Tafseer of Mary · Maryam · 19:81
And they have taken besides Allah [false] deities that they would be for them [a source of] honor.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
Allah, exalted be His remembrance, says: وَاتَّخَذُوا مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ آلِهَةً — that is to say: O Muhammad, these polytheists (mushrikīn) of your people have taken for themselves gods whom they worship besides Allah, so that these gods might be a source of might (ʿizzan) for them: protecting them against the punishment of Allah, and so that their worship of those gods might serve them as a means of drawing near (zulfā) to Allah.
His word كَلَّا — Allah, the Mighty, the Exalted, says: It is by no means as they have supposed and hoped concerning these gods whom they worship besides Allah — namely, that they will save them from Allah's punishment, deliver them from it, and guard them against the evil that their Lord intended for them.
