Awalam yaraw ila alttayri fawqahum saffatin wayaqbidna ma yumsikuhunna illa alrrahmanu innahu bikulli shayin baseerun
English
Ahmed Ali
Do they not see the birds above them flying wings spread out or folded? Nothing holds them aloft but God. All things are within His purview.
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Tafseer
'Abdullāh Ibn 'Abbās / Muḥammad al-Fīrūzabādī
تفسير : (have they) i.e. the disbelievers of mecca (not seen the birds above them) above their heads (spreading out their wings and closing them? naught upholdeth them) after their spreading out (save the beneficent. lo! he is seer of all things) whether it is spreading out or closing.
Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī
تفسير : or have they not seen the birds above them, in the air, spreading their wings and closing?, their wings after spreading them? (in other words [read wa-yaqbidna] as wa-qābidātin [similar to sāffātin, ‘spreading’]). nothing sustains them, from falling, either when they are spreading them or closing them, except the compassionate one, by his power. indeed he is seer of all things. the meaning is: have they not inferred from the fact that the birds [are able to] remain in the air that we have the power to do with them what has been mentioned above as well as [inflicting upon them] other kinds of chastisement?
