The Quran

Preface

وَيَعبُدونَ مِن دونِ اللَّهِ ما لا يَضُرُّهُم وَلا يَنفَعُهُم وَيَقولونَ هٰؤُلاءِ شُفَعاؤُنا عِندَ اللَّهِ ۚ قُل أَتُنَبِّئونَ اللَّهَ بِما لا يَعلَمُ فِي السَّماواتِ وَلا فِي الأَرضِ ۚ سُبحانَهُ وَتَعالىٰ عَمّا يُشرِكونَ

Yusuf Ali

They serve, besides God, things that hurt them not nor profit them, and they say: “These are our intercessors with God.” Say: “Do ye indeed inform God of something He knows not, in the heavens¹ or on earth?- Glory to Him! and far is He above the partners they ascribe (to Him)!”

When we shut our eyes to God’s glory and goodness, and go after false gods, we give some plausible excuse to ourselves, such as that they will intercede for us. But how can sticks and stones intercede for us? And how can men intercede for us, when they themselves have need of God’s Mercy? Even the best and noblest cannot intercede as of right, but only with His permission (10:3). To pretend that there are other powers than God is to invent lies and to teach God. There is nothing in heaven or earth that He does not know, and there is no other like unto Him.