Surah 25. Al-Furqan, Ayah 18

Sc., "and so it would have been morally impossible for us to ask others to worship us". On the other hand, Ibn Kathir understands the expression "for us" (lana) as denoting "us human beings" in general, and not merely the speakers - in which case the sentence could be rendered thus: "It is not right for us [human beings] to take...", etc. In either case, the above allegorical "question-and-answer" - repeated in many variations throughout the Qur'an - is meant to stress, in a dramatic manner, the moral odiousness and intellectual futility of attributing divine qualities to any being other than God.

This is the meaning of hatta (lit., "till" or "until") in the present context.

 Another possible translation: “They will say, ‘Glory be to You! We would not dare to take other lords besides You ˹so how can we claim to be lords?˺’”

The creatures of Allah who were worshipped will prove that they never asked for worship : on the contrary they themselves worshipped Allah and sought the protection of Allah and of none but Allah. Cf. xlvi. 5-6. They will go further and show that the false worshippers added ingratitude to their other sins: for Allah bestowed abundance on them, and they blasphemed against Allah. They were indeed "worthless and destroyed", for the word bar bears both significations.