ٱلْحَجّ : ٧٣

  • يَٰٓأَيُّهَا O mankind
  • ٱلنَّاسُ O mankind
  • ضُرِبَ Is set forth
  • مَثَلٞ an example
  • فَٱسۡتَمِعُواْ so listen
  • لَهُۥٓۚ to it
  • إِنَّ Indeed
  • ٱلَّذِينَ those whom
  • تَدۡعُونَ you invoke
  • مِن besides Allah
  • دُونِ besides Allah
  • ٱللَّهِ besides Allah
  • لَن will never
  • يَخۡلُقُواْ create
  • ذُبَابٗا a fly
  • وَلَوِ even if
  • ٱجۡتَمَعُواْ they gathered together
  • لَهُۥۖ for it
  • وَإِن And if
  • يَسۡلُبۡهُمُ snatched away from them
  • ٱلذُّبَابُ the fly
  • شَيۡـٔٗا a thing
  • لَّا not
  • يَسۡتَنقِذُوهُ they (could) take it back
  • مِنۡهُۚ from it
  • ضَعُفَ So weak
  • ٱلطَّالِبُ (are) the seeker
  • وَٱلۡمَطۡلُوبُ and the one who is sought
O people, an example is presented, so listen to it. Indeed, those you invoke besides Allāh will never create [as much as] a fly, even if they gathered together for it [i.e., that purpose]. And if the fly should steal from them a [tiny] thing, they could not recover it from him. Weak are the pursuer and pursued.1
Footnotes
1 - A comparison is made here to the worshipper of a false deity and that which he worships.
O mankind, that is to say, [O] people of Mecca, a similitude is being struck, so listen to it, and it is that: truly those on whom you call, [whom] you worship, besides God, that is, other than Him, and these are the idols, will never create a fly (dhubaab is a generic noun, the singular of which is dhubaaba, for both the masculine and the feminine) even if they rallied together to do so, to create it. And if a fly should take away something from them, [such as a drop] of the scents or the saffron in which they drench themselves, they would not be able to recover that from it, because of their [complete] incapacity: so how can they worship those [whom they suppose to be] partners of God, exalted be He? An odd thing - which He has expressed by striking a similitude. Feeble is the seeker, the worshipper, and the [thing] sought, the [thing] worshipped!