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Surah 17. Al-Israa, Ayah 42

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قُل لَّوْ كَانَ مَعَهُۥٓ ءَالِهَةٌ كَمَا يَقُولُونَ إِذًا لَّٱبْتَغَوْا۟ إِلَىٰ ذِى ٱلْعَرْشِ سَبِيلًا Qur’an Al-Israa (17:42)
Qul law k a na maAAahu a lihatun kam a yaqooloona i th an la i btaghaw il a th ee alAAarshi sabeel a n
Say: "If there were - as some people assert - [other] deities side by side with Him, surely [even] they would have to strive to find a way unto Him who is enthroned on His almightiness?"50
  - Mohammad Asad
Mohammad Asad

The term 'arsh (lit., "throne" or, more properly, "seat of power") is used in the Qur'an to denote God's absolute sway over all that exists; hence, the expression dhu 'l-'arsh may be suitably rendered as "He who is enthroned in His almightiness". Beyond this, the commentators are not entirely agreed as to the purport of the above sentence. Some take it to mean that "had there been other deities apart from God, they would endeavour to deprive Him of some or all of His power, and would thus create chaos in the universe". Others - and most prominently among them Tabarl and Ibn Kathlr - have a far better, though somewhat more complicated explanation to offer. Starting from the legitimate assumption that those who believe in the existence of other deities or divine powers apart from God regard them as no more than mediators between man and Him, the argument runs thus: If those alleged divine or semi-divine "mediators" would really exist, then it is obvious that, being no more than mediators, even they would have to recognize Him as the Supreme Being - which would amount to admitting that they have no power of their own but are, in the last resort, entirely dependent on and subject to Him: and this unavoidable conclusion implies a negation of any divinity in those imaginary "mediators". This being so, is it not far more reasonable for man to turn directly to God, who is almighty, all-seeing, all-hearing, and has therefore no need of any mediator?

Tell them: If there were other gods besides Him as the mushrikin say, they would have certainly tried to find a way to dethrone the Master of the Throne.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Say, 'O Prophet,' 'Had there been other gods besides Him- as they claim- then they would have certainly sought a way to 'challenge' the Lord of the Throne.'
  - Mustafa Khattab
Mustafa Khattab
Say (O Muhammad, to the disbelievers): If there were other gods along with Him, as they say, then had they sought a way against the Lord of the Throne.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Marmaduke Pickthall
Say: if there had been (other) gods with Him as they say behold they would certainly have sought out a way to the Lord of the Throne! 2228
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali
Abdullah Yusuf Ali

There is only One True God. But if, as polytheists say, there had been subsidiary gods, they would yet have had to submit to the Throne of the Supreme God, and worship Him.

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