Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:26
Indeed, Allah is not timid to present an example - that of a mosquito or what is smaller than it. And those who have believed know that it is the truth from their Lord. But as for those who disbelieve, they say, "What did Allah intend by this as an example?" He misleads many thereby and guides many thereby. And He misleads not except the defiantly disobedient,
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.
The explanation of His word: إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يَسْتَحْيِي أَنْ يَضْرِبَ مَثَلا مَا بَعُوضَةً فَمَا فَوْقَهَا
(Indeed, Allah is not ashamed to set forth a parable, [even] of a gnat or something beyond it.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) have differed concerning the meaning regarding which Allah — exalted be His praise — sent down this verse, and concerning its explanation.
Some of them said the following:
554 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related this to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, in a narration which he mentioned, on the authority of Abū Mālik, and on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — and on the authority of Murra, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, and on the authority of a number of people among the companions of the Prophet ﷺ: When Allah set forth these two parables for the hypocrites — that is to say His word: مَثَلُهُمْ كَمَثَلِ الَّذِي اسْتَوْقَدَ نَارًا (Their likeness is as the likeness of one who kindled a fire) and His word: أَوْ كَصَيِّبٍ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ (Or like a rainstorm from the sky), the three verses — the hypocrites said: "Allah is too exalted and too mighty to set forth such parables." Then Allah sent down: "Indeed, Allah is not ashamed to set forth a parable, [even] of a gnat," up to His word: أُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْخَاسِرُونَ (it is they who are the losers).
And others said the following:
555 — Aḥmad ibn Ibrāhīm related this to me, saying: Qurād related to us, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar al-Rāzī, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, concerning His word — exalted is He —: "Indeed, Allah is not ashamed to set forth a parable, [even] of a gnat or something beyond it." He said: This is a parable which Allah set forth for the worldly life: the gnat lives so long as it is hungry, and when it grows fat, it dies. Likewise is the parable of those people for whom Allah set forth this parable in the Qurʾān: when they become sated with the worldly life, Allah seizes them thereby. He said: He then recited: فَلَمَّا نَسُوا مَا ذُكِّرُوا بِهِ فَتَحْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ أَبْوَابَ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ حَتَّى إِذَا فَرِحُوا بِمَا أُوتُوا أَخَذْنَاهُمْ بَغْتَةً فَإِذَا هُمْ مُبْلِسُونَ (Then when they forgot that whereby they had been admonished, We opened for them the gates of all things, until, while they rejoiced in what they had been given, We seized them suddenly, and behold, they were in despair) [Sūrah al-Anʿām: 44].
556 — Al-Muthannā ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Isḥāq ibn al-Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, with a narration similar to it — except that he said: When their terms of life have elapsed and their span has come to an end, they become like the gnat which lives so long as it is hungry, and dies when it is sated. Likewise are these for whom Allah set forth this parable: when they become sated with the worldly life, Allah seizes them and destroys them. That is His word: حَتَّى إِذَا فَرِحُوا بِمَا أُوتُوا أَخَذْنَاهُمْ بَغْتَةً فَإِذَا هُمْ مُبْلِسُونَ (until, while they rejoiced in what they had been given, We seized them suddenly, and behold, they were in despair) [Sūrah al-Anʿām: 44].
And others said the following:
557 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related this to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: "Indeed, Allah is not ashamed to set forth a parable, [even] of a gnat or something beyond it", that is to say: Allah is not ashamed to mention anything of the truth, whether it be little or much. When Allah mentioned in His Book the fly and the spider, the people of error said: "What did Allah intend by mentioning this?" Then Allah sent down: "Indeed, Allah is not ashamed to set forth a parable, [even] of a gnat or something beyond it."
558 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: When Allah mentioned the spider and the fly, the polytheists (mushrikīn) said: "What is it with the spider and the fly that they are mentioned?" Then Allah sent down: "Indeed, Allah is not ashamed to set forth a parable, [even] of a gnat or something beyond it."
