Tafsir for verse: 53:20
وَمَنَوٰةَ ٱلثَّالِثَةَ ٱلۡأُخۡرَىٰٓ ٢٠ ﴿20
20and about the other, the third (idol), namely, Manāt,?
AI-Assisted Translation: This translation was produced by AI agents carefully trained over several months and thoroughly reviewed. It does NOT replace the scholarship of traditional scholars and is intended as a step in the right direction to make classical tafsir more accessible. There may still be inaccuracies—please report them promptly so we can improve the translation quality.

Commentary

And Manat, it is a rock for Hudhayl and Khuzayah. This indicates that among them, after these two, it is in lordship by His saying, indicating multiplicity by expressing it in a way that shows that something from it is not suitable for righteousness, not even to be mentioned: "the third other." This means that it was not enough for them in breaking a barrier of it, the intellect, merely by counting the deity by making it two, until they added a third, which they acknowledged to be of a lower rank. Thus, the deity among them could be lowly and could be associated with descent and lowliness by being female. Al-Razi said in Al-Lawa'ih: And they feminized its names likening it to the angels, claiming that it is the daughters of Allah - this is the end. And there is no doubt for anyone who has the slightest knowledge of eloquence that this interrogative denial and the expression of what pertains to them regarding birth, which is the most beloved of things to a person, indeed even animals do not agree that it should be said after it what necessitates praise in any way. Thus, the invalidity of what has been weakly transmitted that it was said when this surah was recited in this place: 'Those are the lofty cranes' - to the end of it, is known by every Arab that this is the utmost in delusion in this context. Therefore, there is no connection to this miraculous context in any way.

Explore Other Scholars on This Verse

Compare different scholarly perspectives on Surah An-Najm verse 20

Al-Biqa'iBurhān ad-Dīn Ibrāhīm al-Biqāʿī
Learn more about Al-Biqa'i
4749 / 6181