Tafseer of The Heights · Al-A'raaf · 7:194
Indeed, those you [polytheists] call upon besides Allah are servants like you. So call upon them and let them respond to you, if you should be truthful.
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.
The explanation of His word: إِنَّ الَّذِينَ تَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ عِبَادٌ أَمْثَالُكُمْ فَادْعُوهُمْ فَلْيَسْتَجِيبُوا لَكُمْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ (194) ("Verily, those whom you call upon besides Allah are servants like yourselves. So call upon them and let them answer you, if you are truthful.")
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says to these polytheists (mushrikīn) among the idol-worshippers, rebuking them for their worship of that which brings them neither harm nor benefit among the idols: "(Verily, those whom you call upon)," O polytheists, as gods — "(besides Allah)," and whom you worship, out of your ascribing of partners (shirk) and out of disbelief in Allah — "(are servants like yourselves)" — He says: they are possessions of your Lord, just as you too belong to Him as possessions. So if you are truthful that they harm and benefit, and that they deserve worship from you on account of their benefit to you, then let them answer your call when you call upon them. And if they do not answer you — because they do not hear your call — then know with certainty that they bring no benefit and inflict no harm; for harm and benefit proceed only from Him who, when He is asked, hears the request of the petitioner and gives and bestows abundantly, and who, when something is complained of to Him, hears, and so harms the one who deserves the punishment and benefits the one who does not deserve the harm.
