Parables
To what
shall I compare it?
Every tradition teaches in pictures: a tree, a seed, a lamp, a lost sheep. Here are the parables of the Qur'an, of Jesus (peace be upon him) and of the Hebrew Bible and the rabbis, each in its own setting.
Parables of the Qur'an
“These are the parables We set forth for people, that they may reflect” (59:21).
The good tree
A good word is like a good tree: roots firm, branches in the sky, fruit in every season. A bad word is a tree uprooted.
The niche of light
God's light is like a niche with a lamp in glass, lit from a blessed olive tree, “neither of the east nor of the west”. Light upon light.
The fire and the storm
Someone lights a fire, and as it shines his light is taken away; people walk when the lightning flashes and stop when it goes dark. Faith that wavers: a state any of us can fall into.
The gnat
God is not shy to strike a parable of a gnat, “or what is above it”. The small is never beneath Him.
The seven ears
Spending for good is like a grain that grows seven ears, each with a hundred grains: one becomes seven hundred.
The two gardens
A rich man boasts that his garden will never perish; his poorer friend warns him; the garden is destroyed. Then: worldly life is like rain on plants that turn to stubble.
The spider's house
Those who take protectors other than God are like the spider: the flimsiest of houses is the spider's.
Knowledge without humility
A man given God's signs who clung to the earth and followed his desires. Classical scholars identify him with Balaam, whom all three traditions know.
Can they be equal?
One who can do nothing, beside one who provides openly and in secret; one who is mute, beside one who commands justice.
The man from the far end of the city
Messengers are rejected by a town; a man comes running from the far side to stand with them, and wishes his people could know what he now knows.
One master or many
A man owned by quarrelling partners, beside a man who belongs to one master. One God as freedom from competing masters.
Not even a fly
Everything people call on besides God could not create a fly, even all together; and if a fly takes something from them, they cannot get it back.
The foam
Rain fills the valleys and the torrent carries foam. The foam vanishes; what benefits people remains.
The donkey and the books
Those who carry scripture without living it are like a donkey carrying books. Many commentators apply it to Muslims first: we can all do better.
Parables of Jesus
As told in the Gospels. The characters are fictional, so they can be shown; Jesus himself is never pictured on our pages.
Luke 15:11–32
The prodigal son
A younger son wastes his inheritance and comes home; the father runs to meet him; the elder brother resents the feast.
Luke 10:25–37
The good Samaritan
“Who is my neighbour?” A man is robbed; a priest and a Levite pass by; a Samaritan, the despised outsider, stops to help.
Mark 4:3–20
The sower
Seed falls on the path, on rock, among thorns and on good soil.
Matthew 13:31–32
The mustard seed
The smallest seed becomes a great plant, and birds shelter in it. Compare the Qur'an's “weight of a mustard seed”.
Luke 15:4–7
The lost sheep
A shepherd leaves ninety-nine to find one.
Matthew 25:14–30
The talents
A master entrusts money; two servants trade and gain; one buries it.
Luke 12:16–21
The rich fool
A rich man builds bigger barns, and “this night” his life is required. Compare the Qur'an's two gardens.
Luke 18:9–14
Two men at prayer
One boasts; the other beats his breast: “God, be merciful to me.” Humility before God.
Luke 16:19–31
The rich man and Lazarus
A rich man ignores the beggar at his gate; after death their places are reversed.
Matthew 20:1–16
The workers in the vineyard
Labourers hired at dawn and at the last hour are paid the same. Grace is not earned by hours.
Matthew 25:1–13
The ten bridesmaids
Five bring spare oil and five don't; the bridegroom arrives late. Be ready.
Matthew 7:24–27
The house on the rock
The wise builder digs to the rock; the foolish builds on sand. Compare the spider's house.
Parables of the Hebrew Bible and the rabbis
The rabbis called it mashal and nimshal: the story, then “so too the Holy One…”.
2 Samuel 12:1–7
Nathan's ewe lamb
A rich man takes a poor man's only lamb. King David is furious, and the prophet says: “Thou art the man.” The parable as a mirror.
Judges 9:7–15
Jotham's trees
The trees seek a king; the olive, fig and vine are too busy being useful; the bramble accepts. The oldest political fable in the Bible.
Isaiah 5:1–7
The vineyard
A vineyard planted with every care yields wild grapes. God looked for justice and found bloodshed: a prophet's critique of his own people.
Ecclesiastes 9:14–15
The poor wise man
A poor wise man saves a besieged city, “yet no man remembered that same poor man”.
Genesis Rabbah 39:1
The building and its owner
A traveller sees a building full of light and asks: can it have no one who cares for it? So Abraham asked of the world.
Mekhilta, on Exodus 20:2
The king who gave first
A man asks to rule a province; they ask what he has done for them; he builds the wall and brings water, then asks again. God gives before He asks.
Taanit 23a
Ḥoni and the carob tree
A man plants a carob that will take seventy years to fruit: “as my ancestors planted for me, so I plant for my children.”
Shabbat 31a
Hillel on one foot
“What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour. That is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary. Go and study.”
How historians study this
Where stories appear in more than one tradition, historians compare the versions and study shared motifs. Muslims hold the Qur'an to be revelation; Jews and Christians hold their own scriptures as inspired. We never say one “copied” another. We set them side by side and let each speak.