لَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ نَصْرَهُمْ وَهُمْ لَهُمْ جُندٌ مُّحْضَرُونَ 75
Translations
They are not able to help them, and they [themselves] are for them soldiers in attendance.
Transliteration
La yastati'ūna naṣrahum wa hum lahum jundun muḥḍarūn
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah refers to the idols that the polytheists worshipped, emphasizing that these false deities are completely powerless—they cannot help or support their worshippers, yet the worshippers themselves stand ready as obedient soldiers serving these lifeless objects. Classical scholars like Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari interpret this as a powerful critique of shirk (polytheism), highlighting the absurdity of serving and preparing oneself for entities that possess no capability whatsoever to provide aid or benefit.
Revelation Context
This ayah appears in the latter portion of Surah Ya-Sin, which addresses the polytheists of Mecca and their rejection of tawhid (monotheism). The context is the broader Meccan period's confrontation with idol worship, where the Quran repeatedly exposes the logical inconsistency and futility of attributing power to created objects while neglecting the One True God.
Related Hadiths
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: 'The worst of mankind are those who worship idols and those who kill the prophets unjustly' (Sahih Bukhari 3461). Additionally, the Prophet warned against any form of shirk, saying 'Whoever dies while associating partners with Allah will enter the Hellfire' (Sahih Muslim 93).
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches us that placing hope and devotion in anything other than Allah—whether idols, people, wealth, or status—is fundamentally futile and self-deceptive. True strength and security come only from complete reliance on and submission to Allah alone.
Related Ayahs
مَا يَنظُرُونَ إِلَّا صَيْحَةً وَٰحِدَةً تَأْخُذُهُمْ وَهُمْ يَخِصِّمُونَ
They do not await except one blast which will seize them while they are disputing.
وَٱلشَّمْسُ تَجْرِى لِمُسْتَقَرٍّ لَّهَا ۚ ذَٰلِكَ تَقْدِيرُ ٱلْعَزِيزِ ٱلْعَلِيمِ
And the sun runs [on course] toward its stopping point. That is the determination of the Exalted in Might, the Knowing.
يَـٰحَسْرَةً عَلَى ٱلْعِبَادِ ۚ مَا يَأْتِيهِم مِّن رَّسُولٍ إِلَّا كَانُوا۟ بِهِۦ يَسْتَهْزِءُونَ
How regretful for the servants. There did not come to them any messenger except that they used to ridicule him.
ءَأَتَّخِذُ مِن دُونِهِۦٓ ءَالِهَةً إِن يُرِدْنِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنُ بِضُرٍّ لَّا تُغْنِ عَنِّى شَفَـٰعَتُهُمْ شَيْـًٔا وَلَا يُنقِذُونِ
Should I take other than Him [false] deities [while], if the Most Merciful intends for me some adversity, their intercession will not avail me at all, nor can they save me?