Tafseer of The Pilgrimage · Al-Hajj · 22:73
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.
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, exalted is His mention, says: O people, a parable has been set forth and mentioned for Allah. The meaning of "ḍaraba" in this place is: "He set forth/made" — in accordance with their usage in their expression "the sultan imposed upon the people a military obligation," with the meaning of "he imposed it upon them," and "he imposed the poll-tax for non-Muslims (jizyah) upon the Christians," with the meaning of "he imposed that upon them." And the parable (al-mathal) is the likeness (al-shabah). Allah, exalted is His praise, says: A likeness has been set up for Me, O people — by the likeness and the parallel He means: the gods — He says: the polytheists and the idols have set up a likeness for Me and worshipped them besides Me, making them partners in My worship. So listen then to them: He says: listen to the state of what they have set up as a likeness and worshipped besides Me as a partner. إِنَّ الَّذِينَ تَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ لَنْ يَخْلُقُوا ذُبَابًا ("Indeed, those whom you invoke besides Allah will never create a fly") — He says: all that you worship besides Allah of gods and idols — were they to be brought together, they could not create a fly, in its smallness and insignificance, for they are not capable of that nor able to do it, even were they to join together for it. And al-dhubāb (fly) is the singular; its plural in small numbers is adhiba, in large numbers dhibbān — just as al-ghurāb (crow), which is pluralized in small numbers as aghriba and in large numbers as ghirbān.
And His word: وَإِنْ يَسْلُبْهُمُ الذُّبَابُ شَيْئًا ("And if the fly should snatch something from them") — He says: if the fly steals from the gods and idol-statues something of fragrant substances and the like that have been applied to them, they cannot recover it from it: He says: the gods are not able to take it back from it.
There was disagreement about the meaning of His word: ضَعُفَ الطَّالِبُ وَالْمَطْلُوبُ ("Weak are the seeker and the sought"). Some said: by the seeker the gods are meant, and by the sought: the fly.
Mention of those who said that: Al-Qāsim related to us, who said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, who said: Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj — Ibn ʿAbbās said concerning His word ضَعُفَ الطَّالِبُ — he said: "their gods" — وَالْمَطْلُوبُ : "the fly."
And some said: the meaning is: ضَعُفَ الطَّالِبُ — the son of Adam who asks the idol-statue for his need, وَالْمَطْلُوبُ — the idol-statue which the son of Adam asks for what he needs, that it might give him what he asked for. He says: it is weak and incapable of that.
The correct view concerning this, in our judgment, is what we mentioned from Ibn ʿAbbās: the meaning is that the seeker — namely the gods — is not able to recover from the fly what it snatched from them, namely fragrant substances and the like; and the sought is the fly.
We say that this is the preferred view, because this is said in the context of the report about the gods and the fly; that it should then be a report about what is directly connected with it is more fitting than that it should be a report about what stands apart from it. Allah, exalted is His praise, reports about the gods what He reports in this verse concerning their weakness and contemptibility — as a reproach to their worshippers among the polytheists of Quraysh. Allah, exalted is His mention, says: How can one set up an equal in worship and regard something besides Me as a partner therein, while that thing is not able to create a fly? And when the fly takes something from it and robs it, it is unable to resist it or defend itself. While I am the One Who creates what is in the heavens and on the earth, and the Owner of all this and the Giver of life to whom I will, and the Slayer of what I will and whom I will — whoever does that has, without doubt, reached the utmost of ignorance.
And His word مَا قَدَرُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ قَدْرِهِ ("They did not esteem Allah with the esteem due to Him") — He says: those who set up gods as partners of Allah in worship did not esteem Him with the esteem due to Him when they set up others besides Him, and they did not keep worship pure for Him, nor did they know Him as He ought to be known — as one says "I did not acknowledge the worth of so-and-so" when one addresses the one who fell short in his duty toward him, while intending his greatness.
In the same sense as we have said, the exegetes spoke.
Mention of those who said that: Yūnus related to me, who said: Ibn Wahb informed us, who said: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word يَسْلُبْهُمُ الذُّبَابُ شَيْئًا ... to the end of the verse.
