إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَعْلَمُ مَا يَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِهِۦ مِن شَىْءٍ وَهُوَ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ · وَتِلْكَ ٱلْأَمْثَٰلُ نَضْرِبُهَا لِلنَّاسِ وَمَا يَعْقِلُهَآ إِلَّا ٱلْعَٰلِمُونَ · خَلَقَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضَ بِٱلْحَقِّ
"God knows whatever they call upon apart from Him; He is the Mighty, the Wise. These likenesses We set forth for people; but none understand them except those who know. God created the heavens and the earth with truth."
The forty-third verse comes immediately after the spider simile and lays down a condition: wa mā yaʿqiluhā illa'l-ʿālimūn.
The same structure was treated at Fāṭir 35/28 (innamā yakhsha'llāha min ʿibādihi'l-ʿulamāʾ) and it was recorded there: the sentence is placed as the conclusion of a list of observations. I rely on that treatment.
| Place | Condition | Verb |
|---|---|---|
| Fāṭir 35/28 | Al-ʿulamāʾ | Yakhshā — stands in awe |
| al-ʿAnkabūt 29/43 | Al-ʿālimūn | Yaʿqilu — understands |
The same attribute is tied to two different verbs: one fear, the other understanding. I record this as an observation.
And the word amthāl (likenesses) is worth recording: the verse says that the understanding of a simile does not come of itself. That is, giving an example does not guarantee that it will be understood — indeed a spider's web is something everyone sees.
بِٱلْحَقِّ — this note was treated at al-Aḥqāf 46/3, al-Jāthiya 45/22 and Ṣād. The announcement that creation is not in vain joins with the sūra's axis of trial: trial is not a purposeless obligation.