إِذْ تَبَرَّأَ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱتُّبِعُوا۟ مِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّبَعُوا۟ وَرَأَوُا۟ ٱلْعَذَابَ وَتَقَطَّعَتْ بِهِمُ ٱلْأَسْبَابُ Qur’an Al-Baqara (2:166)I th tabarraa alla th eena ittubiAAoo mina alla th eena ittabaAAoo waraawoo alAAa tha ba wataqa tt aAAat bihimu alasb a b u
Lit., "followed" - i.e., as saints or alleged "divine personalities".
Asbab (sing. sabab) denotes, in its primary meaning, "ties" or "attachments", and in a tropical sense, "means [towards any end]" (cf. Lisan al-'Arab, and Lane IV, 1285). In the above context, asbab obviously refers to means of salvation, and may thus be rendered as "hopes".