The Quran

Preface

حُنَفاءَ لِلَّهِ غَيرَ مُشرِكينَ بِهِ ۚ وَمَن يُشرِك بِاللَّهِ فَكَأَنَّما خَرَّ مِنَ السَّماءِ فَتَخطَفُهُ الطَّيرُ أَو تَهوي بِهِ الرّيحُ في مَكانٍ سَحيقٍ

Yusuf Ali

Being true in faith to God, and never assigning partners to Him: if anyone assigns partners to God, is as if he had fallen from heaven and been snatched up by birds, or the wind had swooped (like a bird on its prey) and thrown him into a far- distant place.¹

A parable full of meaning. The man who falls from the worship of the One True God. is like a man who falls from heaven. His being taken up with false objects of worship is like the falling man being picked up in the air by birds of prey. But the false objects of worship cannot hold him permanently in their grip. A fierce blast of wind-the Wrath of God-comes and snatches him away and throws him into a place far, far away from any place he could have imagined-into the hell of those who defied God. (R).