Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Furqan Verse 3

Mufti Taqi Usmani

Yet they have adopted other gods, beside Him, who do not create any thing, as they themselves are created, and they possess no power to cause harm or benefit even to themselves, nor do they have any control over death or life or resurrection.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

Yet they have taken besides Him gods who cannot create anything but are themselves created. Nor can they protect or benefit themselves. Nor can they control life, death, or resurrection.

Ruwwad Translation Center

They have taken besides Him other gods who can create nothing but are themselves created. Nor do they have power to harm or benefit themselves, nor do they have power to cause death, give life or resurrect the dead.

A. J. Arberry

Yet they have taken to them gods, apart from Him, that create nothing and themselves are created, and have no power to hurt or profit themselves, no power of death or life or raising up.

Abdul Haleem

Yet the disbelievers take as their gods things beneath Him that create nothing, and are themselves created, that can neither harm nor help themselves, and have no control over death, life, or resurrection.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And they have taken beside Him gods creating not aught and are themselves created, owning for themselves neither hurt nor benefit, and owning not death nor life nor resurrection.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Yet have they taken, besides him, gods that can create nothing but are themselves created; that have no control of hurt or good to themselves; nor can they control death nor life nor resurrection.

Abul Ala Maududi

Yet the people have set up, besides Him, deities, who do not create anything but are themselves created: who can neither harm nor help even themselves: who have no power over life or death, nor can they raise up the dead.

Ahmed Ali

Yet they choose apart from Him gods who have not created any thing and have themselves been created, who possess no power over their loss or gain, or their death or life or being raised to life again.

Ahmed Raza Khan

And people have appointed other Gods besides Him, those who do not create anything but are themselves created, and those who do not have the power to harm or benefit themselves, and who do not have any authority over death or life nor over resurrection.

Ali Quli Qarai

Yet they have taken gods besides Him who create nothing and have themselves been created, and who have no control over their own harm or benefit and have no control over [their own] death, life, or resurrection.

Ali Ünal

Yet some choose to take, apart from God, deities that create nothing but are themselves created, and have no power to avert harm from, or bring benefit to, even themselves (so that they can give harm or bring benefit to their worshippers), and they have no power over death, nor over life, nor over resurrection.

Amatul Rahman Omar

Yet people worship apart from Him gods who, rather than create anything, are themselves created and who have no power of (averting) harm or (doing) good to themselves, nor have they any control over death or life or Resurrection.

English Literal

And they took from other than Him gods, they do not create a thing, and they are being created, and they do not own/possess to themselves harm, and nor benefit/usefulness , and they do not own/possess death/lifelessness, and nor life , and nor revival/resurrection.

Faridul Haque

And people have appointed other Gods besides Him, those who do not create anything but are themselves created, and those who do not have the power to harm or benefit themselves, and who do not have any authority over death or life nor over resurrection.

Hamid S. Aziz

He unto Whom belongs the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth, He has chosen no son nor has He any partner in the sovereignty. He has created everything, and then given it its measure (proportions).

Hilali & Khan

Yet they have taken besides Him other aliha (gods) that created nothing but are themselves created, and possess neither hurt nor benefit for themselves, and possess no power (of causing) death, nor (of giving) life, nor of raising the dead.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

He, Whose is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and Who did not take to Himself a son, and Who has no associate in the kingdom, and Who created everything, then ordained for it a measure.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And they have taken besides Him gods, who do not create anything while they are themselves created, and they control not for themselves any harm or profit, and they control not death nor life, nor raising (the dead) to life.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

Yet they choose beside Him other gods who create naught but are themselves created, and possess not hurt nor profit for themselves, and possess not death nor life, nor power to raise the dead.

Muhammad Sarwar

Yet they have chosen for themselves other deities besides Him, who do not create anything but rather are themselves created, who have no power over their own benefits, or trouble, and who have no control over life, death, and resurrection.

