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lahū daʿwatu l-ḥaqqi wa-lladhīna yadʿūna min dūnihī lā yastajībūna lahum bi-shayʾin ʾillā ka-bāsiṭi kaffayhi ʾilā l-māʾi li-yablugha fāhu wa-mā huwa bi-bālighihī wa-mā duʿāʾu l-kāfirīna ʾillā fī ḍalālin
[Only] to Him belongs the true invocation; and those whom they invoke besides Him do not answer them in any wise—like someone who stretches his hands towards water [desiring] that it should reach his mouth, but it does not reach it—and the invocations of the faithless only go awry.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Ar-Ra‘d – Verse 14
14. “To Him (alone) is the call of Truth; and those to whom they call, besides Him, will answer them nothing, but like one who stretches his two hands towards the water so that it may reach his mouth, while it does not reach it. And the prayer of disbelievers is only in error”
This holy verse refers to two points. The first is that: Allah’s call belongs to Him alone. That is, He will accept us whenever we call Him. He is both well aware of the prayers of His servants and He also has the authority to fulfill their wishes. The verse says:
“To Him (alone) is the call of Truth…”
Another point raised here is that calling the idols and requesting them is absurd and erroneous, for those whom the pagans call, other than Allah, and seek refuge in them for fulfilling their wishes, their call and their prayers will be left unanswered. The verse continues saying:
“…and those to whom they call, besides Him, will answer them nothing…”
Then, as it is the case with the Qur’anic method, in order to visualize this rational subject, including the feeling of beauty and explicitness, the Qur’an brings a sensible and expressive similitude by declaring that: Those who call on other than Allah are like the ones who stretch their hand-palms towards water so as to fetch water and take it to their mouth, but such a thing will never happen. The verse says:
“…but like one who stretches his two hands towards the water so that it may reach his mouth, while it does not reach it…”
Can one sit next to a well and stretch his hands and send it to his mouth instantly and just by pointing to it? Can one expect such a thing to happen by any other one than he who is foolish or lunatic? To stress the issue further, the Qur’an at the end of the verse indicates that: the prayers of the pagans from their idols is nothing more than taking steps in the dark, and being misled. The verse says:
“…And the prayer of disbelievers is only in error”
What a course of being misled can be worse than that man does his utmost to go astray which may lead him nowhere!
Explanations
Calling on people to worship the sole Allah and alienating oneself from the attention of others, and regarding Him as the only effective factor has been frequently referred to in the Qur’an, among which one may name the followings:
“I answer the prayer of every supplicant when he calls on Me…” 12
However, if he goes to others and calls on them for the fulfillment of his needs, he must beware that they do not hear and if they hear, they will not accept. The Qur’an says:
“If you call on them they will not listen to your call, and even if they were to listen, they cannot answer you…” 13
The confined man naturally requires a safe haven in the adventurous life of the world. The divine prophets introduce Allah as the safe haven:
“To Him (alone) is the call of Truth…”.
However, other people’s help, such as the despots, are either for fooling him or for his exploitation or propagation and for their own protection of positions, etc. What is not worth consideration to them, is the ‘man’ himself. Man is inherently truth seeking and thirsty for the Truth but he often loses his way to obtain it. Except for his faith in Allah and love of Him and that his prayers be directed to Him, nothing else will quench the thirst of man who infinitely aspires.
“…so that it may reach his mouth, while it does not reach it…”
For, anything inferior to Allah is a mirage and calling on others is of no avail. Therefore, he who sincerely calls Allah will return not empty-handed. Returning empty-handed is because of focusing towards other than Him.
Footnotes