8:73

Salaam all,

8:73
وَالَّذينَ كَفَرُواْ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاء بَعْضٍ إِلاَّ تَفْعَلُوهُ تَكُن فِتْنَةٌ فِي الأَرْضِ وَفَسَادٌ كَبِيرٌ
Waallatheena kafaroo baAAduhum awliyao baAAdin illa tafAAaloohu takun fitnatun fee alardi wafasadun kabeerun

The Aya says:
While the ones who rejected, some of them are guardians of each other. If you fail to do it then there will be hardship in the land and big corruption.

My personal note:
The aya continues the theme from the previous Aya and ends up with a conclusion. It mentions that non Muslims should be guardians of themselves and therefore has an order to the muslims not to interfere in their internal affairs.

The aya brings a conclusion that failure to abide by those teachings will bring hardship, great trials and corruption and harm in the land. In a sense we see a good bit of this these days because of groups of people interfering in the internal affairs of other countries and groups.

Translation of the transliterated words:
Waallatheena: while those who/ and those who
Kafaroo: rejected (Allah and His message)/ discarded
Note: the root is K-F-R and it means cover or bury in the ground, as in put the seed in the ground and cover it. This is then used conceptually for many purposes as in discarding and rejecting as well as burying. KAFARO is an action that is completed. It means: the action of rejection or discarding of the object (not declared, but understood from the context to point to God and/or the message) happened by the subject (third person plural).
baAAduhum: some of them
Note: the root is B-Ain-Dhad and it means part of the whole. BaAADU means part of or some of. HUM means them
awliyao: guardians of/ protégés of/ guardians and protégés of/ directors/ their allies
Note: the root is W-L-Y and it means direction or following direction with some guarantee. It comes close to guardianship. AWLIYAO is either the one who is a guardian or the one who receives guardianship of another or both. In this context, guardian and protégé or director apply. Therefore I used both.
baAAdin: some
Note: the root is B-Ain-Dhad and it means part of the whole. BaAADIN means part or some.
Illa: if not
tafAAaloohu: do it
Note: TAFAAaLOOHU is derived from the root F-Ain-L and it means doing. TAFAAaLOOHU is an action that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action of doing the object (HU= him) is happening or will be happening by the subject (second person plural). The HIM here points to abiding by the rule of guardianship as stated in this Aya and the previous one.

Takun: be/ happens to be / becomes
Note: TAKUN is derived from the root K-W-N and it means being. TAKUN is an action that is being completed or will be completed that is derived from the root. It means: the action of being is happening or will be happening by the subject (second person singular).
fitnatun: a test/ a severe test/ a trial/ a hardship
Note: the root is F-T-N and it means in concrete form, the melting of Gold or silver in order to know the pure from the impure or the true from the fake. Therefore, in abstract, the word suggests an extreme test with hardship in it, or a burn with fire or even taking someone’s eyes with the glitter of the false Gold and silver. Here, it means the severe test or trial or hardship.
fee: in
alardi the earth/ the land
Note: ALARDI is derived from the root Hamza-R-Dhad and it means earth or land. ALARDI is the earth/ the land.
Wafasadun: amd / including great harm/ corruption/ damage
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. FASADUN is derived from the root F-S-D and it means damage and rot, as in the food that was damaged and so forth. FASADUN is damage or harm or injury and corruption and all those things to lead to harm.
Kabeerun: great/ big
Note: the root is K-B-R and it means big in quality or quantity or any other feature that denotes bigness. KABEERUN means big or great.

Salaam all and have a great day

Hussein