His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And they worship besides Allah that which does not possess for them any provision from the heavens and the earth, anything, nor can they." "So do not strike for Allah the examples. Indeed, Allah knows, and you do not know." "Allah has struck a parable: a slave owned who is unable to do anything, and one whom We have provided with a good provision, so he spends from it secretly and openly. Are they equal? Praise be to Allah! But most of them do not know."

This verse is a reprimand for the disbelievers and a rebuke, and it shows the corruption of their perspective. It places them with the idols in the direction in which people strive and to which their concerns are directed, which is the seeking of provision. These idols do not possess the ability to bring down rain nor to cause blessings to grow, while they do not own nor can they attempt to do that from the dominion of Allah, the Exalted. And His saying: "provision" is a noun, and it is in the accusative case as a direct object of "possesses."

And His saying: "anything" many grammarians have gone to the view that it is in the accusative case as a substitute for "provision." And "provision" is a noun. The Kufans - and Abu Ali with them - have gone to the view that it is in the accusative case by the source in His saying: "provision," and we do not consider it as a noun. It is like His saying, exalted is He: "Did We not make the earth a resting place?" [Al-Mursalat: 25] "Alive and dead?" [Al-Mursalat: 26], and from it is His saying: "Or feeding on a day of hunger?" [Al-Balad: 14] "an orphan" [Al-Balad: 15]. So He made "orphan" in the accusative case by "feeding." And from it is the saying of the poet:

"If it were not for the hope of victory from You and the fear of Your punishment, they would have become to us like the sources."

And the source works as an addition by consensus; because it is in the estimation of separation, and it does not work if the definite article enters it; because it has penetrated into the state of nouns and distanced itself from the state of verbal. The estimation of separation in the addition has improved its work, and it has come to work with the definite article in the saying of the poet:

"Weak in retaliation against his enemies."

And His saying: "possesses" is upon the wording of "what," and His saying: "can they" is according to the belief of the disbelievers in the idols that they have understanding. It is possible that the pronoun in "can they" refers to those who worship, and the meaning is: they cannot do that with a proof that they show and an argument that they clarify.

And His saying: "So do not strike" means: do not represent for Allah the examples, and it is taken from your saying: "This is a resemblance to that," meaning its equal. And the striking is the type; you say: the animal is of types, and these two are of one type, and the rest of the verse is clear.

And His saying, exalted is He: "Allah has struck a parable". The one who is a parable in this verse is a servant with this description, owned, unable to possess anything of wealth or of his own affairs. Rather, he is made subservient by the will of his master, and he is managed. It is not necessary from the verse that all servants are of this description, as some who claim to be scholars have taken. And He has said in the second parable: "unable to possess anything". Thus, according to this extraction, the mute would have nothing, and in comparison to the servant in the parable is a man who has been given abundance in wealth, so he manages it by his own will. It is not necessary from the essence of the parable that he be a believer who spends according to obedience, although it is more honorable for him to be a parable.

And "rizq" (provision) is what is valid for benefit. Abu Mansur said in his creed: "Rizq is what is suitable for nourishment." And this verse refutes this specification, as does His saying, exalted is He: "And from what We have provided them, they spend" [Al-Baqarah: 3], and "Spend from what We have provided you" [Al-Baqarah: 254], and other than that from the words of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: "My provision has been made in the shadow of my spear," and his saying: "The provisions of my nation are in the tips of their horses and the heads of their spears." So all the spoils are provision. The correct understanding is that what is valid for benefit is provision, and it has levels, the highest of which is what is nourished by it. And the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, limited the ways of benefit in his saying: "The son of Adam says: My wealth, my wealth. But do you have any of your wealth except what you have eaten and consumed, or what you have worn and worn out, or what you have given in charity and it has been spent?" In the meaning of clothing, riding also falls under it.

People have differed regarding who this parable is for. Qatadah and Ibn Abbas said: It is a parable of the disbeliever and the believer. So it is as if the disbeliever is a servant turned away from obedience, thus he is unable to do anything for that reason, and he resembles the mentioned servant.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The comparison - according to this interpretation - has only occurred in the context of the disbeliever, for he has been made a parable, then he was coupled with the believer who is provided for, unless the provided one is not a believer, but rather it is a parable for the believer, so the comparison occurs from two aspects. Mujahid and Dhuhak said: This parable, and the other parable that follows it, is for Allah, exalted is He, and the idols. Those are like the owned servant who is unable to do anything, and Allah, exalted is He, manages His power without any hindrance. And likewise, Al-Zajjaj explained it in a manner similar to the saying of Mujahid.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

This interpretation is more accurate; because the verse can be understood in the context of what precedes and follows it in clarifying the matter of Allah, glorified and exalted is He, and the refutation of the idols. Al-Tabari reported from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, that he said: This verse was revealed concerning Uthman ibn Affan, may Allah be pleased with him, and a servant he had, and there are other reports specifying different individuals, but their chains of narration are not authentic. The example does not require the specification of anyone. His saying: 'All praise is due to Allah' is gratitude for clarifying the matter with this example, and for the adversary's acknowledgment of it, just as you would say to someone who has conceded to you in an argument and accepted what your statement is based upon: Allah is the Greatest, and based on this, it will be such and such. So when he said here: 'Are they equal?' it is as if the adversary said to him: No. So he said: 'All praise is due to Allah,' the proof has become clear. And his saying: 'But most of them do not know' means they do not know at all and faith does not enter into them. This is supported by his saying: 'Most of them'; because the least of the disbelievers is the one who believed among those. If he had meant by his saying: 'They do not know' that it is now, his saying: 'Most of them' would mean inclusivity; because there was no one among them who knew his statement.