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O mankind, that is to say, [O] people of Mecca, a similitude is being struck, so listen to it, and it is that: truly those on whom you call, [whom] you worship, besides Allahu ta’ālā, that is, other than Him, and these are the idols, will never create a fly (dhubāb is a generic noun, the singular of which is dhubāba, for both the masculine and the feminine) even if they rallied together to do so, to create it. And if a fly should take away something from them, [such as a drop] of the scents or the saffron in which they drench themselves, they would not be able to recover that from it, because of their [complete] incapacity: so how can they worship those [whom they suppose to be] partners of Allahu ta’ālā, exalted be He? An odd thing - which He has expressed by striking a similitude. Feeble is the seeker, the worshipper, and the [thing] sought, the [thing] worshipped!