Surah An-Nahl Ayat 73 (16:73 Quran) With Tafsir

Surah Nahl >> Currently viewing Surah Nahl Ayat 73 (16:73)

Surah Nahl Ayat 73 in Arabic Text

وَيَعۡبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ مَا لَا يَمۡلِكُ لَهُمۡ رِزۡقٗا مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ شَيۡـٔٗا وَلَا يَسۡتَطِيعُونَ

Wa ya’budoona min doonil laahi maa laa yamliku lahum rizqam minas samaawaati wal ardi shai’anw wa laa yastatee’oon

English Translation

Here you can read various translations of verse 73

Sahih International
And they worship besides Allah that which does not possess for them [the power of] provision from the heavens and the earth at all, and [in fact], they are unable.

Yusuf Ali
And worship others than Allah,- such as have no power of providing them, for sustenance, with anything in heavens or earth, and cannot possibly have such power?

Abul Ala Maududi
and worship instead of Allah, those helpless beings who have no control over providing them any sustenance from the heavens and the earth; do you worship those who have no power to do anything of this sort?

Muhsin Khan
And they worship others besides Allah, such as do not and cannot own any provision for them from the heavens or the earth.

Pickthall
And they worship beside Allah that which owneth no provision whatsoever for them from the heavens or the earth, nor have they (whom they worship) any power.

Dr. Ghali
And they worship, apart from Allah, that which does not possess (power to give) them (any) provision for them from the heavens and the earth, and they are unable to (provide) anything.

Abdel Haleem
Those they worship beside God have no power to provide anything for them from the heavens or the earth: they can do nothing.

Muhammad Junagarhi
اور وه اللہ تعالیٰ کے سوا ان کی عبادت کرتے ہیں جو آسمانوں اور زمین سے انہیں کچھ بھی تو روزی نہیں دے سکتے اور نہ کچھ قدرت رکھتے ہیں

Quran 16 Verse 73 Explanation

For those looking for commentary to help with the understanding of Surah Nahl ayat 73, we’ve provided two Tafseer works below. The first is the tafseer of Abul Ala Maududi, the second is of Ibn Kathir.

Ala-Maududi

(16:73) and worship instead of Allah, those helpless beings who have no control over providing them any sustenance from the heavens and the earth; do you worship those who have no power to do anything of this sort?

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

Ibn-Kathir

73. And they worship others besides Allah such as do not have power to grant them any provision from the heavens or the earth nor the ability to do so. 74. So do not give examples on behalf of Allah. Truly, Allah knows and you know not.

Denouncing the Worship of anything besides Allah

Allah tells us about the Mushrikin who worship others besides Him, even though He alone is the bountiful Provider, the Creator and Sustainer, without partners or associates, but they still worship idols and make rivals for Him. He says:

﴿مَا لاَ يَمْلِكُ لَهُمْ رِزْقًا مِّنَ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ شَيْئًا﴾

(such as do not have power to grant them any provision from the heavens or the earth) meaning, nobody can cause rain to fall, or make plants and trees grow. They cannot do these things for them- selves, even if they wanted to. Thus Allah says:

﴿فَلاَ تَضْرِبُواْ لِلَّهِ الاٌّمْثَالَ﴾

(So do not give examples on behalf of Allah.) meaning, do not set up rivals to Him or describe anything as being like Him.

﴿إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنتُمْ لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ﴾

(Truly, Allah knows and you know not.) meaning, He knows and bears witness that there is no god but Him, but you are ignorant and associate others in worship with Him.

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