Tafsir Ibn Abbas: Al-Anbiyaa, Ayah 43
أَمْ لَهُمْ ءَالِهَةٌۭ تَمْنَعُهُم مِّن دُونِنَا ۚ لَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ نَصْرَ أَنفُسِهِمْ وَلَا هُم مِّنَّا يُصْحَبُونَ
Or do they have gods to defend them other than Us? They are unable [even] to help themselves, nor can they be protected from Us.
Common Words
14 total14 unique0 repeated
أم1x
لهم1x
ءالهة1x
تمنعهم1x
من1x
دوننا1x
لا1x
يستطيعون1x
نصر1x
أنفسهم1x
ولا1x
هم1x
منا1x
يصحبون1x
Other Scholars on This Ayah
Tafsir
Scholars offer complementary perspectives
Or is it that they have am ‘or’ functions with the sense of a hamza used to indicate denial that is read it as a-lahum ‘do they have’ gods to defend them against that which might cause them harm besides Us? In other words do they have anyone other than Us to defend them against such things? No! They namely the gods cannot help themselves and so they will not be able to help them; nor shall they the disbelievers be protected from Us from Our chastisement one may say sahibaka’Llāhu to mean ‘May God preserve and protect you’.
Ibn Abbas Commentary
(Or have they gods) or do they have deities (who can shield them from Us) from Our chastisement? (They cannot help themselves) they, these gods, cannot drive away chastisement from themselves, so how can they drive it away from others? (nor can they be defended from Us) nor are they going to receive immunity from Our chastisement, so how can they give immunity to others?