Tazkirul Quran, Qur’an 21:64–67
The Prophets (Al-Anbiya’)
By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
English text; the translator is not named in the archive’s data.
Translation
(64) Then they turned to one another and said, ‘It is you yourselves who are in the wrong,’ (65) then they hung their heads, and said, ‘O Abraham! You know they cannot speak.’ (66) Abraham said, ‘So, do you worship something instead of God that can neither benefit you nor harm you? (67) Shame on you and on whatever you worship instead of God. Can you not understand?’
Commentary
(a) On hearing such replies from Abraham, the people could have accused him of insolence and taken him to task, as usually happens in such cases. But, in spite of their being polytheists, there seemed to be some sense of reason left in them. So, realizing the force of the rationality in his replies, they felt ashamed and admitted that they were wrong. Had they not subsequently fallen a prey to prejudices, this experience would have been sufficient to lead them towards the true faith.