they the aberrant/astray - the unaware - the unmindful - engrossed in deep thinking

• This Course is other than of those upon whom culpability for criminal cognizance/arrest has become incumbent; and nor is of aberrant: those who dissolutely move out of the bounds and restraints.

Active Participle; definite; masculine; sound plural; genitive; مصدر-ضَلاَلٌ Verbal noun.  It occurs six times in ayahs: (1)01:07(2)2:198(3)6:77(4)26:20(5)26:86(6)56:92=6; reproduced in the end.

It stems from Root:  ض ل ل. About its perception, Ibn Faris [died-1005] stated:

الضاد واللام أصلٌ صحيحٌ يدلُّ على معنىً واحد، وهو ضَياع الشيء وذهابُهُ في غيرِ حَقِّه

That it leads to the perception of a thing getting lost, missing or vanished; and departure-adopting a course other than of justice, certitude, truth, light.

Lane's Lexicon quotes its uses and meanings in different contexts. However, as is the principle of Arabic Roots, the basic perception remains dominant and visible. It states: "a thing became lost---He, or it, was, or became, unperceived or imperceptible, unapparent, latent, hidden or concealed, or absent,----absent from her memory----unmindful". 

The words stemming from this Root are mostly translated by the exegetes by English verb "stray". But they naively ignored that blameworthiness gets attached to its agent. It is accepted norm that the degree of one's blameworthiness for unjustified wrong doing varies with the mental attitude he has at the time of action. The higher degree of blameworthiness attaches to purposely wrong-doing when the agent intends to commit wrong.

However, most cases of negligence do not involve conscious advertence to the risk of wrong; in such cases agent's mental attitude is lack of awareness. Allah the Exalted does not hold lack of awareness as culpable.

Therefore, it is important to take care of the context while translating the words of this Root to differentiate between negligence and purposely straying which is blameworthy and culpable.

This Root is one of 47 Roots which have more than 190 occurrences in Grand Qur'aan. It is used 191times in different contexts and with such collocates that render the meanings of words explicit. We will study the concept in detail herein below.

Form-I Active Participle: is derived from verb: - . Other participles, elative noun, verbal nouns, and verbs of Form-I occurring in the Discourse are the following:

Active Participle; definite; masculine; sound plural; nominative مصدر-ضَلاَلٌ Verbal noun. (1)3:90(2)15:56(3)56:51=3 

Emphatic Particle-distanced + Active Participle; Indefinite; masculine;  sound plural; nominative مصدر-ضَلاَلٌ Verbal noun. (1)68:26(2)83:32=2

Active Participle: Indefinite; Sound plural; Masculine; accusative. (1)23:106 (2)37:69=2 

Active Participle: Indefinite; Singular; Masculine; accusative. (1)93:07=1

Elative Noun (comparative and superlative-Verbal noun: ضَلاَلٌ Indefinite; singular; masculine; nominative. (1)5:60(2)7:179(3)17:72(4)25:34(5)25:42(6)25:44(7)28:50(8) 41:52(9)46:05=9

Verbal Noun: Definite; accusative. (1)2:16(2)2:175(3)4:44=3 

Verbal Noun: Definite; nominative. (1)7:30(2)16:36=2

Verbal Noun: Definite; genitive. (1)19:75=1

Verbal Noun: Indefinite; nominative. (1)7:61=1

Possessive Phrase: Verbal Noun: definite; genitive + Possessive  Pronoun: Third person; masculine; plural, in genitive state. (1)27:81(2)30:53=2

Verb: Perfect; third person; singular; masculine; [هُوَ] Subject pronoun hidden; مصدر-ضَلاَلٌ Verbal noun. (1)2:108(2)4:116(3)4:136(4)5:12(5)5:105(6)6:24(7)6:94(8) 7:53(9)10:30(10)10:108(11)11:21(12)16:87(13)16:125(14)17:15(15)17:67(16)18:104(17)27:92(18) 28:75(19)33:36(20)37:71(21)39:41(22)41:48(23)53:02(24)53:30(25)60:01(26)68:07=26 

