8:31

Salaam all,

8:31
وَإِذَا تُتْلَى عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتُنَا قَالُواْ قَدْ سَمِعْنَا لَوْ نَشَاء لَقُلْنَا مِثْلَ هَـذَا إِنْ هَـذَا إِلاَّ أَسَاطِيرُ الأوَّلِينَ

Waitha tutla AAalayhim ayatuna qaloo qad samiAAna law nashao laqulna mithla hatha in hatha illa asateeru alawwaleena

The Aya says:
And when our signs are recited upon them they said: “We heard. Had we willed we would have said similar to it. This is nothing but legends of the ancients.”

My personal note:
The Aya brings about a potential answer of many people who reject the message and it still sounds the same to this day.

Translation of the transliterated words:
Waitha: and when/ and if and when
Tutla: are recited/ are followed closely
Note: the root is T-L-W and it means following closely. The concrete word that is derived from the root is the baby animal after it had been weaned from the breast and who follows his mother everywhere closely. The word means the following closely and also reciting, because that involves following each word with another. TUTLA is an action that is happening or will be happening. It means: the action of reciting or following closely the object (AYATUNA= our signs) is happening or will be happening by an undeclared subject.
AAalayhim: upon them
Ayatuna: our signs
Note: AYAT is derived from the root Hamza-Y-H and it means sign. AYATU means signs of. NA means Us or our.
Qaloo: they said/ they communicated
Note: QALOO is derived from the root Qaf-W-L and it means saying in any way possible. QALOO is an action that is completed that is derived from the root. It means the action of saying happened by the subject (third person plural). This, in turn means: They said/ communicated.
Qad: indeed/ beginning of a response.
samiAAna: we heard
Note: The root is S-M-Ain and and it means hearing or hearing and understanding or knowing and retaining at the same time. SAMiAANA is an action that is derived from the root and that is completed. It means: The active hearing and understanding happened by the subject (first person plural)
Law: if
Nashao: we intend/ we will/ we want
Note: the root is Sh-Y-Hamza and it means entity. NASHAO is an action that is being completed or will be completed that is derived from the root. It means that the action of entitying is happening or will be happening conditionally by the subject (first person plural).

Laqulna: Then we would have said
Note: LA is for response to the conditional that was mentioned earlier. QULNA is derived from the root Qaf-W-L and it means saying in any way possible. QULNA means in this context: We would have said.
Mithla: like/ similar to
Note: the root M-TH-L and it means similitude or similar. MITHLA means similitude of or similar to.
Hatha: this/ that
in hatha illa: this is nothing but
asateeru: myths/ made up lines
Note: the root is S-TTA-R and it means the trees arranged in a neat line or the line in the book where the writing is placed and so on. Conceptually it takes several meanings related to the above two concrete meanings. ASATEER are the myths of the ancients and it relates to the above because they arranged the stories in neat lines one after the other, either in writing or in reciting.
Alawwaleena: the earlier ones/ the first ones/ the ancient ones
Note: AWWAL is derived from the root Hamza-W-L and it means ultimate as a concept and takes different shapes and specific meanings according to the situation including first and so on. It often takes the meaning of first because that is the most ultimate. AWWALEEN means the more ultimate ones and those are the earlier ones and not necessarily the first ones.

Salaam all and have a great day

Hussein