وَقِيلَ ٱدْعُوا۟ شُرَكَآءَكُمْ فَدَعَوْهُمْ فَلَمْ يَسْتَجِيبُوا۟ لَهُمْ وَرَأَوُا۟ ٱلْعَذَابَ ۚ لَوْ أَنَّهُمْ كَانُوا۟ يَهْتَدُونَ 64
Translations
And it will be said, "Invoke your 'partners,'" and they will invoke them; but they will not respond to them, and they will see the punishment. If only they had followed guidance!
Transliteration
Wa qeela udu'oo shuraka'akum fa da'awhu hum fa lam yastaji boo lahum wa ra'awu al-'adhab; law annahum kanoo yahta doon.
Tafsir (Explanation)
On the Day of Judgment, the disbelievers will be commanded to call upon their false deities and partners (those they associated with Allah), but these idols will not respond to them, and they will witness the punishment. Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari explain that this verse illustrates the helplessness of the polytheists and the futility of their shirk (polytheism), as their false gods prove to be utterly powerless. The conditional ending 'if only they had been guided' emphasizes the tragedy of their rejection of Allah's guidance during their worldly life.
Revelation Context
This ayah appears within Surah Al-Qasam (The Stories), a Meccan surah that recounts the stories of past prophets and nations. It forms part of a sequence describing the Day of Judgment where the consequences of disbelief and polytheism are laid bare. The broader context addresses the inevitability of Allah's justice and the regret that will overcome the disbelievers.
Related Hadiths
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: 'On the Day of Judgment, the idols and those who worshipped them will be cast into Hell' (related thematically in various sahih collections). Additionally, Surah Al-Hajj 22:73 presents a related concept: 'Indeed, those you call upon besides Allah will never create [even] a fly, although they may gather for that purpose.'
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah reminds believers that false gods and worldly objects of devotion cannot help in times of ultimate need, serving as a powerful reminder to place complete trust in Allah alone. For modern readers, it emphasizes the importance of discerning true sources of guidance and rejecting false hopes in anything other than Allah's mercy and justice.
Related Ayahs
فَأَصْبَحَ فِى ٱلْمَدِينَةِ خَآئِفًا يَتَرَقَّبُ فَإِذَا ٱلَّذِى ٱسْتَنصَرَهُۥ بِٱلْأَمْسِ يَسْتَصْرِخُهُۥ ۚ قَالَ لَهُۥ مُوسَىٰٓ إِنَّكَ لَغَوِىٌّ مُّبِينٌ
And he became inside the city fearful and anticipating [exposure], when suddenly the one who sought his help the previous day cried out to him [once again]. Moses said to him, "Indeed, you are an evident, [persistent] deviator."
وَلَمَّا وَرَدَ مَآءَ مَدْيَنَ وَجَدَ عَلَيْهِ أُمَّةً مِّنَ ٱلنَّاسِ يَسْقُونَ وَوَجَدَ مِن دُونِهِمُ ٱمْرَأَتَيْنِ تَذُودَانِ ۖ قَالَ مَا خَطْبُكُمَا ۖ قَالَتَا لَا نَسْقِى حَتَّىٰ يُصْدِرَ ٱلرِّعَآءُ ۖ وَأَبُونَا شَيْخٌ كَبِيرٌ
And when he came to the water [i.e., well] of Madyan, he found there a crowd of people watering [their flocks], and he found aside from them two women holding back [their flocks]. He said, "What is your circumstance?" They said, "We do not water until the shepherds dispatch [their flocks]; and our father is an old man."
۞ وَلَقَدْ وَصَّلْنَا لَهُمُ ٱلْقَوْلَ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَذَكَّرُونَ
And We have [repeatedly] conveyed to them the word [i.e., the Qur’ān] that they might be reminded.
وَنُرِيدُ أَن نَّمُنَّ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ ٱسْتُضْعِفُوا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَنَجْعَلَهُمْ أَئِمَّةً وَنَجْعَلَهُمُ ٱلْوَٰرِثِينَ
And We wanted to confer favor upon those who were oppressed in the land and make them leaders and make them inheritors