مَا تَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِهِۦٓ إِلَّآ أَسْمَآءً سَمَّيْتُمُوهَآ أَنتُمْ وَءَابَآؤُكُم مَّآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ بِهَا مِن سُلْطَـٰنٍ ۚ إِنِ ٱلْحُكْمُ إِلَّا لِلَّهِ ۚ أَمَرَ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوٓا۟ إِلَّآ إِيَّاهُ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ ٱلدِّينُ ٱلْقَيِّمُ وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ Qur’an Yusuf (12:40)M a taAAbudoona min doonihi ill a asm a an sammaytumooh a antum wa a b a okum m a anzala All a hu bih a min sul ta nin ini al h ukmu ill a lill a hi amara all a taAAbudoo ill a iyy a hu tha lika a l ddeenu alqayyimu wal a kinna akthara a l nn a si l a yaAAlamoon a
Lit., "names which you have named" - i.e., "figments of your own imagination".
Cf. the last sentence of 30:30 .
Meaning, “You call them gods while in fact they are not gods.”
'If you name other gods, they are nothing but your inventions,-names which you and your fathers put forward without any reality behind them. Who gave you authority to do any such thing? The only reality is Allah. Authority can come from Him alone. It is only for Him to command. And He has distinctly commanded you to worship none other than Him. That is the only religion that is right,-that has stood and will stand and endure for ever. He has revealed it at all times by His Messengers and by His Signs. If men fail to understand, it is their own fault.