Surah Anbiya ayat 65 Tafsir Quran 21:65

﴿ثُمَّ نُكِسُوا عَلَىٰ رُءُوسِهِمْ لَقَدْ عَلِمْتَ مَا هَٰؤُلَاءِ يَنطِقُونَ﴾
[ الأنبياء: 65]

21:65 Then they reversed themselves, [saying], "You have already known that these do not speak!"

Then they were turned by God on their heads that is to say they were made to return to their disbelief and said ‘By God you are certainly aware that these idols cannot speak’ in other words how can you thus command us to question them?

But, overturned by imprudence in their minds and by subversion of reason, they said to him: You knew very well that these idols do not talk

The People's admission of their gods' incapability, and Ibrahim's preaching Allah tells us that when Ibrahim said what he said, his people فَرَجَعُواْ إِلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ ( turned to themselves ) meaning, they blamed themselves for not taking precautions and protecting their gods.
They said: إِنَّكُمْ أَنتُمُ الظَّـلِمُونَ ( Verily, you are the wrongdoers ) i.e., because you neglected them and did not guard them. ثُمَّ نُكِسُواْ عَلَى رُءُوسِهِمْ ( Then they turned to themselves ) means, they looked at the ground, and said: لَقَدْ عَلِمْتَ مَا هَـؤُلاءِ يَنطِقُونَ ( Indeed you (Ibrahim ) know well that these speak not!) Qatadah said: "The people admitted their guilt and confusion, and said, لَقَدْ عَلِمْتَ مَا هَـؤُلاءِ يَنطِقُونَ ( "Indeed you know well that these speak not!" ) `So how can you tell us to ask them, if they cannot speak and you know that they cannot speak' At this point, when they admitted that, Ibrahim said to them: أَفَتَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ مَا لاَ يَنفَعُكُمْ شَيْئاً وَلاَ يَضُرُّكُمْ ( Do you then worship besides Allah, things that can neither profit you nor harm you ) meaning, if they can- not speak and they can neither benefit you nor harm you, then why do you worship them instead of Allah أُفٍّ لَّكُمْ وَلِمَا تَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ أَفَلاَ تَعْقِلُونَ ( Fie upon you, and upon that which you worship besides Allah! Have you then no sense ) `Do you not realize the extent of the mis- guidance and extreme disbelief which you are following, which no one could accept but one who is an igno- rant and evil wrong- doer' He defeated them in argument and left them with no way out.
Allah said: وَتِلْكَ حُجَّتُنَآ ءَاتَيْنَـهَآ إِبْرَهِيمَ عَلَى قَوْمِهِ e( And that was Our proof which We gave Ibrahim against his people ) 6:83

(21:65) But soon after this their minds became perverse, *61 and they said, "You know that they cannot speak".

Then they reversed themselves, [saying], "You have meaning

*61) Literally the original Text means: " They were turned down upon their heads. " Some commentators have interpreted it to mean: " They hung down their heads with shame ".
But this dces not fit in the context and the wording of the Text.
The right interpretation would be: " When they considered the answer of Prophet Abraham, they realized that they themselves were in the wrong, because they had set up helpless idols as deities, which could not even speak a word as to who had broken them.
But soon after this, they were overpowered by obduracy and ignorance which perverted their minds and they again relapsed into crookedness. "
 

The People's admission of their gods' incapability, and Ibrahim's preaching Allah tells us that when Ibrahim said what he said, his people فَرَجَعُواْ إِلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ ( turned to themselves ) meaning, they blamed themselves for not taking precautions and protecting their gods.
They said: إِنَّكُمْ أَنتُمُ الظَّـلِمُونَ ( Verily, you are the wrongdoers ) i.e., because you neglected them and did not guard them. ثُمَّ نُكِسُواْ عَلَى رُءُوسِهِمْ ( Then they turned to themselves ) means, they looked at the ground, and said: لَقَدْ عَلِمْتَ مَا هَـؤُلاءِ يَنطِقُونَ ( Indeed you (Ibrahim ) know well that these speak not!) Qatadah said: "The people admitted their guilt and confusion, and said, لَقَدْ عَلِمْتَ مَا هَـؤُلاءِ يَنطِقُونَ ( "Indeed you know well that these speak not!" ) `So how can you tell us to ask them, if they cannot speak and you know that they cannot speak' At this point, when they admitted that, Ibrahim said to them: أَفَتَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ مَا لاَ يَنفَعُكُمْ شَيْئاً وَلاَ يَضُرُّكُمْ ( Do you then worship besides Allah, things that can neither profit you nor harm you ) meaning, if they can- not speak and they can neither benefit you nor harm you, then why do you worship them instead of Allah أُفٍّ لَّكُمْ وَلِمَا تَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ أَفَلاَ تَعْقِلُونَ ( Fie upon you, and upon that which you worship besides Allah! Have you then no sense ) `Do you not realize the extent of the mis- guidance and extreme disbelief which you are following, which no one could accept but one who is an igno- rant and evil wrong- doer' He defeated them in argument and left them with no way out.
Allah said: وَتِلْكَ حُجَّتُنَآ ءَاتَيْنَـهَآ إِبْرَهِيمَ عَلَى قَوْمِهِ e( And that was Our proof which We gave Ibrahim against his people ) 6:83

( And they were utterly confounded ) and went back to their initial statement, ( and they said ) Nimrod said: ( Well thou knowest ) O Abraham ( that these speak not ) that the idols do not speak, and this is why you broke them.

Then they turned to themselves (their first thought and said): "Indeed you [Ibrahim (Abraham)] know well that these (idols) speak not!"

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