Tafsir of Al-Anbiya' 21:58

The fa (so) in His saying, the Almighty, "So he made them" (fa-ja‘alahum) is fasiha (an elliptical particle implying a preceding unstated condition), meaning: They turned away and departed, then Abraham, peace be upon him, came to the idols and made them "fragments" (judhadhan), which means pieces, acting as a passive noun derived from al-jadth, which is cutting. The poet said: "The sons of Muhallab, may God cut off their lineage, they became ash, having neither root nor branch."

It is like al-hutam (debris) derived from al-hatm (breaking). Al-Kisa’i, Ibn Muhaisin, Ibn Miqsam, Abu Haywah, Hamid, and al-A‘mash in one narration read jidhadhan with a kasra (i) on the jim. Ibn ‘Abbas, Ibn Nuhaik, and Abu al-Samal read jadhadhan with a fatha (a). The reading of the majority is with a damma (u), and as Ibn Jinni reported from Abu Hatim, these are linguistic variants, the best of which is the damma. Qutrub stated that in all three of its forms, it is a verbal noun (masdar) that is neither dualized nor pluralized. Al-Zubaidi said: Judhadhan with a damma is the plural of judhadhah, like zujaj (glass) and zujajah (a piece of glass). It is also said that the kasra version is the plural of jadhidh, like karim and kiram. It is also said that the fatha version is a verbal noun, like hasad (reaping), meaning "that which has been reaped."

Yahya ibn Waththab read judhudhan with two dammas, the plural of jadhidh, like sarir and surur. It was also read judhadhan with a damma and a fatha, the plural of judhah, like qubbah and qubbab, or a contracted form of fual with two dammas.

It is narrated that Azar went out for a festival of theirs, and they began by going to the house of the idols. They entered it, prostrated before them, and placed food they had brought with them among them, saying, "Until we return, the gods shall bestow blessings upon our food." They departed, but when Abraham, peace be upon him, was on the way, his resolve to proceed with them was diverted, so he sat back and said, "Indeed, I am ill." He entered upon the idols while they were lined up, and there was a massive idol facing the door, made of gold, with two jewels in its eyes that shone at night. He broke them all with an axe that was in his hand, leaving only the large one, and he hung the axe around its neck—or it is said, in its hand.

That is His saying, the Almighty: "Except for a large one among them"—meaning the idols, as is apparent from what follows, God willing. The pronoun for rational beings here and in what preceded is used based on the delusions of the disbelievers. The "largeness" refers either to rank, according to their delusion, or to the body. Abu Hayyan said: It is possible that the pronoun refers to the worshippers. It is said that this is supported by the fact that if it referred to the idols, it would have been said kibrahum (their large one).

(Lest they return to it): This is an inception to explain the motive for the breaking and the sparing of the large one. The pronoun "it" (ilayhi) according to the majority returns to Abraham, peace be upon him; meaning: lest they return to Abraham—and not to anyone else—so that he may debate them and rebuke them with the response that will follow, God willing. It is said that the pronoun refers to God, the Almighty; meaning: lest they return to God and His oneness when they ask him, peace be upon him, and he answers them, thereby exposing the incapacity of their gods. It is understood from this that His saying, the Almighty, "Except for a large one among them," is not irrelevant to the context according to this view, contrary to what is imagined. Yes, its distance from the meaning is not hidden.

It is reported from al-Kalbi that the pronoun refers to the "large one," meaning: lest they return to the large one, just as one returns to a scholar to resolve difficulties, and they say to it: "What happened to these idols that they are broken, while you are intact, with the axe around your neck or in your hand?" Then it would become clear to them that it is incapable, neither benefiting nor harming, and it would be manifest that they are in profound ignorance regarding its worship. This seems to be based on his—peace be upon him—supposition concerning them, as he had tasted and experienced their stubbornness against their own reason, their belief in their gods, and their glorification of them. It is possible that he—peace be upon him—knew they would not return to it, but this is by way of mockery and exposing their ignorance, taking into account the status the large idol held in their eyes; for the standard for one who is prostrated before and deemed worthy of worship is that one should return to it to resolve problems. Under both possibilities, there is no difficulty in the inclusion of la‘alla (lest/perhaps) in the speech. Perhaps this latter interpretation is the one that comes most quickly to mind, though the majority of commentators hold the first view. The prepositional phrase is connected to yarji‘un (they return), and the advancement [of the prepositional phrase] indicates restriction according to the three aforementioned views, as has been said. It is also said that it is definitively for restriction in the first view, but not in the latter two; rather, it may be for the sake of conforming to the rhyme scheme—so contemplate this.

The action of Abraham, peace be upon him, in breaking the idols is sometimes used as a supporting evidence by those among our companions who argue that there is no liability for one who breaks items made of pottery—for example, effigies made for boys to play with—and the like, which is the famous opinion among the majority.