وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ تَعَالَوْا۟ إِلَىٰ مَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ وَإِلَى ٱلرَّسُولِ قَالُوا۟ حَسْبُنَا مَا وَجَدْنَا عَلَيْهِ ءَابَآءَنَآ ۚ أَوَلَوْ كَانَ ءَابَآؤُهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ شَيْـًٔا وَلَا يَهْتَدُونَ
Wa izaa qeela lahum ta'aalaw ilaa maaa anzalallaahu wa ilar Rasooli qaaloo hasbunaa maa wajadnaa 'alaihi aabaaa'anaa; awa law kaana aabaaa'uhum laa ya'lamoona shai'anw wa laa yahtadoon
A kiedy się im mówi: "Przychodźcie do tego, co Bóg zesłał, i do Posłańca!" - oni mówią: "Wystarczy nam to, co znajdujemy u naszych ojców." Czyżbyś pomimo, że ich ojcowie nic nie wiedzieli i nie byli prowadzeni drogą prostą?
When it is said to them, "Come to what God has sent down, and to the Messenger," they say, "What we found our fathers practicing is enough for us." Even though their fathers knew nothing and were not guided?
What the previous verse describes is a set of livestock dedications: camels marked, camels set loose, animals spared from slaughter. The appeal to the fathers is therefore made on behalf of customs nobody could give a reason for, and the reply comes as a question, which leaves whoever raised the objection to answer it. The habit of mind named here outlives its occasion, surfacing wherever a practice has lasted longer than the knowledge that produced it.