Each one of those whose statement we have mentioned concerning this verse and concerning the meaning regarding which it was sent down has taken a certain direction. However, the most fitting of that with respect to correctness, and the most resembling the truth, is what we have mentioned of the statement of Ibn Masʿūd and Ibn ʿAbbās.
This is because Allah — exalted be His mention — informed His servants that He is not ashamed to set forth a parable, [even] of a gnat or something beyond it, immediately after parables which had preceded in this Sūrah, which He set forth for the hypocrites — and not after the parables which He set forth in other Sūrahs. Therefore it is more likely and more fitting that this statement — I mean His word: "Indeed, Allah is not ashamed to set forth a parable" — is a response to the rejection by the disbelievers (kuffār) and the hypocrites of the parables set forth for them in this Sūrah, rather than that it should be a response to their rejection of the parables set forth for them in other Sūrahs.
If someone were to say: "Rather, it is necessarily the case that this is a response to their rejection of the parables set forth in the remaining Sūrahs, because the parables which Allah set forth for them and for their gods in the remaining Sūrahs are parables which agree in meaning with that concerning which He informed [us] that He is not ashamed to set it forth as a parable — since some of them were a comparison of their gods to the spider, and some of them were a comparison of those [gods] in weakness and lowliness to the fly. And nothing of all that is found in this Sūrah, such that it might be said: 'Indeed, Allah is not ashamed to set forth a parable.'"
Well, that is otherwise than he supposed. For the word of Allah — exalted be His praise —: "Indeed, Allah is not ashamed to set forth a parable, [even] of a gnat or something beyond it" — is merely an announcement from Him — exalted be His mention — that He is not ashamed to set forth parables in the truth, small as well as great, as a trial thereby of His servants and as a testing by Him of them, so that He may thereby distinguish the people of faith (īmān) and affirmation of it from the people of error and disbelief in it — as a leading-astray by Him thereby of one people, and as a guidance by Him thereby for others.
559 — As Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: "a parable, [even] of a gnat" — thereby are meant the parables, small as well as great: the believers believe in them and know that they are the truth from their Lord, and Allah guides them thereby and leads astray thereby the transgressors (fāsiqīn). He says: The believers recognize it and believe in it, and the transgressors recognize it and reject it.
560 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, with the like of it.
561 — Al-Qāsim related to me, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, the like of it.
Abū Jaʿfar said: — Not that He — exalted be His mention — intended to inform [us] about the gnat itself, that He is not ashamed to set forth a parable with it; but the gnat, since it is the weakest of creation —
562 — As al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Abū Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: The gnat is the weakest of what Allah has created.
563 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, with a narration similar to it.
— Allah selected it for mention with respect to lowliness, and informed [us] that He is not ashamed to set forth the lowest, the most insignificant, and the highest — up to infinity in loftiness — of parables in the truth, as a response from Him — exalted be His mention — to those among the hypocrites of His creation who rejected the parable set forth for them by means of the kindler of the fire and the rainstorm from the sky, in the manner in which He had described those two.
If someone were to say to us: "And where is the mention of the hypocrites' rejection of the parables which you described, of which this announcement is the response, so that we may know that the statement concerning it is as you have said?"
Then it is said: The indication of that is clear in the word of Allah — exalted be His mention —: فَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا فَيَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّهُ الْحَقُّ مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ وَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فَيَقُولُونَ مَاذَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ بِهَذَا مَثَلا (As for those who believe, they know that it is the truth from their Lord; and as for those who disbelieve, they say: "What did Allah intend by this parable?"). And the people for whom the parables were set forth in the two preceding verses — in which that in which the hypocrites persisted was depicted by the kindler of the fire and by the rainstorm from the sky, in the manner in which that was described before His word: "Indeed, Allah is not ashamed to set forth a parable" — rejected the parable and said: "What did Allah intend by this parable?" Then He — exalted be His mention — made clear to them the falsity of that statement, and exposed for them what they had uttered, and informed them of what their judgment was concerning their statement of what they said in that regard, and that it was error and moral corruption (fisq), and that the correct view and the guidance was what the believers said, and not what they said.
