Now we have no intercessors, nor do we have any sympathetic friend’.

Now we have no intercessors, nor do we have any sympathetic friend’.” [^1] ‘ They ’ refers to idols and ‘ the perverse ’ means idolaters. The assertion that idols are equal with Allah is only correct once they believe that idols independently have the power to rule and govern in the same way that Allah independently rules and governs the cosmos. It does not make any difference whether this equality exists in all affairs or only in some issues.

In whatever aspect this equality may be conceived, it leads to the belief that idols are Allah’s rivals and equals in that facet; for instance, they used to believe that idols could harm and reward man. “And no one led us astray except the guilty” has two meanings; the first means past generations whom they followed or imitated, and the second means the devils. “Now we have no intercessors” : “Intercessors’ in this verse mean supporters who could plead on their behalf.

“Nor do we have any sympathetic friend” : “Sympathetic friend’ in this verse means friends with whom they have family ties and relations, especially those who love them and whom they love. The conclusion of these verses is that on the Day of Resurrection, idolaters will say that they lived in sheer delusion and fantasy; imagined that idols were equal with Allah, and now they can help neither themselves nor them.

Finally, the reason why idols will be burnt in Hell is to show polytheists that idols could not even defend themselves. Second verse: “…Yet the faithless equate [others] with their Lord.” [^2] They equated idols with Allah. This verse is similar to the verse “What!

Is there a god besides Allah?” [^3] and the verse “And do not follow the desires of those who deny Our signs, and those who do not believe in the Hereafter, and equate [others] with their Lord.” [^4] The conclusion is that ‘equating’ means ‘being exactly the same as’, and it can be inferred that polytheists believed that idols were latitudinal to Allah.

In regard to polytheistic beliefs that idols are equal to Allah, “ Nahj al-Balāghah ” states: “They are wrong who equate Thee to their idols, and dress Thee with the apparel of the creatures of their imagination, attribute to Thee parts of body of their own thinking and consider Thee after the creatures of various types, through the working of their intelligence.