Surah 13. Ar-Ra'd, Ayah 16

Lit., "do they assign to God partners...", etc. - i.e., beings that supposedly have a share in God's divinity and/or His creative power. (See also surah {6}, note [15].)

Although the term khalq ("creation" or "act of creation") is often used metaphorically with reference to human achievements, there is an intrinsic difference between the "creation" of an artist, a poet or a philosopher, and the act of creation as attributed to God: for whereas the human "creator" produces his work out of already-existing elements and does no more than bring those elements together in a (possibly) new combination, God alone has the power to create in the true sense of the word - that is, to bring into being something that did not exist, either in its entirety or in its components, before this particular act of creation (cf. 2:117 -"when He wills a thing to be, He but says unto it, 'Be'- and it is"). This is the significance of the allusion, in the above verse, to the erroneous belief that any other power or being could ever have "created the iike of what He creates".

 Blindness and darkness are commonly used as an analogy for disbelief, whereas the ability to see and light refer to true faith in Allah.

The meaning of "Rabb" is explained in n. 20, to i. 2.

Cf. v. 76.

This verse may be analysed into six parts, each two parts going together like question and answer. Each except the fifth part is introduced by the word "Say", which is equivalent in old Arabic to inverted commas. The fifth part, "or do they assign .... similar?" is not introduced by "Say", because it is in the indirect form. (1) Who is the Lord and Sustainer of the Worlds? It is Allah, (2) And yet you worship other gods? No, no one can be equal to Him, any more than darkness is equal to light. (3) Your other gods have created nothing by which you can be misled? No indeed; He is the only Creator, the One and Supreme.