As for the explanation of His word: "Indeed, Allah is not ashamed": some of those who are ascribed to knowledge of the language of the Arabs used to explain the meaning of "Indeed, Allah is not ashamed" as: Indeed, Allah does not fear to set forth a parable. And he adduces as evidence for that from his argument the word of Allah — exalted is He —: وَتَخْشَى النَّاسَ وَاللَّهُ أَحَقُّ أَنْ تَخْشَاهُ (and you feared the people, while Allah has more right that you fear Him) [Sūrah al-Aḥzāb: 37], and he claims that the meaning of it is: "and you were ashamed before the people, while Allah has more right that you be ashamed before Him" — so he says: al-istiḥyāʾ (to be ashamed) has the meaning of al-khashya (fear), and al-khashya has the meaning of al-istiḥyāʾ.
And as for the meaning of His word: "to set forth a parable": that is to clarify and describe, as He — exalted be His praise — said: ضَرَبَ لَكُمْ مَثَلا مِنْ أَنْفُسِكُمْ (He has set forth for you a parable from yourselves) [Sūrah al-Rūm: 28], with the meaning of: He has described for you; and as al-Kumayt said:
"And that is the casting of fives, intended for sixes — perhaps they will not be,"
with the meaning of: the describing of fives.
And al-mathal means: the likeness. One says: "This is the mathal (likeness) of this, and its mithl," as one says: its shabah and its shibh (its equal). To that belongs the word of Kaʿb ibn Zuhayr:
"The promises of ʿUrqūb were to her a likeness (mathal), and her promises were nothing but lies,"
by which he means likeness. The meaning of His word, then, is: "Indeed, Allah is not ashamed to set forth a parable" means: Indeed, Allah does not fear to describe a likeness for that to which He compared.
And as for the "mā" that stands with "mathal": that has the meaning of "alladhī" (that which), for the meaning of the statement is: Indeed, Allah is not ashamed to set forth as a parable that which is a gnat — in smallness and lowliness — or something beyond it.
If someone were to say to us: "If the statement concerning it is as you have said, then what is the reason for the accusative (naṣb) of 'baʿūḍa' (a gnat)? For you know that the explanation of the statement according to your explanation is: that Allah is not ashamed to set forth as a parable that which is a gnat; according to your statement 'baʿūḍa' then stands in the position of the nominative (rafʿ). From where, then, comes the accusative?"
Then it is said: The accusative comes for two reasons. The first: that "mā", since it stood in the position of the accusative on account of His word "yaḍrib" (sets forth), and "baʿūḍa" was joined to it as a relative complement (ṣila), was carried along in its inflection (ʿurribat bi-taʿrībihā) and was given its case-ending, as Ḥassān ibn Thābit said:
"And as merit over whoever is other than us, there suffices us the love of the Prophet Muḥammad for us,"
where "ghayr" was inflected with the inflection of "man". The Arabs do that in particular with "man" and "mā": they inflect their relative complements with their own inflection, because these are sometimes definite (maʿrifa) and sometimes indefinite (nakira).
And as for the other reason: that the meaning of the statement would be: Indeed, Allah is not ashamed to set forth as a parable that which lies between a gnat up to what is beyond it. Then the mention of "bayna" (between) and "ilā" (up to) was omitted, since in the accusative of "baʿūḍa" and in the entry of the "fāʾ" in the second "mā" there lay an indication of both, as the Arabs said: "It rained upon us what [is between] Zubāla up to al-Thaʿlabiyya," and "He has twenty [head], what [is between] a female camel up to a male camel," and "She is the most beautiful of people, what [is between] head-hair up to foot," by which they mean: what is between her head-hair up to her foot. And likewise they say that of everything in which the entry of "what is between such and such" is fitting in the statement: they place the first and the second in the accusative, so that the accusative in both points to the omitted part of the statement. And likewise it is in His word: "[even] of a gnat or something beyond it."
Some of the philologists have claimed that the "mā" which stands with "mathal" is a connective filler (ṣila) in the statement with the meaning of amplification (taṭawwul), and that the meaning of the statement is: Indeed, Allah is not ashamed to set forth a gnat as a parable, or something beyond it. According to this explanation, "baʿūḍa" must be in the accusative on account of "yaḍrib", and the second "mā" which stands in "fa-mā fawqahā" must stand in apposition to "baʿūḍa" and not to "mā".
