Al-Qur'an Surah An-Nahl Verse 73

Mufti Taqi Usmani

They worship, besides Allah, the objects that have no power to give them anything from the heavens and the earth, nor can they ever have such power.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

Yet they worship besides Allah those ˹idols˺ who do not afford them any provision from the heavens and the earth, nor do they have the power to.

Ruwwad Translation Center

They worship besides Allah those who have nothing to provide for them from the heavens and earth, nor are they capable of doing so.

A. J. Arberry

And do they serve, apart from God, that which has no power to provide them anything from the heavens and the earth and can do nothing?

Abdul Haleem

Those they worship beside God have no power to provide anything for them from the heavens or the earth: they can do nothing.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And they worship, beside Allah, that which owneth them not any provision from the heavens and the earth, and they cannot

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

And worship others than Allah,- such as have no power of providing them, for sustenance, with anything in heavens or earth, and cannot possibly have such power?

Abul Ala Maududi

and worship instead of Allah, those helpless beings who have no control over providing them any sustenance from the heavens and the earth; do you worship those who have no power to do anything of this sort?

Ahmed Ali

Yet they worship those apart from God who cannot provide for them any sustenance from the heavens or the earth, nor will they have power to do so.

Ahmed Raza Khan

And they worship such besides Allah, who do not have power to provide them any sustenance from the heavens or the earth, nor can they do anything.

Ali Quli Qarai

They worship besides Allah what has no power to provide them with anything from the heavens and the earth, nor are they capable [of anything].

Ali Ünal

And do they worship, apart from God, what has no ownership of any provision in the heavens and the earth with which to provide for them, nor have they (whom they falsely worship) any capacity (to take on, still less, discharge such a task)?

Amatul Rahman Omar

And they worship, apart from Allâh, such things as possess no authority to grant them any provision from the heavens and the earth, nor can they (ever) have such power in fact.

English Literal

And they worship from other than God what does not own/possess for them a provision/rain a thing from the skies/space and the earth/Planet Earth, and they are not able.

Faridul Haque

And they worship such besides Allah, who do not have power to provide them any sustenance from the heavens or the earth, nor can they do anything.

Hamid S. Aziz

And they serve beside Allah what cannot control for them any provision from the heavens or the earth, nor have they any power.

Hilali & Khan

And they worship others besides Allah, such as do not and cannot own any provision for them from the heavens or the earth.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And Allah has made wives for you from among yourselves, and has given you sons and daughters from your wives, and has provided you with good things. Will they then believe in falsehood and deny the favor of Allah?

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And they serve besides Allah that which does not control for them any sustenance at all from the heavens and the earth, nor have they any power.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And they worship beside Allah that which owneth no provision whatsoever for them from the heavens or the earth, nor have they (whom they worship) any power.

Muhammad Sarwar

Do they worship things other than God which neither provide them with any sustenance from the heavens and the earth nor have the ability to do so?

Qaribullah & Darwish

Do they worship, other than Allah, that which has no power to provide them with anything either from the heavens or earth, and can do nothing!

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And they worship others besides Allah such as do not have power to grant them any provision from the heavens or the earth nor the ability to do so.

Wahiduddin Khan

They worship, instead of God, things that have no control over their provision from the heavens or the earth in any way, nor do they have any power [to do so].

Talal Itani

And yet they serve besides God what possesses no provisions for them in the heavens, nor on earth, nor are they capable.

Tafsir jalalayn

And they worship besides God, that is, other than Him, what has no power to give them any [sort of] provision from the heavens, such as water, and the earth, such as plants (shay'an, `any[thing]', is a substitute for rizqan, `provision') nor do they have the capacity, [nor] are they able to do anything -- and these are the idols.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

Denouncing the Worship of anything besides Allah

Allah tells

وَيَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ اللّهِ

And they worship others besides Allah,

Allah tells us about the Mushrikin who worship others besides Him, even though He alone is the bountiful Provider, the Creator and Sustainer, without partners or associates, but they still worship idols and make rivals for Him.

He says;

مَا لَا يَمْلِكُ لَهُمْ رِزْقًا مِّنَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالَارْضِ شَيْيًا

such as do not have power to grant them any provision from the heavens or the earth,

meaning, nobody can cause rain to fall, or make plants and trees grow.

وَلَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ



nor the ability to do so.

They cannot do these things for them- selves, even if they wanted to.

Thus Allah says