Surah 10. Yunus, Ayah 18
| وَيَعْبُدُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ مَا لَا يَضُرُّهُمْ وَلَا يَنْفَعُهُمْ وَيَقُولُونَ هَٰؤُلَاءِ شُفَعَاؤُنَا عِنْدَ اللَّهِ ۚ قُلْ أَتُنَبِّئُونَ اللَّهَ بِمَا لَا يَعْلَمُ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَلَا فِي الْأَرْضِ ۚ سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ |
| Transliteration | : | wa- yacbudon min doni 'allaah maa laa yad.urr -hum wa- laa yanfac -hum wa- yaqolon haa'ulaa'i shufacaa' -naa cinda 'allaah qul 'a- tunabbi'on 'allaah bi- maa laa yaclam fe as- samaawaat wa- laa fe al- 'ard. subh.aana -hu wa- tacaalaa can maa yushrikon |
| Pickthall | : | They worship beside Allah that which neither hurteth them nor profiteth them, and they say: These are our intercessors with Allah. Say: Would ye inform Allah of (something) that He knoweth not in the heavens or in the earth? Praised be He and high exalted above all that ye associate (with Him)! |
| Asad | : | and [neither will] they [who] worship, side by side with God, things or beings that can neither harm nor benefit them, saying [to themselves], "These are our intercessors with God!"26 Say: "Do you [think that you could] inform God of anything in the heavens or on earth that He does not know?27 Limitless is He in His glory, and sublimely exalted above anything to which men may ascribe share in His divinity!" |
| Malik | : | They worship other deities besides Allah, who can neither harm them nor benefit them, and they say: "These are our intercessors with Allah." O Muhammad, say to them: "Are you informing Allah of what He knows to exist neither in the heavens nor on the earth? Glory to Him! He is far above from having the partners they ascribe to Him!" |
| Yusuf Ali | : | They serve besides Allah things that hurt them not nor profit them and they say: "These are our intercessors with Allah." Say: "Do ye indeed inform Allah of something He knows not in the heavens or on earth? Glory to Him! and far is He above the partners they ascribe (to Him)!" 1405 |
Note - 26Thus the discourse returns to the problem of
"intercession" touched upon in verse {3} of this surah.
Literally, the beginning of the sentence reads thus: "And
they worship that which neither harms them nor benefits
them" - an expression alluding to both concrete
representations and conceptual images. It should be noted
that the "they" elliptically referred to here are not
identical with the people spoken of earlier as "those who
do not believe that they are destined to meet Us" (in
other words, those who deny the reality of resurrection
and of the Day of Judgment): for the people of whom the
above verse speaks obviously do believe - albeit in a
confused manner - in life after death and man's
responsibility before God, as is evident from the
statement that they worship imaginary "intercessors with
God".
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Note - 27Thus, belief in the efficacy of anyone's unqualified
intercession with God, or mediation between man and Him,
is here equated with a denial of God's omniscience, which
takes all the circumstances of the sinner and his sinning
a priori into consideration. (As regards God's symbolic
grant of permission to His prophets to "intercede" for
their followers on the Day of Judgment, see note [7]
above.)
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Note - 1405When we shut our eyes to Allah's glory and goodness, and
go after false gods, we give some plausible excuse to
ourselves, such as that they will intercede for us. But
how can stocks and stones intercede for us? And how can
men intercede for us, when they themselves have need of
Allah's Mercy? Even the best and noblest cannot intercede
as of right, but only with His permission (x. 3). To
pretend that there are other powers than Allah is to
invent lies and to teach Allah. There is nothing in
heaven or earth that He does not know, and there is no
other like unto Him.
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Thus the discourse returns to the problem of "intercession" touched upon in verse {3} of this surah. Literally, the beginning of the sentence reads thus: "And they worship that which neither harms them nor benefits them" - an expression alluding to both concrete representations and conceptual images. It should be noted that the "they" elliptically referred to here are not identical with the people spoken of earlier as "those who do not believe that they are destined to meet Us" (in other words, those who deny the reality of resurrection and of the Day of Judgment): for the people of whom the above verse speaks obviously do believe - albeit in a confused manner - in life after death and man's responsibility before God, as is evident from the statement that they worship imaginary "intercessors with God". |
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Thus, belief in the efficacy of anyone's unqualified intercession with God, or mediation between man and Him, is here equated with a denial of God's omniscience, which takes all the circumstances of the sinner and his sinning a priori into consideration. (As regards God's symbolic grant of permission to His prophets to "intercede" for their followers on the Day of Judgment, see note [7] above.) |
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When we shut our eyes to Allah's glory and goodness, and go after false gods, we give some plausible excuse to ourselves, such as that they will intercede for us. But how can stocks and stones intercede for us? And how can men intercede for us, when they themselves have need of Allah's Mercy? Even the best and noblest cannot intercede as of right, but only with His permission (x. 3). To pretend that there are other powers than Allah is to invent lies and to teach Allah. There is nothing in heaven or earth that He does not know, and there is no other like unto Him. |
