Az-Zumar · Makki · ayah 27 of 75

Az-Zumar 39:27

وَلَقَدْ ضَرَبْنَا لِلنَّاسِ فِى هَـٰذَا ٱلْقُرْءَانِ مِن كُلِّ مَثَلٍ لَّعَلَّهُمْ يَتَذَكَّرُونَ

“And We have certainly presented for the people in this Qur’ān from every [kind of] example - that they might remember.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Allah has struck in this Quran every kind of likeness people need, so the truth stays with them like a thread tied round the finger.

A reflection

A likeness struck like a coin

We have certainly struck for people in this Quran every kind of likeness.

The verb is ḍarabnā, struck, and it carries a picture the lexicons trace to a single origin: making a blow fall on something. The hammer comes down and a blank becomes a coin. A ḍarb is a type, minted on one pattern. A likeness, too, is struck: once said, its mark stays.

Mathal, likeness, comes from a root meaning one thing standing opposite another as its match. A timthāl is a figure shaped on another's pattern; a mithāl was a smith's mould. A mathal is a saying set beside a case so that each shows the other.

The verb is in the plural of majesty, We. The One who struck the stars into their orbits has also struck likenesses for human understanding. One commentary says why: a likeness brings meaning near to minds. It cites Allah's words: 'He has struck for you a likeness from yourselves' (30:28), something you know from your own lives.

That should humble the reader. We tend to imagine that we come to the Quran as the clever ones, deciding what it means. In fact its Author has already done the hardest work of teaching: finding pictures that fit our minds. He did not need to. He is the One whom nothing can benefit.

Picture a renowned professor of engineering who agrees to teach a class of ten-year-olds. She spends a week designing a model bridge from lolly sticks so that they will grasp what she could explain in a single equation. The children think the lesson is easy. They do not see the humility in it. The Quran's likenesses are like that model: a great Teacher stooping to be understood.

Is it self-praise for Allah to announce that He has given every likeness? Only if the announcement served Him. It serves the listener. It says: you have not been left without the pictures you need. If you fail to understand, it will not be for want of a likeness.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.