Al-Qur'an Surah Al-An'am Verse 71

Mufti Taqi Usmani

Say, “Should we invoke, besides Allah, something that can neither benefit us nor harm us? Should we turn back on our heels after Allah has guided us? (If we do so, we will be) like the one whom the devils have abducted to a far off land, leaving him bewildered, even though he has friends who call him to the right path (saying), “Come to us.” Say, “Allah’s guidance is the guidance, and we have been ordered to submit to the Lord of the worlds,

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

Ask ˹them, O  Prophet˺, “Should we invoke, other than Allah, those ˹idols˺ which cannot benefit or harm us, and turn back to disbelief after Allah has guided us? ˹If we do so, we will be˺ like those disoriented by devils in the wilderness, while their companions call them to guidance, ˹saying˺, ‘Come to us!’ Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “Allah’s guidance is the ˹only˺ true guidance. And we are commanded to submit to the Lord of all worlds,

Ruwwad Translation Center

Say, “Shall we invoke besides Allah that which can neither benefit nor harm us, and shall we turn back to disbelief after being guided by Allah? Just like the one whom devils have tempted in the land leaving him bewildered, although he has companions inviting him to guidance, “Come to us.” Say, “Allah’s guidance is the [true] guidance, and we are commanded to submit to the Lord of the worlds,

A. J. Arberry

Say: 'Shall we call, apart from God, on that which neither profits nor hurts us, and shall we be turned back on our heels after that God has guided us? -- Like one lured to bewilderment in the earth by Satans, though he has friends who call him to guidance, "Come to us!" Say: 'God's guidance is the true guidance, and we are commanded to surrender to the Lord of all Being,

Abdul Haleem

Say, ‘Instead of God, are we to call on what neither profits nor harms us? [Are we to] turn on our heels after God has guided us, like someone bewildered, having been tempted by devils into a desert ravine, though his companions call him to guidance [saying], “Come to us”?’ Say, ‘God’s guidance is the true guidance. We are commanded to devote ourselves to the Lord of the Worlds,

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Say thou: shall we call upon, beside Allah, that which can neither profit us nor hurt us, and shall we turn on our heels after Allah hath guided us, like unto one whom the Satans have be guiled to wander bewildered in the land, his: fellows calling him unto the right path: come unto us? Say thou: verily the guidance of Allah, that is the Guidance, and we are commanded to submit ourselves to the Lord of the worlds.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Say; "Shall we indeed call on others besides Allah,- things that can do us neither good nor harm,- and turn on our heels after receiving guidance from Allah? - like one whom the evil ones have made into a fool, wandering bewildered through the earth, his friends calling, come to us', (vainly) guiding him to the path." Say; "Allah's guidance is the (only) guidance, and we have been directed to submit ourselves to the Lord of the worlds;-

Abul Ala Maududi

Ask them (O Muharnmad!): "Shall we invoke, apart from Allah, something that can neither benefit nor harm us, and thus be turned back on our heels after Allah has guided us? Like the one whom the evil ones have lured into bewilderment in the earth, even though he has friends who call him to true guidance saying: "Come to us." Say: "Surely Allah's guidance is the only true guidance, and we have been commanded to submit ourselves to the Lord of the entire universe,

Ahmed Ali

Say: 'Should we call in place of God one who can neither help nor do us harm, and turn back after having been guided by God, like a man beguiled by the devils who wanders perplexed in the wilderness while his friends call him back to the right path, saying: 'Come to us, this way?' Say: "God's guidance is (true) guidance, and we have been commanded to submit to the Lord of all the worlds.

Ahmed Raza Khan

Say, “Shall we worship, other than Allah, that which neither benefits us nor harms us, and (therefore) be turned back after Allah has guided us, like one whom the devils have led astray in the earth – bewildered?; his companions call him to the path (saying), ‘Come here’”; say, “Indeed only the guidance of Allah is (the true) guidance; and we are commanded to submit to the Lord Of The Creation.”

