Al Naḥl

فَلاَ تَضْرِبُوا لِلَّهِ الاَمْثَالَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنتُمْ لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ

74. “Therefore do not coin any similitudes for Allah. Verily, Allah knows and you do not know.”

The pagans regarded Allah as a king and considered idols as His ministers. This holy verse declares that an end must be put to such similes, and you should not designate equals for Him when worshipping Allah for He has not got any equals or counterparts who may deserve being worshipped. The verse says:

“Therefore do not coin any similitudes for Allah. Verily, Allah knows and you do not know.”

Some commentators have claimed that the first sentence of the verse which says:

refers to the logic of the pagans during the ‘Age of Ignorance’, (the exact replica of which can also be found among some of contemporary pagans). They used to claim that the reason why they would call on the idols was that they were not worthy for worshipping Allah, so they had to take idols because these were the near-stationed ones to the Lord. Allah is like a great king who grants audience only to ministers and his exclusive entourage. However, the masses of the people who cannot have access to Him, will call on those who are exclusively received by Him.

Such groundless and unjustified kinds of logic which are sometimes depicted in the form of a deviating parable, are the most dangerous of all kinds of logic. To answer such a claim, the Qur’an asserts that you should not use allegories in case of Allah; that is, allegories which suit limited scopes of thought and fit in the category of those whose existence is probable and which is full of defects and flaws. If you were aware of the All-Encompassing attribute of Allah with regard to all beings and you knew about His grace and favour which is unlimited, and His proximity towards yourself, in which case makes Him approach you closer than your own ‘self’, you would never turn to other means for securing Allah’s attention.

That Lord Who has invited you to be in direct touch with Him in prayers, and has left the doors of His house wide-open to you day and night, He must not be likened to an oppressive king who has slipped into his palace and does not let anyone in there, except a few. In our discussion of concerning Allah’s attributes, we have particularly pointed out the fact that one of the sliding slopes which exists in the way of understanding the attributes of Allah is that of the land-slide of using similes.

That is, comparing Allah’s attributes with those of man and considering them as similarities, because Allah is an infinite and boundless being in every respect and other beings are the ones which are finite and within limits and any comparison made in here causes one to remain aloof from knowing Him. Even in cases where we are bound to do so, and to compare His Holy Essence to light and the like, we must note that such similes and metaphorical applications have got shortcomings and fail to achieve our purpose, and they might be only acceptable in part and not as a whole.

While most people are heedless of this fact, they are often thrown down the bottom of the slopes of the valley seemingly of simile and syllogism, when making their comparisons. They are then distanced from the truth of monotheism. Thus, the Qur’an warns us repeatedly and attracts our attention to this fact; sometimes with the sentence:

“And there is none like unto Him.” ¹

and sometimes it also uses the sentence:

“Nothing is similar to Him.” ²

At other times, the Qur’an calls our attention by using the first sentence of the abovementioned verse. And, perhaps, the last sentence of the verse, by saying:

explains this same subject that usually people are unaware of the secrets of the attributes of Allah.