Quran 46:28 — Al-Ahqaf, verse 28
M. A. S. Abdel Haleem · selected translation
so why did their gods not help them, those they set up as gods besides God to bring them nearer to Him? No indeed! They failed them utterly: it was all a lie of their own making.
فَلَوْلَا نَصَرَهُمُ الَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ قُرْبَانًا آلِهَةً ۖ بَلْ ضَلُّوا عَنْهُمْ ۚ وَذَٰلِكَ إِفْكُهُمْ وَمَا كَانُوا يَفْتَرُونَ
falawlā naṣarahumu alladhīna ittakhadhū min dūni l-lahi qur'bānan ālihatan bal ḍallū ʿanhum wadhālika if'kuhum wamā kānū yaftarūna
Other translations
- A. J. Arberry
- Then why did those not help them that they had taken to themselves as mediators, gods apart from God? Not so; but they went astray from them, and that was their calumny, and what they had been forging.
- Muhammad Asad
- But, then, did those [beings] whom they had chosen to worship as deities beside God, hoping that they would bring them nearer [to Him], help them [in the end]? Nay, they forsook them: for that [alleged divinity] was but an outcome of their self-delusion and all their false imagery.
- Sahih International
- Then why did those they took besides Allāh as deities by which to approach [Him] not aid them? But they had strayed [i.e., departed] from them. And that was their falsehood and what they were inventing.
Words
| # | Word | Meaning | Root |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | فَلَوْلَاfalawlā | Then why (did) not | — |
| 2 | نَصَرَهُمُnaṣarahumu | help them | نصر |
| 3 | ٱلَّذِينَalladhīna | those whom | — |
| 4 | ٱتَّخَذُوا۟ittakhadhū | they had taken | أخذ |
| 5 | مِنmin | besides | — |
| 6 | دُونِdūni | besides | دون |
| 7 | ٱللَّهِl-lahi | Allah | أله |
| 8 | قُرْبَانًاqur'bānan | gods as a way of approach | قرب |
| 9 | ءَالِهَةًۢ ۖālihatan | gods as a way of approach | أله |
| 10 | بَلْbal | Nay | — |
| 11 | ضَلُّوا۟ḍallū | they were lost | ضلل |
| 12 | عَنْهُمْ ۚʿanhum | from them | — |
| 13 | وَذَٰلِكَwadhālika | And that | — |
| 14 | إِفْكُهُمْif'kuhum | (was) their falsehood | أفك |
| 15 | وَمَاwamā | and what | — |
| 16 | كَانُوا۟kānū | they were | كون |
| 17 | يَفْتَرُونَyaftarūna | inventing | فري |