Qaribullah & Darwish

Yet they worship, other than Him, gods which cannot create anything and were themselves created. They own neither harm nor benefit for themselves, neither do they own death nor life, nor a resurrection.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

Yet they have taken besides Him other gods who created nothing but are themselves created, and possess neither harm nor benefit for themselves, and possess no power (of causing) death, nor (of giving) life, nor of raising the dead.

Wahiduddin Khan

Yet they have taken, besides Him, deities who create nothing and are themselves created, and who have no power to harm, or benefit themselves and who control neither death, nor life, nor resurrection.

Talal Itani

And yet, instead of Him, they produce for themselves gods that create nothing, but are themselves created; that have no power to harm or benefit themselves; and no power over life, death, or resurrection.

Tafsir jalalayn

Yet they, the disbelievers, have taken besides Him, that is, [besides] God, in other words, other than Him, gods, from among the idols, who create nothing but have themselves been created, and who possess no harm for themselves, that is, [the power] to repel it, nor any benefit, that is, [the power] to attract it, nor do they possess [any power over] death or life, that is, [nor do they have the power] to make a person die or to give him life, or resurrection, that is, [nor do they have power] to raise the dead.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

The Foolishness of the Idolators

Allah tells;

وَاتَّخَذُوا مِن دُونِهِ الِهَةً لاَّ يَخْلُقُونَ شَيْيًا وَهُمْ يُخْلَقُونَ وَلَاا يَمْلِكُونَ لاِاَنفُسِهِمْ ضَرًّا وَلَاا نَفْعًا

Yet they have taken besides Him other gods who created nothing but are themselves created, and possess neither harm nor benefit for themselves,

Allah tells us of the ignorance of the idolators in taking other gods instead of Allah, the Creator of all things, the One Who controls the affairs of all things; whatever He wills happens and whatever He does not will does not happen. In spite of that, they still worshipped others besides Him, idols who could not even create the wing of a gnat, but were themselves created. They could neither do harm nor bring benefit to themselves, so how could they do anything for their worshippers!

وَلَا يَمْلِكُونَ مَوْتًا وَلَا حَيَاةً وَلَا نُشُورًا



and possess no power (of causing) death, nor (of giving) life, nor of raising the dead.

means, they could not do any of that at all;

that power belongs only to Allah, Who is the One Who gives life and death, and is the One Who will bring all people, the first and the last, back to life on the Day of Resurrection.

مَّا خَلْقُكُمْ وَلَا بَعْثُكُمْ إِلاَّ كَنَفْسٍ وَحِدَةٍ

The creation of you all and the resurrection of you all are only as (the creation and resurrection of) a single person. (31;28)

This is like the Ayat;

وَمَأ أَمْرُنَأ إِلاَّ وَحِدَةٌ كَلَمْحٍ بِالْبَصَرِ

And Our commandment is but one as the twinkling of an eye. (54;50)

فَإِنَّمَا هِىَ زَجْرَةٌ وَحِدَةٌ

فَإِذَا هُم بِالسَّاهِرَةِ

But it will be only a single Zajrah. When behold, they find themselves on the surface of the earth alive after their death. (79;13-14)

فَإِنَّمَا هِىَ زَجْرَةٌ وَحِدَةٌ فَإِذَا هُمْ يَنظُرُونَ

It will be a single Zajrah, and behold, they will be staring! (37;19)

إِن كَانَتْ إِلاَّ صَيْحَةً وَحِدَةً فَإِذَا هُمْ جَمِيعٌ لَّدَيْنَا مُحْضَرُونَ

It will be but a single Sayhah, so behold they will all be brought up before Us! (36;53)

He is Allah besides Whom there is no other God and besides Whom there is no other Lord. No one should be worshipped except Him because whatever He wills happens and whatever he does not will does not happen. He has no offspring nor progenitor, nor equal nor likeness nor rival nor peer. He is the One, the Self-Sufficient Master, Whom all creatures need, He begets not, nor was He begotten, and there is none co-equal or comparable unto Him