The Quran

وَلا تَنفَعُ الشَّفاعَةُ عِندَهُ إِلّا لِمَن أَذِنَ لَهُ ۚ حَتّىٰ إِذا فُزِّعَ عَن قُلوبِهِم قالوا ماذا قالَ رَبُّكُم ۖ قالُوا الحَقَّ ۖ وَهُوَ العَلِيُّ الكَبيرُ

Ali Unal

Besides, no intercession (for the fulfillment of any demand, or for the accomplishment of any deed) is of any avail before Him, except that it be made for him (and by him) whom He permits.¹ Yet, when the dread and awe (the angels whose intercession those polytheists hope for feel before God’s commands) is removed from their hearts, (other angels) ask: “What has your Lord commanded?” They answer: “The truth (that which is always and unalterably true).”² He is the All-Exalted, the All-Great.

The polytheists claimed that they believed in the idols and some beings such as angels, thinking that they might intercede with God for the fulfillment of their desires. The verse categorically rejects this.
The angels are God’s servants whom He employs in many tasks. As explained in note 31 to 2: 30, no event in the universe can be thought of without the function of the angels. There are angels that represent or are responsible for every event in the universe and every species on the earth. They also look on God’s acts with wonder and admiration and present to Him the glorification and worship each species of creature makes in the language of their disposition. Angels are of different ranks. So, the ones who the verse tells us are asked about what God has commanded must be those of greater ranks. They receive God’s commands, and when the dread and awe they feel while they are receiving those commands, other angels ask them what God has commanded. All angels carry out whatever God orders them (21: 27). So they cannot do anything of their own accord and cannot intercede with God or pray to Him for anybody they wish.