The Troops
IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE DISPENSER OF GRACE[39:29]
[To this end,] God sets forth a parable: A man who has for his masters several partners, [all of them] at variance with one another, and a man depending wholly on one person: can these two be deemed equal as regards their condition?
[Nay,] all praise is due to God [alone]: but most of them do not understand this.

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* v.29 : Lit., “with regard to whom there are [several] partners (shurakā’),” i.e., as masters: a metaphor for belief in a plurality of divine powers.
* The term mathal, which is usually rendered by me as “parable” (e.g., at the beginning of this verse as well as in verse 27), primarily denotes a “likeness,” i.e., of one thing to another; but sometimes it is used tropically as a synonym for sifah (the “quality,” “intrinsic attribute,” or “nature” of a thing) or hālah (its “state” or “condition”). In the present instance, the last-mentioned of these meanings is most appropriate, inasmuch as it alludes to man’s condition arising from either of two contrasting attitudes: a belief in God’s transcendental oneness and uniqueness, on the one hand, and a readiness to ascribe divine powers and qualities to a variety of created beings or supposed “incarnations” of God, on the other.