Tafseer of The Criterion · Al-Furqaan · 25:3
But they have taken besides Him gods which create nothing, while they are created, and possess not for themselves any harm or benefit and possess not [power to cause] death or life or resurrection.
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 mention, says — while He reproaches the polytheists (mushrikīn) of the Arabs for their worship of what is besides Him among the gods, and expresses astonishment at those among them who possess sound reason, and points out to them the error in their deeds and their deviation from the straight path, and their treading of the ways of misguidance which none treads except one of confused judgment and bereft of reason —: these polytheists took, alongside Allah, besides the One who possesses the dominion of the heavens and the earth all by Himself — without any associate — who created everything and ordained it in due measure, gods — that is to say: idols which they fashion with their own hands and worship — which create nothing while they themselves are created, and which can bring about for themselves no benefit that they may draw toward themselves, nor can they ward off any harm from one who intends evil against them, and which can neither kill a living being, nor bring a dead one to life, nor raise him up after his death. They abandoned the worship of the Creator of all things, and the Creator of their gods, and the Lord of harm and benefit, and the One in whose hand is death, life, and resurrection. Al-nushūr (the resurrection) is the maṣdar of "nushira al-mayyitu nushūran" — that he is raised and comes to life after death.
