The Quran

Preface

وَبَرَزوا لِلَّهِ جَميعًا فَقالَ الضُّعَفاءُ لِلَّذينَ استَكبَروا إِنّا كُنّا لَكُم تَبَعًا فَهَل أَنتُم مُغنونَ عَنّا مِن عَذابِ اللَّهِ مِن شَيءٍ ۚ قالوا لَو هَدانَا اللَّهُ لَهَدَيناكُم ۖ سَواءٌ عَلَينا أَجَزِعنا أَم صَبَرنا ما لَنا مِن مَحيصٍ

Yusuf Ali

They will all be marshalled before God together: then will the weak say to those¹ who were arrogant, “For us, we but followed you; can ye then avail us to all against the wrath of God.” They will reply, “If we had received the Guidance² of God, we should have given it to you: to us it makes no difference (now) whether we rage, or bear (these torments) with patience: for ourselves there is no way of escape.”

When the time for judgment comes, there are two kinds of disillusionment waiting for the ungodly. (1) Those who were misled and failed to see that each soul bears its own personal responsibility (2:134) and cannot shift it on to others, will turn to those who misled them, in the hope that they might intercede for them or do something to help them. They receive a plain answer as in the latter part of this verse. (2) Those who relied on Satan, the Power of Evil. His answer (in 14:22 below) is frank, cynical and brutal.
Those whose power or specious intelligence or influence misled them-such as false priests or leaders-will find themselves in a perilous state. How can they help others? They themselves failed to profit from God’s guidance, and they can with some justice retort that they put them in the wrong path as they followed it themselves!