The Bee
IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE DISPENSER OF GRACE
[16:56]
As it is, they ascribe – out of what We provide for them as sustenance – a share unto things of which they know nothing.
By God, you shall most certainly be called to account for all your false imagery!


* v.56 : According to most of the classical commentators, this relates to the custom of the pagan Arabs – mentioned in 6:136 – to dedicate a part of their agricultural produce and cattle to their deities; and because those deities were mere figments of imagination, they are described here as “things of which they know nothing.” However, as I have pointed out in note 120 on 6:136, the above statement bears a much wider, more general meaning: it connects directly with the three preceding verses of this sūrah – namely, with the attribution of a share (nasīb) in God’s creativeness – and thus of a decisive influence on one’s life – to “causes” or “powers” other than Him. This view has also been advanced by Rāzī (with a specific reference to astrological speculations) in the concluding sentence of his commentary on the above verse.