The Bee
IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE DISPENSER OF GRACE[16:76]
And God propounds [to you] the parable of two [other] men – one of them dumb, unable to do anything of his own accord, and a sheer burden on his master: to whichever task the latter directs him, he accomplishes no good. Can such a one be considered the equal of [a wise man] who enjoins the doing of what is right and himself follows a straight way?

---

* v.76 : The term abkam signifies “dumb” both in the literal, physiological sense and (as in colloquial English) in the sense of being “unable to speak properly” on account of intellectual weakness: i.e., “dull-witted” or “stupid.” Both these meanings are contained in the above Qur’anic description.
* Or: “wherever he sends him.”
* I.e., who is not only wise and righteous but also has the strength and authority to enjoin a righteous way of living upon others. Thus, while in the first parable the main issue is the contrast between freedom and bondage or – more generally – between dependence and independence, in the second parable we are given the antithesis of dumbness and incompetence, on the one hand, and wisdom, justice, and competence, on the other; and in both parables the implication is the same (see note 85 above).