Ayah
Word by Word
قَالُواْ
They will say
سُبۡحَٰنَكَ
Glory be to You
أَنتَ
You
وَلِيُّنَا
(are) our Protector
مِن
not them
دُونِهِمۖ
not them
بَلۡ
Nay
كَانُواْ
they used
يَعۡبُدُونَ
(to) worship
ٱلۡجِنَّۖ
the jinn
أَكۡثَرُهُم
most of them
بِهِم
in them
مُّؤۡمِنُونَ
(were) believers
قَالُواْ
They will say
سُبۡحَٰنَكَ
Glory be to You
أَنتَ
You
وَلِيُّنَا
(are) our Protector
مِن
not them
دُونِهِمۖ
not them
بَلۡ
Nay
كَانُواْ
they used
يَعۡبُدُونَ
(to) worship
ٱلۡجِنَّۖ
the jinn
أَكۡثَرُهُم
most of them
بِهِم
in them
مُّؤۡمِنُونَ
(were) believers
Translation
They will say, "Glory to Thee! our (tie) is with Thee - as Protector - not with them. Nay, but they worshipped the Jinns: most of them believed in them."
Tafsir
They will say, 'Glory be to You, exalted above that You should have an associate! You are our Supporter, not they, in other words, as far as we are concerned there are no bonds of association between us and them. Nay, (bal, is to indicate transition) rather, they used to worship the jinn, the devils, in other words, [they used to] obey them and [agree to] worship us; most of them were believers in them', accepting as truth what these [jinn] used to say to them.
The Angels will disown Their Worshippers on the Day of Resurrection
Allah tells,
وَيَوۡمَ يَحۡشُرُهُمۡ جَمِيعًا ثُمَّ يَقُولُ لِلۡمَلَيِكَةِ
And (remember) the Day when He will gather them all together, then He will say to the angels:
Allah tells us that on the Day of Resurrection, He will rebuke the idolators before all of creation. He will ask the angels whom the idolators used to worship, claiming that their idols were in the form of these angels and that they could bring them nearer to Allah.
He will ask the angels:
أَهَوُلَاء إِيَّاكُمۡ كَانُوا يَعۡبُدُونَ
Was it you that these people used to worship?
meaning, `did you command them to worship you!'
Allah says in Surah Al-Furqan:
أَءَنتُمۡ أَضۡلَلۡتُمۡ عِبَادِى هَـوُلَاءِ أَمۡ هُمۡ ضَلُّوا السَّبِيلَ
Was it you who misled these My servants or did they (themselves) stray from the (right) path? (25:17)
And He will say to `Isa, peace be upon him:
أَءَنتَ قُلتَ لِلنَّاسِ اتَّخِذُونِى وَأُمِّىَ إِلَـهَيۡنِ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ قَالَ سُبۡحَـنَكَ مَا يَكُونُ لِى أَنۡ أَقُولَ مَا لَيۡسَ لِى بِحَقٍّ
Did you say unto men:Worship me and my mother as two gods besides Allah,'
He will say:Glory be to You! It was not for me to say what I had no right (to say). (5:116
قَالُوا
They (the angels) will say:
سُبۡحَانَكَ
Glorified be You!
meaning, exalted and sanctified be You above the notion that there could be any god besides You.
أَنتَ وَلِيُّنَا مِن دُونِهِم
You are our Protector instead of them.
means, we are Your servants and we disown these people before You.
بَلۡ كَانُوا يَعۡبُدُونَ الۡجِنَّ
Nay, but they used to worship the Jinn;
meaning, the Shayatin, because they are the ones who made idol worship attractive to them and who misguided them.
أَكۡثَرُهُم بِهِم مُّوۡمِنُونَ
most of them were believers in them.
This is like the Ayah:
إِن يَدۡعُونَ مِن دُونِهِ إِلاَّ إِنَـثاً وَإِن يَدۡعُونَ إِلاَّ شَيۡطَـناً مَّرِيداً
لَّعَنَهُ اللَّهُ
They invoke nothing but females besides Him, and they invoke nothing but Shaytan, a persistent rebel! Allah cursed him. (4:117-118)
Allah says
فَالۡيَوۡمَ لَاا يَمۡلِكُ بَعۡضُكُمۡ لِبَعۡضٍ نَّفۡعًا وَلَاا ضَرًّا
So Today, none of you can profit or harm one another.
means, `none of those idols and rivals whom you hoped would benefit you, will be of any avail to you, those whom you worshipped in the hope that they would help you at times of stress and calamity. Today they will have no power either to benefit you or to harm you.'
