Allah sets forth a likeness
ضَرَبَ ٱللَّهُ مَثَلًا
ḍaraba llāhu mathalan — Allah has set forth a likeness
A fixed frame in which Allah is the subject and the object slot is filled with a person, pair, town, word, or named women, turning each into a case for comparison. The frame marks its filler as a standard likeness rather than a narrative, and the surrounding verses then draw the lesson from it.
The frame ضَرَبَ ٱللَّهُ مَثَلًا presents Allah as the one who 'strikes' or 'sets forth' a mathal, and what follows the frame is the thing offered for comparison. The fillers vary in kind: a wholesome word compared to a wholesome tree (14:24), a town that was safe and at ease (16:112), an owned slave contrasted with one whom We provided with a good provision (16:75), two men, one dumb and dependent, one enjoining justice (16:76), a man with quarrelsome partners contrasted with a man devoted to one (39:29), and named women—the woman of Noah and the woman of Lot for those who cover the truth (66:10), the woman of Pharaoh for those who attain faith (66:11). The frame does two things to its filler. First, it classifies the material: whatever enters the slot is to be read as a likeness, a case constructed for comparison, not merely reported. Second, it often pairs the frame with an explicit evaluative question—'Are they equal?' (16:75), 'Is he equal to one who enjoins justice?' (16:76), 'do the two equal each other in likeness?' (39:29)—showing that the frame's function is to set up a comparison whose answer the hearer must draw. Two verses extend the frame into a plural form, وَيَضْرِبُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْأَمْثَالَ لِلنَّاسِ, stating the purpose: 'so that they may remember' (14:25) and, with the added clause 'Allah is, of everything, all-knowing' (24:35). In 66:10–11 the frame takes an explicit audience, لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ and لِلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟, so the same frame serves as both warning and example depending on the addressees.
Where it occurs
- 14:24 Introduces the likeness of a wholesome word as a wholesome tree, framed by 'Have you not seen how'.
- 14:25 States in the plural that Allah sets forth the likenesses for mankind so that they may remember.
- 16:75 Frames the contrast between an owned slave and one whom We provided with a good provision, closed by 'Are they equal?'
- 16:76 Frames the contrast between a dumb dependent man and one who enjoins justice, closed by an equality question.
- 16:112 Frames a town that was safe and at ease but covered up Allah's gifts, as a narrative of loss.
- 24:35 States in the plural that Allah sets forth the likenesses for mankind, after the likeness of His light.
- 39:29 Frames the contrast between a man with quarrelsome partners and a man devoted to one, closed by an equality question.
- 66:10 Frames the women of Noah and Lot as a likeness for those who have covered the truth.
- 66:11 Frames the woman of Pharaoh as a likeness for those who have attained faith.
All Qur'anic expressions