The Quran

Preface

ضَرَبَ لَكُم مَثَلًا مِن أَنفُسِكُم ۖ هَل لَكُم مِن ما مَلَكَت أَيمانُكُم مِن شُرَكاءَ في ما رَزَقناكُم فَأَنتُم فيهِ سَواءٌ تَخافونَهُم كَخيفَتِكُم أَنفُسَكُم ۚ كَذٰلِكَ نُفَصِّلُ الآياتِ لِقَومٍ يَعقِلونَ

Yusuf Ali

He does propound to you a similitude from your own (experience):¹ do ye have partners among those whom your right hands possess, to share as equals in the wealth We have² bestowed on you? Do ye fear³ them as ye fear each other? Thus do we explain the Signs in detail to a people that understand.⁴

One way in which we can get some idea of the things higher than our own plane is to think of Parables and Similitudes drawn from our own lives and experience. And such a Similitude or Parable is offered to us now about false worship. See next note.
God is far higher above His Creation than any, the highest, of His creatures can be above any, the lowest, of His creatures. And yet would a man share his wealth on equal terms with his dependents? Even what he calls his wealth is not really his own, but given by God. It is “his” in common speech by reason merely of certain accidental circumstances. How then can men raise God’s creatures to equality with God in worship?
Men fear each other as equals in a state of society at perpetual warfare. To remove this fear they appoint an authority among themselves-a King or sovereign authority whom they consider just-to preserve them from this fear and give them an established order. But they must obey and revere this authority and depend upon this authority for their own tranquillity and security. Even with their equals there is always the fear of public opinion. But men do not fear, or obey, or revere those who are their slaves or dependents. Man is dependent on God. And God is the Sovereign authority in an infinitely higher sense. He is in no sense dependent on us, but we must honour and revere Him and fear to disobey His Will or His Law. “The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.”
Cf. 6:55, and 7:32, 174, etc.