ḍaraba l-lahu mathalan rajulan fīhi shurakāu mutashākisūna warajulan salaman lirajulin hal yastawiyāni mathalan l-ḥamdu lillahi bal aktharuhum lā yaʿlamūna
Translation
Allāh presents an example: a man [i.e., slave] owned by quarreling partners and another belonging exclusively to one man - are they equal in comparison? Praise be to Allāh! But most of them do not know.
Verse 29 of Surah Az-Zumar (39:29), a Meccan surah, is in juz 23, on page 461 of the mushaf. Read it in Arabic with its transliteration, translations and tafsir, and listen to it recited by 72 reciters.
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Tafsir of verse 29
Al-Mukhtasar
Allah gave the example of an idolater and a monotheist as that of a man owned by disputing partners - if he pleases some he angers others and he is thus confused and disturbed; and of a man who is devoted to one man alone who owns him and whose intentions he knows - he is thus comfortable and calm. These two men are not the same. Praise be to Allah, but most of them do not know and therefore they ascribe others as partners to Allah.
Allah makes a comparison of a slave owned by several quarrelsome masters, and a slave owned by only one master. Are they equal in comparison? All praise be to Allah. But most of them do not know.
Allâh puts forth a similitude: a (slave) man belonging to many partners (like those who worship others along with Allâh) disputing with one another, and a (slave) man belonging entirely to one master (like those who worship Allâh Alone). Are those two equal in comparison? All the praises and thanks be to Allâh! But most of them know not.
Allah coineth a similitude: A man in relation to whom are several part-owners, quarrelling, and a man belonging wholly to one man. Are the two equal in similitude? Praise be to Allah! But most of them know not.
Allah puts forth a Parable a man belonging to many partners at variance with each other, and a man belonging entirely to one master: are those two equal in comparison? Praise be to Allah! but most of them have no knowledge.
Allah sets forth an example: There is a slave in whom are (several) partners differing with one another, and there is another slave wholly owned by one man. Are the two alike in condition? (All) praise is due to Allah. Nay! most of them do not know.
Allah has struck a smilitude: a man in whom associates are at variance with each other, and a man wholly submissive to (one) man. Are the two equal (in likeness)? Praise be to Allah; no indeed, (but) most of them do not know.
And if you asked them, "Who created the heavens and earth?" they would surely say, "Allāh." Say, "[All] praise is [due] to Allāh"; but most of them do not know.
Allāh presents an example: a slave [who is] owned and unable to do a thing and he to whom We have provided from Us good provision, so he spends from it secretly and publicly. Can they be equal? Praise to Allāh! But most of them do not know.
And if you asked them, "Who sends down rain from the sky and gives life thereby to the earth after its lifelessness?" they would surely say, "Allāh." Say, "Praise to Allāh"; but most of them do not reason.
And when We substitute a verse in place of a verse - and Allāh is most knowing of what He sends down - they say, "You, [O Muḥammad], are but an inventor [of lies]." But most of them do not know.
Or have they taken gods besides Him? Say, [O Muḥammad], "Produce your proof. This [Qur’ān] is the message for those with me and the message of those before me." But most of them do not know the truth, so they are turning away.
Is He [not best] who made the earth a stable ground and placed within it rivers and made for it firmly set mountains and placed between the two seas a barrier? Is there a deity with Allāh? [No], but most of them do not know.