And as for the explanation of His word "or something beyond it": that, in my view, is that which is greater than it — on account of what we previously mentioned of the statement of Qatāda and Ibn Jurayj: that the gnat is the weakest of Allah's creation. Now, since it is the weakest of Allah's creation, it is the utmost in lowliness and weakness. And since it is so, there is no doubt that what is beyond the weakest of things can only be stronger than that. It is therefore necessary that the meaning — according to what they both said — is: or something beyond it in greatness and magnitude, since the gnat is the utmost in weakness and lowliness.
And it was also said concerning the explanation of His word "or something beyond it": in smallness and lowliness. As one says of a man who is mentioned by a speaker and whom he describes with baseness and stinginess, whereupon the listener says: "Yes, and beyond that too," that is to say: beyond what has been described in stinginess and baseness. But this is a statement which goes against the explanation of the people of knowledge whose knowledge concerning the explanation of the Qurʾān is accepted as reliable.
It has thus become clear, by what we have described, that the meaning of the statement is: Indeed, Allah is not ashamed to describe a likeness for that to which He compared, namely that which lies between a gnat up to what is beyond the gnat.
And as for the explanation of the statement if you were to place "baʿūḍa" in the nominative: that is not permissible with "mā", except in the sense we have stated, namely that it is an independent noun, not a filler with the meaning of amplification.
The explanation of His word: فَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا فَيَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّهُ الْحَقُّ مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ وَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فَيَقُولُونَ مَاذَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ بِهَذَا مَثَلا
(As for those who believe, they know that it is the truth from their Lord; and as for those who disbelieve, they say: "What did Allah intend by this parable?")
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted be His mention — means by His word "As for those who believe": as for those who have held Allah and His Messenger to be true. And His word: "they know that it is the truth from their Lord" — that is to say: they acknowledge that the parable which Allah set forth, for that for which He set it forth, is [truly] a parable.
564 — As al-Muthannā related this to me, saying: Isḥāq ibn al-Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas: "As for those who believe, they know that it is the truth from their Lord" — that this parable is the truth from their Lord, and that it is the word of Allah and from Him.
565 — And as Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word "As for those who believe, they know that it is the truth from their Lord", that is to say: they know that it is the word of the Most Merciful, and that it is the truth from Allah.
"And as for those who disbelieve, they say: 'What did Allah intend by this parable?'"
Abū Jaʿfar said: And His word "And as for those who disbelieve", thereby are meant those who denied the signs of Allah, and rejected what they knew, and concealed what they knew to be true; and that is the description of the hypocrites. Them has Allah — Mighty and Exalted is He — intended by this verse — as well as whoever of their kind and their associates among the polytheists of the People of the Book and others belongs with them — and they say: "What did Allah intend by this parable?", as we previously mentioned of the narration which we have transmitted from Mujāhid, namely that which:
566 — Muḥammad related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "As for those who believe, they know that it is the truth from their Lord" — the verse, he said: The believers believe in it and know that it is the truth from their Lord, and Allah guides them thereby, and leads astray thereby the transgressors. He says: The believers recognize it and believe in it, and the transgressors recognize it and reject it.
And the explanation of His word: "What did Allah intend by this parable?" is: What is that which Allah intended by way of comparison in this parable? "Dhā" — which stands with "mā" — has the meaning of "alladhī" (that which), and "arāda" (He intended) is its relative complement, and "hādhā" (this) is a reference to the parable.
The explanation of His word — exalted be His praise —: يُضِلُّ بِهِ كَثِيرًا وَيَهْدِي بِهِ كَثِيرًا
(He leads astray many thereby and guides many thereby.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: He means by His word — Mighty and Exalted is He —: "He leads astray many thereby": Allah leads astray many of His creatures thereby. And the "hāʾ" in "bihi" (thereby) refers to the parable. And this is an announcement from Allah — exalted be His praise — that begins anew, and the meaning of the statement is: that Allah, by the parable which He sets forth, leads astray many of the people of hypocrisy and disbelief:
567 — As Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, in a narration which he mentioned, on the authority of Abū Mālik, and on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — and on the authority of Murra, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, and on the authority of a number of people among the companions of the Prophet ﷺ: "He leads astray many thereby" — thereby are meant the hypocrites, "and guides many thereby" — thereby are meant the believers.
