Tafseer of The Spider · Al-Ankaboot · 29:17
You only worship, besides Allah, idols, and you produce a falsehood. Indeed, those you worship besides Allah do not possess for you [the power of] provision. So seek from Allah provision and worship Him and be grateful to Him. To Him you will be returned."
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 the saying of the Exalted: إِنَّمَا تَعْبُدُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ أَوْثَانًا وَتَخْلُقُونَ إِفْكًا إِنَّ الَّذِينَ تَعْبُدُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ لا يَمْلِكُونَ لَكُمْ رِزْقًا فَابْتَغُوا عِنْدَ اللَّهِ الرِّزْقَ وَاعْبُدُوهُ وَاشْكُرُوا لَهُ إِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ (29:17) ("You worship besides Allah only idols, and you fabricate a lie. Indeed, those whom you worship besides Allah possess no provision for you. So seek the provision with Allah, and worship Him and be thankful to Him. To Him you will be returned.") (17)
The Exalted, whose mention is lofty, says, reporting the saying of His friend Ibrāhīm to his people: you worship, O people, besides Allah only idols (awthān) — that is to say: images.
As Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: إِنَّمَا تَعْبُدُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ أَوْثَانًا ("You worship besides Allah only idols") — images (aṣnām).
And the people of interpretation differed concerning the explanation of His saying: وَتَخْلُقُونَ إِفْكًا ("and you fabricate a lie"). Some of them said: its meaning is: and you fashion a lie.
* Mention of who said that:
ʿAlī related to us, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying: وَتَخْلُقُونَ إِفْكًا ("and you fabricate a lie") he said: you fashion a lie.
And others said: and you utter a lie.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: وَتَخْلُقُونَ إِفْكًا ("and you fabricate a lie") he said: and you utter a lie.
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: وَتَخْلُقُونَ إِفْكًا ("and you fabricate a lie") he said: you utter a lie.
And others said: no, the meaning of that is: and you carve a lie.
* Mention of who said that:
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurāsānī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying: وَتَخْلُقُونَ إِفْكًا ("and you fabricate a lie") he said: you carve and mould a lie.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: وَتَخْلُقُونَ إِفْكًا ("and you fabricate a lie") — that is to say: you make idol-images (aṣnām).
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying: وَتَخْلُقُونَ إِفْكًا ("and you fabricate a lie") — the idols (awthān) which they carve with their hands.
And the most correct of the sayings concerning this is the saying of the one who said: its meaning is: and you fashion a lie and falsehood. We have already expounded the meaning of fashioning/making (al-khalq) earlier in a manner that makes it unnecessary to repeat in this place. The explanation of the words is then: you worship besides Allah only idols, and you fashion a lie and falsehood. And in His saying إِفْكًا ("a lie") it is connected to إِنَّمَا ("only"), like the saying of someone: "you only do this, and you only do that." And all the Qurʾān reciters of the cities read: وَتَخْلُقُونَ إِفْكًا ("and you fabricate a lie") with lightening of the khāʾ in His saying وَتَخْلُقُونَ and with ḍamma on the lām, derived from al-khalq (carving/fashioning). And it has been transmitted from Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī that he read: وَتَخَلِّقُونَ إِفْكًا with fatḥa on the khāʾ and doubling (tashdīd) of the lām, derived from al-takhlīq.
And the correct reading in this is, according to us, that which the Qurʾān reciters of the cities are upon, because of the consensus of the authoritative reciters concerning it.
And His saying: إِنَّ الَّذِينَ تَعْبُدُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ لا يَمْلِكُونَ لَكُمْ رِزْقًا ("Indeed, those whom you worship besides Allah possess no provision for you") — the Exalted, whose praise is lofty, says: indeed, your idols which you worship are unable to provide you with anything. فَابْتَغُوا عِنْدَ اللَّهِ الرِّزْقَ ("So seek the provision with Allah") means: so seek the provision with Allah, not with your idols, then you will attain from it what you desire. وَاعْبُدُوهُ ("and worship Him") means: and be humble before Him. وَاشْكُرُوا لَهُ ("and be thankful to Him") for His provision to you and His favours which He has bestowed upon you. One says: "shakartuhu" and "shakartu lahu," whereby "shakartu lahu" is more eloquent than "shakartuhu." And His saying: إِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ ("To Him you will be returned") means: to Allah you will be returned after your death, whereupon He will question you about that which you are in of your worship of one other than Him, while you are His servants and His creatures, and you move about amid His favours and eat of His provision.
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Footnotes:
(1) Perhaps he means: and the implied إِنَّمَا ("only") in His saying إِفْكًا ("a lie") is connected with it... and so forth; and its intent is clear.
