Could they create a single fly?
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ ضُرِبَ مَثَلٌ فَٱسْتَمِعُوا۟ لَهُۥٓ ۚ إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ تَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ لَن يَخْلُقُوا۟ ذُبَابًا وَلَوِ ٱجْتَمَعُوا۟ لَهُۥ ۖ وَإِن يَسْلُبْهُمُ ٱلذُّبَابُ شَيْـًٔا لَّا يَسْتَنقِذُوهُ مِنْهُ ۚ ضَعُفَ ٱلطَّالِبُ وَٱلْمَطْلُوبُ ﴿٧٣﴾
Surah Al-Hajj · 22:73
Meaning (M. Pickthall, 1930): O mankind! A similitude is coined, so pay ye heed to it: Lo! those on whom ye call beside Allah will never create a fly though they combine together for the purpose. And if the fly took something from them, they could not rescue it from it. So weak are (both) the seeker and the sought!
The reflection
If they all came together, could they create a single fly?
In the chapter of the Pilgrimage: "O mankind! A similitude is coined, so pay ye heed to it". Al-Sa'di: lend it your ears and your hearts.
Those you call on besides God will never create a fly, even if they combine together for it. Ibn Kathir: if all they worship gathered to create a single fly, they could not.
And if the fly took something from them, they could not rescue it. Al-Sa'di: and it is among the humblest of creatures. "So weak are (both) the seeker and the sought!" And God knows best.
Sources
- Ibn Kathir, Tafsir al-Qur'an al-'Azim
- al-Sa'di, Taysir al-Karim al-Rahman
- Quran text: Tanzil Project (tanzil.net)
- English meaning: M. Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran (1930)