Verb: Perfect; First person; Singular; Suffixed Subject pronoun, in  nominative state; مصدر-ضَلاَلٌ Verbal noun. (1)6:56(2)34:50=2

Verb: Perfect; First person; Plural; [Masculine]; [نَا] Suffixed Subject  Pronoun; nominative state; مصدر-ضَلاَلٌ Verbal noun ((1)32:10=1

Verb: Perfect; Third person; plural; masculine; [و ] Subject Pronoun, in nominative state; مصدر-ضَلاَلٌ Verbal noun (1)4:167(2)5:77(3)5:77(4)6:140(5)7:37(6)7:149 (7)25:17(8)40:74(9)46:28=9

Verb: Perfect; Third person; plural; masculine; [و] Subject Pronoun, in  nominative state, with prolongation sign; مصدر-ضَلاَلٌ Verbal noun (1)20:92=1

Prefixed conjunction فَ which shows cause/reason and effect + Verb: Perfect; Third person; plural; masculine; [و] Subject Pronoun, in nominative state, with  prolongation sign; مصدر-ضَلاَلٌ Verbal noun  (1)17:48(2)25:09=2

Verb: Imperfect; First person; singular; masculine; Mood: Indicative;  [Form-I]; Subject pronoun hidden; مصدر-ضَلاَلٌ Verbal noun. (1)34:50=1

Verb: Imperfect; third person; singular; feminine; Mood: Subjunctive;  مصدر-ضَلاَلٌ Verbal noun. (1)2:282=1

Verb: Imperfect; second person; plural; masculine; Mood: Subjunctive by Subjunctive Particle; و Subject pronoun in nominative state; مصدر-ضَلاَلٌ Verbal  noun. (1)4:44(2)4:176=2

 Verb: Imperfect; Third person; singular; masculine; Mood: indicative;  Subject pronoun hidden and ; مصدر-ضَلاَلٌ Verbal noun. (1)6:117(2)10:108(3)17:15(4) 20:52(6)20:123(7)39:41=7

Verb: Imperfect; Third person; singular; masculine; Passive;  Mood:  indicative;  مصدر-ضَلاَلٌ Verbal noun. (1)9:37=1

Verb: Imperfect; Third person; plural; masculine; Mood: Indicative evident by نَ; and [و] Subject pronoun in nominative state; مصدر-ضَلاَلٌ Verbal  noun  (1)38:26=1

The basic perception infolded in the Root is about something, real or abstract, getting lost, missing or vanished whereat it becomes imperceptible and ceases to exist. For conveying this sense of the Root. Form-I third person, singular, masculine perfect verb: is employed in the following ayahs:

• Look at them; how have they contradicted lying upon their selves;

• And that vanished from them which they used to artfully fabricate. [6:24]

• And they will be addressed: Look you people have come to Our Majesty one by one in the like manner We had created you firstly.

• And you have left on your back that worldly affluence which We had given to you.

• Moreover, We do not see accompanying you the Intercessors of  you people; those about whom you unsubstantially propagated that they were associates amongst you people to act as intercessors to your advantage.

• Indeed that bond has cut itself which prevailed between you people.

• And that has vanished into nothingness away from you which you people unsubstantially propagated as would-be intercessors to your advantage. [6:94]

• Are they awaiting but for the realization-actualization of foretold in it: Grand Qur'aan?

• Know it; The day actualization of its forecasts happens those who in timeline had disregarded  the day would say:

• "Indeed the Messengers of our Sustainer Lord had come along with Infallible Doctrine-verbal discourse: the Book.

• Notwithstanding our disregard, are there some of the intercessors for us who might intercede in our favour;

• Or is there any possibility that we are sent back whereby we might act contrary to the conduct we used to practice?"

• Indeed they had caused loss to their selves.

• And that vanished from them which they used to artfully fabricate. [7:53]

• Thereat every person will acquaint with the nature of what it did in gone days.

• And they were turned towards Allah the Exalted, their true Sustainer Lord.

