قَالُوا۟ سُبْحَـٰنَكَ مَا كَانَ يَنۢبَغِى لَنَآ أَن نَّتَّخِذَ مِن دُونِكَ مِنْ أَوْلِيَآءَ وَلَـٰكِن مَّتَّعْتَهُمْ وَءَابَآءَهُمْ حَتَّىٰ نَسُوا۟ ٱلذِّكْرَ وَكَانُوا۟ قَوْمًۢا بُورًا 18
Translations
They will say, "Exalted are You! It was not for us to take besides You any allies [i.e., protectors]. But You provided comforts for them and their fathers until they forgot the message and became a people ruined."
Transliteration
Qalū subḥānaka mā kāna yanbaghī lanā an nattakhidha min dūnika min awliyāʾa wa-lākin mattaʿtahum wa-ābāʾahum ḥattā nasū al-dhikra wa-kānū qawman būrā
Tafsir (Explanation)
In this ayah, the angels (or righteous servants) proclaim Allah's perfect transcendence and deny that they would ever take protectors besides Him. They acknowledge that while Allah granted worldly provisions and pleasures to the polytheists and their ancestors, this sustained material comfort caused them to forget divine remembrance and become a ruined, destructive people. Classical scholars like Al-Qurtubi and Ibn Kathir emphasize that this passage illustrates how excessive worldly indulgence, without spiritual consciousness, leads to spiritual ruin and abandonment of Allah's message.
Revelation Context
This ayah appears in the middle section of Surah Al-Furqan (a Meccan surah revealed during the early Meccan period) where Allah describes the polytheists' misguided worship and the fate of those who reject the Quran. The broader context addresses the false deities and intercessors the idolaters relied upon instead of Allah alone, fitting within the surah's theme of distinguishing truth from falsehood.
Related Hadiths
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: 'The best of you are those of my generation, then those who come after them, then those who come after them' (Sahih Bukhari 2652), emphasizing how the earliest generations maintained consciousness of Allah before subsequent generations grew distant. Additionally, Sunan Ibn Majah 4019 relates that 'The world is sweet and green, and Allah will appoint you as stewards,' warning against allowing worldly pleasures to obscure spiritual duty.
Themes
Key Lesson
Material wealth and comfort, when pursued without spiritual consciousness and remembrance of Allah, become instruments of spiritual destruction rather than blessing. Modern believers should vigilantly guard their hearts against heedlessness despite worldly prosperity, ensuring that material provisions deepen rather than diminish their connection to divine remembrance.
Related Ayahs
وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمُ ٱسْجُدُوا۟ لِلرَّحْمَـٰنِ قَالُوا۟ وَمَا ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنُ أَنَسْجُدُ لِمَا تَأْمُرُنَا وَزَادَهُمْ نُفُورًا ۩
And when it is said to them, "Prostrate to the Most Merciful," they say, "And what is the Most Merciful? Should we prostrate to that which you order us?" And it increases them in aversion.
بَلْ كَذَّبُوا۟ بِٱلسَّاعَةِ ۖ وَأَعْتَدْنَا لِمَن كَذَّبَ بِٱلسَّاعَةِ سَعِيرًا
But they have denied the Hour, and We have prepared for those who deny the Hour a Blaze.
خَـٰلِدِينَ فِيهَا ۚ حَسُنَتْ مُسْتَقَرًّا وَمُقَامًا
Abiding eternally therein. Good is the settlement and residence.
أَصْحَـٰبُ ٱلْجَنَّةِ يَوْمَئِذٍ خَيْرٌ مُّسْتَقَرًّا وَأَحْسَنُ مَقِيلًا
The companions of Paradise, that Day, are [in] a better settlement and better resting place.