وَنَقُولُ لِلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا
And We shall say to those who did wrong:-- meaning the idolators --
ذُوقُوا عَذَابَ النَّارِ الَّتِي كُنتُم بِهَا تُكَذِّبُونَ
Taste the torment of the Fire which you used to deny.
meaning, this will be said to them by way of rebuke
The Saying of the Disbelievers about the Prophets, and its refutation
Allah tells;
وَإِذَا تُتۡلَى عَلَيۡهِمۡ ايَاتُنَا بَيِّنَاتٍ
And when Our Clear Verses are recited to them,
Allah tells us that the disbeliever deserve to be severely punished by Him, because when His clear Verses were recited to them, and they heard them fresh from the lips of His Messenger, they said:
قَالُوا مَا هَذَا إِلاَّ رَجُلٌ يُرِيدُ أَن يَصُدَّكُمۡ عَمَّا كَانَ يَعۡبُدُ ابَاوُكُمۡ
They say:This is naught but a man who wishes to hinder you from that which your fathers used to worship.
meaning, that the religion of their fathers was the truth and that what the Messenger brought to them was false -- may the curse of Allah be upon them and their fathers!
وَقَالُوا مَا هَذَا إِلاَّ إِفۡكٌ مُّفۡتَرًى
And they say:This is nothing but an invented lie.
referring to the Qur'an.
وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لِلۡحَقِّ لَمَّا جَاءهُمۡ إِنۡ هَذَا إِلاَّ سِحۡرٌ مُّبِينٌ
And those who disbelieve say of the truth when it has come to them:This is nothing but evident magic!
Allah says:
وَمَا اتَيۡنَاهُم مِّن كُتُبٍ يَدۡرُسُونَهَا وَمَا أَرۡسَلۡنَا إِلَيۡهِمۡ قَبۡلَكَ مِن نَّذِيرٍ
And We had not given them Scriptures that they could study, nor sent to them before you any warner.
meaning, Allah did not reveal any Book to the Arabs before the Qur'an, and He did not send any Prophet to them before Muhammad. They used to wish for that and say, `if only a warner comes to us or a Book is revealed to us, we would be more guided than others,' but when Allah blessed them with that, they disbelieved him and stubbornly rejected him.
Then Allah says
وَكَذَّبَ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبۡلِهِمۡ
And those before them denied;
meaning, other nations.
وَمَا بَلَغُوا مِعۡشَارَ مَا اتَيۡنَاهُمۡ
these have not received even a tenth of what We had granted to those (of old);
Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said,
Of the power of this world.
This was also the view of Qatadah, As-Suddi and Ibn Zayd.
This is like the Ayat:
وَلَقَدۡ مَكَّنَـهُمۡ فِيمَأ إِن مَّكَّنَّـكُمۡ فِيهِ وَجَعَلۡنَا لَهُمۡ سَمۡعاً وَأَبۡصَـراً وَأَفۡيِدَةً فَمَأ أَغۡنَى عَنۡهُمۡ سَمۡعُهُمۡ وَلَا أَبۡصَـرُهُمۡ وَلَا أَفۡيِدَتُهُمۡ مِّن شَىۡءٍ إِذۡ كَانُواۡ يَجۡحَدُونَ بِـَايَـتِ اللَّهِ وَحَاقَ بِهم مَّا كَانُواۡ بِهِ يَسۡتَهۡزِءُونَ
And indeed We had firmly established them with that wherewith We have not established you! And We had assigned them the hearing, seeing, and hearts; but their hearing, seeing, and their hearts availed them nothing since they used to deny the Ayat of Allah, and they were completely encircled by that which they used to mock at! (46:26)
أَفَلَمۡ يَسِيرُواۡ فِى الاٌّرۡضِ فَيَنظُرُواۡ كَيۡفَ كَانَ عَـقِبَةُ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبۡلِهِمۡ كَانُواۡ أَكۡـثَرَ مِنۡهُمۡ وَأَشَدَّ قُوَّةً
Have they not traveled through the earth and seen what was the end of those before them They were more in number than them and mightier in strength. (40:82)
but that did not protect them from the punishment of Allah, and Allah destroyed them because they denied His Messengers.
Allah says:
فَكَذَّبُوا رُسُلِي فَكَيۡفَ كَانَ نَكِيرِ
yet they denied My Messengers. Then how (terrible) was My denial!
meaning, `how severe was My wrath and how great was My avenging of My Messengers.
Not yet available. It requires resources to add this interpretation.
Not yet available. It requires resources to add this interpretation.
Not yet available. It requires resources to add this interpretation.
Not yet available. It requires resources to add this interpretation.
Not yet available. It requires resources to add this interpretation.
Not yet available. It requires resources to add this interpretation.
Not yet available. It requires resources to add this interpretation.
Not yet available. It requires resources to add this interpretation.