— Thus He adds to these error upon their error, on account of their denial of that which they have known with certain conviction to be true of the parable which Allah set forth for that for which He set it forth, and that it agrees with that for which He set it forth. That is Allah's leading-them-astray thereby. And "He guides thereby" — that is to say by the parable — many of the people of faith and affirmation, thus He adds for them guidance upon their guidance and faith upon their faith, on account of their affirmation of that which they have known with certain conviction to be true, that it agrees with that for which Allah set it forth as a parable, and on account of their acknowledgment of it. And that is a guidance from Allah for them thereby.
Some have claimed that this is an announcement about the hypocrites, as though they said: "What did Allah intend by a parable which not everyone knows, by which He leads astray these and guides these?" Then the statement and the announcement of Allah begins anew, whereupon Allah says: وَمَا يُضِلُّ بِهِ إِلا الْفَاسِقِينَ (And He leads astray thereby none but the transgressors). And in what stands in Sūrah al-Muddaththir — of the word of Allah: وَلِيَقُولَ الَّذِينَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ مَرَضٌ وَالْكَافِرُونَ مَاذَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ بِهَذَا مَثَلا كَذَلِكَ يُضِلُّ اللَّهُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَيَهْدِي مَنْ يَشَاءُ (And so that those in whose hearts is a disease, and the disbelievers, may say: "What did Allah intend by this parable?" Thus does Allah lead astray whom He wills, and guide whom He wills) — is something which indicates that it is likewise in Sūrah al-Baqarah, a fresh beginning — I mean His word: "He leads astray many thereby and guides many thereby."
The explanation of His word — exalted be His praise —: وَمَا يُضِلُّ بِهِ إِلا الْفَاسِقِينَ (26)
(And He leads astray thereby none but the transgressors.)
And the explanation of it is what:
568 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related this to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, in a narration which he mentioned, on the authority of Abū Mālik, and on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — and on the authority of Murra, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, and on the authority of a number of people among the companions of the Prophet ﷺ: "And He leads astray thereby none but the transgressors" — they are the hypocrites.
569 — And Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda: "And He leads astray thereby none but the transgressors" — they committed moral corruption (fisq), and Allah therefore led them astray on account of their transgression.
570 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas: "And He leads astray thereby none but the transgressors" — they are the people of hypocrisy.
Abū Jaʿfar said: The origin of fisq in the language of the Arabs is: the going forth out of something. One says of that: "the date went forth (fasaqat)" when it comes out of its skin. From that the mouse is called fuwaysiqa, on account of its going forth out of its hole. Likewise the hypocrite and the disbeliever are called fāsiqān (transgressors), on account of their going forth out of obedience to their Lord. Therefore He — exalted be His mention — said in the description of Iblīs: إِلا إِبْلِيسَ كَانَ مِنَ الْجِنِّ فَفَسَقَ عَنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّهِ (except Iblīs; he was of the jinn and he transgressed against the command of his Lord) [Sūrah al-Kahf: 50], by which He means: he went forth out of His obedience and the following of His command.
571 — As Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Ibn Isḥāq related to me, on the authority of Dāwūd ibn al-Ḥuṣayn, on the authority of ʿIkrima, the freedman (mawlā) of Ibn ʿAbbās, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: بِمَا كَانُوا يَفْسُقُونَ (on account of what they committed of transgression) [Sūrah al-Baqarah: 59], that is to say: on account of the fact that they removed themselves from My command. The meaning of His word "And He leads astray thereby none but the transgressors" is therefore: And Allah, by the parable which He sets forth for the people of error and hypocrisy, leads astray none but those who go forth out of His obedience and abandon the following of His command, among the people of disbelief in Him from the People of the Book, and the people of error among the people of hypocrisy.