Ali Quli Qarai

Say, ‘Shall we invoke besides Allah that which can neither benefit us nor harm us, and turn back on our heels after Allah has guided us, like someone seduced by the devils and bewildered on the earth, who has companions that invite him to guidance, [saying,] ‘‘Come to us!’’?’ Say, ‘Indeed it is the guidance of Allah which is [true] guidance. And we have been commanded to submit to the Lord of all the worlds,

Ali Ünal

Say: "Shall we invoke, apart from God, the things that can neither benefit us (when we invoke them) nor harm us (when we do not invoke them), and (thus) be turned back on our heels, after God has guided us – like the one whom the satans have infatuated on earth so that they blunder about in valleys of misguidance, though he has companions calling him to the Guidance, saying: ‘Come to us!’?" Say: "Surely God’s guidance is the (only true) Guidance, and we have been commanded to submit with all our being to the Lord of the worlds;

Amatul Rahman Omar

Say, `Shall we call, besides Allâh, upon that which can neither profit us nor harm us (by itself), and shall we be turned back on our heels (and led astray) after Allâh has guided us, like one whom the evil ones have made to follow his caprices (leaving him) utterly bewildered in the land; (whilst) he has companions who call him to the guidance (of Allâh, saying), "Come to us".´ Say, `Verily Allah´s guidance is the only perfect guidance. And we are commanded (by Him) to submit to the Lord of the worlds.´

English Literal

Say: "Do we call from other than God what does not benefit us, and nor harms us, and we be returned on our heels, after when God guided us, as/like whom the devil tempted/allured him , in the earth/Planet Earth, confused/bewildered, for him (are) friends/company, they call him to the guidance: `Come to us.`" Say: "That God`s guidance, it is the guidance, and we were ordered/commanded to surrender to the creations altogether`s/(universes`) Lord."

Faridul Haque

Say, “Shall we worship, other than Allah, that which neither benefits us nor harms us, and (therefore) be turned back after Allah has guided us, like one whom the devils have led astray in the earth - bewildered?; his companions call him to the path (saying), ‘Come here’”; say, “Indeed only the guidance of Allah is (the true) guidance; and we are commanded to submit to the Lord Of The Creation.”

Hamid S. Aziz

"And to be steadfast in prayer and to fear Him (avoiding evil), for He it is to whom we shall be gathered."

Hilali & Khan

Say (O Muhammad SAW): "Shall we invoke others besides Allah (false deities), that can do us neither good nor harm, and shall we turn on our heels after Allah has guided us (to true Monotheism)? - like one whom the Shayatin (devils) have made to go astray, confused (wandering) through the earth, his companions calling him to guidance (saying): 'Come to us.' " Say: "Verily, Allah's Guidance is the only guidance, and we have been commanded to submit (ourselves) to the Lord of the 'Alamin (mankind, jinns and all that exists);

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And leave those who take their religion for a play and an idle sport, and whom this world’s life has deceived, and remind (men) hereby lest a soul be destroyed for what it has earned. It has besides Allah no friend nor intercessor, and though it offer every compensation, it will not be accepted from it. Those are they who are destroyed for what they earn. For them is a drink of boiling water and a painful chastisement, because they disbelieved.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

Say: Shall we call on that besides Allah, which does not benefit us nor harm us, and shall we be returned back on our heels after Allah has guided us, like him whom the Shaitans have made to fall down perplexed in the earth? He has companions who call him to the right way, (saying): Come to us. Say: Surely the guidance of Allah, that is the (true) guidance, and we are commanded that we should submit to the Lord of the worlds.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

Say: Shall we cry, instead of unto Allah, unto that which neither profiteth us nor hurteth us, and shall we turn back after Allah hath guided us, like one bewildered whom the devils have infatuated in the earth, who hath companions who invite him to the guidance (saying): Come unto us? Say: Lo! the guidance of Allah is Guidance, and we are ordered to surrender to the Lord of the Worlds,

Muhammad Sarwar

Say to them, "Should we, instead of asking for God's help, seek help from that which can neither benefit nor harm us, but would only turn us back to disbelief after God had granted us guidance? To do so would be to act like (those who have been) seduced by Satan, leaving them wandering aimlessly here and there, even though their friends call them, 'Come to the right guidance that has come to us.' " Say, "God's guidance is the only true guidance and we are commanded to submit ourselves to the Lord of the Universe.

Qaribullah & Darwish

Say: 'Are we to call, other than Allah, what can neither help nor harm us? Are we to turn on our heels after Allah has guided us like him, who, being bewitched by devils, blunders aimlessly in the earth, although his friends call him to the guidance, (saying) 'Come to us' Say: 'The guidance of Allah is the Guidance. We are commanded to submit to the Lord of the Worlds,

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

Say: "Shall we invoke others besides Allah (false deities), that can do us neither good nor harm, and shall we turn on our heels after Allah has guided us -- Like one whom the Shayatin (devils) have made to go astray, confused (wandering) through the land, his companions calling him to guidance (saying): `Come to us."' Say: "Verily, Allah's guidance is the only guidance, and we have been commanded to submit (ourselves) to the Lord of all that exists.