• And that lost/vanished from them which they used to artfully fabricate. [10:30]

• These are truly the people who have made their selves to suffer loss;

• And that lost and vanished from them what they used to artfully fabricate. [11:21]

• Know it, they submitted-pleaded Islam on that Day towards Allah the Exalted;

• And that lost-vanished from them what they used to artfully fabricate. [16:87]

• Take note, when dangerous hardship touches you in the Ocean all those are forgotten, whom you people otherwise keep calling in tranquil circumstances, except He the Exalted, exclusively.

• In response to your prayers and promises, when He the Exalted rescued you people towards the Coast you knowingly refrained from being obliged and thankful.

• The historical fact is that the Man is generally ungratefully disobedient. [17:67]

• You the Messenger [Sal'lallaa'hoalaih'wa'salam] say: "May I inform you people about the losers with regard to deeds! [18:103]

• They are those whose efforts have lost and perished in the worldly life; [for which seek it was done]

• And they were evaluating-guessing that they are artfully and perfectly doing good things. [18:104]

• And We brought forth from every generation/nation a witness whereupon [in his presence] We asked them, "You people put forward your evidence."

• Thereat they convincingly realized that the undeniable fact is for Allah the Exalted to disclose.

• And that lost-vanished from them what they used to artfully fabricate.. [28:75]

• And that lost/vanished from them what they kept calling earlier in worldly life;

• And they evaluated that for them there is no escape. [41:48]

• Therefore, reflect who could be a greater evil monger-a distorter-creator of imbalances, disorder-over stepping than him who artfully conjectured a falsehood attributing to Allah the Exalted; or publicly contradicted the Aa'ya'at: Verbal Passages of the Book of Him the Exalted?

• They are the people whom their share written in the Mother/Principal book will keep accruing to them: 

• Till such time on resurrection the Messengers of Our Majesty would have reached them and will be busy alienating and segregating them.

• They asked them: "Where are those whom you used to call upon apart from Allah the Exalted?"

• They replied, "they have vanished from us"—

• And they witnessed against their selves that they were indeed the rejecters-deniers of Aa'ya'at of Allah told to them by His Messengers.  [7:37]

• Afterwards they will be asked, "where are those whom you used to ascribe as partners— [40:73]

• Apart from Allah?

• They replied, "they have vanished from us—

• Nay, rather the fact is that it was not something existing what we people used to call upon."

• This is how Allah the Exalted lets remain neglectfully straying those who knowingly refused to accept/believe. [40:74]

In the aforementioned ayahs what was stated to have vanished were in fact non-existing even in the first instance and were mere fabrications and conjectures. However, this verb is also used in real-world experience:

• Listen attentively; Swearing by certain Star when it had rendered itself emptied and collapsed (had become black hole). [53:01]

• This is to confirm that guiding lord [Muhammad Sal'lallaa'hoalaih'wa'salam] of you people did not vanish from sight. Moreover, nor he warped. [53:02]

• Mind it, neither he is narrating this episode [otherwise boggling/baffling for human mind] emanating in vacuum-empty thoughts and wishful conjecture - fantasies—[53:03]

• That which he is narrating is not but a verbal communication which is being communicated to him. [53:04]

: Elative Noun (comparative -Verbal noun: ضَلاَلٌ: Indefinite; singular; masculine; nominative, Root: ض ل ل ; meaning more indifferent, lost in their-selves than those with whom they are compared. This word is paired with: those who are unmindful of the environment. In this context it does not mean unaware or ill-informed which has passive connotation but signifies heedlessness since it is neglectful behaviour. It occurs in ayahs: (1)5:60(2)7:179(3)17:72(4)25:34(5)25:42(6)25:44(7)28:50(8) 41:52(9)46:05=9

Francs Bacon once remarked that "some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested," Reading a book analytically is chewing and digesting it. It is the moral, professional and intellectual duty of a person who intends to translate a book for public that he must critically read the entire source text before embarking upon rendering it in target language text. When we study their works even with reference to only these two Roots: ض ل ل and:  غ ف ل it becomes apparent as if they had not read the Grand Qur'aan critically and had not analyzed the semantic features embedded in the words emanating from these roots and their naturally pairing collocates which restrict general meanings to specific meanings. Getting more information is learning, and so is coming to understand what we did not understand before. But there is an important difference between these two kinds of learning. To be informed is to know simply that something is the case. To be enlightened is to know, in addition, what is it all about: why it is the case, what its connections are with other facts, in what respects it is the same, in what respects it is different, and so forth. A translator must first enlighten himself and then start translating.

