below
Note: the root is T-Ha-T and it means under. TAHTI means under of.
arjulihim: their feet
Note: ARJULIHIM is derived from the root R-J-L and it means legs or feet. The word also means men depending on the situation. One possible link could be because when men and women are in the caravan and the ability to ride is limited, then the men will be on their legs, while the women will be riding the camels or so forth. ARJULI means feet of. HIM means them.
Minhum: amongst them
Ommatun: a nation/ a group
Note: OMMA is derived from the root Hamza-M-M and it means mother or sources/origin if said as UMM and destination if said as AMM. OMMA can conceptually mean any person or group of people who may share one origin and destination. Sometimes this means a nation and that is because it is a group that have the same origin and is moving to the same destination. In this group, it suggests a group that shares the same thought process.
Muqtasidatun: aiming for moderate pace/ at moderate pace
Note: the root is Qaf-Sad-D and in concrete it points to moderation. A man that is QASD is a man who is not tall nor short, not fat nor thin. When it applies to movement, it suggests moving to the target destination in moderate pace. Conceptually, it carries the meaning of being in the middle or moving at a moderate pace or on a route that is not too easy or too rough. MUQTASIDATUN means a group that is moderate or moving in moderation or working on moderating their pace and direction and so on.
Wakatheerun: while many/ and many
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. KATHEERUN is derived from the root K-TH-R and it means many or numerous in all the planes of thought. KATHEERUN means: numerous or many or a lot.
Minhum: amongst them
Saa: bad/ugly/ became bad or ugly
Note: the root is S-Y-Hamza or S-W-HAMZA and it means hated word or deed. It can also conceptually mean ugly or vulnerable. All the meanings are linked somehow by one concept. This word then means different things according to the plane of thought that is being talked about. SAA is an action that is completed. It means: the action of becoming ugly or bad happened by the subject (MA=what). In here it actually means is ugly or is known as ugly or bad.

Ma: what
yaAAmaloona: they do/ they are doing
Note: the root is Ain-M-L and it means doing or work. YaAAMALOONA is an action that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action of doing or making is happening or will be happening by the subject (third person plural).

Salaam all and have a great day.

Hussein