يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ ضُرِبَ مَثَلٌ فَٱسْتَمِعُوا۟ لَهُۥٓ ۚ إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ تَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ لَن يَخْلُقُوا۟ ذُبَابًا وَلَوِ ٱجْتَمَعُوا۟ لَهُۥ ۖ وَإِن يَسْلُبْهُمُ ٱلذُّبَابُ شَيْـًٔا لَّا يَسْتَنقِذُوهُ مِنْهُ ۚ ضَعُفَ ٱلطَّالِبُ وَٱلْمَطْلُوبُ
Yaaa ayyuhan naasu duriba masalun fastami'oo lah; innal lazeena tad'oona min doonil laahi lai yakhluqoo zubaabanw wa lawijtama'oo lahoo wa iny yaslub humuz zubbabu shai'al laa yastan qizoohu minh; da'ufat taalibu walmatloob
Ey insanlar! Bir misal verilmektedir, şimdi onu dinleyin: Sizlerin Allah'ı bırakıp taptıklarınız bir araya gelseler, bir sinek bile yaratamıyacaklardır. Sinek onlardan bir şey kapsa, onu kurtaramazlar; isteyen de, istenen de aciz!
People, a parable is set forth, so listen to it closely. Those you call upon besides God could never create a fly, even if they all joined together to do it. And if a fly were to snatch something from them, they could not retrieve it. Feeble is the seeker, and feeble is the sought.
The address widens to all people, and the parable is announced before it arrives, so the listener is told to brace for an argument. Its last words, al-ṭālib and al-maṭlūb, have been read two ways: the seeker is the worshipper and the sought is what he worships, or the seeker is the object of worship and the sought is what the fly made off with. Either reading leaves both ends of the exchange weak.