Natural behaviour of mammals is that they keep regurgitating lost in their selves unmindful of their environment. The conduct of some people is compared with the behaviour of mammals:

• Take note, Our Majesty has pitch-forked many branched off from the species Jinn and Human for placing them in Hell-Prison;

• Their notable characteristic-parameters are:  Hearts are provided for them as locus of understanding; but they intend not to understand with those;

• Eyes are inserted for them; but they intend not to observe with them;

• Moreover, ears are inserted for them; but they intend not to apprehensively listen with them.

• They are in attitude like the mammals. Nay, in fact they are rather more indifferent-lost in their selves.

• They are the people who are truly the heedless. [7:179]

• Or do you the Messenger [Sal'lallaa'hoalaih'wa'salam] presumably consider that most of them listen or apply intellect to differentiate?

• They are but like the herbivore mammals.

• No, the fact is that they are more unmindful and neglectful about course. [25:44]

The important thing is that such people are contrasted with mammals - livestock with regard to: and not with animals of wilderness. All such translations are patently incorrect who rendered its meanings as "more astray, more misguided". Livestock are neither astray nor misguided. They are instinctively indifferent - unmindful to their environment while busy in regurgitating their food. None of the animals can ever be described as astray or misguided since they all submit to Allah the Exalted:

• Moreover, be aware that, whoever exists amongst the Species-Animals in the Skies, and whoever exists of the Species-Animals in the Earth, they all regularly make themselves acknowledge and submit humbly in surrender for Allah the Exalted. [Refer 16:50]

the aberrant - the unaware - the unmindful - engrossed in deep thinking

It denotes a cognitive state of a person. As we have seen above, people of such cognitive state are described by participle: which stems from Root: غ ف ل. Ibn Faris [died 1005] stated: That it leads to the perception: to leave, overlook, disregard, forsake and neglect a thing inadvertently, or it may be intentional.

Though such behaviour seems flawed and also the cognitive state with regard to a belief may be morally flawed because of the falsity of the belief but Allah the Exalted has devised par excellence judicial system which does not inculpate agents with such cognitive state. In the Superb System of Justice, Ignorance of law is a valid plea.

• This sending of Awakening Messengers was because of the fact: The Sustainer Lord of you would not be the annihilator of certain locality unjustly;

• When her inhabitants were in a state of unawareness - ignorant. [6:131]

• Understand it, this has never been the practice that Allah the Exalted let people remain unwary after having given them guidance till such time He the Exalted rendered explicitly explicative for them what they be mindful, fearful and restrained about.

• The fact remains; Allah the Exalted is eternally the knower of absolute: visible and infolded knowledge of physical realm: all that exists. [9:115]

Criminal culpability is not in the state of ignorance, inadvertence but for purposeful heedlessness after having duly been informed and warned:

• So that you may admonish the Nation (Bani Iesma'eile- to whom no admonisher had come in times many generations before you Muhamad Sal'lallaa'hoalaih'wa'salam-6:156) whose forefathers/earlier generations were not admonished for which reason they/majority of them are unwary. [36:06] [Read with 28:46;62:02; also 6:92,42:07]

• He the Exalted is the One Who appointed; within the People identified as: the people who were earlier not given the Book by Allah the Exalted, a revivalist/re-awakener as a Messenger who has been a Staunch Monotheist Believing person in them.

• He keeps reciting; syllable by syllable/word by word, for you people Our Aa'ya'at: unitary verbal passages of the Book conveying information and facts.

