Tafseer of The Criterion · Al-Furqaan · 25:9
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 to His prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: see, O Muḥammad, how these polytheists have coined comparisons for you by saying to you: "he is bewitched" — whereby they have missed the straight way and have missed the path of guidance and rectitude; "so that they are not able" — that is to say: they find no way to the truth except by means of that with which I have sent you, and by means of the direction from which they have strayed.
In accordance with what we have said about this in the explanation, the exegetes also spoke.
— Mention of who said that:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, who said: Muḥammad ibn Abī Muḥammad related to me, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, or ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: انْظُرْ كَيْفَ ضَرَبُوا لَكَ الأمْثَالَ فَضَلُّوا فَلا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ سَبِيلا — that is to say: they sought guidance in something other than that with which I sent you to them, and thereby they were lost; they will not be able to find guidance in anything other than therein.
Others said about this what Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: فَلا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ سَبِيلا — he said: a way out that brings them out of the comparisons that they have coined for you.
His word تَبَارَكَ الَّذِي إِنْ شَاءَ جَعَلَ لَكَ خَيْرًا مِنْ ذَلِكَ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الأنْهَارُ — Allah the Exalted says: hallowed is He Who, if He wills, will make for you better than that.
The exegetes differed among themselves regarding the meaning of "that" (dhālika) in His word جَعَلَ لَكَ خَيْرًا مِنْ ذَلِكَ . Some said: the meaning of "that" is: better than what these polytheists said to you, O Muḥammad — "why have you not received that, while you are Allah's messenger?" — and then Allah the Exalted made clear what He would have made as better than what they said, and said: جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الأنْهَارُ .
— Mention of who said that.