O men, give ear to this parable: Those you worship other than God can never create as much as a fly, even if they get together to do so; and if the fly were to rob them of a thing they would not be able to snatch it away from it. How weak the seeker and how weak the sought!

O people, an example is being illustrated therefore listen to it attentively; “Those whom you worship besides Allah can never create a fly even if they all come together for it; and if a fly took away something from them, they cannot retrieve that from it; how weak are the seeker and the sought!”

O men, a similitude is struck; so give you ear to it. Surely those upon whom you call, apart from God, shall never create a fly, though they banded together to do it; and if a fly should rob them of aught, they would never rescue it from him. Feeble indeed alike are the seeker and the sought!

O MEN! A parable is set forth [herewith]; hearken, then, to it! Behold, those beings whom you invoke instead of God cannot create [as much as] a fly, even were they to join all their forces to that end! And if a fly robs them of anything, they cannot [even] rescue it from him! Weak indeed is the seeker, and [weak] the sought!

O Mankind! a similitude is propounded; so hearken thereto. Verily those whom ye call upon beside Allah will by no means create a fly, even though they assembled for that; and if the fly were to snatch away aught from them, they cannot recover it from him: weak the seeker and the sought!

O mankind! A similitude has been coined, so listen to it (carefully): Verily! Those on whom you call besides Allah, cannot create (even) a fly, even though they combine together for the purpose. And if the fly snatched away a thing from them, they would have no power to release it from the fly. So weak are (both) the seeker and the sought.

O people! A parable is presented, so listen to it: Those you invoke besides God will never create a fly, even if they banded together for that purpose. And if the fly steals anything from them, they cannot recover it from it. Weak are the pursuer and the pursued.

O people! A parable is presented, so listen to it: Those you invoke besides Allah will never create a fly, even if they banded together for that purpose. And if the fly steals anything from them, they cannot recover it from it. Weak are the pursuer and the pursued.

O, people! A parable is presented, so listen to it: those you call upon besides God will never create a fly, even if they came together for that purpose. And if the fly snatches anything from them, they cannot recover it from it. Weak is the pursuer and the pursued.

O, people! A parable is presented, so listen to it: those you call upon besides Allah will never create a fly, even if they came together for that purpose. And if the fly snatches anything from them, they cannot recover it from it. Weak is the pursuer and the pursued.

O humanity! A lesson is set forth, so listen to it ˹carefully˺: those ˹idols˺ you invoke besides Allah can never create ˹so much as˺ a fly, even if they ˹all˺ were to come together for that. And if a fly were to snatch anything away from them, they cannot ˹even˺ retrieve it from the fly. How powerless are those who invoke and those invoked!

O people, a parable is set forth: pay heed to it. Those who call upon aught other than Allah shall never be able to create even a fly, even if all of them were to come together to do that. And if the fly were to snatch away anything from them, they would not be able to recover that from it. Powerless is the supplicant; and powerless is he to whom he supplicates.

O mankind! A parable has been made, so listen to it: Verily, those on whom you call besides Allah, cannot create a fly, even though they combine together for the purpose. And if the fly snatches away a thing from them, they will have no power to release it from the fly. So weak are the seeker and the sought.

O mankind! A similitude is coined, so pay ye heed to it: Lo! those on whom ye call beside Allah will never create a fly though they combine together for the purpose. And if the fly took something from them, they could not rescue it from it. So weak are (both) the seeker and the sought!

O people! Listen to a parable that is being drawn: Indeed those whom you invoke besides Allah will never create [even] a fly even if they all rallied to do so! And if a fly should take away something from them, they can not recover that from it. Feeble is the seeker and the sought!

People, this is a parable, listen to it. Those whom you call upon, other than Allah, could never create a fly, though they banded together to do this. And if a fly robs them of anything, they could never rescue it from it. The seeker and the sought are alike in their weakness.

O people, an example is presented, so listen to it. Indeed, those you invoke besides Allah will never create [as much as] a fly, even if they gathered together for that purpose. And if the fly should steal away from them a [tiny] thing, they could not recover it from him. Weak are the pursuer and pursued.

People, listen to this parable: Those whom you worship instead of God do not have the power to create even a fly, even though all of them would come together for the task. If the fly was to snatch something from them they would not be able to rescue it from the fly. How feeble are such worshippers and that which they worship.

O people! a parable is set forth, therefore listen to it: surely those whom you call upon besides Allah cannot create fly, though they should all gather for it, and should the fly snatch away anything from them, they could not take it back from it; weak are the invoker and the invoked.

Ya ayyuha alnnasu duriba mathalun faistamiAAoo lahu inna allatheena tadAAoona min dooni Allahi lan yakhluqoo thubaban walawi ijtamaAAoo lahu wain yaslubuhumu alththubabu shayan la yastanqithoohu minhu daAAufa alttalibu waalmatloobu

yāayyuhā l-nāsu ḍuriba mathalun fa-is'tamiʿū lahu inna alladhīna tadʿūna min dūni l-lahi lan yakhluqū dhubāban walawi ij'tamaʿū lahu wa-in yaslub'humu l-dhubābu shayan lā yastanqidhūhu min'hu ḍaʿufa l-ṭālibu wal-maṭlūbu

People, here is an illustration. So listen carefully. Surely, those whom you invoke other than God cannot create even a fly, even if they were all to combine together to do it, and if a fly should snatch anything away from them, they cannot recover it from it. Both are indeed weak, the seeker and the sought.

O men! Here is a parable set forth! listen to it! Those on whom, besides Allah, ye call, cannot create (even) a fly, if they all met together for the purpose! and if the fly should snatch away anything from them, they would have no power to release it from the fly. Feeble are those who petition and those whom they petition!