ما أنزل الله به من سلطان

Arabic

Etymology

From the Quran, literally meaning something along the lines of “on which God had assumed no authority”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maː ʔan.za.la‿ɫ.ɫaː.hu bi.hi min sul.tˤaː.nin/

Phrase

مَا أَنْزَلَ اللهُ بِهِ مِنْ سُلْطانٍ • (mā ʔanzala llāhu bihi min sulṭānin) (feminine مَا أَنْزَلَ اللّٰهُ بِهَا مِنْ سُلْطَانٍ)

1. (literal) that which God has not ordained or ordered
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 53:23:

     إِن هِيَ إِلّا أَسماءٌ سَمَّيتُموها أَنتُم وَآباؤُكُم ما أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ بِها مِن سُلطانٍ ۚ إِن يَتَّبِعونَ إِلَّا الظَّنَّ وَما تَهوَى الأَنفُسُ ۖ وَلَقَد جاءَهُم مِن رَبِّهِمُ الهُدىٰ

     These are but names which you have coined —you and your fathers— for which God has not sent down any authority. They follow nothing but conjectures and the desires of the [lower] soul, while there has already come to them the guidance from their Lord.

2. (idiomatic) strange, bizarre
3. (idiomatic) fabricated, fake
4. (idiomatic) appalling, hideous, horrible, terrible

Synonyms

• مَا نَزَّلَ اللَّٰهُ بِهِ مِنْ سُلْطَانٍ (mā nazzala llāhu bihi min sulṭānin)