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Surah al-A`raf (The Elevated Places) 7 : 197

وَٱلَّذِينَ تَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِهِۦ لَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ نَصْرَكُمْ وَلَآ أَنفُسَهُمْ يَنصُرُونَ

Translations

 
 Muhsin Khan
 Pickthall
 Yusuf Ali
Quran Project
And those you call upon besides Him are unable to help you, nor can they help themselves."

Qur'an Dictionary

Click word/image to view Qur'an Dictionary
Word Arabic word
(7:197:1)
wa-alladhīna
And those whom
(7:197:2)
tadʿūna
you invoke
(7:197:3)
(7:197:4)
dūnihi
besides Him
(7:197:5)
(7:197:6)
yastaṭīʿūna
they are able
(7:197:7)
naṣrakum
(to) help you
(7:197:8)
(7:197:9)
anfusahum
themselves
(7:197:10)
yanṣurūna
can they help

1. Lessons/Guidance/Reflections/Gems

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Explanatory Note

God’s Messenger (peace be upon him) was commanded to challenge the idolaters, and he did so. He was ordered to explain to them the powerlessness of their deities and the folly of believing in such deities, and he acted on his instructions: “Those whom you invoke beside Him cannot give you any support, nor can they even help themselves.” (Verse 197) Just as this statement applied to the primitive form of idols the Arabs used to have in their ancient ignorant days, it applies in equal measure to all deities claimed by modern states of ignorance, or jāhiliyyah.
 
The advocates of neo-paganism address their appeals to those who have physical power on earth, taking them as patrons instead of God. But these patrons cannot offer them any support or even help themselves when God’s will is done at its appointed time. If the primitive deities of the pagan Arabs could not hear, and their eyes were made of pearls or diamonds giving the appearance of looking without actually seeing, some of the new deities are also unable to see or hear.

2. Linguistic Analysis

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Frequency of Root words in this Ayat used in this Surah *


3. Surah Overview

4. Miscellaneous Information

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5. Connected/Related Ayat

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6. Frequency of the word

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7. Period of Revelation

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A study of its contents clearly shows that the period of its revelation is about the same as that of Surah 6: al-An’am (The Grazing Livestock), i.e. the last year of the Prophet's life at Makkah, but it cannot be asserted with certainty which of these two were sent down earlier. The manner of its admonition clearly indicates that it belongs to the same period. [Ref: Mawdudi]

It is considered the longest surah revealed during the Makkan period. Some consider this surah to have been revealed after Surah 38: Sad. [Ref: Tafsir al-Maudheei, Dr. Mustafah Muslim, vol. 3, p. 2]

8. Reasons for Revelation

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9. Relevant Hadith

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10. Wiki Forum

Comments in this section are statements made by general users – these are not necessarily explanations of the Ayah – rather a place to share personal thoughts and stories…

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12. External Links

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