The verb dhara’nā appears in the Qurʾān on the simple triliteral pattern faʿalnā, free of any initial hamzah. Had the other meaning—“to cast or drive”—been intended, the wording would necessarily have been: “Indeed, We have ʾazraynā (to) Hell.” Those who erred had merely heard the Arab saying, “The wind scattered (dharthu) it,” and the Almighty’s words, “so it became as dry chaff that the winds scatter” (al-Kahf 18:45), meaning that the wind blows it away and hurls it aside; accordingly, they imagined that dhara’nā derived from that same root. Yet if “to scatter” were the intended sense, the verse would have read: “Indeed, We have dharawnā (to) Hell.” In this place, however, dhara’nā can signify nothing but “We created,” just as He says, “He is the One who has created you upon the earth” (al-Mulk 67:24) and, “He reproduces you therein” (al-Shūrā 42:11)—that is, He creates you in the womb. From the same root comes the term dhurriyyah for a man’s offspring; it, too, refers solely to God’s act of creation.

They likewise commented on His words, “It is only Your trial: by it You mislead whom You will and guide whom You will” (al-Aʿrāf 7:155), claiming that the verse means: “It is only Your choosing—You mislead by it whom You will, namely the impious, and You guide whom You will, namely the believers.” They supported themselves with the verse, “And He misleads by it only the impious” (al-Baqarah 2:26). Yet here the impious are in fact the unbelievers, for at the very start of the passage He says, “As for those who disbelieve, they say, ‘What did God mean by this parable?’” (2:26). How, then, can one already astray be led further astray, or one already rightly guided be guided anew? If they insist that “the unbeliever” simply means “the one to be led astray” and “the believer” “the one to be guided,” they distort the sense of the verse. The people’s temptation with the calf lay in the fact that the gold and jewelry fashioned into it turned into a body that lowed; they then apostatized and worshipped it. None of the Children of Israel who were with Moses had been unbelievers; had they been, he would not have become enraged nor flung down the tablets. Thus, in that episode the misguidance befell Muslims.

As for His statement, “And He misleads by it only the impious” (2:26), it was revealed concerning a group of Jews. They had heard His words, “The likeness of those who take protectors other than God is that of the spider” (al-ʿAnkabūt 29:41), and, “Those you invoke besides God will never create so much as a fly, even if they joined together to do so; and if the fly should snatch something away from them, they would not be able to recover it” (al-Ḥajj 22:73). They objected, “What are these parables that do not befit God?” whereupon God revealed, “Indeed, God is not ashamed to set forth a parable—even of a gnat, or anything above it” (al-Baqarah 2:26), meaning the fly or the spider. They then asked, “What did He intend by a parable so objectionable, by which He leads many people astray?” God, exalted is He, replied: “But as for those who believe, they know it is the truth from their Lord, whereas those who disbelieve…”