Wahiduddin Khan

Say, "Instead of God, shall we call upon that which can neither benefit us nor harm us? Are we to turn upon our heels after God has guided us, like one who, beguiled by devils in the land, wanders bewildered, his companions calling him to the right path, saying, "Come to us"?" Say, "God's guidance is the only guidance. We are commanded to surrender ourselves to the Lord of the Universe,

Talal Itani

Say, “Shall we invoke besides God something that can neither benefit us nor harm us, and turn back on our heels after God has guided us; like someone seduced by the devils and confused on earth, who has friends calling him to guidance: 'Come to us'?” Say, “The guidance of God is the guidance, and we are commanded to surrender to the Lord of the Universe.”

Tafsir jalalayn

Say; `Shall we call upon, shall we worship, instead of God, that which neither profits us, if we worship them, nor hurts us, if we neglect [to worship] them -- these are the idols; and so be turned back, [and so] return to idolatry, after God has guided us, to Islam? -- Like one whom the devils have lured, led astray, in the earth, bewildered, confused, not knowing where to go (hayrn, `bewildered', is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the [suffixed pronoun] h' [of istahwat-hu, `whom they have lured']); he has companions, a group, who call him to guidance, that is to say, [they are there] in order to guide him to the [right] path, saying to him; "Come to us!"', but he does not respond to them, and he perishes (the interrogative statement is meant as a disavowal; the comparative statement [beginning with ka'lladh, `like one whom'] is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the subject [of the verb] nuraddu, `be turned back'). Say; `Truly, God's guidance, which is Islam, is [the true] guidance, everything else being error, and we have been commanded to submit to the Lord of the Worlds,

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

The Parable of Those Who Revert to Disbelief After Faith and Good Deeds

As-Suddi said,

"Some idolators said to some Muslims, `Follow us and abandon the religion of Muhammad.' Allah sent down the revelation,

قُلْ أَنَدْعُو مِن دُونِ اللّهِ مَا لَا يَنفَعُنَا وَلَا يَضُرُّنَا وَنُرَدُّ عَلَى أَعْقَابِنَا

Say;"Shall we invoke others besides Allah, that can do us neither good nor harm, and shall we turn on our heels..."

by reverting to disbelief,

بَعْدَ إِذْ هَدَانَا اللّهُ

"...after Allah has guided us."

for if we do this, our example will be like he whom the devils have caused to wander in confusion throughout the land.

Allah says here, your example, if you revert to disbelief after you believed, is that of a man who went with some people on a road, but he lost his way and the devils led him to wander in confusion over the land. Meanwhile, his companions on the road were calling him to come to them saying, `Come back to us, for we are on the path.' But, he refused to go back to them. This is the example of he who follows the devil after recognizing Muhammad, and Muhammad is the person who is calling the people to the path, and the path is Islam."

Ibn Jarir recorded this statement.

Allah's statement,

كَالَّذِي اسْتَهْوَتْهُ الشَّيَاطِينُ فِي الَارْضِ

حَيْرَانَ

Like one whom the Shayatin (devils) have made to go astray confused (wandering) through the land,

refers to ghouls,

لَهُ أَصْحَابٌ يَدْعُونَهُ إِلَى الْهُدَى ايْتِنَا

his companions calling him to guidance (saying);`Come to us."'

(calling him) by his name, his father's and his grandfather's names. So he follows the devils' call thinking that it is a path of guidance, but by the morning he will find himself destroyed and perhaps they eat him. The Jinns will then let him wander in a wasteland where he will die of thirst.

This is the example of those who follow the false gods that are being worshipped instead of Allah, Most Honored.

Ibn Jarir also recorded this.

Allah said,

قُلْ إِنَّ هُدَى اللّهِ هُوَ الْهُدَىَ

Say;"Verily, Allah's guidance is the only guidance,"

Allah said in other instances,

وَمَن يَهْدِ اللَّهُ فَمَا لَهُ مِن مُّضِلٍّ

And whomsoever Allah guides, for him there will be none to misguide him. (39;37)

and,

إِن تَحْرِصْ عَلَى هُدَاهُمْ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِى مَن يُضِلُّ وَمَا لَهُمْ مِّن نَّـصِرِينَ

If you covet for their guidance, then verily Allah guides not those whom He makes to go astray. And they will have no helpers. (17;37)

Allah's statement,

وَأُمِرْنَا لِنُسْلِمَ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ



and we have been commanded to submit to the Lord of all that exists.

means, we were commanded to worship Allah in sincerity to Him alone, without partners