125أَتَدعونَ بَعلًا وَتَذَرونَ أَحسَنَ الخالِقينَMuhammad AsadWill you invoke Baal and forsake [God,] the best of artisans1 -As regards this rendering of ahsan al-khaliqin, see surah 23, note 6. - The term ba'l (conventionally spelt Baal in European languages) signified "lord" or "master" in all branches of ancient Arabic, including Hebrew and Phoenician; it was an honorific applied to every one of the many "male" deities worshipped by the ancient Semites, especially in Syria and Palestine. In the Old Testament this designation has sometimes the generic connotation of "idol-worship" - a sin into which, according to the Bible, the early Israelites often relapsed.