قُلِ ٱدْعُوا۟ ٱلَّذِينَ زَعَمْتُم مِّن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ لَا يَمْلِكُونَ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ فِى ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَلَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَمَا لَهُمْ فِيهِمَا مِن شِرْكٍ وَمَا لَهُۥ مِنْهُم مِّن ظَهِيرٍ
Quli'dʿu'lladhīna zaʿamtum min dūni'llāh, lā yamlikūna mithqāla dharratin fi's-samāwāti wa lā fi'l-arḍi wa mā lahum fīhimā min shirkin wa mā lahū minhum min ẓahīr
"Say: 'Call upon those you have alleged besides God! They do not own so much as the weight of a speck in the heavens or in the earth; they have no share in the two; and He has no supporter among them.'"
The root ز-ع-م was analysed in detail at al-Taghābun 64/7 and at al-Jumuʿa 62/6 (a claim without proof, for which the claimant takes on no responsibility; and the zaʿīm branch — the guarantor — was treated at al-Qalam 68/40). I do not repeat it here.
What belongs here is the place of the word in the sentence. The verse does not name the beings called upon — it names them by way of the addressee's claim about them: alladhīna zaʿamtum. That is, what is mentioned is not the name of the object but the words the addressee says about that object.
I record this as my own reading, and its support is that the name is never given at all: the dispute is conducted not over what the beings are but over what the claim made about them rests on. This agrees exactly with the zaʿm pattern treated at al-Jumuʿa.
| Stage | Expression | Possibility closed |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lā yamlikūna mithqāla dharra | Full ownership — they do not own so much as a speck |
| 2 | Wa mā lahum fīhimā min shirk | Partial share — they hold no portion either |
| 3 | Wa mā lahū minhum min ẓahīr | Assistance — they are not even supporters |
I record this as my own reading, and its support is the sequence itself: the verse begins with the strongest claim and descends to the weakest. That is, every intermediate step at which an objection might be lodged is closed off by the text itself. At Fāṭir 35/13-14 the same three-stage closing structure was treated (they do not hear / if they heard they could not answer / in the end they will reject); I rely on that treatment.
ظَهِير — root ظ-ه-ر: the back. Ẓahīr — one who backs you, the one you lean your back on. The picture in the word is bodily: help is described as support from behind.
And the same root occurred in the eighteenth verse: quran ẓāhira — towns in view. The same root in two different branches: to be visible, and to give backing. I record this as an observation about the language.
The construction occurred in the third verse. Here it comes a second time, and this repetition is one of the most regular weaves in the sūra:
| Verse | Expression | About whom | What it says |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Lā yaʿzubu ʿanhu mithqālu dharra | God | Not a speck's weight stays far from His knowledge |
| 22 | Lā yamlikūna mithqāla dharra | Those called upon | They do not own so much as a speck's weight |
The same measure, two different claims: one of knowledge, the other of ownership. And both clauses are built with a negation: lā yaʿzubu / lā yamlikūna.
I record this as my own reading, and its support is the unit of measure the two clauses share: the sūra weighs the two sides in the same balance. On one side a knowledge from which not even a speck falls outside; on the other a powerlessness that does not own even a speck. The balance is the same; the pans are opposite.