Al-Hajj 22:73
The Pilgrimage · ayah 73 of 78
Ya ayyuha annasuduriba mathalun fastamiAAoo lahu inna allatheenatadAAoona min dooni Allahi lan yakhluqoo thubabanwalawi ijtamaAAoo lahu wa-in yaslubuhumu aththubabushay-an la yastanqithoohu minhu daAAufa attalibuwalmatloob
Saheeh International translation
Other English translations
Abdel Haleem (Oxford)+
"People, here is an illustration, so listen carefully: those you call on beside God could not, even if they combined all their forces, create a fly, and if a fly took something away from them, they would not be able to retrieve it. How feeble are the petitioners and how feeble are those they petition!"
Pickthall (classic)+
"O mankind! A similitude is coined, so pay ye heed to it: Lo! those on whom ye call beside Allah will never create a fly though they combine together for the purpose. And if the fly took something from them, they could not rescue it from it. So weak are (both) the seeker and the sought!"
Yusuf Ali (classic)+
"O men! Here is a parable set forth! listen to it! Those on whom, besides Allah, ye call, cannot create (even) a fly, if they all met together for the purpose! and if the fly should snatch away anything from them, they would have no power to release it from the fly. Feeble are those who petition and those whom they petition!"