His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "The example of those who have taken allies besides Allah is like the example of a spider that has taken a house. And indeed, the weakest of houses is the house of the spider, if they only knew." "Indeed, Allah knows what they invoke besides Him of anything, and He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise." "And those are the examples We present to the people, and none will understand them except the knowledgeable."

He has likened, blessed and exalted is He, the disbelievers in their worship of idols and in building all their affairs upon that to the spider that builds and strives, while all of its affairs are weak. Whenever the slightest breeze touches it, it is overwhelmed. Likewise, the affairs of those people and their striving are insignificant, having no strength or reliance. And in a narration mentioned by Al-Niqash: "The spider is a devil that Allah has transformed, so kill it." It has been narrated from Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said: "Purify your houses from the webs of the spider, for leaving it brings poverty." And His saying, exalted is He: "If they only knew" means: if they knew that this is their example, and that their condition and their relation to the truth is this state.

(p-647) His saying, exalted is He: "Indeed, Allah knows what they invoke besides Him of anything, and He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise." Abu Amr and Salam read: "knows what" with idgham, while the majority of the reciters read it with separation. The majority read: "you invoke" with the 'ta' from above, while Abu Amr and Asim read: "they invoke" with the 'ya' from below in the third person. As for the position of "what" in terms of grammar, it has been said: its meaning is that Allah knows those who invoke besides Him from all things, that their condition is this, and that they are something of no worth. It has been said: His saying, "Indeed, Allah knows" is a complete statement, and His saying, "and He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise" is connected to it, and the phrase "what they invoke besides Him of anything" is an interruption between the two statements. This is in accordance with this perspective, and it can have two meanings: one of them is that "what" is negating, meaning: you do not invoke anything that has any value or worth, so it is appropriate to be called something. In this, there is a connection to "knows," and there is a consideration in it. The second is that "what" is interrogative, as if He is stating - in a manner of reproach - about this deity from all things, what is it if Allah, exalted is He, is not? That is: they do not have - according to this interpretation - anything convincing to it. Thus, "from" in the first and third statements is for partitive indication, and in the middle statement, it is extra in negation, and its meaning is emphasis. Abu Ali said: "what" is interrogative and is in the accusative case with "invoke," and it is not permissible to place it in the accusative case with "knows." The sentence that is from it is in the position of being accusative with "knows," and the estimation is: indeed, Allah, exalted is He, knows idols that you invoke besides Him or others; this is not hidden from Him.

And His saying, exalted is He: "And those are the examples" refers to this example and similar ones, and "We present" is taken from the word for striking, meaning: type, as you say: "These are of one type," "and this is the type of this," meaning: its companion and its likeness. So it is as if "striking the example" is to make the represented matter similar.

Jabir said: The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said regarding His saying, the Most High: "Except for the knowledgeable ones": "The wise one is the one who understands from Allah, glorified and exalted is He, and acts in obedience to Him, and refrains from His disobedience."