• And he intellectually uplifts-sanctifies them [by removing shackles of conjectural myths/distortions in belief]..

• And he educates them to read and write the recited text imparting the knowledge of the Book, and he teaches them how to attain the wisdom-capability to perceive the information about invisible realities.

• And they were certainly in a manifest state of negligence - un-mindfulness in aforetimes. [62:02]

Those who were in the state of: manifest negligence and un-mindfulness are: unwary - failing to be alert and cautious. Once they are warned and it is made explicit for them what to do and avoid, they will become stray and deviant of the prescribed course in case they purposely remain heedless.

• The aforementioned are the people who have purposely purchased the misguidance - straying exchanging with the Guidance - (Grand Qur'aan).

• Thereby, their "Instant Commerce" did not yield benefit.

• It retained them in a state of those who incline not to become guided aright. [2:16]

• Certain eventuality for those people who deliberately denied after their acceptance and state of belief and afterwards purposely delved deeper in their conduct and state of denial of truth, is:

• Their repentance and returning while dying shall not be accepted.

• And they are the people who are truly the aberrant - astray. [3:90]

In view of the foregoing, care must be exercised in choosing appropriate word of target language to render the sense in which it is used in the context. This active participle is also used to portray a person and an action done in the state of "lost in thought" when he is unaware of what is happening around him because he is deeply thinking about something else.

• And you did, first time act of yours, that which you did once;

• And now you are one of the ungrateful". [26:19]

• Mūsā [alai'his'slaam] said, "I had done that at a point in time while I was of those lost in thought. [absorbed in deep thinking-28:15]; [26:20]

A man was accidentally killed on the night he had come back to city after meeting with a man bestowed with knowledge. At that time he was in such frame of mind that he was unmindful of the surroundings:

• Know it, when he crossed over to his strengthen maturity and had firmly established himself , We gave him wisdom-discriminative intelligence-the capability to judge and decide, and knowledge.

• And that in this way We reward those who keep conducting  moderately, gracefully and generously. [28:14]

• [He departed from the company of learned man-18:78] And he entered the City/Egypt, in a state of mind that upon that moment he was unmindful of its people.

• Suddenly he found therein two men fighting fiercely with each other. -- This one belonged to his group; and the other belonged to his foe --;

• Thereat, the one, who was of his nation, cried seeking help of him upon the other who belonged to his foe;

• In response/instinctively Mūsā [alai'his'slaam] fisted; thereat, he caused the end upon him.

• He said, "This incident is caused by the act of Shai'taan,

• Indeed he is such enemy who causes manifest forgetfulness." [28:15] [He had objected about a murder by the Wise man which was by design and will-18:74,80]

• [You never ever lost His attention, let instances be quoted] Is it not the fact that He the Exalted had found you the Messenger Muhammad [Sal'lallaa'hoalaih'wa'salam born] as father-orphan;

• Thereby, He the Exalted had protected/shielded you. [93:06]

• And He the Exalted had found you the Messenger [Muhammad Sal'lallaa'hoalaih'wa'salam] deeply absorbed reflecting to discover the absolute truth, thereby, He the Exalted showed-guided you to the absolute truth [Taking you physically far beyond the boundary of your present day universe]. [93:07]

• And He had found you in need for which reason thereby He transformed you as self-sufficient/above needs/affluent. [93:08]

: Translating it by English word "lost" is inappropriate if not erroneous. "Lost" as verb is the past tense of loose and as adjective denotes: unable to find way; unable to find the way to a place; confused by something complicated; confused or bewildered by something complicated or poorly explained.

Though "lost" also means preoccupied or completely absorbed or involved in something but most people generally do know it and also because of this denotation we need to qualify the adjective.

The Arabic word is Active Participle, therefore, as its equivalent "lost" is not appropriate and rather might be misleading the perception.

When a man is in habit of deep reflection, he is unmindful of his surroundings. Such type of reflection is possible only when man becomes absolutely independent of all chains of relationships and secludes himself for sometime, better if seclusion can be at a secluded place.