Surah 16

Surah 16:60

"An evil parable (is fitting) for those who do not believe in the Hereafter, but (only) the highest parable (is fitting) for God. He is the Mighty, the Wise."
Among the Behavior of the Idolators was vowing to Things that Allah had provided for Them to their gods Verses 16:56-60
Show Full Scripture Context (16:56-60) — 5 Verses
Verse 56

وَيَجۡعَلُونَ لِمَا لَا يَعۡلَمُونَ نَصِيبٗا مِّمَّا رَزَقۡنَٰهُمۡۗ تَٱللَّهِ لَتُسۡـَٔلُنَّ عَمَّا كُنتُمۡ تَفۡتَرُونَ

They assign to what they do not know a portion of what We have provided them. By God! Surely you will indeed be questioned about what you have forged.

Verse 57

وَيَجۡعَلُونَ لِلَّهِ ٱلۡبَنَٰتِ سُبۡحَٰنَهُۥ وَلَهُم مَّا يَشۡتَهُونَ

And they assign daughters to God – glory to Him! – and to themselves (they assign) what they desire.

Verse 58

وَإِذَا بُشِّرَ أَحَدُهُم بِٱلۡأُنثَىٰ ظَلَّ وَجۡهُهُۥ مُسۡوَدّٗا وَهُوَ كَظِيمٞ

When one of them is given news of a female (child), his face turns dark and he chokes back his disappointment.

Verse 59

يَتَوَٰرَىٰ مِنَ ٱلۡقَوۡمِ مِن سُوٓءِ مَا بُشِّرَ بِهِۦٓۚ أَيُمۡسِكُهُۥ عَلَىٰ هُونٍ أَمۡ يَدُسُّهُۥ فِي ٱلتُّرَابِۗ أَلَا سَآءَ مَا يَحۡكُمُونَ

He hides himself from the people because of the evil of what he has been given news about. Should he keep it in humiliation or bury it in the dust? Is it not evil what they judge?

Verse 60

لِلَّذِينَ لَا يُؤۡمِنُونَ بِٱلۡأٓخِرَةِ مَثَلُ ٱلسَّوۡءِۖ وَلِلَّهِ ٱلۡمَثَلُ ٱلۡأَعۡلَىٰۚ وَهُوَ ٱلۡعَزِيزُ ٱلۡحَكِيمُ

An evil parable (is fitting) for those who do not believe in the Hereafter, but (only) the highest parable (is fitting) for God. He is the Mighty, the Wise.

Allah tells us about some of the heinous deeds of those who used to perform baseless worship of other gods besides Him, such as idols and statues, with no grounds for doing so. They gave their idols a share of that which Allah had provided for them, {They say: "This is for Allah," according to their claim, "and this is for our partners." But the share of their "partners" is not directed to Allah, while the share of Allah is directed to their "partners"! How evil is that with which they judged} (6:136) That is they assigned a share for their idols as well as Allah, but they gave preference to their gods over Him, so Allah swore by His Almighty Self to question them about these lies and fabrications. He will most certainly call them to account for it and give them the unrelenting punishment in the fire of Hell. So He says, {By Allah, you shall certainly be questioned about (all) that you used to fabricate.} Then Allah tells us how they used to regard the angels, who are servants of the Most Merciful, as being female, and that they considered them to be Allah's daughters, and they worshipped them with Him. In all of the above, they made very serious errors. They attributed offspring to Him when He has no offspring, then they assigned Him the kind of offspring they regarded as inferior, namely daughters, which they did not even want for themselves, as He said: {Are the males for you and the females for Him? That is indeed an unfair division!} (53:21-22) And Allah says here: {And they assign daughters to Allah! Glorified (and Exalted) is He (above all that they associate with Him!). And for themselves (they assign) what they desire;} meaning, they choose the males for themselves. {And when the news of (the birth of) a female (child) is brought to any of them, his face becomes dark, and he is filled with inner grief!} meaning, when one of them is given the news that a daughter has been born to him, his face darkens with dismay and grief. He hides himself from the people because of his shame, pondering what he should do with her. {Shall he keep her with dishonor} meaning, shall he keep her, and humiliate her, by not letting her inherit from him and not looking after her properly, and preferring his male children over her? {or bury her in the earth?} meaning bury her alive, as they used to do during the days of ignorance. How could they dislike something so intensely, yet attribute it to Allah? {Certainly, evil is their decision.} meaning how evil are the words they say, the way they want to share things out and the things they attribute to Him. As Allah says: {And if one of them is informed of the news of (the birth of a girl) that which he sets forth as a parable to the Most Gracious (Allah), his face becomes dark, and he is filled with grief!} (43:17). Here, Allah says: {For those who do not believe in the Hereafter there is an evil description,} meaning, only imperfection is to be attributed to them. {and for Allah is the highest description} meaning He is absolutely perfect in all ways and this absolute perfection is His Alone. {And He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.}

— from Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Vol. 5, Page 479)

About this Source & Scholarly Authority (Tafsir Ibn Kathir)

Universal Sunni Consensus: Tafsir al-Qur'an al-Azim by Hafiz Ibn Kathir (701–774 AH / 1301–1373 AD) is universally regarded across all major schools of Sunni Islam (traditional, Salafi, Ash'ari) as the most authoritative classical exegesis. It is prized because it relies on Tafsir bil-Ma'thur—interpreting the Quran using the Quran itself, authentic Hadiths of Prophet Muhammad, and recorded statements of the early Companions (Sahabah).

Standard English Edition: This text is from the standard 10-volume English abridgment published by Dar-us-Salam Publications (supervised by Shaykh Safiur-Rahman Al-Mubarakpuri), which is the official, most widely distributed English Quranic commentary in mosques and Islamic libraries worldwide today.