(Allah coineth a similitude: (on the one hand) a (mere) chattel slave, who hath control of nothing, and (on the other hand) one on whom we have bestowed a fair provision from Us, and he spendeth thereof secretly and openly. Are they equal? Praise be to Allah! But most of them know not. And Allah coineth a similitude: Two men, one of them dumb, having control of nothing, and he is a burden on his owner; whithersoever he directeth him to go, he bringeth no good. Is he equal with one who enjoineth justice and followeth a straight path (of conduct)?) [16:75-76]. Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Yahya informed us> Abu Bakr ibn al-Anbari> Ja‘far ibn Muhammad ibn Shakir> ‘Affan> Wuhayb> ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Uthman ibn Khuthaym> Ibrahim> ‘Ikrimah> Ibn ‘Abbas who said: “This verse (Allah coineth a similitude: (on the one hand) a (mere) chattel slave…) about Hisham ibn ‘Amr who used to spend his wealth openly and in secret and his client Abu’l-Jawza’ who used to bid him to stop doing so. As for the verse (And Allah coineth a similitude: Two men, one of them dumb, having control of nothing), the dumb who has control of nothing is Usayd ibn Abi al-‘Is and the one who (enjoineth justice and followeth a straight path…) is ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan”.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou
