ﱁ ﱂ ﱃ ﱄ ﱅ ﱆ ﱇ ﱈ ﱉ ﱊ ﱋ ﱌ ﱍ ﱎ ﱏ ﱐ ﱑ ﱒ ﱓ ﱔ ﱕ ﱖ ﱗ ﱘ ﱙ ﱚ ﱛ ﱜ ﱝ ﱞ ﱟ
O people, an example is presented, so listen to it. Indeed, those you invoke besides Allah will never create [as much as] a fly, even if they gathered together for that purpose. And if the fly should steal away from them a [tiny] thing, they could not recover it from him. Weak are the pursuer and pursued.
Tafsir
Verse range: 22:73
"O mankind..."
If you ask: What they have brought is not a mathal (parable/likeness), so how did He name it a mathal?
I say: A description or a remarkable story that is met with approval and astonishment is often called a mathal, likening it to well-known proverbs because they are considered remarkable and astonishing.
It is recited: tadʿūn (you call upon—with tāʾ), yadʿūn (they call upon—with yāʾ), and yudʿawn (they are called upon—passive voice).
"They will never create a fly, even if they gathered together for it."
Lan is the sister of lā in negating the future, except that lan negates it with emphasis. Its emphasis here signifies that the creation of a fly by them is impossible and contradictory to their state. It is as if He said: "It is impossible for them to create."
If you ask: What is the grammatical position of wa-law ijtamaʿū lahu (even if they gathered together for it)?
I say: It is in the accusative state as a circumstantial qualifier (ḥāl). It is as if He said: "It is impossible for them to create a fly, even under the condition that they all gather and cooperate to create it."
This is among the most eloquent verses Allah revealed to expose the ignorance of the Quraysh and the weakness of their intellects. It bears witness that Satan has led them by his nose-rings, as they attributed divinity to idols—which requires the power to control all things and complete knowledge of all things—while these idols are mere images and statues that are incapable of creating the smallest, most lowly, and most insignificant creature, even if they were to gather and support one another for that purpose.
Even more indicative of their incapacity and lack of power is that if this lowly, insignificant creature were to snatch something from them, and they were to gather to retrieve it, they would be unable to do so.
His saying: "Weak is the seeker and the sought" is like equating them with the fly in weakness. If you were to examine it closely, you would find the seeker (the idolaters) to be even weaker, for the fly is a living creature, while the idol is inanimate; the fly is the victor, and the idol is the vanquished.
Ibn Abbas narrated: They used to coat their idols with saffron and their heads with honey, then lock the doors upon them. The flies would enter through the crevices and eat it.
"They have not appraised Allah with His true appraisal. Indeed, Allah is Powerful, Exalted in Might."
