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Sura 53
Aya 23
23
إِن هِيَ إِلّا أَسماءٌ سَمَّيتُموها أَنتُم وَآباؤُكُم ما أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ بِها مِن سُلطانٍ ۚ إِن يَتَّبِعونَ إِلَّا الظَّنَّ وَما تَهوَى الأَنفُسُ ۖ وَلَقَد جاءَهُم مِن رَبِّهِمُ الهُدىٰ

Yusuf Ali

These are nothing but names which ye have devised,-1 ye and your fathers,- for which God has sent down no authority (whatever). They follow nothing but2 conjecture and what their own souls desire!- Even though there has already come to them Guidance from their Lord!
  • Cf. 7:71; 12:40, n. 1693. The divine names which they give to stocks and stones, or to heroes living or dead, or even to prophets and men of God, are but the creatures of their own fancy. Whatever they were, they were not gods.
  • Cf. 6:116. Conjecture is a dangerous thing in speaking of divine things. It follows lines which reflect the lusts of men’s own hearts. Why not follow the divine guidance which comes through the prophets of God?