Al-Hajj: (73-74) O people...

Know that after the Almighty established previously that they worship things besides God for which they have no proof or knowledge, He mentions in this verse what indicates the invalidation of their claims.

Regarding His saying, the Exalted: {God sets forth a parable} (or God strikes a similitude), there are questions concerning it:

The First Question: What has been brought forth is not a similitude (mathal), so why is it named a similitude? The Answer: Since a similitude often contains a wonderful and strange point, anything possessing such a quality may be called a similitude.

The Second Question: The word {strikes} (or sets forth) implies a past action, yet God Almighty is speaking this discourse initially. The Answer: If the description being presented is already known, this usage is permissible, and mentioning it is like reiterating a matter that has already been stated.

As for His saying: {So listen to it}, meaning, ponder it deeply, because mere hearing is not beneficial; only contemplation is beneficial.

Know that since the fly is extremely weak, God Almighty used it to refute their claims in two ways:

1. His saying: {Indeed, those whom you invoke besides Allah will never create even a fly, if they were to gather for it}. (It is read yad‘ūna with a yā’ or tata‘ūn with a tā’, and yud‘awna in the passive voice). The particle {lan} (never) is fundamentally for affirming future negation, but here it negates it with emphasis. It is as if the Almighty is saying: Even if these idols gathered together, they could not create a fly, despite its weakness. How then is it appropriate for an intelligent person to make them objects of worship? His saying {even if they were to gather for it} is in the accusative case indicating a ḥāl (circumstantial state), as if He meant: It is impossible for them to create a fly while gathered, so how about when they are alone?

2. His saying: {And if a fly should snatch away from them anything, they could not recover it from it}. It is as if the Almighty said: Abandon the matter of creation and origination, and let me speak about something easier than that. If a fly snatches something from them, they are unable to retrieve that thing from the fly.

Know that the first proof is valid to use in denying that Christ and the angels are gods. However, the second proof is not valid for that purpose.

If it is asked: Is this reasoning intended to negate that idols are creators, knowing, living, or managing beings, or is it intended to negate that they are worthy of veneration?

• The first is flawed because denying that they possess these attributes is already known by necessity; so what is the benefit of establishing proof for it?
• As for the second, this proof does not achieve it, because denying that they are living does not necessitate that they are not venerated, as the reasons for veneration are diverse. The people used to believe they were talismans placed in the form of the planets, or statues of angels and previous prophets, and they venerated them on the basis that venerating them necessitates venerating the angels and those previous prophets.

The Answer: As for them being talismans placed according to the planets, from which benefit and harm might arise, this is refuted by this proof. Since they cannot benefit themselves to this extent—namely, saving themselves from a fly—it is all the more so that they cannot benefit others. As for them being statues of angels and previous prophets, it is established by reason that the veneration of anything besides God, the Exalted, should be less than the veneration of God. These people used to venerate them to the utmost degree, which required them to equate these idols with the Creator, the Exalted, in veneration. From this point, they became deserving of blame and reproach.

Regarding His saying, the Exalted: {Weak is the pursuer and the pursued}, there are two opinions:

1. The intended meaning is the idol and the fly. The idol is like the pursuer because if it sought to create or retrieve what the fly snatched, it would be incapable. The fly is like the pursued.
2. The pursuer is the worshipper of the idol, and the pursued is the idol itself or its worship. This is closer, because the idol being a "pursuer" is not literal but figurative. Here, however, it is literal, although metaphor is still present because weakness cannot truly apply to an idol, as weakness is only attributed to that which is capable of being strong.

There is a third view, which is that the meaning of {weak} is not in terms of power, but in terms of the manifest ugliness of this doctrine, just as one says during a debate: "How weak is this opinion, and how weak is this argument!"

Regarding His saying: {They have not appraised God with His true appraisal}, meaning, they have not glorified Him with His true glorification, by placing these idols, despite their utmost baseness, as partners with Him in divinity. This phrase is explained in Surah Al-An'am. He is {Qawiyy} (All-Powerful), nothing is beyond His ability to do, and {‘Azīz} (All-Mighty), no one can overcome Him. So what need is there to speak of a partner?

Al-Kalbi said concerning this verse and similar ones in Surah Al-An'am: It was revealed concerning a group of Jews—Malik ibn al-Sayf, Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf, Ka'b ibn Asad, and others, may God curse them—when they said that after He finished creating the heavens and the earth, He became exhausted from creating them, so He reclined, rested, and placed one leg over the other. This verse was revealed to refute them, as was His saying, the Exalted: {And no fatigue touched Us}.

Know that the origin of these misconceptions is the doctrine of anthropomorphism (tashbīh). Therefore, the Essence of God must be purified from resembling other essences, contrary to what the anthropomorphists say; His Attributes must be purified from resembling other attributes, contrary to what the Karāmiyyah say; and His Actions must be purified from resembling other actions—meaning, purpose, motive, and deserving praise and blame—contrary to what the Mu'tazilah say.

Imam Abu al-Qasim al-Ansari, may God have mercy on him, said: He, the Exalted, is Jabbār al-Na't (One whose description is Compelling) and ‘Azīz al-Waṣf (One whose description is Mighty). Illusions cannot conceive Him, thoughts cannot measure Him, intellects cannot represent Him, times cannot grasp Him, directions cannot contain Him, nor can they limit Him. His Essence is Eternal (Ṣamadī), and His Attributes are Everlasting (Sarmadī).