قَالُوا۟ مَن فَعَلَ هَٰذَا بِـَٔالِهَتِنَآ إِنَّهُۥ لَمِنَ ٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ · قَالُوا۟ سَمِعْنَا فَتًى يَذْكُرُهُمْ يُقَالُ لَهُۥٓ إِبْرَٰهِيمُ · قَالُوا۟ فَأْتُوا۟ بِهِۦ عَلَىٰٓ أَعْيُنِ ٱلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَشْهَدُونَ · قَالُوٓا۟ ءَأَنتَ فَعَلْتَ هَٰذَا بِـَٔالِهَتِنَا يَٰٓإِبْرَٰهِيمُ · قَالَ بَلْ فَعَلَهُۥ كَبِيرُهُمْ هَٰذَا فَسْـَٔلُوهُمْ إِن كَانُوا۟ يَنطِقُونَ
Qālū man faʿala hādhā bi-ālihatinā innahu la-mina'ẓ-ẓālimīn · Qālū samiʿnā fatan yadhkuruhum yuqālu lahu Ibrāhīm · Qālū fa'tū bihi ʿalā aʿyuni'n-nāsi laʿallahum yashhadūn · Qālū a-anta faʿalta hādhā bi-ālihatinā yā Ibrāhīm · Qāla bal faʿalahu kabīruhum hādhā fa'sʾalūhum in kānū yanṭiqūn
"They said: 'Who did this to our gods? He is surely a wrongdoer.' · They said: 'We heard a youth talking about them; he is called Abraham.' · They said: 'Then bring him before the people's eyes, that they may witness.' · They said: 'Was it you who did this to our gods, Abraham?' · He said: 'No — this, the greatest of them, did it. Ask them, if they can speak.'"
Five verses in succession begin with qālū/qāla. This is a technique of scene-building in the Qurʾān: the narrator does not intervene, only the speeches are ranged.
| Verse | Step |
|---|---|
| 59 | The establishing of the crime and the naming of the doer in advance (la-mina'ẓ-ẓālimīn) |
| 60 | The identifying of a suspect — on hearsay |
| 61 | The decision to make it public — before the people's eyes |
| 62 | The interrogation |
| 63 | The answer |
I record this as an observation about the structure: the verdict (59) has been given before the interrogation (62). And what is asked for in the sixty-first verse is not evidence but witnessing — laʿallahum yashhadūn.
فَتًى — root ف-ت-ي: a youth, a young man. And the choice of the word is worth recording: Abraham is named not by his name but by his age — and the name is then given as hearsay: yuqālu lahu Ibrāhīm — "one who is called Abraham".
I record this as my own reading: the two expressions together show that the speakers did not know him closely.
يَذْكُرُهُمْ — and again the root ذ-ك-ر. The same verb was used of the Prophet in the thirty-sixth verse: a-hādha'lladhī yadhkuru ālihatakum — "is this the one who talks about your gods?"
| Verse | Of whom | Expression |
|---|---|---|
| 36 | The Prophet | a-hādha'lladhī yadhkuru ālihatakum |
| 60 | Abraham | samiʿnā fatan yadhkuruhum |
The same verb, the same accusation, two different ages. I record this as my own reading, its ground being the two verses' shared word: the sūra shows with the same verb that the complaint its own addressee brings against the Prophet was brought long before as well.
And the sixty-third verse is one of the most debated sentences in the classical commentaries. I give the disagreement in a table and impose no preference.
| View | Explanation |
|---|---|
| 1 | The condition governs the sentence: the clause in kānū yanṭiqūn qualifies the whole — "if they can speak, then the greatest of them did it." Since they cannot speak, the sentence carries no assertion either |
| 2 | Ilzām/taʿrīḍ: the speech is framed to confront the addressee with the consequence of his own thesis. It is spoken according to what the other side grants, and does not aim to convey information |
| 3 | A difference of pause: one says bal faʿalahu and stops, and then a new sentence begins: kabīruhum hādhā fa'sʾalūhum |
And I enter a note that can be read from the text itself — this is not a preference but an observation about the structure:
In the fifty-eighth verse the ground of Abraham's act had already been given: laʿallahum ilayhi yarjiʿūn. That is, the breaking was done in order to produce a question. And the answer in the sixty-third verse produces exactly a question: fa'sʾalūhum — "ask them."
The work of the sentence is not to convey information but to bring the addressee to a place. And the next verse shows that they arrived there.