“Then they reversed themselves, saying, ‘You certainly know that these cannot speak.’ (65) He said, ‘Then do you worship, besides Allah, that which can neither benefit you in any way nor harm you? (66) Fie upon you and upon that which you worship besides Allah! Will you not reason?’ (67) They said, ‘Burn him and support your gods, if you are to do anything!’ (68)”

Regarding His words, “Then they reversed themselves,” the exegetes said: Allah caused them to speak the truth in their first statement; then wretchedness overtook them. This is the meaning of His words, “Then they reversed themselves”: that is, they reverted to disbelief after having acknowledged their own wrongdoing. It is said, “The sick man relapsed,” when he returns to his former condition. They said, “You certainly know that these cannot speak; so how can we ask them?” Thus the proof was established against them in Abraham’s favor, peace be upon him.

He said to them, “Then do you worship, besides Allah, that which can neither benefit you in any way,” if you worship it, “nor harm you,” if you abandon its worship? “Fie upon you”—that is, may you perish, and filth be upon you—“and upon that which you worship besides Allah! Will you not reason?” That is, do you have no intellect by which you may recognize this? When the proof became binding upon them and they were unable to answer, they said, “Burn him and support your gods, if you are to do anything!” 17/b That is, if you are to support them.

Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said: The one who said this was a man from the Kurds. (1) It was also said that his name was Hayzan, and that Allah caused the earth to swallow him up; he continues to plunge through it until the Day of Resurrection. (2)

It was also said that Nimrod said it. When Nimrod and his people resolved to burn Abraham, peace be upon him, they confined him in a house and built for him a structure like an enclosure. (3)

It was also said that they built a furnace in a village called Kutha. (4) Then, for a period, they gathered for him great quantities of solid firewood of every kind. A man would fall ill and say, “If Allah restores me to health, I shall surely gather firewood for Abraham.” A woman would make a vow concerning something she sought, saying that, if she attained it, she would gather firewood for Abraham’s fire. A man would leave instructions that firewood be bought and thrown into it, while a woman would spin yarn, buy firewood with its proceeds, and throw it into the fire, seeking reward as an act of devotion in her religion. (5)