Tafseer of The Night Journey · Al-Israa · 17:48
Look how they strike for you comparisons; but they have strayed, so they cannot [find] a way.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
Allah the Exalted says: Look, O Muḥammad, with the eye of your heart and take heed how they coined comparisons for you and set up similitudes for you with their saying: "He is bewitched," "he is a poet," "he is mad." فَضَلُّوا (And so they went astray) — that is: they deviated from the straight path by what they said. فَلَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ سَبِيلًا (and they are not able to find a way) — that is: they find no way to the truth because of their straying from it and their being far removed from it, and because Allah has forsaken them so that they do not attain it. They are then not able to find a way out of the unbelief in which they find themselves, by being guided to faith in it.
As Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid; and al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: Warqāʾ related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning فَلَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ سَبِيلًا: he said: "A way out — al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīra and his companions likewise."
Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning انْظُرْ كَيْفَ ضَرَبُوا لَكَ الْأَمْثَالَ فَضَلُّوا فَلَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ سَبِيلًا: "A way out — al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīra and his companions."
