5:118

Salaam all,


In tuAAaththibhum fainnahum AAibaduka wain taghfir lahum fainnaka anta alAAazeezu alhakeemu

The Aya says:
If you (Singular) make them suffer, then they are your servants/slaves. While if you forgive them, then you are indeed the dominantly strong, the wise.

My personal note;
This Aya continues the sayings of Jesus (pbuh) as he addresses God in relation to his followers’ claim of Jesus divinity. The passage is beautiful and carries with it the clear ackowledgement of Allah’s right to punish those wrong doers and subtle hint of asking for their forgiveness.

The Aya ends with “And if you forgive them, then you are the dominantly strong, the wise” The ending with those two attributes is a little curious because often times when there is asking for forgiveness, the ending is with “The forgiving, the merciful”. The reason why Jesus (pbuh) ended with emphasizing those two attributes could be because of the gravity of the claim of Jesus’s divinity and Jesus wanted to re-emphasize Allah’s strength, not being affected by what people do and Allah’s wisdom. And Allah knows best.

Translation of the transliterated words:
In: if
tuAAaththibhum: you (singular) make them suffer
Note: TUAAaTHTHIBHUM is derived from the root Ain-TH-B and it means an easy to swallow food or drink. AAaTHAB is what makes one not take an easy to swallow food or drink. That is suffering. TUAAaTHTHIBHUM is an action that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action of making the object (HUM=them) suffer is happening or will be happening by the subject (second person singular).

Fainnahum: then they
Aaibaduka: your servants/ slaves
Note: the root is Ain-B-D and it means slave or servant. AAIBADU means slaves or servants of. KA is a singular you and it points to Allah. Here, the term AAiBADUKA points to all those who claim to follow the message of Jesus.

Wain: and if/ while if
Taghfir: you protectively cover/ you forgive
Note: the root is GH-F-R and it means the helmet of the soldier in the battle. This is one of the concrete uses of the word and the word is therefore used to mean protective covering in many fashions as in protecting the person from the error or protecting the person from the consequence of error and that is forgiveness. TAGHFIRU is an action that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action of protectively covering or forgiving is happening or will be happening by the subject (second person singular pointing to Allah). In this context, it is forgiveness

Lahum: to them/ for them
Fainnaka: then you
Anta: indeed you

alAAazeezu: the dominantly strong/ the dominant
Note: the root is Ain-Z-Z and it means the hard earth that will not yield under the rain and therefore, will make the rain water flow rather than seep or cause the earth to erode. It is used for entities that are strong and defeat pressure, basically the combination of strength and dominance.
alhakeemu : the Wise/ steering
Note: the root Ha-K-M and it means the steer that steers the animal. This word is used for ruling and judging as well as other meanings that contain steering as part of the concept. HAKEEM means wise or the steering. The steering means the entity that steers in the best way


Salaam all and have a great day.

Hussein